Industrialisation Principal Secretary Wilson Songa said setting up of such industries would give Kenyan manufacturers better access to the Chinese market and help bridge the deficit in the balance of trade between the two.

China has picked Kenya as the preferred investment destination in the region, saying the country has reformed its business environment and offers better incentives compared to its neighbours.

A Chinese delegation on a fact-finding mission in the region said Kenya presented a better environment for injecting money compared to Tanzania and Ethiopia, going by the “favourable policies” proposed by the Special Economic Zones Bill awaiting enactment.

China’s Director-General of African Affairs Lin Songtian said investors from his country were interested in setting up industrial parks in Mombasa and establishing manufacturing zones along the standard gauge railway corridor.

CONFIDENCE

“We are confident of Kenya’s legal mechanism, a one-stop-shop and incentives framework that will attract and retain Chinese investors as a strategic conduit to the African market and larger Chinese market,” said Mr Lin.

Industrialisation Principal Secretary Wilson Songa said setting up of such industries would give Kenyan manufacturers better access to the Chinese market and help bridge the deficit in the balance of trade between the two.

Dr Songa said Kenya offered more advantages to Chinese investors than its East African partners, including a larger middle population and access to the market of 400 million people drawn from its membership of EAC and Comesa. 

Ethiopia is not a member of the EAC and has stalled on ratifying the Comesa customs union.