GES 2015 was Kenya's moment of glory

Nairobi: Since it was launched in 2009, President Barack Obama has held the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in the US, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Morocco. It is an organisation that has emerged as a major global platform; connecting emerging entrepreneurs with leaders of businesses, international organisations and governments.

It is a particularly important enterprise in emerging markets because of the enormous role that entrepreneurs play in the creation of jobs, economic development and social mobility.

Most importantly, the Global Entrepreneurship Summit serves to place enterprise at the top of the news agenda in countries that desperately need to support entrepreneurs and promote the concept of entrepreneurship. So why did Mr Obama choose Kenya as host – a country that already has a strong enterprise culture?

One of the ways in which Kenya stands apart from its peers is its economic model and its relationship to natural resources. The nation's economic success does not rest on extractive industries – it has a much heavier reliance on small business owners and a diverse domestic marketplace. This means that unlike some neighbouring countries, Kenya is much better insulated from global economic storms.

Recent economic performance (forecast to be 6.5 per cent in 2015) illustrates how an organically grown domestic market can still foster growth during a slump in oil prices – a point that is not lost on the leaders of countries such as Angola and Nigeria. Kenya is, therefore, a superb African example of how important it is to have a strong domestic economy.

Kenya's diverse economy has given it such strong foundations that in March, it was listed as the third fastest growing economy in the world in a Bloomberg business survey of leading economists. And in the February edition of Forbes Africa, eight of its top 30 African entrepreneurs were Kenyan. Put simply, Kenya is getting it right when it comes to achieving economic growth by fostering entrepreneurship.

The enormous contribution that those eight individuals in the Forbes Africa list make to society deserves to be noted. Since its launch in 2013, a new outdoor advertising company called Tria Group; founded by Trushar Khetia, has generated annual revenues exceeding $1.3 million. Hasnain Noorania, a 32-year-old Kenyan entrepreneur, expanded his father's small driving school business to become a national hospitality group of hotels, bakeries, restaurants and a tour company.

 These entrepreneurs and many more like them are creating new jobs, improving social mobility, contributing considerable tax receipts and adding breadth to the domestic marketplace. Kenya is a great model of entrepreneurial success.

There are many reasons why entrepreneurs do well in Kenya. Some are accidental – such as its geographic location. As the most advanced economy on the eastern seaboard, Kenyan entrepreneurs have access to a global audience.

They are much closer to emerging markets in the Middle East and Asia – which also explains why so many multinationals choose Nairobi as their African headquarters. Giants such as Dow Chemicals, General Electric, MasterCard and Wrigley's rightly view Kenya as the geographical bridge between the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Geography, however, would be meaningless without infrastructure and political support.

For a long time, Kenya has been considered the primary hub for business in East Africa; the commercial nerve centre of the country with strong trade links with Asia and the Middle East. And with one of the highest levels of adult literacy (87 per cent), it has a young and capable population that is well equipped to take advantage of pro-enterprise government policy. And when it comes to supporting budding entrepreneurs, Kenya has a record it can be proud of.

There are many organisations – government and non-governmental – that promote enterprise, including programmes geared towards female entrepreneurship. The Kenya Entrepreneurship Empowerment Foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to poverty eradication among marginalised groups. Its two biggest programmes are its Women Entrepreneurship Empowerment Programme and Youth Enterprise Development Programme; supporting micro enterprises set up by women and young people.

Balloon Kenya is an organisation that brings successful entrepreneurs from around the world to Kenya where they volunteer to work with budding Kenyan entrepreneurs, helping them to refine their business ideas and in some cases providing financial assistance. President Uhuru Kenyatta unveiled a raft of new legislative frameworks giving young entrepreneurs access to State grants.

These are in addition to a range of existing incentives such as investment allowances, import and export incentive schemes, free operating premises and economic free zones. There are also training schemes such as the Jitihada National Business Plan Competition from the Ministry of Industrialisation, which is supported by the World Bank.

 When President Obama addressed the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi, he did it in a country that has already shown entrepreneurship has the power to transform a national economy.