Industrial investment Sh152bn below target

The amount of domestic and foreign investments in the industrial sector in the fiscal year ending last June fell below target by Sh151.7 billion, according to the Treasury.

The total amount invested in the sector was Sh68.3 billion against a target of Sh220 billion largely due to the political processes that started in 2017 General Election but did not conclude till 2018. This was 31.1 per cent performance against the target.

This was the second straight year investment in the sector was below target by a margin exceeding 50 per cent. The performance was worse in the year ended June 2018 when the total investments in the industrial sector stood at Sh41 billion against a target of Sh200 billion — a 20.5 per cent achievement.

“[The plan was to achieve] increased investment both domestic and foreign, [but] attraction of investments was affected by political process,” said the Treasury in a draft report on the General Economic and Commercial Sector that forms part of the background to 2020/21 budget estimates.

Among the areas into which the new investments went were exporting promotion zones (EPZs — now called special economic zones), upgrading of training and production for the shoe industry in Thika, modernisation of the Rivatex machinery to increase textile and cotton production and construction of basic infrastructure facilities for the Kenya Leather Park.

The EPZs received new direct investments of Sh105.8 million and other related investments amounting to Sh14.3 billion. As a result, the number of employees rose to 60,733 from 58,122 in the previous year ending June 30.