Kenya's trade pavilion in Japan attracts record 500,000 visitors

 Kenya Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka in Japan. [Courtesy]

The Kenya Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka in Japan has reached a key milestone, attracting over 500,000 visitors as of Thursday. This comes only two and a half months into the six-month global exposition, far outpacing previous records.

It highlights Kenya’s appeal on the international stage.

The Commissioner General of Kenya’s Pavilion and Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency (Keproba) Chief Executive Floice Mukabana said similar bilateral engagements have been slated for the trade and investment forum.

“We are excited for the trade and investment opportunities that are presenting themselves from the numerous visits. We have already received hundreds of confirmations for the Kenya-Japan High-Level Business Forum slated on June 23, 2025, and have lined up similar bilateral and multilateral engagements,” Mukabana said.

“We are also grateful to Amb Moi Lemoshira, who is our ambassador here in Japan, for his immense support of this process, especially through his team of staff at the embassy.”

The Kenya Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai (held in 2021-2022) recorded 523,000 visitors over its entire six-month duration, a figure partly impacted by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Our Osaka Pavilion has achieved this in only two and a half months, and we can’t wait to get to the one million mark soon,” stated Kenya Pavilion Director Charles Nguli.

Expo 2025 Osaka continues to attract significant global engagement, with the United Nations Pavilion, opened April 13, drawing large crowds to its “United for a Better Future” exhibit on the organisation’s 80-year history.

Major corporations like AXA and IHG Hotels and Resorts are also leveraging their participation. AXA is contributing to the France Pavilion, while IHG has notably expanded to 10 hotels across seven brands in Osaka, directly benefiting from the surge in expo visitors.

The current momentum suggests that the Kenya Pavilion is well on track to surpass the one million visitors mark well before the expo concludes in mid-October.

Kenya’s strategic participation in Expo 2025 Osaka, including high-level business forums and cultural celebrations like the ongoing “Kenya Week” (June 21-25, 2025), continues to draw significant attention.

The success achieved thus far underscores the effectiveness of Kenya’s branding and promotional efforts, setting a new benchmark for its representation at future global events