NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 4 — Former Investments, Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has backed the Government’s decision to push Tata Chemicals Magadi out of Kenya, arguing that the country risks being overtaken by Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo unless it fundamentally changes how it exploits its natural resources.

📻 Breaking It Down

Kuria said Kenya must stop treating industrialisation as a political issue and instead adopt policies that force investors to process raw materials locally and build industries around the country’s mineral wealth.

“We will not take off if we keep on playing politics with our industrialisation policy,” Kuria said.

His comments came after President William Ruto ordered Tata Chemicals to leave the Lake Magadi area, accusing the company of extracting Kajiado’s resources for decades without creating sufficient local industries, jobs and value addition.

📌 What You Need to Know

Kuria said he fully supports the decision, arguing that Kenya should learn from countries that have deliberately restricted exports of unprocessed resources to accelerate domestic manufacturing.

“I fully support the government decision on Tata Chemicals and Magadi Soda,” he said.

“If we do not do things differently, Uganda, Ethiopia, DRC and Tanzania will overtake Kenya’s economy in the next 5 years.”

Kuria pointed to Indonesia as an example of how aggressive resource policies can drive industrialisation.

He said Indonesia’s decision to ban exports of raw nickel had helped transform its economy and attract processing and manufacturing investments around the mineral.

“Indonesia is the worlds 16th largest economy. It is also the largest producer of Nickel in the world accounting for 68% of global production. Indonesia’s economy has balooned because they banned exports of raw nickel,” Kuria said.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya