Leaders who attended the meeting ahead of the Western Region Caips ConferenceThe government is engaging both state and non-state actors in developing a pathway to operationalization of the County Aggregation and Industrial Parks (CAIPs).
This is among the initiatives that the state is looking to drive investments towards the parks.
Ministry of Trade, Investment and Industry Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui said there will be an integration of CAIPs with a warehouse receipt system to ensure that better pricing and global competitiveness through value chain mapping.
“This is a clear indicator of missed opportunities in local manufacturing. We have a lot of wastage that if only tapped will bridge the huge poverty gap and unemployment that we cry about,” he said.
The CS presided over a strategic breakfast meeting ahead of the Western Region CAIPS Conference slated for later this year.
The event brought together key national and county leaders, development partners, private sector players, and farmer organizations. In attendance were Governors Fernandes Barasa (Kakamega) and Dr. Paul Otuoma (Busia), alongside Principal Secretaries Dr. Juma Mukhwana (Industry) and Hassan Abubakar (Investment).
The Western Kenya Investment Conference has been rescheduled to take place in the first quarter of the upcoming financial year, with organizers confirming the event will be held between July and September 2025.
As part of the conference agenda, counties in the Western region will be profiled to showcase investment opportunities in their top three value chains, with official launches set to take place during the event.
In preparation, a joint technical team will be established, bringing together officials from both national and county governments.
The team will include County Executive Committee members (CECs) and Chief Officers from the five counties in the Western region. They will collaborate with the State Department for Industrialisation, Kenya Development Corporation (KDC), and other relevant state agencies.
Meanwhile, the necessary support mechanisms for the operationalisation of the initiative are currently underway to ensure a successful rollout of the conference's objectives.
To attract more investors, the government plans to reduce the risk that is financing by offering concessionary loans and supporting value-adding enterprises.
Governors Barasa and Otuoma emphasized the Western region's untapped agricultural potential, noting that it was time for locals to exploit other crops beyond the traditional sugarcane crop.
“Nearly everything grows in Western Kenya, but we haven’t exploited this. We are now looking into growing over 40,000 acres of cotton in Busia. Already, the 1,000-acre complex in Naseo is evidence enough that the County is ready for investment, beyond the CAIP,” noted Governor Otuoma.
Investment PS Hassan Abubakar noted that CAIPs were being aligned with warehousing receipt systems to ease access to financing. This supported by policy reforms including a County Licensing Act and a County Competitive Index, were a way of spurring investment and preparing the counties for operationalization of the CAIPs.
KDC Managing Director, Norah Ratemo, added that concessional loans and de-risking mechanisms were being developed to support cooperatives, farmers, and manufacturers investing in CAIPs.
The stakeholders also felt the need to liberalise the energy sector, investing in green power solutions, and offering tax incentives to investors, as a way of reducing the now high cost of production.
These, backed up by strong policy backing and cross-sectoral collaboration, they said will catalyze sustainable development, reduce imports, and create thousands of jobs across the counties.
