The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) used the 4th Kenya Industrialisation Summit at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre to press for a more predictable policy environment, harmonised regulation and decisive interventions to boost domestic industrial competitiveness.

President William Ruto, joined by Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade and Industry Lee Kinyanjui, reiterated the government’s aim to raise manufacturing’s contribution to GDP to 20 percent and create one million formal industrial jobs by 2030.

Ruto highlighted the expansion of Special Economic Zones, now 36 across the country, and noted that investors have sought nearly 7,000 acres within the Dongo Kundu hub.

Energy costs were flagged as a major obstacle, with average commercial and industrial tariffs between 2023 and 2025 at KSh23.70 per kWh—significantly higher than regional peers such as Uganda (KSh16.02) and Tanzania (KSh12.52).

Ruto announced plans to raise Kenya’s generation capacity from 3,000 MW to 10,000 MW using geothermal, solar, wind and hydro resources to address the tariff disparity.

KAM board chair Hitesh Mediratta warned that overlapping fiscal regimes at national and county levels threaten industrial investment, citing cross‑border trade disparities within the East African Community.

Mediratta outlined three urgent fiscal demands: doubling monthly VAT refund payouts to KSh5 billion and operationalising Section 47 of the Tax Procedures Act; extending export incentives beyond EPZs and providing full rebates on excise duties for export inputs; and strengthening coordinated intelligence to curb counterfeit and undervalued goods that cost the economy up to KSh1 trillion annually.

The summit ran alongside the 9th Changamka Kenya Shopping Festival, where roughly 400 domestic producers are showcasing locally manufactured goods through 7 November.