Kenya tackles water scarcity, high power cost for manufacturing growth

01 Jul '24

1 min read

Kenya tackles water scarcity, high power cost for manufacturing growth

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Kenya is addressing water scarcity and high cost of power to achieve the projected 15-per cent growth in the manufacturing sector by 2025 and 30 per cent growth by 2028, a top government official has said.
Export processing zones would benefit from the Northern Water Collector project and subsidised power and value addition in apparel will be a key focus.

Kenya’s ministry of trade, industry and investments is addressing water scarcity and high cost of power to achieve the projected 15-per cent growth in the manufacturing sector by 2025 and 30 per cent growth by 2028, cabinet secretary in charge of the ministry Rebecca Miano recently said.

Export processing zones (EPZs) would benefit from the Northern Water Collector project and subsidised power, she said the EPZ Investors Forum at Athi River in Machakos county recently.

The World Bank-funded Northern Collector Tunnel project is derived from Nairobi Water Master Plan for Developing New Water Sources for Nairobi and 13 satellite towns.

The EPZ-based apparel sector has seen significant growth in the last year, she was cited as saying by domestic media reports. EPZs exported apparel worth Ksh 146.4 billion last year.

Value addition in domestic apparel products will be a major focus, she said.

The ministry is negotiating for four market access in regional markets: the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, the East African Community (EAC), The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the proposed Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA).

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