Opening  Ceremony; 2026 Africa International Machinery, Automotive Parts, Electromechanical and Hardware Products Expo.

Industrialisation Secretary, (IS), Professor Erastus Gatebe, this morning officiated the opening  ceremony of the 2026 Africa International Machinery, Automotive Parts, Electromechanical and Hardware Products Expo on behalf of Industry Principal Secretary{PS}, Dr. Juma Mukhwana.
The Expo is a platform for promoting industrial cooperation and trade exchanges between Kenya and China in sectors including construction machinery, mining equipment, agricultural machinery, automobile and motorcycle parts, electromechanical products, and hardware products. 
“The Government of Kenya, through the State Department for Industry, is executing a strategic pivot toward a high-value export-led manufacturing. Our goal is to raise the manufacturing sector’s contribution to GDP to 15 per cent by 2027”, noted the PS, in his speech read by Professor Gatebe.

“To achieve this”, the PS assured the Chinese investors, “the Government has deployed interventions such as the KSh 13.1 billion Japanese Samurai Bond to provide critical capital for local automotive parts manufacturers to acquire advanced machinery for the production of high quality spareparts”.

The PS in his remarks, added that, the Government had also invested KSh 250 million per county, to establish County Aggregation & Industrial Parks (CAIPs), for value addition to occur close to the source of the raw materials.

Professor Gatebe further echoed the PS’s remarks noting that the Government was leveraging Special Economic Zones in Naivasha and Dongo Kundu to offer manufacturers incentives such as subsidised power, as low as KSh 5 per kWh in Naivasha, in addition to 0% excise duty, in a bid to lower the cost of production for investors.

“The industrial and manufacturing sectors, ensure that there is job creation, currency stability, food security and regional leadership, Kenya and you as our investors, we all stand to gain from these developmets”, noted the IS, while calling for more partnerships between the Chinese and Kenyan investors.

Also present were Chinese diplomats, Government officials from KIA, KEBS and KNCCI.