This archive report was first published on 8 May 2020.
Published on May 8, 2020, by Chris Oanda, this article explores the opportunities and challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic in rethinking Kenya's industrial model.
As the world grapples with the pandemic, many countries are reassessing their globalisation models, with a shift towards inward-looking trade and distant supply chains being shunned. Africa, however, has been exposed as having poor health systems, but this crisis has also presented an opportunity for innovation and local sourcing.
In Kenya, students at Kenyatta University invented a ventilator, while textile factories and beer breweries have started manufacturing face masks and sanitiser, respectively. In the US, car manufacturers like GM have retooled to produce ventilators, and in Senegal, affordable rapid test kits are being manufactured.
However, establishing new manufacturing centres is easier said than done, and actualising it on a sustainable commercial scale requires a convergence of national policies, a steady pipeline of skills, competitive pricing, and quality in the market. Existing capacities in China and India pose a significant challenge, with their production costs being a fraction of what industries in Africa can achieve.
Kenya's Big Four agenda has manufacturing as one of its key pillars, and the government has entrenching local sourcing in the Public Procurement and Disposal Act of 2015. However, the reality is that procurement from local businesses for the reserved 30 per cent preference is far from being achieved, with much of this local purchase quarter being filled with imports by unscrupulous businessmen.
