Jua Kali sector is big business, ignore it at your own peril

In 2012, the Government promised it would ensure the Jua Kali sector receives attention and financial inclusion like other sectors heavily contributing to development in the country’s industrialisation process. For Kenya, the Jua Kali traders are a sure way of laying a strong foundation for industrialisation from within as opposed to imported industrialisation, which could very easily create more jobs and wealth abroad than at home.

Kenya’s 2014 Economic Survey indicated 80 per cent of the 800,000 jobs created in 2014 were in the informal and/or Jua Kali sector that is dominated by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Some studies show that four out of five working Kenyans are in the informal sector. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) supported the Economic Survey report by stating that SMEs absorb up to 50 per cent of new non-farm employment seekers and have an employment growth rate of 12-14 per cent annually.