ICC Kenya has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Union InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), deepening its role in connecting private sector actors to investment opportunities across Africa’s animal resources sector.
The partnership positions ICC Kenya to help unlock the economic potential of livestock, fisheries, aquaculture, and pastoral value chains by strengthening collaboration between public institutions and private enterprise. Under the MoU, ICC Kenya and AU-IBAR will work together to mobilize investment, facilitate business partnerships, advance policy dialogue, and build stronger market linkages — with an initial focus on Kenya and the wider East African region.
ICC Kenya’s role in the partnership
ICC Kenya Chair Julius Opio welcomed the agreement, pointing to the growing interest among businesses and investors in Africa’s agri-food systems. He noted that agriculture and food systems are drawing increasing attention from domestic and international investors alike, given their potential to drive economic growth, create jobs, improve food security, and generate sustainable returns.
“ICC Kenya’s extensive business network and expertise in facilitating private sector engagement will significantly contribute to connecting investors, enterprises, financial institutions, and market actors with commercially viable opportunities in animal resources sector,” said Mr.Julius Opio.
This is where ICC Kenya’s value add comes in: leveraging its business network and track record in private sector facilitation to link investors, enterprises, financial institutions, and other market actors to commercially viable opportunities in the sector.
Why the partnership matters
AU-IBAR Director Dr. Huyam Salih, speaking at the signing ceremony, underscored the transformative role the private sector must play in sustaining and modernizing Africa’s animal resources sector. She noted that long-term growth and resilience across livestock and other animal resource value chains will depend on greater private sector participation, innovative financing, and the crowding-in of capital and strategic investment.
Dr. Salih also pointed to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a major opportunity for expanding intra-African trade in livestock and livestock products, and stressed the need to position African producers, processors, and traders to benefit from emerging regional markets while strengthening competitiveness, market access, and value addition.
Areas of collaboration
Through this MoU, ICC Kenya and AU-IBAR will collaborate on:
- Mobilizing private sector actors and strengthening market linkages within livestock, fisheries, aquaculture, and pastoral value chains
- Promoting investment opportunities and facilitating partnerships between businesses, investors, and development partners
- Supporting business advocacy and policy dialogue to improve the enabling environment for animal resource enterprises
- Enhancing communication, knowledge sharing, and visibility of investment opportunities across the sector
- Coordinating joint initiatives that contribute to sustainable animal resource development
Tracking progress
To ensure accountability and measurable impact, ICC Kenya and AU-IBAR have agreed to a structured quarterly monitoring mechanism involving technical teams from both organizations. These reviews will assess progress against agreed activities, flag emerging opportunities and challenges, and keep the partnership responsive to the evolving needs of the sector.
Looking ahead
Through this partnership, ICC Kenya continues to advance public-private collaboration that increases investment flows into animal resources value chains and supports Africa’s broader goals of economic transformation, food security, job creation, and regional integration under the AfCFTA. It reflects ICC Kenya’s ongoing commitment to positioning the private sector at the center of unlocking the continent’s agri-food and animal resources potential.
