Ruto says JPMorgan’s ‘bold’ decision to open Nairobi office sign of Kenya’s emerging success

President William Ruto on Tuesday praised the move by American multinational financial services firm, JPMorgan Chase, to set up regional offices in Nairobi.

Terming the decision as bold, Ruto said the company's entry into Kenya is a vote for the country’s emerging success in the global marketplace. He called it a sign of confidence in Kenya’s economy.

“The bold decision taken by J.P. Morgan — one of the world’s leading financial services firms — to set up a regional office in Nairobi is a vote for Kenya’s emerging success in the global marketplace,” the president said in a tweet.

Ruto met with JPMorgan Public Sector Group’s vice-chairman and global head, Daniel Zelikow, at State House, Nairobi, on Tuesday.

According to the Head of State, they discussed how to revise development financing to be more responsive to climate change.

“Held talks with Mr Daniel Zelikow, the vice-chairman and global head of J.P. Morgan Public Sector Group, and discussed the revision of development financing to be more responsive to climate change,” he wrote on Twitter after the meeting.

“We welcome the firm’s expertise in environmental risks that will help Kenya to sustainably confront the climate change crisis.”

Headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware, J.P. Morgan is the largest bank in the United States and the world's largest bank by market capitalisation.

The firm, whose history goes back to the 18th century, is named after American financier and investment banker John Pierpont Morgan Sr., who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street during the Gilded Era from the late 1870s to the late 1890s.

JPMorgan serves organisations, businesses and governments in more than 100 countries, and its entry to Kenya has taken years to pass because of several factors, key among them legal obstacles.

The bank’s CEO Jamie Dimon has previously said they intended to tap into the Africa by entering nations like Ghana and Kenya in 2018.

“You’ll see us open in some countries we are not in, in Africa you’ll be hearing about some of that stuff,” he told Bloomberg Television during the 2018 World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland.

JPMorgan Chase has offices in Nigeria and South Africa.