This archive report was first published on 20 July 2019.
On July 20, 2019, the Jumuiya ya Kaunti za Pwani (JKP), an economic bloc for the Coast region, was set to receive a Sh2.3 billion grant from the European Union (EU) to develop the blue economy.
The announcement was made during a two-day JKP meeting in Malindi, attended by Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi, Dhadho Godhana (Tana River), Fahim Twaha (Lamu), Taita Taveta deputy governor Majala Mlaghui, and head of EU cooperation Herbert Perr, among others.
During the meeting, the county bosses expressed differing opinions on how to steer the economy, with Dhadho Godhana highlighting the opportunities in the blue economy sector in his county and how they could benefit from the projects.
Godhana outlined his county's strategy, including agriculture, fishing, aquaculture, and the industrial sector, and stated that they had already started the journey with the EU, with allocation for a cold storage facility for fish and milk in the tendering process stage.
Amason Kingi, a founder of the JKP bloc, emphasized his vision to improve the six counties' economies as a bloc, rather than as individual entities.
Herbert Perr, head of EU cooperation, announced that the EU was working on a plan to allocate more funds to the bloc, with the first amount of Sh2.3 billion to be released to the counties.
