State Department for Investment Promotion Communications Strategy and Website to get facelift

The Department of Business Reforms and Transformation (DBRT) on Thursday July 17, 2025 convened a stakeholder’s consultative meeting on the development of a communication strategy and revamp of the State Department for Investment Promotion (SDIP) Website.

The meeting held at the SDIP Boardroom brought together members of the Technical Working Group, representatives from the State Department’s Agencies and consultants on the assignment. The objective was to review the consultants’ inception road-map and gather inputs into drafts of the communication strategy and the digital platform.

Opening the session, the Deputy Director at DBRT, Mr. Reuben Ng’eno presented DBRT’s core mandate emphasizing the importance of cross-sector collaboration in strengthening SDIP’s visibility and coherence in public messaging.

“This engagement provides a great opportunity to co-create practical communication solutions that will ultimately support our investment and reform agenda. Let’s make this a truly collaborative process,” he said.

The session was graced by Kibisu Kabatesi, EBS, the Communications Specialist for the Kenya Jobs and Economic Transformation (KJET) Project under SDIP, who welcomed the initiative, terming it long overdue and timely.

“There’s common sense in working together across departmental fences. This is what the Whole-of-Government approach is all about”, he remarked.

Offering insights on the proposed road-map to the SDIP Communications Strategy, Kabatesi called for a deeper interrogation of the Government’s public communication messaging landscape and its impact on investment promotion on issues such as perceptions of integrity in public service and how these may influence investor confidence.

The Specialist advised that the communications strategy should address how to mitigate conflicting communication across government that negate the uniformity of the investment promotion message. He recommended that the strategy propose ways to enhance coherence and coordination in messaging investments promotion.

“The SDIP Website should be an active must-go-to source of the only truth platform for those in government intending to speak on investments promotion. Hence the Website should be easily accessible with ready-to-disseminate information links”, Kabatesi said.

He further emphasized the importance of grounding the communication strategy in existing institutional frameworks, specifically reference to SDIP’s Strategic Plan. He underscored the need for constant data reviews and iteration throughout the consultancy period; and a robust inclusive situational analysis that incorporates perspectives from implementing agencies and stakeholders across the investment ecosystem.

“The situational analysis must not ignore implementing agencies and key stakeholders. It should be grounded in the reality of those driving the investment narrative on the ground,” he noted adding that the final strategy should not only improve visibility but also reflect and support Kenya’s investment competitiveness.

The Oxygen consultants presented the proposed road-map for the website revamp, highlighting issues around user experience, navigation structure and international audience targeting. Key focus areas included enhancing discoverability, improving load speed; ensuring legal and privacy compliance, tracking analytics and user engagement and aligning with accessibility standards such as the European Accessibility Act.

On the basis of the situational analysis and stakeholder deliberations, the meeting proposed a full redesign of the department’s website, rather than a simple revamp, to address structural limitations and user needs.

On content, benchmark examples from Singapore, Ireland and the UAE were shared to illustrate best practices in digital storytelling, sector-specific targeting, multi-lingual content and consistent cross-platform communication. The meeting proposed incorporating real-time investor journeys, county-level investment stories and SDIP-related achievements into the content structure.

Discussions around SDIP’s social media presence revealed the need for more frequent updates, consistent content generation and the optimal use of all available platforms. Kabatesi recommended the establishment of a fully-fledged in-house audio-visual and print production studio, equipped with modern tools and skilled personnel to support real-time content creation. He further proposed the development of a Management Information System (MIS) for SDIP to help centralize cross-government and automate investment promotion content workflows.

“Investment promotion is a full- and real-time, complex and engaging undertaking and can’t be a ticking-the-clock past-time. It is investment that will provide jobs for the youth bulge. It must be elevated into a national clarion,” said Kabatesi adding:

“There’s a need to train staff on social media management, repackaging content for different platforms and ensuring that real-time updates are clear, engaging and purposeful.”

He encouraged the communications teams in SDIP to shift from the personality mode of focusing on individual visibility, to highlighting departmental projects and collective outcomes, noting that this would better reflect SDIP’s mandate and value proposition.

The Communications Specialist thanked DBRT for the invitation, terming the session “an eye-opener.” He reaffirmed his support for the process and expressed hope that the outcomes would lead to meaningful transformation in how SDIP engages the public and prospective investors.

Mr. Ng’eno, while closing the meeting, appreciated all participants for their insights and commitment to the process.

“Your feedback today has been rich and deeply appreciated. It gives us confidence that we are on the right path. We look forward to the next steps with energy and a renewed sense of purpose,” he said.

“The optimism and a strong sense of collaboration displayed shows we are eager to see the strategy take shape and bring visibility, clarity and coherence to the investment promotion efforts under SDIP,” he concluded.