President Uhuru Kenyatta has rolled out his big plans for the country as he firmly takes control of his second and final term in office.
Uhuru is bent on creating one million jobs through his economic flagship project titled “The Big Four”.
However, with over half of Kenya’s revenue going to recurrent expenditure, Kenya has to bank on partnership with the private sector.
“We are clearly conscious of our limited fiscal space and will, therefore, leverage on the private sector in partnership with the Government. We shall be creating a High-Speed Public Private Partnership (PPP) Unit to attract and engage the private sector to implement most projects under The Big Four Plan,” Treasury CS Henry Rotich said as told by the Star.
Yesterday, the President met Sergio Pimenta, the Vice President for the Middle East and Africa of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
It is believed that’s IFC is an integral partner in the realization of Jubilee’s Big Four Economic agenda especially in developing the SME sector.
IFC could provide low-interest financing to enable Kenya’s private sector to participate in large scale projects.
“To achieve the Big Four, we will require partnership with the private sector so they can take advantage of the good foundation we have laid over the past few years to deliver to ordinary citizens,” Uhuru said.
He said his focus is on agro-processing and manufacturing industry which has immense potential to create numerous jobs each year.
“It requires that we look at how to further support SMEs so that they invest in manufacturing and agro-processing,” Uhuru added.
In his undertaking, the President hopes to create 10,000 jobs in apparel and 50,0000 jobs in the cotton sector.
This will increase exports by $200 million (Sh20.49 billion). However, it is only achievable through setting up five million square feet of industrial sheds and a further 200,000 hectares of cotton fields.
A further 5, 000 jobs are expected to be created in the leather industry which will be revamped to include the upgrade of Machakos Leather Park and setting up 5,000 cottage industries.
This will raise exports to $70 million (Sh7.17 billion) this year.
In agro-processing, Uhuru hopes to create 20, 000 jobs. This will be achieved by enhancing tea, dairy, fruits, vegetables, sugar and meat sectors.
The budget policy paper by the National Treasury shows that government this year plans to bring on board two global tea processors to set up base in Mombasa.
Jubilee government also hopes to create 2, 000 jobs the construction materials industry.
In the vibrant sector, 1, 000 jobs will be created by the end of the year to be realized if government successfully ropes in two Business Process Outsourcing entities.