Kenya optimistic about benefits Forum will bring to region

• Selection of Dar-es-Salaam shows that East Africa has facilities to host major world conferences.
• Kenya should support Tanzania and take the selection of Dar-es-Salaam positively.

That Kenya lost the bid to host the World Economic Forum means it has not only lost the revenue that could have been generated out of the use of facilities by the delegates while in Nairobi.

It will also have lost the opportunity to gain experience by hosting a high-level event that brings together presidents, prime ministers, kings and corporate leaders from all over the world.

When contacted for comment the captain of Team Kenya for World Economic Forum Nicholas Nesbitt told The EastAfrican that he was disappointed by the decision to deny Kenya the opportunity to host the forum.

“Kenya put its best foot forward but sometimes things are beyond one’s control. The decision has been made and we shall support Dar-es-Salaam to the end. It is an East African summit and not Tanzania’s alone; we need to move forward,” Mr Nesbitt said.

He explained that the forum would have brought into Kenya the world’s top thinkers on African development, to discuss ideas and aspects of developing the continent.

Kenya’s Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka said in the spirit of the East African Community, Kenya supported the selection of Dar-es-Salaam.

Mr Musyoka said: “I don’t think anyone can argue that we cannot host a conference of that nature. Still, let us support Tanzania and take the selection of Dar-es-Salaam positively, as it shows that East Africa has facilities to host major world conferences.”

The World Economic Forum is an independent, international organisation incorporated as a Swiss not-for-profit foundation.

It works “to achieve a world-class corporate governance system where values are as important a basis as rules.”

The WEF board is chaired by Josef Ackermann of Deutsche Bank and includes among its members former UN chief Kofi Annan — who was at the centre of the political storm in Kenya over the ICC — and former UK premier Tony Blair.

The venue of the 2020 Forum, which is traditionally held in Cape Town, was for the first time thrown open to bidding by African nations.

Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana and Mauritius also entered bids to host the Forum in South Africa’s place.