Moving target: Why Kenya's dream of industrialising keeps being deferred

Investments and Trade CS Lee Kinyanjui during the KCB Power Talk series on the economic outlook. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

This week, government leaders, policymakers, investors and delegates have gathered at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) for the Kenya Industrialisation Summit 2026.  This is the 4th such Summit since 2021.  The first Summit focused on the Jubilee administration’s “Big Four Agenda”  while pushing the official “Buy Kenya, Build Kenya” mantra of the time.  The current Kenya Kwanza administration then hosted the second and third summits in late 2023 and 2025, respectively. 

In these summits, the focus expanded to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), value chain prioritisation and infrastructure support, digitalization/AI integration and green industrialisation.  This year’s summit elevates the industrialisation agenda from designs and plans to financing and markets.