玩偶姐姐

The first ever Kenyan Industrialization Conference was held at the 玩偶姐姐 on Friday, November 22nd, 2023. The three day conference was attended by the Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry, Hon. Rebecca Miano, the Principal Secretary for the State Department of Industry (SDI), Dr. Juma Mukhwana,听 H.E. Hon. Ann Waiguru, Governor of Kirinyaga County, Chair of the council of Governors, the Principal Secretary for Trade, Alfred K鈥� ombundo,听 the Deputy Representative UNIDO, Kenya, Lynette Luvai, among many others. The theme of the Conference was听 "Accelerating African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Implementation through value chain integration for shared Prosperity".

Moreover, the VC, UON Prof. Stephen Kiama observed that the theme of the conference also aligned with the Kenya vision 2030, which envisions economic transformation through accelerated industrialization. 鈥淭he integration facilitated by AfCFTA presents a vast market for听 industrializing Kenya, offering opportunities for job creation and economic growth鈥�, he announced. The VC urged the recognition of the pivotal role of academia, especially institutions like the 玩偶姐姐,听 in the industrial transformation journey. 鈥淭he university of 玩偶姐姐 is dedicated to fostering collaboration between academia and industry players, ensuring that our academia endeavors align with the practical demand of an evolving industrial landscape. Indeed, we understand the importance of听 equipping our students with skills that transcend theory, preparing them to be catalysts for innovation and progress鈥�, declared Prof. Kiama. The VC also noted the role of academia in informing the development of Kenya鈥檚 industrialization policy, national industrialization strategy and related programs. In his closing remarks, Prof. Kiama persuaded the need for curriculum reforms that emphasize practical skills, research that addresses industrial challenges and partnership that bridges the gap between industry and academia, to achieve the industrialization goals.

Furthermore, the conference coincided with Africa Industrialization Day that is commemorated 20th November annually. 鈥淭he theme is timely, coming at a time when Africa is gearing up for enhanced industrialization, in an atmosphere that is committed to incorporate inclusivity and sustainability as core values鈥�, said CS, MITI, Hon. Rebecca Miano, as she explained the vitality of the Industrialization conference. Hon. Miano also talked about the importance of Kenya鈥檚 role in AfCTFTA.听 鈥淜enya has a chance to offer her favorable credentials as Africa's manufacturing hub and of choice.

听The time for Kenya as well as the rest of Africa to create a strong manufacturing culture, replete with well thought out support systems and mechanisms has come鈥�, she urged. She continued to say, 鈥淥nce a strong national manufacturing culture and foundation are in place, Kenya will maximize her industrial output in multiple facets of production and value addition of locally manufactured goods鈥�. Hon. Miano concluded by calling upon the Kenyan local manufacturers to embrace globally acclaimed Industrial practices such as听 renewable energy.

In addition to this, the PS听 Trade,听 Alfred K鈥� ombundo stressed on the importance of manufacturing. 鈥淢anufacturing is important for our export performance and our trade performance for a number of reasons. It enables us to move more towards competitive space exports, to utilize听 our resources that we have developed in industry and it helps us to get more out there鈥�, he said. To add more on to this was the PS, SDI, Dr. Juma Mukhwana who discussed the relevance of the government working with academia, industry and policy makers to get feedback on the state of manufacturing in the country. 鈥� While Africa takes up 17% of the world's population, Africa's share of manufactured products is only 3%. As compared to Europe, which takes up only 9% of the World population, manufacturing 25%, Africa is punching below its weight鈥�, said Dr. Mukhwana as he emphasized on the negative impacts of Africa鈥檚 constant importation of products. He winded up his remarks by encouraging investing in agriculture to boost the Kenyan manufacturing environment.

鈥淎s we embark on this transformative journey, I am reminded of the timeless words of Peter Drucker, 鈥楾he best way to predict the future is to create it鈥�. Today, these words take on a profound significance as they invite not only to envision the future of AfCFTA, but to also actively craft its through value chain integration鈥�, remarked Hon. Ann Waiguru as she tried to persuade Kenyans to be architects of an inclusive and sustainable industrial development. During her speech Hon. Waiguru discussed that the conference resonates with Kenya鈥檚 national bottom up economic transformation agenda of impactful economic turnaround. She encouraged promotion of industrial development through diversification and regional value chain as well as agricultural development.

The Deputy representative UNIDO, Lynette Luvai brought up an important point of how the theme of the conference aligned with the theme of Africa Industrialization Day; Accelerating women in processing for an integrated market. 鈥淭his underscores the importance of women empowerment in processing to propel inclusive sustainable industrialization in Africa,鈥� she said. Lynette argued that despite women in Africa representing the majority of the population, their involvement in the development process, especially in industrialization, is limited. 鈥淎ccording to a听 UNIDO report, women in Africa constitute only 38% of the manufacturing workforce despite being responsible for up to 80% of food production and processing. Moreover women are estimated to make up to 70% of the informal economy in some African countries'', she said. She pressed on employment of affirmative action to boost women鈥檚 presence in the processing industry as she closed.

For more information, watch the youtube livestream of the Conference Opening ceremony through the link below.

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