Kirinyaga’s industrial park sets new standards for county development

Kirinyaga county is emerging as a benchmark for the implementation of county aggregation and industrial parks (CAIPs), with more counties visiting the Sagana facility to learn from its successful model as they prepare to roll out similar projects.

Bungoma trade chief officer Stephen Wamalwa said the county selected Kirinyaga for benchmarking because it is ahead of other counties in implementing the CAIP’s programme.

The Bungoma delegation toured the CAIP at Sagana on Thursday to gain practical insights ahead of implementing a similar project in the county.

The visit followed an earlier benchmarking mission by Kitui county, further reinforcing Kirinyaga's position as a national leader in county-led industrialisation.

Wamalwa said the team has gained practical lessons that will help improve implementation in Bungoma and accelerate completion of its own industrial park.

He added that although the delegation also benchmarked in Meru and Laikipia counties, Kirinyaga remains the most advanced in implementing the programme.

The CAIP is one of the flagship developments within the 252-acre Sagana Agro-Industrial City, a designated Special Economic Zone in Ndia constituency.

Once fully developed, the industrial city is expected to create more than 10,000 direct jobs and over 100,000 indirect employment opportunities while transforming Kirinyaga into a major manufacturing, processing and export hub.

The development will also host an EPZ, agro-processing industries, hotels, a golf course, affordable housing projects and other commercial investments, making it one of the country's most ambitious county-led industrialisation projects.

Kirinyaga Investment Development Authority (Kida) chairman Michael Ndwiga said the project is now 96 per cent complete, with only landscaping and cabro works remaining before completion.

Ndwiga said the county has already gazetted Kida regulations, paving the way for investor onboarding.

"Investors are already submitting applications which are evaluated before successful applicants are issued with lease agreements to establish industries at the park," he said.

Last month, 13 investors toured the Sagana Industrial Park, indicating strong interests to establish agroprocessing and manufacturing plants.

Supportive industries such as banking, logistics, customs, ICT, security, farm inputs, hospitality, fire and disaster management and recreational facilities are also expected to set up at the facility.

Early investor onboarding, Ndwiga said, will ensure industries begin setting up operations immediately after the park is commissioned, accelerating value addition, job creation and investment in the county.

Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru said county-to-county learning continues to demonstrate the strength of devolution by enabling counties to share successful development models and accelerate economic transformation.

"County-to-county learning remains one of the greatest strengths of devolution, and we are glad to share our experience in advancing agro-industrialisation and value addition," Waiguru said.