KEPSA CEO’S REMARKS DURING THE 11TH KEPSA AGM
(FOR THE PERIOD MAY 2014-APRIL 2015)
A reengineered KEPSA
1. Dear esteemed members, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the 11th
Annual General meeting of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance. The AGM gives us
room to take stock of our achievements this far.
2. KEPSA continues to play a critical role in creating an enabling environment for the
development of the Private Sector and impacting on the overall economic growth of
the country which has remained resilient in spite of the spouts of security
challenges.
3. KEPSA’s role in deepening investment through policy reforms remains critical to the
country’s development agenda and is based on the National Business Agenda II
(NBA), whose five year strategic focus is aligned to the overall goals of the National
Vision 2030. Through our various engagement structures, KEPSA has made great
strides in realizing our combined agenda for a more sustainable business
environment that has benefited Members. In this regard KEPSA continues to
strengthen its engagement structures to meet the needs of our members and enable
us pursue our agenda moving forward.
A brief of the work undertaken by various departments in 2014
4. As an organization, we work together with a primary goal of serving our Members’
needs and so each Department of the organization has been doing something that
contributes to this goal and I would like to give some highlights of what we have
done internally that have yielded the results that the Chairman will be presenting to
you.
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5. Human Resource and Administration:
During the year, KEPSA undertook a series of institutional capacity strengthening to
enable us meet the needs of our Members and engage more efficiently and
effectively with our partners. We created and filled the following positions guided by
a new Business Strategy:
 Manager, Projects and Results Management
 Manager, Media Relations and Communications;
 Manager, Policy Research and Analysis;
 Public-Private Dialogue Officer (Sector Committees);
 Public Private Dialogue Officer (Devolution);
 Trade and Investment officer;
 Communications and Publications officer;
 Policy and Research Officer
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The total number of staff working for and within the organization stands at 38 of
which 23 members of staff are part of the KEPSA secretariat, 2 members of staff
are on seconded from the World Bank while 13 members of staff are under the
employ of the Kenya Youth Empowerment Program (KYEP)
KEPSA is in the process of building a balance score card to enable us track the
efficiency and impact of our activities while weighing the impact of each
individual’s efforts towards realizing the goals and objectives of the organization.
Under the new strategy the Secretariat is now organised into three Directorates:
Policy Research and Public-Private Dialogue; Operations; and, Media, Marketing
and Communication, each is supported by respective Departmental Managers.
The organization is still undergoing transformation and we are yet to fill the
vacancies for the heads of the three directorates under which the organization
continues to operate.
6. Financials:
 KEPSA’s total income grew by 24.5% from KES 161 million in 2013 to KES 200.5
million in 2014
 Surplus funds increased from KES 44.9 million to 59.4 million during the period
under review.
 Growth was largely driven by a 74% increase in membership subscriptions which
contributed KES 50.6 million in 2014 up from KES 29.5 million in 2013
 We expect this trend to continue in 2015 going by the increased interest in
KEPSA membership which saw an additional 23 members sign-up during the first
quarter of 2015.
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KEPSA targets to generate additional KES 18.5 Million shillings this year in new
revenue from Events and exhibitions, merchandise, administration fees and the
dissemination of investor intelligence.
7. Membership Products and Services Department
 KEPSA is a Membership driven organization and as such needs to meet the
diverse needs of its members who are the engine of the organization’s activities.
 We realized a 74% increase in membership subscriptions with 57 new members
joining the Alliance in 2014 while an additional 23 new members subscribed
during the first quarter of 2015. 13 members were reinstated into the KEPSA
family increasing our paid up membership to 204 members in 2014 compared to
111 paid up members in 2013.
 For its dedicated hard work, the membership department was ranked as the best
performing department in the organization. The department continues to
innovate new products and services targeted at meeting the needs of our
members.
8. Public Private Dialogue Department:
 KEPSA has continued to focus on improving the overall business environment
through its Public Private Dialogue engagement mechanisms geared towards
making Kenya the preferred investment destination on the continent.
 Regional integration is a key avenue to unlocking our economic potential by
providing a larger market for both local and foreign investors. In this regard
KEPSA has set up a new engagement structure dubbed the ‘Regional
Ministerial Stakeholders’ Forum’. This is an engagement with the Council of
Ministers aimed at highlighting the issues to be forwarded to the East African
Heads of State Summit. The platform will offer an opportunity for the
participation of the Private Sector in the formulation of regional policies.
 At the 4th PRT, we had another PPD platform established –the Sector Working
Groups formed to bring together various Ministries on cross cutting issues that require
more than one Ministry to implement.
9. Through the above engagement platforms we have made many gains in easing the
cost of doing business for the benefit of our Members as will be highlighted by our
Chairman in his report.
