Counties have been asked to improve more in feeder roads in what investors say will help boost development and tourism. The roads are the biggest turnoff to any major development being put up in the counties, investors who want to set up structures in the counties have complained. Speaking at a women investors’ forum in Kisumu on Thursday, the investors said that they were willing to invest in the counties but the lack of feeder roads had kept most of them away. “As it is, it is very difficult to build anything of serious investment because the roads are really bad,” Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) board member Grace Akumu said. She said that counties will only develop if the roads that connect investment zones and the cities are kept in good condition. Akumu said the counties should zone out development areas so that investors can have choices. “Investors need to know what the county governments are doing so that they can plan how to cooperate with the developers,” she said. The chairperson of the Kenya county tourist executives Dr Rose Kisia said that the counties have seen high demand for high-end houses since devolution was rolled out in March 2013. “High end houses development in Kisumu are now in high demand, and so is the situation in the other counties that are now setting up,” Kisia, who is also the Kisumu county trade and tourism executive, said.

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