Most of the timber, cereals and beverages being sold in Nairobi City, comes from Congo and Tanzania, through Kajiado
By Jonathan Teikan
Kajiado County has diverse and inexhaustible investment opportunities that it’s yet to discover and harness, says Kajiado Municipality Manager Parsimei Gitau.
According to Parsimei, an urban planning expert, each of the five sub counties, has its unique opportunities that the county government can further utilize to improve the lives of the residents.
According to Parsimei, Kajiado South is by God formation a food basket and a world renowned tourist destination, while Kajiado West has mineral deposits, high agricultural, and tourism potential embedded in it.
In a like manner, Kajiado Central and its East counterpart are both rich with natural resources: Gypsum, limestone and marble among others.
Kajiado North on its part is endowed with human capital, perhaps due to its proximity to Nairobi capital city.
“Most of the who-is-who in this country live in Kajiado North, for instance retired ambassadors. These people have the capital and the networks we need to do investments.
He added: “Take an example; if the county government can establish a Kajiado Stock Exchange, that these people can be confident that it’s being run professionally, then you can be sure that they will have the will to invest their money, and we will have more money in circulation.”
Goods on transit
Furthermore, there are always goods on transit along the Namanga-Nairobi road that provide momentous opportunities that if well harnessed, will inevitably spur economic growth, and create more job opportunities.
“Most of the timber, cereals and beverages being sold in Nairobi City, comes from Congo and Tanzania, through Kajiado, yet we’ve never seen it as a business opportunity,” said Parsimei.
To tap into the opportunity, Parsimei says, “The county government can mobilize resources — for instance in partnerships with private sectors — to start and establish a logistic hub at a designated area, say, at the 1,600-acre demonstration farm in Kajiado town.”
Once the hub is in place, Parsimei says, the local government can approach the government of the Republic of Tanzania to sign a Memorandum of Understanding, to the effect that the latter can make Kajiado a destination for its goods.
In return, the County Government of Kajiado can lobby the national government to lower border tariffs on goods that are brought to Kajiado, as an incentive, while they pay taxes and fee to the county government for the services they receive.
In doing so, “We will be able to attract other serious investors, for instance, millers like Twiga, and Pembe because then we’ll be having reliable sources of maize.”
The hub will not exclusively target foreign goods, but also local farm produce from areas like Entasopia in Kajiado West, and that from Loitoktok through Isara-Mashuru road.
The railway connectivity between Nairobi and Kajiado is an essential infrastructure that has remained underutilized, but which the manager says, will be highly instrumental in facilitating the transportation of goods and people.
