The government has approved the final purchase of 5,000 acres of land in Naivasha industrial Park for the construction of Economic Processing Zone (EPZ). This will complement similar facilities in Sagana, Muranga, Nakuru, Eldoret and Busia.
- •Speaking in Athi River on Tuesday, EPZ Chairman Richard Cheruiyot said there has been an increase in demand of space in the EPZ by investors looking to benefit from incentives offered in those areas.
- •President William Ruto noted that 29 apparel companies operating in Kenya’s EPZ are exporting to the United States of America and employing nearly 60,000 people.
- •The activities in Kenya’s Export Processing Zones include textile and apparel, Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO), Agri processing, Dart Board, and pharmaceuticals.
The chairman called on President William Ruto to advocate for the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which is coming to an end next month to help make sense of Kenya’s EPZs which export most of their products to the United States of America.
“EPZ has played a critical role in Kenya’s economy accelerated by the entry of AGOA. Currently, the AGOA is coming to an end and there is a negotiation to extend the same. Our expectation is that when you travel to the United States next month, we are going to announce extension of the AGOA agreement,” he said.
President Ruto says apparel companies in EPZs have enabled Kenya export $7 billion worth of garments to the USA duty free, of which $545 million was exported in 2022.
“The projected growth of apparel sector based on current potential is at 20 pr cent per annum with the sector producing USD 1Bn in export and creation of 200,000 jobs by 2027, the export will further increase to USD 2 billion with 650, 000 jobs created in 2031,” noted President Ruto.
“Inside the government’s plan to grow the apparel sector include supply of local fabric through increasing cotton acreage to 120 depending on the availability of seeds,” he said.
The President spoke in Athi River, Machakos County while commissioning NexGen Packaging Kenya EPZ Limited, on the launch of its newest apparel brand identification and packaging factory with state-of-the-art machinery and equipment. This has been made possible through a $750,000 grant from USAID to NexGen to boost production efficiency, create new direct jobs, and increase apparel exports to the United States.
The event also highlighted USAID’s investments in Kenya’s textile and apparel sector, resulting in US$ 67 million in investment that will create 20,000 new jobs and an additional US$ 330 million in potential apparel exports.
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