Industry & Retail

Industry in Kenya encompasses manufacturing, construction, and mining and quarrying. Combined, these sectors accounted for 14% of GDP between 2009 and 2012. Policy is being guided by the Vision 2030 national development roadmap (V2030), the National Industrialisation Policy Framework 2012-30 (NIPF) and the Second Medium-Term Development Plan 2013-17 (MTDP2), in tandem with the East African Community Industrialisation Policy and Strategy 2012-32. Objectives outlined in V2030 and the NIPF will require improved productivity, market development, infrastructure strengthening and diversification into high value-added sectors. In retail, home-grown businesses form a significant proportion of Kenya’s modern retail sector. Competition is tight and the informal market continues to play a big role, but the sector is dynamic. Penetration of formal retail establishments remains low, estimated at 15-20% of the sector, and the market is highly fractured, particularly outside of the main urban centres, but devolution should encourage the expansion of modern retail space.

This chapter contains interviews with Adan Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Industrialisation and Enterprise Development; Manu Chandaria, Chairman, Comcraft Group; Betty Maina, CEO, Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM); Charles Ireland, Group Managing Director & CEO, East African Breweries.