Government and Policy

Key Issues Political Manifestos Must Address for Better Economic Growth

BY Soko Directory Team · March 2, 2022 02:03 pm

KEY POINTS

Join KAM and other industry experts on Thursday 3^rd from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM as they explore key issues political aspirants must prioritize in their political manifestos for the sake of our country’s future.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Our country’s investments should continuously be diverted towards keeping up with constant and sudden shifting policies and regulations, as opposed to investment going into competitive wages, improved innovative equipment, research and development, and expansion.

Kenya’s economic growth has significantly been subjected to politics of poverty, one that has driven some populations to the brink of starvation. Citizens had hoped that life would be easy once the economic strain from the Covid-19 pandemic eases, but the future is bleak.

The economic promises, the ease of doing business, the reduced cost of living, to name a few, have remained unfulfilled promises. Yet, the country continues to ironically offer better hope as the prices of commodities choke Kenyans. The big question, therefore, is, what can be done to salvage the already sorry state of the economy?

The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), has put forth several key issues that manufacturers need to focus on in their manifesto to ensure that Kenya’s economy, beyond the elections, is sustainable.

Fiscal Issues

Kenya’s fiscal issues will continue affecting even after the elections are over. But it is worth noting that the government’s incessant need to tax its citizens will not get Kenya out of the fiscal distress we are experiencing.

“In fact, it impedes productivity, and in turn dilutes the ability to pay taxes at all. Not to mention that it also erodes public trust if he critical questions such as what are we spending on as a country, how much are we spending, and who is paying are not addressed,” adds KAM.

What will benefit Kenya is if it gets value for money in terms of public spending by subjecting investments by both National and County Governments to economic appraisals to determine their usefulness to the country’s needs and goals.

Far from ensuring that the debt ratio drops to a minimum of 50 percent of the GDP, political leaders should ensure that local businesses are supported to ensure that their competitiveness and productivity guarantees an increase in exports

This will be a more sustainable way for the country to source funds/revenue to service the debt.

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If Kenya aims for a 10 percent year-on-year growth rate of the manufacturing sector, it might just get itself out of the debt burdens.

Cost of Living

The prices of household items will continue rising as they have for the past 10 years. An increase in regulations and taxations only serves to affect the farms and agribusinesses in the value and supply chains.

Kenya’s regulations should only aim to induce competition, increase efficiency in resource allocation, and allow firms to expand. Otherwise, Kenyans will continue finding it hard to set up businesses and economic growth will remain a pipe dream.

“We need to make it easier for Citizens to establish and run productive and profitable businesses in every sector. Doing this will increase the capacity for more businesses to be incorporated into the value and supply chains of the local manufacturing sector, boosting the sector’s productivity,” says KAM

Job Creation

Overall, the employment picture in Kenya has shifted strongly towards informal sector employment. The first implication of this is that Kenya’s growth pattern is neither solving nor meeting the demand for formal and decent employment.

If our leaders focus on enabling even the small businesses to offer productive and sustainable jobs, over 15 million individuals working for the informal sector would be able to afford health care, through covers such as NHIF.

It also means that they would be able to plan their finances and invest back into the country – hugely boosting the circulation of money in the economy.

The productivity of the informal sector can also be enhanced through the development of policies tailored towards providing access to broad skills beyond formal education, creating linkages between formal and informal businesses, and integrating them into value chains to access bigger markets.

Currently, the Manufacturing sector is the only guaranteed provider of productive jobs, but even so, it is crucial to ensure that the available jobs for the youth are productive and sustainable. This is particularly so as Kenya continues to experience a demographic dividend.

Politicians need to understand that the jobs our youth need are those that are secure, demonstrate growth in terms of expansion of human skills through technology thereby making individuals valuable in the global market; as well as offer competitive remuneration to enable young people to live decent lives.

“Because our economy is not rooted in a strong industrial base, it is not creating enough productive jobs. The productivity growth has stagnated, it affects the overall contribution of labor to value-added growth,” says KAM.

This is why even though we might see an increase in jobs offered to citizens, they are not significantly better as they are not associated with value addition. Consequently, any increase in economic growth does not necessarily translate to a significant increase in the quality of jobs.

Many Kenyans measure economic growth in terms of how their standard of living is changing. This is in terms of employment, food prices, level of income, among others.

It is, therefore, important to ensure that beyond campaign promises, leaders need to do better for their citizens. Our country’s investments should continuously be diverted towards keeping up with constant and sudden shifting policies and regulations, as opposed to investment going into competitive wages, improved innovative equipment, Research and development, and expansion.

Of course, there is a lot more that can be done, but amidst all, one thing remains clear: Kenya’s transformation can only happen through good governance and political goodwill is essential in enhancing investments in the country.

KAM Economic Growth

To this end, join KAM and other industry experts on Thursday 3^rd from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM as they explore key issues political aspirants must prioritize in their political manifestos for the sake of our country’s future.

About Soko Directory Team

Soko Directory is a Financial and Markets digital portal that tracks brands, listed firms on the NSE, SMEs and trend setters in the markets eco-system. Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/SokoDirectory and on Twitter: twitter.com/SokoDirectory