CS Miano says government has disbursed Sh1.13bn for counties' Industrial parks

Trade Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano has said that the government has disbursed Sh1.125 billion to 18 counties for the Counties' Aggregation and Industrial Parks Programme. [Edwin Nyarangi, Standard]

Trade Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano has said the government has disbursed Sh1.13 billion to 18 counties with each receiving Sh62.5 million to expedite the implementation of Counties Aggregation and Industrial Parks.

Miano who was speaking during a meeting with the Council of Governors in Nairobi to review the progress of the project said that it has been noted that some of the counties are still below 5 per cent in the construction progress with discussions currently ongoing to resolve pending issues.

She said that to fast-track the process, her ministry has already developed proposals for Expressions of Interest in several areas, including County Aggregation and Industrial Parks management, equipping to promote value addition of local agricultural and industrial resources.

“My Ministry has developed proposals for expression of interest in constructing additional industrial warehouses and supportive infrastructure and encouraging industrial investment in aggregation, value addition, manufacturing, branding, packaging, labelling, and logistics,” said Miano.

She said the development and implementation of the Counties Aggregation and Industrial Parks project is on a 50/50 basis between the National and County Governments affirming that the manufacturing sector is crucial for economic development, employment creation and generating new value-added products that increase foreign exchange.

The Cabinet Secretary noted that the manufacturing sector’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product has stagnated at around 7 per cent and despite Kenya being an agriculture-led economy, the export value added of agricultural and livestock products remains at only 16 per cent.

Miano said that the Parks will propel the manufacturing sector through agro-processing industries, create employment opportunities for the youth, strengthen linkages between manufacturing and agriculture, enhance the volume of value-added products, boost farmers' incomes, increase foreign exchange and reduce post-harvest losses for Kenyans.

“The County Aggregation and Industrial Parks serve as a model for integrated industrial development, providing infrastructure services and a business-friendly environment aimed at attracting investors and fostering local industry growth,” said Miano.

She said this will be done by transforming the agriculture sector and supporting Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as outlined in the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) as per the Kenya Kwanza Administration agenda.