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10. Policy Research and Analysis Department
 To further enhance our ability to champion policy reform through our public
private dialogue engagement structures, KEPSA has created a Policy Research
and Analysis Department. The department has four members of staff with
expertise in legal, policy and research related fields
 The department provides evidence based analysis towards strengthening the
policy and advocacy agenda of the organization through various write-ups.
 Specifically,
o the department developed 7 position papers to guide policy;
o developed 12 seminal papers for presentations at various business forums
and conferences;
o developed 2 policy briefs;
o reviewed and provided written comments and background papers on 24
Bills;
o prepared 14 speaking notes and presentations on specific topical issues;
and
o 1 workshop paper.
 The department also helped in the review of the Kenya Economic report 2014, a
joint collaboration effort with the Oxford Business Group.
 In addition, the department led the development of 3 PRT Booklets and made
substantial input into the background work and final reports of the COG
Devolution conference, KEPSA sector Committees and other Public-Private
Dialogue forums.
 The development of the current NBA and strategic plan received substantial
support and inputs from the department.
 In conclusion, the department is in the process of setting up a resource center
to enable us meet the growing need for factual investor intelligence and
supportive data
11. Projects and Results Management Department
 KEPSA currently runs two major social projects; the Kenya Youth Empowerment
Project (KYEP) and Mkenya Daima.
 KYEP is currently in its sixth cycle. It has trained over 19,532 youth, equipping
them market specific skills geared towards improving youth employability while
at the same time fostering the spirit of entrepreneurship
 Mkenya Daima is our premier social political intervention that has been
instrumental in promoting national unity and fostering good governance and
integrity. The next phase of the project will focus on the development and
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institutionalization of a values system under the tag line ‘Rights with
Responsibility’.
In addition to the two projects KEPSA has been implementing 5 programs in
support of our PPD work geared towards improving the business environment,
enabling access to markets, economic empowerment, instituting the necessary
business reforms and enhancing the participation of the private sector on
governance and reforms. These programmes include:
 National Corruption Prevention Pact
 Enhancing private sector participation in governance reform –
mostly supporting our legislative work;
 Institutional Strengthening and Policy Support Programme, which is
supporting an array of our high-level PPD work;
 Improving business environment and market access for enhancing
Kenya’s access to markets –supporting our policy and legislative
PPD work;
 Business sector programme support
The projects department is also in negotiations with various partners to secure
additional support for the rollout of new programs aimed at supporting our joint
agenda as the Private Sector
12. Communications and Media Relations
 KEPSA has restructured its internal and external communications to reflect the
needs of various groups within the organization.
 Our mailing system has been restructured to enable us respond to members’
queries and distribute information on various activities without sending
unnecessary information to our members and partners.
 In this regard, each department within KEPSA now has its own designated
mailing list to enable us provide client specific services. Communication on all
high level engagements has been sent out through the office of the CEO while
sector specific communication has gone out from the Public Private Dialogue
account. Overall communication to members is now handled by the membership
department while all other communication is sent out by the communications
department.
 KEPSA’s Magazine titled, ‘Private Sector’, is currently in its 5th issue and has
been retooled as a thematic publication focused on various sectors of the
economy. The last two issues focused on Tourism and Manufacturing.
 We are deepening our involvement and engagement through social media. On
average KEPSA’s following on twitter has been growing at a rate of 290 followers
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per month. We are also using Facebook as an online gallery for our activities and
engagements.
Going Forward
13. KEPSA adopted a new business strategy last year whose main objective is the
pursuit of an enabling business environment over the next four years. The strategy
seeks a year on year improvement in three key global business rankings:
 Ease of Doing Business Index
 Global Competitiveness Index
 Bribery Index
14. This is to be achieved through the implementation of the National doing business
agenda. To enable KEPSA continue its work we have set up the KEPSA Foundation
which will be launched during this annual gathering. The focus and mandate of the
KEPSA Foundation will be to secure organizational sustainability by providing funds
to support KEPSA’s core activities. Secondly, the Foundation will engage and devote
its resources to social programs and activities that focus on youth, peace and CSR
that the business needs to be involved in as part of national development.
15. In Conclusion I would like to thank you our members for your continued support and
partnership in the development and implementation of our strategic objectives
geared towards improving the business environment. I also take this opportunity to
thank the outgoing KEPSA Governing Council for providing strategic leadership and
welcome the newly elected Governing Council under whose guidance and leadership
we hope to further KEPSA’s agenda. I would also like to thank the Board of Directors
for their leadership and guidance as we continue to inspire a new era in public
private dialogue and engagement.
16. Finally I would like to thank the KEPSA Secretariat for their tireless efforts in driving
KEPSA’s agenda. I welcome on board all new staff and managers in various
departments as KEPSA continues to expand its capacity to meet the needs of our
members. We remain committed and geared towards improving the overall business
environment in Kenya.
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