Investors at the 1,300-acre Murang’a Industrial Park along Thika-Kenol-Embu highway will pay a one-off premium, which is 20 per cent of the value of the land.
Murang’a government, however, says they will have to bid for space on the park, which is 40 kilometres away from Nairobi City. The bids will be opened in October this year.
According to the Murang’a Lease and Allocation Act, 2024, the investors will then pay an annual rent of five per cent of the stand premium and rates and their tenures are expected to last a maximum of 30 years.
The Act also gives them preferential rights of lease renewal afterwards.
Governor Irungu Kang’ata, during the two-day investors’ conference, said the size of land allocated will depend on the individual investor’s wishes against the maximum size of land available.
The county is in the process of establishing an Export Processing Zone on the land donated by the Delmonte company.
“The EPZ is 70 per cent done and will have a total of 500 acres while the Special Economic Zone will have 800 acres,” Kang’ata said.
Under the SEZ, the county has allocated 75 acres to Murang’a MediCity for medical and nonmedical industries. About 276 acres will go to light, medium and heavy industries, 23 acres to a technology and innovation hub, 43 acres to a commercial hub, 10 acres to a stadium and 57 acres to a recreational area.
A market will occupy two acres, a bus station three, schools 16, housing 12 and affordable housing 22 acres.
Infrastructure, including roads, sewer, water, internet and powe,r will cover 134 acre,s while the remainder of the land will go to national and county government institutions
According to the governor, the 500-acre EPZ has already been allocated to the EPZ Authority through a gazette notice and investors will benefit from a 10-year corporate tax holiday, a 10-year withholding tax holiday and 100 per cent investment deduction on new investment.
Other benefits include perpertual exemption from Value Added Tax and customs duty on imports, a similar exemption from payment of stamp duty on illegal instrument, onsite customs documentation by customs staff and unrestricted investment for foreigners.
“There will be a one-stop-shop service for facilitation and aftercare and rapid project approval and licensing”.
Some of the benefits to be accrued by investors in the SEZ include zero-rated tax on supply of goods or taxable services, and exemption from payment of capital gains tax on transfer of property within a SEZ enterprises, developers and operators.
Investors will be exempted from excise duty and payment of import declaration fees and import duty, while paying Sh77 for electricity per unit.
The county is also establishing the County Aggregation and Industrial Park at Zabka near Kabati on 35 acres, which is only 35 kilometres away from Nairobi.
“Investment opportunities that exist include the establishment of manufacturing sites but exclusively for the agriculture sector. The construction of four manufacturing sheds, each with 4,000 square metres on 10 acres of the park is on-going,” Kang’ata said.
The governor also cited the Sh1 billion Gikono landfill, the only such facility in East Africa, which is recycling, energy and organic fertiliser plants.
Muranga County Creameries Co-operative Union which operates Murang’a County Creameries, is also available to investors.
The creamery processes 5,000 litres of milk per day
“The county government established this facility for value addition. The administration now proposes a tripartite negotiation that involves MCCCU with a possibility of offloading the facility to an investor who will help clear farmers’ legacy debts,” the governor said.
The creamery currently produces 350,000 litres of milk daily.
The county government also plans to partner with investors to develop the Mukurwe wa Nyagathanga shrine that sits of four acres.
The devolved entity is proposing the establishment of a museum and recreational facilities, including a nature trail park and a restaurant at the shrine.
Investors were asked to apply for their desired opportunities through the official county website or through the county headquarters, with the forms expected to be reviewed in September.
President William Ruto praised the county for the initiative, underscoring the need for the county government to expose their unique potential to local and international investors.
“We will support you in planning and realising this aspiration. The Ministry of Lands will expedite the outstanding land issues and the Ministry of Trade will facilitate the necessary gazettements,” he said.
Ruto said his administration will ensure stalled road projects are completed to facilitate movement of raw materials to the park.
He said his government is working to balance trade with China, saying the Asian country exports Sh600 billion worth of goods to Kenya but only imports goods worth Sh40 billion annually.
“I told the Chinese government this has to be balanced and we’ve already sent a team to China for a bilateral trade agreement that will expand our market. I hope by October, we will have forged the agreement,” Ruto said.
Another agreement with the European Union has allowed duty-free and quota-free access of local products to the 450 million people.
“As we expand the markets, it's vital that people prepare to export value-added products and this is why special economic zones are so important”.
