Machakos County has been identified as one of the counties for the promotion of avocado, coffee, and cotton value chains.
Cabinet Secretary for Investment, Trade, and Industry Rebecca Miano highlighted that Machakos is among the counties that have strategized to become centres of investment promotion and facilitation in industrial and value chain development following devolution.
Doing so, Miano added, made the county an ideal investment hub and destination in the country.
Miano also acknowledged that the county, in its annual development plan, prioritised food security, socio-economic empowerment, and infrastructure development as the three pillars in transforming the livelihoods of residents, which aligns with the government’s Bottom-Up Economic and Transformation Agenda (BETA).
She spoke during the Machakos industry round table discussion with various stakeholders at the Machakos International Conference Centre, where she noted that the government was also committed to facilitating economic growth by creating an enabling environment for trade and investment.
“This roundtable presents another milestone by Machakos to advance discussion on industrial development, revitalising public-private sector partnerships in investment, and industrial development for wealth and employment creation,” added Miano.
The CS said they are putting efforts into having the Kenya Leather Park and the Konza Techno-polis projects completed, adding that their completion will revive the leather value chain and attract investments in innovation and development.
The CS said the government is committed to facilitating economic growth by supporting SMEs, particularly through the recently launched Karibu Business Centres.
She pointed out that Small Business Enterprises (SMEs) were the backbone of Kenya’s economy, adding, “We look forward to partnering and collaborating with Machakos to establish a Karibu Business Centre in this region.”
On her part, Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti pointed out that despite the challenges in budgetary allocations, her government has allocated resources towards infrastructure development in the construction of roads to connect the industries to the extensive road network for easy movement of goods and services.
“My government has allocated Sh250 million towards the construction of the Machakos County Aggregation and Industrial Park (CAIP),” pointed out Wavinya.
The governor noted that CAIP will create opportunities for aggregation and value addition for domestic and export markets, which will open up opportunities for wealth creation and employment.
She added that the county has established an Investment Profiling programme that will facilitate investment and help in identifying and creating profiles of bankable investment opportunities across the county in preparation for investment uptake.
By Anne Kangero
