Eight county industrial parks to open by year-end, Kindiki says

The facilities in Meru, Embu, Kirinyaga, Kisii, Busia, Migori, Garissa and Wajir form the first phase of a KSh2.4B industrialisation drive

By Marion Karimi

The government will operationalise eight County Aggregation and Industrial Parks before the end of 2026, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki announced yesterday after receiving final technical preparedness reports for the first cohort of facilities.

Kindiki said each of the eight counties will initially focus on value addition based on products widely available in their respective regions. Meru and Embu will begin with macadamia processing, while Kirinyaga will focus on tomato paste manufacture. The remaining parks are located in Kisii, Busia, Migori, Garissa and Wajir.

“CAIPs are the first step towards industrialisation. They provide for aggregation, value addition and the foundation for the first steps towards manufacturing. All the countries we are looking up to — South Korea, Malaysia and China — grew their economies through value addition and cottage industries,” Kindiki said.

The programme forms part of President William Ruto’s KSh2.4B plan to establish common-user facilities in every county aggregation and industrial park across Kenya, with the parks designed to provide shared industrial infrastructure to businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, while creating new market opportunities for farmers and producers.

Meru is closest to completion, with commissioning expected within September, pending outstanding legal and documentation procedures. “I am satisfied that a lot of work has been done; most of these CAIPs are almost ready,” Kindiki said.

The Ministry has developed guidelines on the operationalisation of CAIPs to ensure uniformity and strict observance of standards before commissioning, with county governments required to undergo thorough technical assessments before facilities are cleared for use.

For Kenya’s farmers, smallholder producers and the millions employed in the informal economy, the parks represent something long promised and rarely delivered — industry that comes to the county rather than demanding the county come to the city.

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