NAIROBI, Kenya – The government has defended its controversial decision to raise taxes on imported vehicles and electronics, arguing that the move is necessary to revive local manufacturing, create jobs and reduce Kenya’s heavy reliance on foreign goods.
Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui said higher import duties are designed to level the playing field for local producers by making domestically manufactured goods more competitive against cheaper imports.
Speaking during the launch of K-Electric, a new Kenyan electronics manufacturer, Kinyanjui said the country’s unemployment crisis cannot be solved without deliberate investment in industrialisation and value addition.
“When we say we have no jobs, yet we import almost everything we consume, the conversation we must have is very simple: how can we produce here?” he said.
The Cabinet Secretary noted that the strategy should not be limited to vehicles and electronics but extended to everyday consumer goods such as shoes, suits, tyres and mobile phones, many of which are either imported or have limited local alternatives.
Under the new policy, higher taxes on fully built vehicles and electronic products are expected to encourage manufacturers to set up local assembly and production plants.
Kinyanjui acknowledged that the measures may face public resistance but insisted they are unavoidable if Kenya is to build a sustainable industrial base.
“There can be no declaration that can reduce unemployment. The only way to reduce unemployment is industrialisation and value addition,” he said.
Kinyanjui drew parallels with South Korea, which the government frequently cites as a development model, arguing that Kenya must focus on the foundations of such economies rather than merely admiring their success.
“Let us not just admire the country. Let us admire the roots they have, using their own products, facilitating their own companies,” he said.
He pointed out that some of South Korea’s biggest global brands — including Samsung, Hyundai and LG — are family-owned firms that collectively drive about 60 per cent of the country’s economy.
Africa, he argued, must similarly nurture industrial families instead of undermining emerging business leaders.
However, the Cabinet Secretary admitted that access to affordable financing remains a major hurdle for local manufacturers.
He said high interest rates, which until recently hovered between 18 and 19 per cent, have strained industries and slowed expansion.
“No industry can survive at 19 per cent. That is why we are working with the Central Bank to manage fiscal discipline and bring rates down,” Kinyanjui said.
K-Electric, the company he was inaugurating, manufactures household appliances such as televisions and refrigerators.
It is a subsidiary of the DL Group of Companies owned by investor David Langat and is among a small number of Kenyan firms attempting to break into an electronics market long dominated by imports.
