Siaya County plans parallel investment conference during Obama Visit

Siaya County Government has lined up a series of activities for its residents that will run concurrently with the Global Entrepreneurship Summit which take place on Saturday and Sunday in Nairobi.

The activities include: Tourism and Cultural Expo, Obama 7s Rugby Tournament, Lake Kanyaboli Half Marathon and an investment conference.

“We knew he was coming for a conference which will take place in Nairobi, but not everybody can travel to the capital from Siaya. So we organised these activities to enable Siaya residents and visitors interact with the county,” said Joseph Ogutu, Siaya County’s Tourism and ICT Chief Officer.

Despite the announcement that the American president will not visit Nyanza, the county executive said they would be happy to host him.

“When Obama comes to Kenya, he is already home; he doesn’t have to reach Siaya. We however will be happy to host him down here,” added Ogutu.

The county government said the events, which will run from Thursday to Sunday, would help keep the residents engaged when the U.S President will be in the country.

Ogutu said that though the activities were initially meant to welcome Obama, they will be used to profile Siaya as a county that is open to investment, sports, development and tourism.

The events, according to the county tourism boss, are scheduled to proceed whether Obama visits Siaya or not

He added that the county government allocated Sh10 million to planning of the events, and that each activity would use approximately Sh2.5 million.