KEPSA led the private sector in the Presidential Economic Dialogue between the National Government, County Governors and the private sector stakeholders on value chains held on 2^nd June 2023 in Nairobi.  The objective of the forum was to deliberate on how the private sector will collaborate with the National Government and Counties under the theme; Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) priorities, Counties for Jobs while outlining a strategic roadmap for textile/cotton, pharmaceuticals, leather, pyrethrum, housing, edible oils and automotive value chains.

In his introductory remarks, the Cabinet Secretary for Investment, Trade and Industry Hon. Moses Kuria noted that BETA is a shared agenda both for the private and public sectors and thus needed the two sectors to collaborate. He said that the government is set to roll out the second phase of the Affordable Housing project where already 33 counties have allocated money in the budget for the project. “In the first phase, the private sector was left out, and this is why the government have taken a deliberate step to include the private sector in the tripartite initiative,” said Hon. Kuria who also committed work closely with the counties leaders to sort out market access issues of agricultural produce at an affordable price.

A joint private sector presentation on the seven value chains was delivered by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) CEO Mr Antony Mwangi. He noted that the manufacturing sector contributes to 7.8% of the country’s current GDP and is projected to be at 20% by 2030. He highlighted the need to have supportive infrastructure that will enable the industry to flourish. He mentioned the operationalisation of Kenanie Leather Park and Karioko Common User Facticity. The presentation also highlighted the need to give incentives to the local manufacturers, do backward integration support to local farmers and promote pyrethrum exports by giving farmer access to seedlings.

During the forum, the KEPSA CEO Ms Carole Kariuki joined the H.E President William Ruto and Chair of the Council of Governors H.E Anne Waiguru in a high-level panel discussion on Unlocking the Potential of the BeTA Priority value chains. Ms Kariuki noted that the private sector is aligned to BETA adding that one of the priority issues presented to the Presidential candidates before the general elections was the affordable housing agenda. She went on to say that the private sector was ready to support the value chains, adding that the government needed to support the private sector in reducing the cost of raw material to enable it to realise competitiveness that will overturn the challenge of continued increase in import and stagnation in exports.

On her part, Hon. Waiguru said that the counties have been at the forefront to align their County Integrated Plans with BETA. She also said that most counties have identified their value chains based on what they have been producing for example in Kirinyaga county, they have been supplying seedling to farmers which has increased Avocado production four times. She pleaded on behalf of the county governments that they will keep on engaging investors and work downstream to meet the needs of the farmers for increased production.

In his remarks, the Head of State said that the government has a deliberate plan in promoting the values chains which was part of the BETA. He also said that had structured its budget to meet the needs of Kenyans right from production, value addition and all the way to exports. He reiterated the government’s commitment to partner with the county government to make a turnaround in the pyrethrum industry by providing certified seeds, as well as cotton and palm oil because they hold a huge potential for both income for farmers and job creation. The President allayed fairs of governance issues on the proposed Housing Fund where he also pleaded to take personal responsibility to ensure the project, which he said will have a tremendous impact, is successful.

The forum featured a panel session where sector representatives together with the County Governors present presented their views on the way forward. Some of the issues from the speakers included improved global competitiveness, SME support in the mentioned value chains, policies that will focus on value addition, protecting the small-scale farmers from the middlemen and providing viable farm inputs, investing in agricultural research, promoting inter-county trade, addressing post-production losses by providing storage facilities, addressing the standard issues especially in the leather industry for export, boost the training facilities, supportive tax policies for pharmaceutical value chains among other issues.

In the closing remarks, KEPSA Chairperson Ms Flora Mutai highlighted the criticality of the tea industry which is a huge contributor to the Kenyan economy. She also pointed out the importance of country marketing on Kenyan products in the global market while pledging 100,000 job opportunities in the tea sector linked to the government’s move to remove the packaging tax.