Kenyans should opt to buy locally manufactured products in a bid to boost the country’s industrialization.
This is the call from the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) as it launches the fifth edition of a trade show aimed at showcasing the quality of locally manufactured products and services.
The double-set expo will run for five days from November first and four days from December first this year at KICC Nairobi and Aga Khan Mall Kisumu respectively.
Dubbed ‘Changamka Shopping Festival’, the show aims to encourage local manufacturers to streamline their production with competition-based quality demands.
The summit will feature exhibitors from various manufacturing sectors, including food and beverage, textiles and apparel, metal and allied, energy and plastic.
Fresh Produce, chemical and allied, automotive, paper and Paperboard, leather and footwear sectors will also be on display.
Nevertheless, the summit seeks to celebrate the sector’s ingenuity and promote the Buy Kenya Build Kenya initiative.
A strategy that has been echoed by the new government in its mandate to enhance independent sustainability through production and manufacturing.
Speaking during the launch, KAM Chairman, Rajan Shah called for support from the government and other stakeholders in promoting the initiative which will provide Kenyans with a platform to purchase goods at discounted rates.
“For the manufacturing sector to grow, access to local, regional, and international markets is crucial. The festival is part of the initiatives to drive the country’s economic growth and increase the consumption of locally manufactured goods,” Shah said.
He added that the shopping will help dismantle the long-held belief that local goods are not of high quality and reduce over-reliance on imports.
The country is currently faced with a huge trade deficit from higher imports even as it grapples with the high cost of living on the back of inflation.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the country's trade deficit increased to Sh174 billion during this year’s second quarter, from Sh158 billion in the same period last year.
KAM also noted the need to improve the sector’s contribution of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), terming the initiative as the right step towards the goal.
Despite the country being the most industrially developed in East Africa, the sector according to KNBS’s 2022 economic survey, accounted for 7.2 per cent of GDP in 2021.
This was a drop from the previous year record of eight per cent.
The outgoing Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development, Betty Maina, reiterated the government’s commitment to continue prioritising manufacturing as a key sector for sustainable economic growth and job creation.
“The Buy Kenya Build Kenya initiative will ensure sustainable consumption of locally manufactured goods and create public confidence in locally manufactured goods and services,” Maina said.
She added that there is a need to shorten supply chains and increase the intensity of local manufacturing, to meet both local and international market demands as market competitiveness is enhanced.
