Govt launches drive to map industries for national database

The government has launched an exercise to map, geo-locate industries, and develop a database and directory.

This will be done through “Mapping, Geo-location of Industries and Development of Industrial Database & Directory for Kenya (Nairobi City).

State Department of Industries will coordinate the process, which will be useful in supporting strategic planning and industrial policy formulation on data-driven decisions and infrastructure development.

“This activity is a clear indication of the Government’s commitment and seriousness in its efforts towards Kenya industrialisation journey as envisioned in the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), which aims to significantly increase the manufacturing sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)," said Dr Juma Mukhwana, Principal Secretary State Department of Industries.

PS Mukhwana said this on Friday, in a speech read on his behalf by Industrialisation Secretary Prof. Erastus Gatebe.

Officials from the Kenya Association of Manufacturers(KAM) attended the briefing at NSSF Building in Nairobi.

He added: “Can you pose a bit and think of the world without statistics? There will be chaos in planning, there will be confusion in resource allocation and utilisation and there will be uninformed decision-making and too much wastage.”

The PS said industrial mapping and statistics are intertwined, with statistics providing the data and metrics that inform and validate industrial maps.

Mapping, he said helps in contextualising statistical data, revealing spatial patterns and interconnectivity within industries.

“Therefore, it’s important to note that the primary objective of this exercise is to develop a comprehensive database and directory of industries, which is essential for policy formulation and investment facilitation,” he said.

To realise the aspirations of the BETA, industrial acceleration being a cog in the transformation architecture, there is a need to develop a comprehensive database and directory, mapping and documenting the state of manufacturing in Kenya to strategically position the manufacturing sector.

In the process of development, the exercise seeks to achievement of developing a comprehensive online industrial database, creating a physical and an e-directory of industries and a geo-database of all industries using integrated survey technology that captures geographical coordinates and other additional attributes through the questionnaire.

Others are to produce a State of Manufacturing Report and develop an Assessment Report of manufacturing opportunities for industrial growth.

“This exercise is highly relevant to Kenya's industrial development because it supports strategic planning and policy formulation on data-driven decisions and infrastructure development, economic growth and investment and efficient resource management,” said Dr Mukhwana.

He added: “Others are improved industrial operations; enhanced collaboration and networking through business networking and industry associations, monitoring and compliance, economic diversification and innovation; employment and skill development and regional development.”

Currently, he said there is no comprehensive database or directory that profiles the manufacturing sector with a focus on productive capacities, employees, and raw materials among others.

The lack of such data, the PS said hinders the effective implementation of policies like the National Industrialisation Policy (NIP), and National Automotive Policy (NAP), among others.

“For this reason, there is a need to build a directory of all players in the manufacturing space in Kenya alongside their products, raw materials and local capacities. Development of such a database will not only form an empirical justification for policy formulation but will also catapult manufacturers to new markets,” he said.

The State Department is collaborating in the exercise with Kenya Industrial Estates (KIE) and Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) which will be providing it with technical expertise in data collection and statistical analysis by the Statistics Act 2006.

The PS said the relevance of mapping, geo-location of industries, and the development of an industrial database and directory to Kenya's industrial development cannot be overstated.

“These tools provide valuable data and insights that drive informed decision-making, attract investment, improve resource management, enhance industrial operations, and promote sustainable and balanced economic growth,” said Mukhwana.

He added: “By leveraging on these tools, Kenya can achieve its industrial development goals and create a prosperous and resilient economy."

According to Prof. Gatebe, the process is part of the three World Bank grant-funded programmes including skills development and training whose completion is expected to be complete by June this year.

He said manufacturing contributes about 7.6 per cent to the GDP but the government has plans to increase that to 20 per cent by 2030 and 15 per cent by 2027 and this exercise is geared towards achieving that.

He said the team will visit all the 147 sub-locations while carrying out the exercise once through, they may launch the same exercise in other cities.