NYANZA ECONOMIC FORUM

Aims of Nyanza Economic Forum
Nyanza Economic Forum is a non-partisan, global network of individuals, groups and organizations working together to:
(i) find strategic solutions to the social and economic challenges confronting Nyanza Province;
(ii) build the economy of Nyanza Province through individual and collective investments in the Province’s productive sectors; and
(iii) secure goodwill and political support by working with local and national political institutions, social groups and individuals.
Vision
The vision of Nyanza Economic Forum is of a vibrant, productive and prospering society in which all people of Nyanza Province feel a sense of ownership and pride.
The Forum was founded on two fundamental beliefs:
that Nyanza people have both the means and the ability to eradicate the widespread poverty in the Province, and to achieve sustainable economic development for the benefit of all its citizens;
that all people of Nyanza Province have a right and a responsibility to be actively involved in determining and shaping the socio-economic world around them;
Values
The Nyanza Economic Forum is a value driven network committed to:
• Integrity
• Sharing and caring
• Transparency
• Equality
Mission
The core mission of the Nyanza Economic Forum is to promote creation of wealth and employment in Nyanza Province.
Underlying this mission is the conviction that employment and wealth creation are achieved in environments that encourage and enable investors to pursue available economic opportunities. In Nyanza, there are numerous opportunities for local and external investors to engage in productive businesses, but most businesses are impeded from growing to their full potential because of limited access to financial services, modern technology, technical training, facilitative infrastructure and markets. The virtual absence of support mechanisms for this entrepreneurial class undermines its ability to alleviate the widespread unemployment that exists in Nyanza Province.
The Forum is dedicated to breaking down the barriers of social and economic development in Nyanza, and to encouraging widespread and effective participation at all levels of Nyanza society in the development of a prosperous, healthy and productive society for the people of the province.
Goals
The Specific, long-term Goals that the Forum aims to realize are:
• Local community efforts harnessed through formal economic units organized to maximize the use of available economic opportunities and resources.
• Improved communication, understanding and cooperation between the Nyanza businesses community and the government;
• Significant increase in the ownership of the formal economy of Kisumu by the indigenous Nyanza population;
• Open and informed debate on the economic and social issues that are shaping the lives of the people of Nyanza.
Specific Strategic Pathways
Commerce
The Forum will study the business environment in Kenya and Nyanza and abroad and identify opportunities that its members could engage in and if possible also identify Investment money both foreign and local that its members could tap into. Members will be encouraged to install businesses in Kisumu and Nyanza as a whole in order to create wealth and employment. The businesses engagement could be through individual ownership or through joined corporate efforts depending on identified opportunities.
Philanthropy
Currently in Kenya, there are many philanthropic opportunities (e.g. Philanthropic Donor Money) channeled through non governmental and community based organizations that could help stem social or economic problems facing the people of Nyanza. This is an opportunity that is underexploited. The Nyanza Economic Forum will encourage enhanced engagement and stimulate the initiation of new initiatives addressing identified concerns and problems. Examples include: poverty, health, hunger, HIV/AIDS, low incomes, lack of empowerment, poor educational facilities, poor infrastructure and now displacement among others.
Supportive
If needed, where needed, and when needed, the Nyanza Economic Forum will solicit support (financial, material, food, etc) to channel to any of its members or the Nyanza Community as means of countering any adverse social or civil impact that any of is members may suffer from time to time.
Advisory
The strength of the Nyanza Economic Forum lies on the diversity of its membership in terms of professional knowledge, qualification, exposure and skills. The NEF will tap onto this rich resource and if need be source external support to enable it advice its membership on any business opportunities, investment financing or any relevant activity they may want to engage in, as a way of avoiding mistakes and ensuring success.
Outreach
Nyanza Economic Forum shall reach out to like minded individuals, business people and institutions committed to the objectives of the Forum and its members to achieve synergy and maximum productivity for its cause.
In order to achieve some of these strategic pathways, the Forum will devise mechanisms, delivery channels and means including but not limited to:
• organizing workshops, seminars and conferences for business leaders, youth, public servants and development workers to enhance the spirit of collaboration and encourage wide participation in the Nyanza renaissance;
• spearheading campaigns for the enactment of legislation and policies that encourage investment and growth of the Nyanza economy;
• identifying and promoting opportunities for productive investment in Nyanza;
• seeking willing partners and donors and enter into partnerships with members of the forum including inventors willing to support any activities proposed by the Forum or any of its members or affiliates.
The Forum will not itself engage in business activities, but will, instead, encourage individual and corporate initiative.
Our Strategy
At the core of the Nyanza Economic Forum is a network of people in the country and the diaspora who share ideas and engage in joint activities to place Nyanza on a path to sustainable economic development.
The Forum does not directly engage in business activities and instead nurtures and encourages individual, group and corporate initiatives that lead to the realization of its vision and mission. On our part we undertake to:
• organize forums to enhance collaboration and encourage wide participation in Nyanza’s economic activities;
• spearhead campaigns for policies that encourage investment and the economic growth of Nyanza; and
• identify and promote opportunities for productive investment in Nyanza;
What We Have Done so Far
We have initiated programmes to identify and promote opportunities for investment in Nyanza which will positively impact the greatest number of people living in Nyanza while offering competitive returns on investment. A number of business opportunities have been identified for members to participate in while others are under development.
Existing Investment Opportunities
• Agriculture and Agribusiness
To transform Nyanza’s agricultural economy from subsistence to cash, NEF fostered the formation of Nyanza Farms Ltd.,
Mango:
NFL has embarked on a programme recruit Nyanza residents to plant 1 – 10 million mango trees over the next four years to support an emerging processing industry which will also access export markets once the airport has been upgraded.
African Bird’s Eye Chilli:
NFL is promoting this as the short term cash crop alongside the long-term mango.
NEF members’ access:
• Technical support from NFL;
• Mango seedlings propagated by experts; and
• Quality assured chili seeds for its members.
 Micro Finance Institution
NEF is incubating the formation of a national Micro-Finance Institution under the proposed name of Integrity Finance. Driven by NEF members, the initiative seeks to nurture a savings and credit culture among the residents of Nyanza.
What We Aim to Achieve
We are in the process of identifying for promotion opportunities for investment in:
 A Private Fish Refrigeration Plant:
To facilitate structured buying and marketing of fish from Lake Victoria;
• Irrigated green houses:
To reduce dependence on rain fed agriculture across Nyanza; and
• An Out-Patient Diagnostic and Medical Centre in Kisumu:
To raise the standard of healthcare available in the region.
For these and any other opportunities NEF welcomes participation and/or proposals from within and outside its membership in all sectors of the economy including infrastructure, media and communication, energy, mines and mining, manufacturing, transportation, hospitality and entertainment, health, education, social development and consultancy etc.