Jack Ma’s team of Chinese billionaires arrives in Kenya to hunt for deals

JACK MA, ALIBABA FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

Jack Ma’s team of Chinese billionaires arrives in Kenya to hunt for deals

• Mr Ma, who is currently Asia’s richest man with a fortune of nearly $30 billion (Sh3.11 trillion or nearly half of Kenya’s economic output), is accompanied by a large delegation of super-rich Chinese.
• In the entourage are China’s richest billionaires among them Internet tycoon Bob Xu, Alibaba’s founding partner Lucy Peng, founder and chairman of Mengniu Dairy Niu Gensheng and real estate tycoon Huang Youlong.
• The 38 men and women, from the Beijing Chamber of Commerce, will be looking to cut multi-billion shilling deals with the government and local businessmen.
• Mr Ma is this afternoon expected to address 500 young business leaders at the University of Nairobi and meet business leaders.
• A champion of global trade, Mr Ma has been urging developing countries to use e-commerce to bolster their economies, instead of creating regulations and taxes that could kill the emerging sector.