President Ruto says the government wants factories to move out of Nairobi and closer to ordinary Kenyans. He told the public that the plan will spread manufacturing across every county, so that all of them can share in the jobs and business it brings.
A Ksh5.8 billion investment is already backing this plan. It built the Kenya Leather Industrial Park in Kenani, Machakos. Deputy President Kithure Kindiki unveiled the park on September 2. It has modern facilities for processing leather and making goods from it.
The push started in June, when Ruto ordered security agencies to buy boots made in Kenya. In October, at a town hall in Jamhuri Park, he confirmed that military and police boots are now made fully in Kenya, and that imports of them are banned.
Ruto now wants schools to follow the same approach. He says Kenya's 14 million learners make up a large market for local shoe makers.
Kenya has a strong base of animals to build on. It has about 80 million livestock, which ranks it 11th in the world. According to the World Bank and the Kenya Leather Development Council, it also has the third-largest livestock population in Africa.
The country's leather trade is still small, though. Kenya ranks 87th out of 208 countries in leather apparel exports, which are worth about Ksh68 million (USD 527,000). It ranks 101st out of 223 importers, spending about Ksh285 million (USD 2.2 million). Ruto is betting that using local livestock and building local factories will change this.
