Watoto wa Nyayo: Industrialisation to Unlock Kenya’s Potential

 

The first Kenya Industrialisation Conference 2023 was held at The University of Nairobi Grounds, from the 20^th to 22^nd November 2023. In attendance, high ranking government (national and counties) officials such as CS Rebecca Miano, PS Juma Mukhwana, Chair of Devolved Governments H.E Anne Waiguru, her counterparts H.E Dr. Paul Otuoma and H.E Johnson Sakaja… academicians and practitioners, SMES, and even huge industries such as the Devki Group of Companies… you could tell it was really a game-changer.

Now, I am part of the cohort that is ‘Watoto wa Nyayo’ – ‘Paukwa… Pakawa… Sahani… ya mchele… na maziwa je? Ya watoto wa Nyayo’… I am sentimental, away from the occasional rumours then that accompanied the milk… needles and human fingers in the milk; such is Kenyan ever-creative (and negative) political propaganda machinery (prevalent right now and really depressing).

I am sentimental, alright. Why? The Numerical Machining Complex (NMC) is in attendance and is displaying the Nyayo Pioneer Car… a national heritage of what could have been… the car that started, then sputtered out, forcing the Late President H.E. Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi to do a lap of honour in Nyayo Pioneer 2 at the then new Kasarani Stadium (Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani). Then again, cartels in the motor-vehicle assembly industry sabotaged the dream… now, India’s Tata dominates global vehicles production… the tragedy being that we inspired them.

The Nyayo Pioneer car, the star-attraction at the NMC stand (they have lathe machines, water pumps, a brick-making machine)… We touch, we photo-op, we engage in animated chats… should be entered into Concours de Elegance… could fetch 2billion KES if auctioned… you can’t auction a nation’s heritage… should be produced in this manner, vintage, classic… we should move to EV/hybrid. I am all for vintage… the car has soul to it (a Datsun soul, if I am honest).

The past… indigenisation, agro-processing… if we are really serious, the coal in Lamu and Kitui will be the game-changer – steel as the core of manufacturing/industrialisation is critical and needs cheap, reliable power… no, more renewable and green… the conversations are varied, facts and figures are bundled about… protect local capital intensive industrial projects… let the youth create, copy, recreate, perfect – the China model… open the country, the region, the country… competition should be on collaborations if we are to move from the 2^nd to the 4^th Industrial Revolution…

It’s a good place to begin, the first ever Industrialisation Conference in Kenya. Next year, it aims to be big and better. Hopefully, then, I’ll have moved from listener-participant (aspiring industrialist) to exhibitor-participant (SME)… hope springs eternal as there are a number of initiatives including KIRDI, shared Common Manufacturing Facilities around the counties – including the County Aggregation Industrial Parks... and so forth.

Most importantly, I have a President that is at the table, taking charge to ensure that Africa is adequately represented at the global table where the menu is resetting the rules of trade, commerce, investments and markets. That way, in time, we’ll be able to compete favourably with the global best… after all, the customers cares only about quality and value-for-money, foremost. Sentimentalism and romanticism, the customer leaves to the poet and the writer, such as me… where such is covered in my books, ‘A Funeral Dress for Nyasuguta’ and ‘Love Told, Poetry Souled, Family Bold.’

 

Book Links:

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‘A Funeral Dress for Nyasuguta’ available at: https://nuriakenya.com/product/a-funeral-dress-for-nyasuguta-by-mark-mwangi/

‘Love Told, Poetry Souled, Family Bold’ – available on Amazon Kindle at  http://shorturl.at/hzALY