Kenya to hold manufacturing expo in November to showcase local products
By Xinhua News Agency, May 28, 2021
Kenya’s manufacturing business association said Thursday it will hold a manufacturing exhibition from Nov. 5 to 7 to showcase goods produced by local manufacturers.
Mucai Kunyiha, chairman of Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), told a virtual meeting that the fourth edition of the Kenya Manufacturing Summit and Expo 2021, dubbed Changamka Shopping Festival, will present an opportunity for industry, stakeholders, and the public to celebrate and deliberate on transforming the nation through industrialization.
“It is also a platform to showcase the diversity of locally manufactured innovations and goods,” Kunyiha said.
He observed that the upcoming manufacturing festival will play a role in addressing the gap in the consumption of locally manufactured goods compared to imported products.
The manufacturers’ lobby said that the overdependency of the Kenyan economy on imported goods has over the years exacerbated the country’s trade deficit which has slowed down employment growth.
Domestic producers are keen to enhance the pace of industrialization so as to boost the country’s competitiveness, said Kunyiha, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic has also demonstrated the need for resilient local value chains to support the country’s manufacturing base.