( CNN ) -- Not long ago , attending international oil and gas conferences , East Africa was the graveyard session . All the smart money was on the Gulf of Guinea and I and a few other analysts would sit through almost empty sessions more out of courtesy than curiosity . No longer , East Africa is the new oil and gas frontier , and the meetings are packed . Three statements released in March by international oil and gas companies prospecting in Eastern Africa demonstrate this - a fourth impressive gas find in Tanzania by BG Group and London-listed Ophir Energy saw their shares soar . Italian energy company ENI also announced new gas reserves in Mozambique , and Anglo-Irish Tullow Oil , announced an oil discovery in Kenya , that `` is beyond our expectations and bodes well for the material programme ahead of us . '' How times have changed . Kenya 's President Mwai Kibaki , could n't contain his excitement on 26 March and interrupted a scheduled speech to announce the find by Tullow in the country 's north-western Turkana region . You could feel his relief as he called it a `` major breakthrough '' . Ever since independence Kenyans officials have been wondering why their geology has been less generous than others , and in recent years the pressure has been on , gold , Tanzanite and now significant gas finds in Tanzania and oil in Uganda . Read more : Oil discovered in Kenya . Kenya has a strong agribusiness base , exporting tea , coffee , flowers and vegetables . It also enjoys a major tourism industry and Nairobi is a regional hub , providing financial and other services and is a continent leader on telephone banking . If significant oil reserves are found , this could be transformative for its economy . It will also embolden Kenya , that has ambitions to become a leading regional power , but as a columnist in Kenya 's Business Daily wrote , 'Kenya 's economic and diplomatic clout had largely suffered from a lack of known natural resources that are of strategic importance to the rest of the world ' . Kenya 's politicians will need to keep a close eye on this , as regional co-operation within the East African Community rather than head-on competition makes better economic sense . Kenya has already been positioning itself to develop regional oil facilities for exports of oil from Uganda and South Sudan . Work started in March on building a huge deep-water port in Lamu , to service a pipeline across northern Kenya to connect to the port . The West sees Kenya as a regional anchor state although its reputation as a stable democracy , took a knocking with the surge of violence that followed the presidential elections in 2008 . New presidential elections are scheduled late 2012 or 2013 , and oil will additionally raise anticipation of the spoils of billions of future oil dollars for the victorious . The stakes in these elections have just risen , and the resilience of Kenya 's institutions to ensure a fair election , but also its politicians to gracefully accept defeat is critical . President Kibaki , himself will not be running and has a golden opportunity to secure his legacy by working tirelessly to ensure credible and peaceful elections take place . See also : Ghana 's oil discovery : blessing or curse ? The greatest worry about oil finds in Kenya is that oil money might further blight an already corrupted political class that many Kenyans complain about . Kenya has a poor reputation for corruption , especially by its political class . A former anti-corruption tsar , John Gitongo fled the country in 2005 , fearing for his life and lived in exile in Britain . He returned to Kenya in 2008 and has set up Kenya Ni Yetu ( Kenya is Ours ) , a campaign aimed at mobilizing ordinary people to speak up against corruption , impunity and injustice . If Kenya is to effectively benefit from oil , and avoid the resource curse that many other oil producers have experienced it needs to learn from the mistakes of others . The lessons are clear , strengthen independent institutions and oversight ; publish all the taxes and royalties from oil ; do not rush into prestige projects and extravagant consumption and do n't neglect creating meaningful employment for Kenyans . Kenyans need jobs , but the oil industry itself never employs many . The key is to use any oil funds , to build up a competitive economy - Kenya 's luck is that it already has a successful base from which to build from . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Alex Vines .
John Gitongo , an expert on Eastern Africa says Kenya is becoming the new oil and gas frontier . The author suggests the discovery of oil in East Africa adds complexity to the upcoming presidential election . He says many worry that the oil money may further blight an already corrupted political class in Kenya . Using oil funds to build up a competitive economy is the key to avoid a resource curse , concludes East Africa .