Fix manufacturing, urges Vision 2030 team

Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat chairman James Mwangi. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By BONFACE OTIENO

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The slow growth of manufacturing sector is hurting Kenya’s race to better living 12 years to the deadline set for achieving middle-income status under Vision 2030 blueprint.

Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat chairman James Mwangi said the poor fortunes of manufacturing could alter the growth trajectory as captured in this plan that targeted middle-income status for Kenya in 22 years from 2008.

It was drawn during the Mwai Kibaki presidency that ended in 2013.

“Manufacturing, which has stagnated somewhere between nine and 11 per cent in the last 10 years is still a concern for the secretariat,” Mr Mwangi said at a roundtable with the Kenya Editors Guild.

The sector’s share of the gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by more than two percentage points from almost 11 per cent in 2013 to 8.4 per cent in 2017, according to the 2018 Economic Survey.

In 2016, manufacturing contributed 9.1 per cent to GDP, a drop from the previous year’s 9.4 per cent and 10 per cent in 2014. ]

“We quickly need to come up with measures on how to grow the manufacturing sector. This will change the worrying trend for Vision 2030 which is marking 10 years since its inception,” he said.