Kenya’s Investment Promotion Apparatus Explained: SDIP, KenInvest, and What Actually Helps a Foreign Investor

Foreign investors researching Kenya online usually land on two different government websites within the first few searches: investmentpromotion.go.ke and investkenya.go.ke. Both use the language of investment promotion, both claim to help investors, and neither site makes it obvious which one an investor should actually contact. That confusion is real, not a failure of research on the investor’s part, and it is exactly the kind of gap a foreign investor should resolve before wasting time at the wrong front door. This article sets out what each body actually is, what it can and cannot do for you, and who to contact for each concrete step of setting up in Kenya.

KenInvest Is the Statutory Body You Actually Deal With

The Kenya Investment Authority, commonly known as KenInvest, was established under the Investment Promotion Act, No. 6 of 2004, as a body corporate, meaning it is a distinct legal entity that can hold property, contract, sue, and be sued in its own name. That legal status matters practically: KenInvest is the body an investor actually transacts with, not merely a policy office.

KenInvest’s statutory functions include promoting and facilitating investment in Kenya, issuing investment certificates, assisting investors in obtaining the licences and permits they need, helping secure available tax and customs incentives, and providing aftercare services to investors once they are operating. An investment certificate carries real entitlements: the holder is legally entitled to the licences listed in the Act’s Second Schedule, deemed issued within twelve months if not formally granted, and to a set number of expatriate entry permits for management, technical staff, and owners or shareholders.

SDIP Is a Ministry Department, Not an Agency You Apply To

The State Department for Investment Promotion, SDIP, is not a separate legal entity in the way KenInvest is. It is a State Department within the Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry, created by Executive Order in January 2023 when the former single ministry was split into three State Departments covering Investment Promotion, Trade, and Industry. SDIP’s own published role description is policy, not service delivery: it handles investment policy and strategy, business-climate reform, and coordination across government, while the parastatals under its umbrella, KenInvest among them, along with the Export Processing Zones Authority, the Special Economic Zones Authority, and the Kenya Development Corporation, deliver the operational services investors actually use.

The practical upshot is straightforward once stated plainly, even though no single government circular spells it out in one sentence: SDIP sets policy and oversees its agencies; KenInvest is the operational body an investor actually deals with for certificates, licence facilitation, and aftercare.

Who to Contact for What

Even within KenInvest’s remit, it is worth being precise about where its authority ends. KenInvest issues investment certificates and coordinates a One Stop Shop that co-locates officers from other agencies, but for most individual approvals the issuing authority remains with the relevant sector regulator, not KenInvest itself.

An investment certificate is issued by KenInvest directly. Company and business registration is handled by the Business Registration Service, coordinated through KenInvest’s One Stop Shop. Work permits are issued by the Directorate of Immigration Services, with an immigration officer co-located at the One Stop Shop to speed up processing, but the permit itself is not KenInvest’s to grant. Tax registration and compliance sit with the Kenya Revenue Authority. Environmental licensing sits with the National Environment Management Authority. Utility connections are coordinated through the One Stop Shop but issued by Kenya Power. Land is a matter for county government registries, since land administration is devolved under the Constitution, and neither KenInvest nor SDIP has authority over it beyond referral and coordination, a point worth flagging because investors often assume a national investment authority can help directly with land and it cannot.

A Merger Is Coming

Kenya’s investment-promotion architecture is currently mid-reorganisation, and it is worth knowing this before treating today’s structure as settled. The Investment and Export Promotion Authority Bill, 2026, currently before Parliament’s Departmental Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, proposes merging KenInvest with the Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency into a single new statutory authority, alongside a new Investment Committee intended to fast-track approvals. Separately, the Kenya Economic Zones Bill proposes merging the Export Processing Zones Authority and the Special Economic Zones Authority into one Kenya Economic Zones Authority. Neither bill is law yet, and both should be treated as proposals rather than the current legal position, but an investor structuring a multi-year project should factor in that the institutional map described in this article may change materially within its planning horizon.