January 2009

A new board to brand and market Kenya abroad has been formed. The new State corporation, to be known as the Brand Kenya Board, will come up with strategies that will help improve the country’s profile and reputation abroad. Tourists in the streets of Nairobi. The Brand Kenya initiative will boost the selling of Kenyan tourism abroad. Photo/FILE It will be the first time that modern marketing techniques will be used to sell the country and its products. In doing so, Kenya will be joining the ranks of countries such as South Africa, Egypt, the US, Uganda, Australia and the Bahamas, which are branded and sold abroad as commodities. Kenya can sell its tourism, tea and coffee, and also services such as banking, advertising and accountancy. The State corporation will step up efforts of repairing the country’s image abroad dented by the post-election violence. This means that the country will now be presented to the outside world as a brand in order to attract more investment. Indeed, the country’s image abroad suffered a thorough beating early this year with at least 1,000 people having been killed and more than 350,000 others displaced. Kenya was viewed at the time as an unsafe country for investment. As a result, the existing investors threatened to pull out if a solution was not sought immediately. The country’s tourism industry also suffered tremendously as hotels along the Coast experienced cancellations of reservations. Recovery path But following the agreement between President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga, the country is now focused on a recovery path in order to restore investor confidence. In a legal notice issued on Monday, President Kibaki said the Brand Kenya Board will consist of 15 members including a non-executive chairman to be appointed by the President. Other members of the board include permanent secretaries in the Ministries of Information and Communications, Finance, Trade and Industry, Foreign Affairs, Public Service and Tourism. The corporation shall also have a chief executive officer and at least seven other members appointed by virtue of their knowledge or experience and past and current membership of professional organisations. The notice further states that the board shall establish a brand for the country which will position it optimally in terms of investment, creditworthiness, tourism ad international relations. The board will also have the responsibility of uniting Kenyans and providing them with positive information about the country in order to promote patriotism and national pride. Other functions of the board include the establishment of an integrated approach within Government and the private sector towards the international marketing of Kenya. It will also undertake measures aimed at improving the international image of the country. The board, to be funded through public budgetary provisions, has been mandated to determine its own staff establishment and their terms and conditions of employment. The corporation shall also be subjected to all financial rules and regulations governing similar State institutions. South Africa stands out as a country that has succeeded in marketing itself. In 2004, it put in place measures aimed at raising awareness about the country abroad in order to attract more investment. Through the International Marketing Council of South Africa, they placed full-page advertisements in leading global business magazines such as Fortune and The Economist in order to bring more investors to the country. Investor mission In the advertisements, they cited the performance of the country’s economy and the rising number of multinational firms setting up base in SA. At least 10 South African-branded taxis passed the same message on the streets of London. The IMC’s campaign followed an unprecedented South African investor mission to the US. The then chairperson of the council, Mrs Wendy Luhabe, led a South African delegation of 40 high-level business and government leaders to the meetings that included investor conferences in Chicago, Atlanta and New York. In neighbouring Uganda, the project to brand and promote the country was launched in 2005 by President Yoweri Museveni. The country developed the Brand Uganda Campaign website and extensively used the media to market the country abroad. In Kenya, the tourism industry is likely to benefit more from the setting up of this board to market the country.