Kenya's Kisumu National Polytechnic targets January start at KSh 1.2 billion textile factory

Kisumu National Polytechnic has set a target of January to start operating its KSh 1.2 billion textile factory, the Kenya News Agency (KNA) reported on 15 October 2026. The Kenyan news site Education News, in a report the same day, gave the date as January 2027.

The contractor is expected to complete outstanding works by the end of October, ahead of the project's scheduled completion in December. The World Bank is funding the factory through the East Africa Skills for Transformation and Regional Integration Project (EASTRIP).

The plant is meant to cover the whole chain from cotton to garments. Education News described it as processing raw cotton into yarn, weaving fabric and making finished garments. KNA said the site combines production, training and research, and includes workshops, laboratories, technology transfer centres and a hostel.

"We want to fully operationalise the value chain by coming up with a detailed implementation plan," Chief Principal Wycliffe Okumu said during an inspection by a World Bank technical team, as quoted by both KNA and Education News.

Okumu said, as quoted by KNA, that "securing raw material is now the immediate priority". The polytechnic is looking for a reliable supply of seed cotton for the spinning unit and is talking to cotton farmers, political leaders and members of county assemblies in Nyanza and Western Kenya.

The institution has signed 26 memorandums of understanding with sector players, among them Rivatex East Africa, Thika Cotton Mills and Ethiopia's Kombolcha Textile Share Company. It also plans to support micro, small and medium enterprises around the factory and to open the facilities to other technical and vocational institutions.

Power and waste are the other open questions. Parts of the plant will run on solar, but heavy industrial machines need more than solar alone, and the polytechnic is exploring an off-grid energy option to reduce reliance on expensive grid power. An effluent treatment plant is planned for liquid waste from the industrial processes. Its design, developed by the polytechnic's building and construction department, is awaiting approval from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).

Council Chairman Eng. Judah Ochieng said, as quoted by KNA: "We have had challenges with construction, supervision and procurement of contractors." He added: "The big question now is how we will run this factory?" Education News reported that he wants clear procedures for production, equipment maintenance and management of the textile centre of excellence in place before operations start.

KNA reported that EASTRIP National Coordinator and TVET Director Archer Arina said issues flagged in earlier assessments had been addressed, clearing the way for the project to be put into operation.

KNA reported on 18 February 2026 that the factory was 98 per cent complete and was set to be commissioned in April 2026. The same report said it had been expected to be handed over in early 2025 but ran into bottlenecks, which led Esther Thaara Muoria, Principal Secretary of the State Department for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, to cancel the sub-contractor's contract.

EASTRIP, a regional World Bank project for Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania, was launched in Addis Ababa on 14 June 2019. The East African Community's launch announcement said it would be financed by an International Development Association (IDA) loan of US$210 million and a grant of US$83 million, a total of US$293 million.