There’s a saying, maybe African or just stupid like you,
Nway the saying states that if you wanna get somewhere walk alone… But if u wanna get there faster get some company
When Kenya announced its movement into a middle income country status, mwananchi cried foul. More so out of ignorance. …but seriously, they couldn’t reconcile their living standard and the national economic status… It is perhaps evidence of not well thought out economic policies…
And I think the government took notice and changed… For instance, I can’t wait to pay the reduced 15% in PAYE starting January 1st…
I think this country can do much better. One such way is to dedicate our EPZs to Chinese and Arab firms. We need to invite the countries companies with zero taxes, but a 80% Kenyan staffing, to open countries all over the country. I wish to see a vehicle spare part plant at Kimilili, an AC factory in Garissa, A vehicle assembly plant in Mandera, a fibreglass plant in Isiolo… You know
Industrialization entails a lot more than building factories. The logistics have to make sense. The Chinese are good at using cheap labor. They will be of little help to locals. Plus they import all the raw materials they use. Nails, threads, paperclips, stone, brick, mabati,etc. The Arabs are only in any discussion because of oil. They really offer no advantage.
We have to first ensure efficient infrastructure to reduce costs., roads-no traffic, rail-reliable,cheap, efficient port, electricity ( no blackouts), internet(cheap and very fast), etc.
The education system has to be solidified ( sadly as you saw today, our best high school of all time were exam crooks). We are at that stage. Lots of specialized labor needed in technical field. For example hospital equipment ( dialysis machines, xray equip, analyzers etc)needs to be assembled and refurbished and repaired by locals.
We must innovate for our own use. If Israel can commercially produce crops in a desert, why are we so poor at in in areas of adequate rainfall.
We also need to come up with alternative channels for revenue. There is many. Our sports economy is poorly developed. For example football. Everybody looks to watch football from other countries. What if we had a decently developed league.Competitive. How many more people could be gainfully employed.
The fault does not entirely fall on the government.
We could start with limiting projects like SGR to kenyan firms. Now that the Chinese are importing mpaka the toilet paper they use, perhaps it’s time to reconsider. It is not beyond possibility for a kenyan firm to complete such a project.
OK You have a great idea but I think we also need to get to manufacturing or producing stuff for ourselves for us to sell. Most of the economies that have sprung up quickly have not been mere garages for a vehicle model that’s backdated to 2000!
I mean if we seriously looked inwardly and stopped running to the Chinese all the time then maybe we’d be able to generate idk 500 jobs every quarterly
For instance the Juakali sector is very promising but expos do only so much yet there is a lot of money there. If the government really invested in the art like they spend billions on the miraa trade, then we could also gain a lot in terms of easing on the recession we facing right now.
Many of the great economies export more than they import. It is the cornerstone of a stable reliable and profitable economy alongside security yadda yadda yadda