Speaking in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu, during the CAIPs monitoring and evaluation tour in the county, Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade, and Industry, Rebecca Miano, confirmed that the Aggregation and Industrial parks are up and running well.

The CS, accompanied by Governor Jonathan Chelilim, County Commissioner Dr. Eddyson Nyale, and other stakeholders from the private sector, visited the proposed export processing zone (EPZ) site at Simat-Kapseret ward, CAIPs at Moiben Sub County, and the RIVATEX Eldoret plant to check on the progress and discuss various challenges facing the projects.

Miano noted that the CAIPs programme is a joint collaboration between the national government and the counties, where the national government will contribute 50 per cent of the cost required to establish the parks while the other 50 per cent will be met by the county governments.

She acknowledged that the programme has experienced unexpected delays occasioned by unforeseen delays in the signing of the Intergovernmental Participation Agreement between the Ministry and the county governments, but added that the issue has been resolved.

“After the assent into law in March 2023 of the County Government Additional Allocation Act 2023, there was further need to sign the intergovernmental agreement between the counties and the National Treasury. These frameworks were key to the modalities of implementation of the project and are now things of the past,” said the CS.

CS Miano said the CAIPs programmes are a game changer as they will offer aggregation for the various produce and products that are produced in counties, which include cooling facilities, processing facilities, and other common user facilities.

Noting that the counties will be an integral part of the export promotion programme because it is from there that the produce will find its market, she hinted that they have negotiated several economic partnership agreements in terms of preparing export promotion led by the president.

“We did negotiate and sign with the EU, and the EU parliament has already ratified. We have submitted the agreement to the National Assembly. We had a meeting with the National Assembly Committee in charge of Trade to just go through the economic partnership agreement with the EU in preparation for the ratification,” noted Miano.

“We have also signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with the UAE; currently, we are discussing the renewal of the AGOA with the USA Strategic Trade and Investments Programme (STIP) with America and many other bilateral agreements,” she added.

The CS affirmed that the manufacturing sector plays a key role in economic development, employment creation, and the creation of new value-added products that bring foreign exchange to any given economy.

She further noted that the manufacturing sector contribution to GDP has stagnated at about 7 per cent over a couple of years, and despite Kenya being an agricultural-led economy, the export value added of agricultural and livestock products has stagnated at around 16 per cent.

The CS decried the challenges faced by the manufacturing sector, which include inadequate quality and quantity of agricultural raw materials for value addition, fragmented small-scale production leading to high costs in aggregation, and inadequate access to suitable land for setting up, among others.

She said CAIPs will not only propel manufacturing sector growth through Agro-processing industries but also create opportunities for employment creation for the youth, boost the forward and backward linkages to both the manufacturing and agriculture sectors, hence exploiting their full potential, increase the volume of value-added products, hence better income for our farmers, and increase foreign exchange as well as address post-harvest losses.

Miano revealed that Eldoret is one of the cities and Uasin Gishu is one of those counties that they have earmarked to be the Centre of industrialization, noting that the town has been known for a long time as the hub of manufacturing industries like Rivatex, Kenit, CBC, Raymonds, and others which collapsed due to various challenges.

She affirmed her commitment to help Uasin Gishu revive its industries and become an ultimate investment destination since it is endowed with all the factors necessary to achieve its goals, like a good climate, good agricultural arable land, fertile soils, sufficient human resources, and other minerals.

“But this is the time not to go back where we were but to just take off, learn the lessons that we have learnt along the way, and position this county as one of our centres of industrialization,” explained the CS.

“I want to confirm to investors that the creator endowed Uasin Gishu with everything that an investor will need, like a good climate, fertile soils, human resources, and others,” she added.

She expressed confidence that if they achieve their goals of making Uasin Gishu an industrialization hub, building the industrial spaces that are the CAIPs, putting up one of the flagship EPZ programmes, and all the industrialization ideas that they have, this will help create a lot of employment and improve the livelihoods of all people in the area.

The Industry CS encouraged all the counties to put their best foot forward in progressing this idea, noting that they are in discussion with the National Treasury and have been assured that there will be a release of funds for the CAIPs programme in a few weeks.

Uasin Gishu Governor Dr. Jonathan Chelilim expressed gratitude to the national government for their collaborative efforts in establishing the aggregation parks.

“The County Aggregation and Industrial Parks, along with the Export Processing Zone, will significantly contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Africa’s Agenda 2063, the Kenya Vision 2030, and the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA),” said the Governor.

He affirmed that the CAIPs in the county is currently on track and is 45 per cent complete. He noted that they will play a key role in supporting the North Rift region economy, which solely relies on agriculture, and they will serve as a major commercial hub and key driver of economic growth.

The governor indicated that this is a timely move as they continue to engage farmers in smart agriculture and diversification.

“We are transitioning our agricultural activities towards horticulture, and we have launched campaigns to sensitise our farmers about diversifying their economic activities beyond maize and wheat farming,” he noted.

In addition, the county, through collaborations with stakeholders, is promoting the production and marketing of fresh beans, peas, strawberries, gooseberries, assorted herbs, pyrethrum, sunflowers, and mushrooms.

“Through the CAIPs, Eldoret International Airport will realise its full potential by enhancing exports and reducing imports. As an administration, we eagerly anticipate the launch and full operationalization of the same within our county,” said Dr. Chelilim.

Chelilim indicated that the initiative will position the county as the premier investment destination and attract investors to the EPZ and CAIPs.

“To our farmers, let us continue striving diligently and make optimal use of the CAIP facility, which will address market challenges effectively,” he noted.