Regions to get special economic zones

Trade, Industrialization and Co-operatives CS Peter Munya addresses media during a tour at East African Breweries Limited (EABL) in Kisumu. [Denish Ochieng/Standard]

The Government plans to set up five new special economic zones (SEZs) to fuel industrialisation.

Trade and Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya yesterday said the Government had sought funds from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to raise the country’s level of industrialisation from the current nine per cent to 50 per cent.

Speaking when he toured the Sh15 billion Kenya Breweries Ltd (KBL) plant in Kisumu yesterday, Munya said strategically placed areas had been identified for the establishment of the SEZs.

Kisumu has been selected as a potential gateway to the regional market while Mombasa has been linked to the international market. Other areas include Athi River, Nakuru, Narok, Isiolo and Machakos, although some of them would host light industries to support the main zones.

“We want to identify specific value chains whose commercialisation we will support to drive the industrialisation agenda,” Mr Munya said.

He singled out sorghum and cotton farming and leather processing as some of the new ventures the Government would pursue under the new plan. 

The CS said the introduction of biotechnology (BT) cotton had advanced and once approved, it would help revive the country’s struggling textile industry, with collapsed ginneries set to be revived. Munya lauded KBL’s new plant as a potential economic game-changer for the region.

He said this year would see billions of shillings sunk into repositioning Kisumu as a regional economic hub, with most of the efforts geared to attracting investors in line with the Big Four agenda. “Kisumu was once a vibrant textile and maritime hub and the Government is working towards restoring its waning glory,” said Munya.

He cited the dredging of Lake Victoria and removal of water hyacinth commissioned by the African Union envoy on Infrastructure, Raila Odinga, as one of the indicators that the Government was keen on leveraging Kisumu as a trade corridor.