Francis Itegi – the people person and face of EPZA’s Mombasa Office

EPZA is your trade and investment and Mr. Francis Itegi, the Ag. Head of Coast and North Eastern Region knows this too well, passionately walking this everyday talk while performing his duties. When it comes to aftercare and linkage support services to existing EPZ investors operating in the Coast Region and to the many others located in different EPZs countrywide encountering mainly logistical challenges, he is the go–to man. Mr. Itegi currently heads a team of nine at EPZA’s Mombasa office. He joined EPZA as a Security Supervisor in January 1994 during the reign of the Late Mr. Silas Ita, the Authority’s first Chief Executive Officer. For six years, his duty station was EPZ Athi River before his redeployment to the Coast region in January 2000 as a Liaison Assistant in the current Operations and Investment Support Directorate then, Operations Department rose to head the regional office. His day-to-day duties include receiving and meeting potential EPZ investors keen on setting up at the Coast as well as addressing investor logistical challenges been encountered with institutions such as Kenya Revenue Authority and Kenya Ports Authority. A people person, approachable and always ready to answer the numerous calls he receives from his colleagues based at EPZ Athi River, Mr. Itegi is a firm believer that employees are the best resource that any organisation and manager ought to maintain and treasure for prosperity and succession. Employing a laissez–faire leadership style is what makes him a team leader enabling the regional office to push through the daily grind while ensuring that all existing EPZ investors are well taken care of. Trending carefully in the shoes of his predecessor and mentor, Dr. Meshack Kimeu, PhD. the immediate former Ag. Chief Executive Officer of the Special Economic Zones Authority, Mr. Itegi notes that he was not only his supervisor but also a friend. He also believes in mentoring as it helps in development and learning, expands one’s network, gains opportunities and even improves one’s communication skills. “I would want to see EPZA rise to a world-class one-stop Investment Promotion Centre,” says Mr. Itegi.