Nairobi, Kenya — About 1,300 delegates and 400 companies participated in the fourth American Chamber of Commerce summit in Nairobi, Kenya, where Kenya's president William Ruto says his country is ready for business -- and means business.
"You also have to show up and that's why I am here," she said."And when we show up, we also have to listen and learn."In her first official trip to East Africa, Raimondo reiterated President Joe Biden's December 2022 message that the U.S. is all-in on Africa. To that end, she said she traveled with 14 members of the President's Advisory Council on doing business in Africa.
The partnership, she said, is the first of its kind with an African nation to promote the safe development and deployment of AI. In addition, seven private-sector deals on digital transformation and commitments were made involving companies including the NBA, CISCO, Pfizer, and Qualcomm. The two-day AmCham summit brought together businesses to stimulate commercial opportunities, said Maxwell Okello, CEO of AmCham Kenya.
Out of 400 companies at the event, Wandia Gichuru, CEO of Vivo Fashion Group, got a special shout-out from U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman, who said she was wearing a top made by Gichuru's apparel company.