Kenya has opened two Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for investment by the private sector, as it seeks to grow the country’s industry and export.
The Special Economic Zones Authority (SEZA) has put up Mombasa and Naivasha SEZs for private sector investment, with allocations expected to commence in April.
Dongo Kundu is offering 3,000 acres while Naivasha is a 1,000-acre zone, open for long-term leases to local and foreign investors.
The Mombasa facility is near the port, the Moi International Airport and the SGR Mombasa terminus.
According to the authority, Dongo Kundu provides investment opportunities in agro-processing, cotton, textile and apparels, pharmaceuticals, automotive manufacturing and assembly, and blue economy related businesses.
Water desalination and service provision, green energy and renewables, heavy metal and steel and petrochemicals investments are also viable investments at Dongo Kundu.
With its proximity to the port, where at least three berths will be developed, Dongo Kundu automatically offers transport and logistics investment opportunities, warehousing, oil and gas, cargo bulk-breaking and consolidation and business support.
“Interested firms will be required to lease land for the construction of industrial warehousing or factories on a long-term lease and invest in on-site infrastructure,” the authority notes.
The government is fronting Naivasha SEZs as ideal for cotton, textile and apparels, paper and paper products, green energy and iron and steel industrial activities.
It has proximity to the Naivasha Inland Container Depot (ICD) and geothermal power sources.
SEZ come with incentives manly taxes where the supply of goods or taxable services is perpetually VAT exempt.
Investors will also pay corporate tax at 10 per cent for the first 10 years after the start of operation, 15 per cent for the next 10 years before the 30 per cent for the subsequent years.
They will also enjoy perpetual exemption from stamp duty on any executing documents on instruments relating to the business activities of SEZ enterprises, developers, and operators.
Excise Duty is perpetually exempt and are also exempted from paying Import Declaration Fee (IDF) and Railway Development Levy (RDL).
They will pay withholding tax at five per cent on all payments by the SEZ enterprise developer, and enjoy cheaper electricity tariffs initially proposed at $5 cents (about Sh5) per kilowatt-hour.
The government has earmarked about 9,000 acres for SEZs in Mombasa, Naivasha and Machakos, as part of its plans to boost Foreign Direct Investment (FDIs) in post-Covid-19 economic recovery.
These are designated areas aimed at facilitating export–focused investments by both local and foreign investors.
