At this week’s 6th Pres­i­den­tial Round­table, indus­try play­ers shared first­hand expe­ri­ences. As Chair­per­son of the Motor­cy­cle Assem­blers Asso­ci­a­tion of Kenya, I val­ued the can­dor. Prob­lems were called out direct­ly for cor­rec­tion. That hon­esty mat­ters because progress begins when we describe our dif­fi­cul­ties truth­ful­ly and take respon­si­bil­i­ty for solv­ing them.

The round­table, Indus­tri­al­iza­tion Sum­mit, and Changam­ka, which con­cludes today at the Keny­at­ta Inter­na­tion­al Con­ven­tion Cen­ter, made me real­ize that the event brought pro­duc­tion into the nation­al con­ver­sa­tion like nev­er before. They also left me reflect­ing on a ques­tion: how do we turn these con­ver­sa­tions into depend­able liveli­hoods? The orga­niz­ers’ unmatched cre­ativ­i­ty, which kept Pres­i­dent Ruto active­ly engaged for 8 straight hours in a sin­gle day, deserves recog­ni­tion. I sin­cere­ly con­grat­u­late each orga­niz­er, includ­ing var­i­ous gov­ern­ment arms, the Kenya Asso­ci­a­tion of Man­u­fac­tur­ers, the Kenya Pri­vate Sec­tor Alliance, the Kenya Nation­al Cham­ber of Com­merce, inter­na­tion­al agen­cies, and all exhibitors and delegates. 

Kenya’s next indus­tri­al break­through may begin with some­thing ordi­nary: an order that is deliv­ered, paid for and placed again.

Man­u­fac­tur­ing con­tributed 7.1 per­cent of Kenya’s econ­o­my in 2025, accord­ing to the Kenya Nation­al Bureau of Sta­tis­tics. That fig­ure should sharp­en our pur­pose. The cre­ativ­i­ty dis­played at exhi­bi­tions needs a depend­able mar­ket beyond the exhibitions.

A school buys food. A hos­pi­tal buys linen. A hotel buys clean­ing prod­ucts. A church buys fur­ni­ture. Behind each pur­chase can stand a farmer, a tai­lor, a car­pen­ter, a trans­porter, and a fam­i­ly plan­ning for tomorrow.

We already spend this mon­ey. We can orga­nize its jour­ney more thoughtfully.

The State Depart­ment for Industry’s June mas­ter roll lists 1,287 prod­ucts and indus­tri­al sup­port ser­vices. Kenya also has exist­ing work link­ing schools with local farm­ers and small busi­ness­es. We have use­ful start­ing points. Our respon­si­bil­i­ty is to make the con­nec­tions dependable.

Start with one recur­ring pur­chase. Set clear spec­i­fi­ca­tions. Com­pare price, qual­i­ty, and deliv­ery. Iden­ti­fy a capa­ble Kenyan pro­duc­er. Place a man­age­able order, inspect it, and pay on the agreed date.

An unpaid invoice can leave a sup­pli­er strug­gling to buy mate­ri­als or pay wages. A busi­ness can have cus­tomers and still strug­gle to sur­vive while wait­ing for pay­ment. Prompt pay­ment is a prac­ti­cal act of nation-building.

Gov­ern­ment must resolve ver­i­fied pay­ment oblig­a­tions through cred­i­ble, fund­ed plans. Pri­vate buy­ers can hon­our the com­mit­ments already with­in their control.

Afford­abil­i­ty mat­ters. A fam­i­ly under pres­sure should nev­er be shamed for choos­ing what it can afford. Kenyan pro­duc­ers must earn con­fi­dence through safe, com­pet­i­tive prod­ucts. A Kenyan address on an invoice does not estab­lish how much pro­duc­tion hap­pened here.

The green con­nec­tion I always advo­cate for begins before the fac­to­ry gate. Food pro­cess­ing requires depend­able har­vests. Har­vests require healthy soils and reli­able water. Pro­duc­tion requires ener­gy and mate­ri­als. Pro­tect­ing these foun­da­tions is eco­nom­ic stewardship.

Some mate­ri­als we dis­card can sup­ply anoth­er enter­prise. That oppor­tu­ni­ty becomes real when some­one needs them, accepts their qual­i­ty, and pays fair­ly for their recov­ery. Clean-up needs a des­ti­na­tion for the col­lect­ed mate­r­i­al, and col­lec­tors deserve income that cov­ers trans­port costs.

Trust mat­ters through­out. The World Bank’s assess­ment, released on 4 Novem­ber, iden­ti­fies gov­er­nance as one of Kenya’s eco­nom­ic con­straints. Sup­pli­er selec­tion must be trans­par­ent. Sup­port­ing local pro­duc­tion must cre­ate oppor­tu­ni­ties for capa­ble busi­ness­es and pro­tect buy­ers from poor value.

For the next 90 days, will­ing insti­tu­tions could make a mod­est com­mit­ment: one com­pet­i­tive recur­ring pur­chase, time­ly pay­ment, and one suit­able improve­ment in water or mate­r­i­al use. Record the cost, deliv­ery, pay­ment, and whether the buy­er returns. Share what fails as hon­est­ly as what works.

The can­dor I wit­nessed deserves prac­ti­cal fol­low-through. Gov­ern­ment has duties to ful­fill. Indus­try has stan­dards to uphold. Each insti­tu­tion can exam­ine the pur­chas­ing deci­sions already with­in its purview.

Every week, along­side our mul­ti­tude of com­plaints as true Kenyans, we can ask: what did the mon­ey pass­ing through our hands help pro­duce, sus­tain, or restore?

Let our mon­ey fin­ish its work. Think green, act green!