Kenyans urged to buy local brands to boast domestics market

Patrick Kimani (left), MP Thika Town, chairing a session of the Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives. Looking on is Ms Kathleen Kihanya, Board Director and Chair of the Strategy Committee, Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency.

Nation Media Group

By  Wachira Mwangi

What you need to know:

• Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives recommends support of local manufacturers.

Kenyans need to buy their own brands in a bid to boast local manufacturers, the Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives has said. 

While lauding the Kenya Export Promotion and Branding agency in marketing locally produced products, the committee said that it’s only through the domestic support of the manufacturers that the Buy Kenya, Build Kenya dream can be achieved.

In a meeting between the committee and Kenya Export Promotion and Branding agency, both parties agreed to partner and collaborate in the promotion of exports and country branding initiatives.  

The Parliamentary Committee Chairman, Mr Patrick Kimani, said the Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency has a key role in ensuring that Kenyans are aware of our locally produced products whose quality is of high standards, compliant and are acceptable in international markets.

Buy Kenya, Build Kenya

“Kenyans must support Kenya and we must be deliberate in consuming Kenyan products by choice. We must buy Kenya to build Kenya,” Mr Kimani said.

The Agency’s Board Director and committee chairperson of strategy Ms Kathleen Kihanya appreciated the commitment made by the Parliamentary committee to partner with the agency in lobbying legislation that will ensure local enterprises are protected from dumping of cheap substandard goods in the market.

She noted that during the Covid-19 period, Kenya’s exports increased due to the countries in the region buying more from Kenya since they could not access goods from international markets.

“We must leverage on this opportunity and ensure that we grow and diversify our products and markets in Africa, and beyond which is the key mandate of the Agency,” Ms Kihanya said.

The committee said efforts made by the agency in introducing the mark of identity that recognises all the authentic and high quality locally produced goods and is in the process of ensuring that all goods exported bear the “Made in Kenya” mark.