Kenya designates land near geothermal operations at Naivasha as special economic zones
Olkaria II geothermal power plant (source: UNU)
Alexander Richter
9 Aug 2019
The Kenyan government has designated land in Naivasha and two other areas as special economic zones, which should help enable manufacturing facilities to be built and access cheap geothermal power and rail transport to the port of Mombasa in Kenya.
The Kenyan Government has designated 9,000 acres of land in Naivasha, Mombasa and Machakos as special economic zones (SEZs) as it steps up efforts to boost manufacturing, as reported by Business Daily Africa in late July 2019.
Trade and Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya gazetted the zones meaning they enjoy special tax and infrastructure that facilitate a wide range of activities such as storage, export and re-export.
The ministry said the applications for access to those economic zones are being scrutinised with priority given to those eyeing use of locally produced raw materials to process products for export.
“Apart from Tatu City and Africa Economic Zones, Naivasha as well will be built, enabling manufacturing facilities enjoy access to cheap geothermal power and cheap Standard Gauge Railway transport to Mombasa port,” Adan Mohamed, the Cabinet Secretary for East African Community (EAC) and Regional Development earlier said.
Over 120 countries in the world are said to have SEZs which have contributed to over 50 million direct jobs according to studies.
Kenya announced early this year it will allocate land to South Sudan for construction of a dry port at the Naivasha special economic zone, making it the second country after Uganda to gain from the inland container depot.
Source: Business Daily Africa
