Kenya's draft industrial policy aims for 15% yearly manufacturing growth

Kenya's State Department for Industry has published a draft National Industrialization Policy that sets a goal of raising manufacturing growth to 15% a year and lifting the sector's share of GDP to 24% by 2063. The public can send comments until 5pm on 23 October 2026.

The department sits in the Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry, which prepared the draft with other ministries, departments and agencies, according to the department's public notice of 8 September 2026. The document is titled Draft One and dated September 2026.

Manufacturing contributed 7.1% of GDP in 2025, the draft says. That is down from over 11% in 2009, below the 10% baseline of 2012 and well below the 20% target for 2030 in Vision 2030, the government's long-term development plan launched in 2008. Annual manufacturing growth stagnated at 2% to 3%, against the 15% target in the 2012 National Industrialization Policy Framework.

Citing Article 10(2)(a) of the Constitution, which provides for public participation, the ministry is taking comments at forums and in writing. According to the notice, forums are being held on 16 October at the Home Craft Centre in Pioneer, Eldoret, the Lodwar Vocational Training Centre and Wote Social Hall, and the last is set for 21 October at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development in Nairobi for Nairobi, Kajiado and Kiambu counties. Each runs from 9am to noon. Written comments go on the memorandum submission template on the department's downloads page, www.industrialization.go.ke/downloads, to [email protected], by post to P.O. Box 30418-00100 Nairobi, or by hand to the Principal Secretary's office at the NSSF Building, Block A, 23rd floor, Eastern Wing, by 5pm on 23 October.

Industrialization Secretary Prof Erastus Gatebe explained the draft at a forum at the Nyeri Cultural Centre on 14 October, the Kenya News Agency (KNA) reported on 15 October. Participants came from Nyeri, Murang'a, Nyandarua and Kirinyaga counties.

Gatebe said the policy would prioritise export-led manufacturing, that the government would promote the adoption of digital technology and that it was encouraging counties to use solar power to cut production costs. The policy also covers aligning training with industry needs. Nyeri County's trade executive, Dr Lucy Kiogora, welcomed the policy and said it could spread industrial development beyond traditional centres and let producers add value to raw materials at county level.

The draft proposes a rural industrialisation model in which County Aggregation and Industrial Parks are complemented by mobile and modular processing units, satellite processing units and digital aggregation platforms. In a 1 September post, the department said Industry Principal Secretary Dr Juma Mukhwana had asked the policy review team to consider a County Industrial Competitiveness Index to rank counties on manufacturing opportunities.