The government has launched a Sh495m flagship project for the Export Processing zone (EPZA) in Gatanga constituency Murang’a County.
The industrial hub is set to revolutionize the manufacturing sector by increasing the country’s manufacturing capacity and overall GDP.
The hub sits on a 500 acres’ piece of land part of the 1200 acres ceded by Delmonte Kenya Limited to the county government and is set to begin its operations in November.
The groundbreaking ceremony and laying of the foundation stone for the mega industrial project was inaugurated by the CS Ministry of Investments Trade and Industry (MITI) Salim Mvurya.
The CS indicated that the launch of the EPZA is going to be critical in the country’s economic growth as it will create direct and indirect jobs to thousands of young people in the agriculture rich county and beyond.
“This hub will create jobs and improve the standards of living for the people of Kenya and that is why we are hastening the pace of its implementation” he said
“This project is well placed in the national plan for the national government and very critical in the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) which has set priority for manufacturing,” he added
The industrial hub is expected to attract new investments that will leverage on value addition thus contributing to the GDP of the country.
Further the hub aims at raising the country’s manufacturing to 15 percent of the country’s GDP in 2027 and to 20 percent in 2030 and grow exports to 30 percent of the country’s GDP.
Moreover, the CS observed that the EPZA will expand market reach and contribute significantly to the country’s export earnings as well as strengthen its position in the global market as well as foreign direct investments.
“Already we have signed the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union and have 27 countries that we will have access to market our products like coffee and tea,” he said
Consequently, the CS revealed that the government had also signed another agreement with Africa continental free trade area that will provide a market for 1.2 billion people
Conversely, according to Mvurya the government was keen on creating an enabling environment for markets.
“The government is fully committed to creating a business environment that is conducive to investment, innovation and sustainable growth”, he stated.
On his part, Governor Irungu Kang’ata noted that the entire 1200 acres of the land will be industrial while a few acreages will host other key amenities including a teaching and referral hospital, educational institutions, county offices, affordable housing, a public park among others.
“We had the option of subdividing this land for private purposes but we decided to instead make it an industrial hub where we will set up factories which will open up our county and create massive employment for our people,” he averred adding that.
“This project will provide an avenue for us to foster private investment both foreign and domestic that will bring key contribution to the economic growth of the county and the country”
“Moreover, our farmers will have a wide market for their farm produce,” he added
Currently the EPZ program in Kenya employs over 75,000 people directly and this number is set to rise with the creation of four more industrial hubs in Kirinyaga, Nakuru, Busia, and Eldoret.
Murang’a’s EPZA first phase is set to create employment to over 3000 people directly and even more indirectly as a result of backward linkages.
By Florence Kinyua
