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The health profile of the Kuwaiti population has changed significantly in the past several decades. Kuwaiti citizens, who account for around 30% of the population of just over 4.2m, have become more prone to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). While deaths from infectious diseases are posing less and less of a threat, NCDs – the four main categories of which are heart disease, cancers, diabetes and upper respiratory diseases – accounted for 72% of deaths in Kuwait in 2015, according to the World Bank. In the coming years the government will aim to address the increasing prevalence of NCDs, which are also associated with rising health care costs. Efforts to reduce public health care expenditures will also require a shift in the financing of care for the large expatriate population, and solutions for this challenge are now being formulated.

Kuwait and the wider Gulf have some of the youngest populations in the world, with one-third of the GCC’s population expected to be under the age of 25 by 2030. As such, ensuring that Kuwaiti youth are equipped with the skills to compete in the global marketplace has become one of the government’s main priorities. This is laid out in New Kuwait 2035, a bold government development plan prioritising education reform and investment, among other policy pillars. The downturn in global oil prices, following the commodity’s high of $111.48 per barrel in June 2014, prompted GCC governments to cut or freeze spending, intensifying pressure for private sector involvement in sectors dominated by public actors. Recognising this, the Kuwaiti government has taken concerted steps to facilitate private investment in schooling, developing build-operate-transfer agreements, public-private partnerships and technical cooperation programmes aimed at improving school curricula, teaching and management.

This chapter contains an overview of the legal framework in which local and international investors operate in Kuwait, including a look at the incentives available for qualifying overseas investors and the changes to intellectual property protection framework. This chapter contains a viewpoint Alex Saleh, Partner, Al Tamimi & Co.

Transport and logistics are at the core of Kenya’s economic narrative due to the country’s role as a trans-shipment hub for goods moving to landlocked countries in East and Central Africa. The Port of Mombasa is located on international container routes, serving as a well-integrated landing port for regional shipping networks, while land connectivity has also become a major focus, with a number of large-scale projects undertaken to link regional countries with the global market. However, while the authorities need to address the high cost of large-scale infrastructure projects if it is to continue successfully procuring funding, developments currently under way mean Kenya is well situated to become a major transport hub in East Africa. This chapter contains an interview with Silvester Kasuku, Director-General and CEO, Lamu Port Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor.