NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 12 — The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) has called for the manufacturing sector to be placed at the centre of Kenya’s proposed Vision 2060, saying industrialisation will be critical to creating jobs, increasing government revenue and driving long-term economic growth.

📻 Breaking It Down

Speaking during discussions on the proposed long-term development blueprint, KAM Vice Chairperson Mary-Ann Musangi said the private sector must have a meaningful role in shaping Vision 2060.

Musangi said Kenya’s next development blueprint must be ambitious enough to deliver significant economic transformation over the coming decades.

“A vision needs to be bold and audacious and, if it’s not bold and audacious, the country just won’t move forward,” she said.

📌 What You Need to Know

Musangi said KAM’s ambition is to see Kenya become the leading manufacturing nation in sub-Saharan Africa.

She noted that the manufacturing sector has remained resilient but its contribution to the economy has largely stabilised at about seven per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Musangi said Kenya must find ways of growing the sector beyond that level and unlocking its wider contribution to the economy.

Musangi said Kenya should seek to raise manufacturing’s contribution to GDP to approximately 20 per cent, comparable to levels in countries such as Singapore and Vietnam.

She said achieving such growth would have a significant impact on employment and economic activity.

“If we were to move from the seven per cent mark to where Singapore or Vietnam is, which is the 20 per cent mark of their GDP, we’re talking about direct employment of over two million people, if not higher on an indirect perspective,” she said.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya