ELDORET, Kenya, Jan 15 — State Department for Industrialization Principal Secretary Juma Mukhwana, made a visit to Rivatex East Africa Limited textile manufacturing company in Eldoret town where he applaud the factory’s management for bringing it back to life .
Unveiling plans scheduled under the new regime, he emphasised that the move will go a long way in supporting the government’s agenda ‘Buy Kenya, Build Kenya’ initiative aimed at bolstering the manufacturing sector and creating more job opportunities.
“Rivatex had previously collapsed and it has undergone a significant makeover I want to applaud the factory’s management for bringing it back to life, It has now created employment to more than 1000 people and am confident that the new Rivatex will boost his administration’s efforts to create more jobs for the youth in the future,” said Dr Mukhwana.
The PS said the plan is part of the campaign to promote local production and the plans of reviving the collapsed companies like Ken Knit Raymond and Farmers choice is ongoing as they had collapsed due to liberalization and bad policies.
“The government has invested up to 7 Billion shillings in the factory over the past five years and has unveiled plans to expand the textile manufacturing industry with the goal of increasing revenue ten times than of the previous year which was 50 Billion, while increasing employment from 50,000 to 500,000 over the next five years,” he said.
AGOA framework
He further revealed under the Agoa agreement the country already exported Sh50 Billion worth of textile to the USA.
He however added Kenya is yet to fully exploit this opportunity to revive the cotton industry noting that the ministry has already rolled out initiatives to return the sector to its glory days.
“Providing cotton producers with new opportunities we are encouraging local farmers to grow cotton on a large scale because the market is readily available,” noted Mukhwana.
“When the factories stopped running farmers stop planting ,and as a government we have allocated 50 million for cotton purchases ,and this year we have set aside 200 million for the same therefore we will have cotton buying centers for farmers to sell because up to 80% of our cotton supply is imported,” the PS said.
Rivatex East Africa CEO, Thomas Kipkurgat, said that the expansion strategy will see the firm employ more people across the country and the expansion of the apparel industry will help both domestic and international markets.
“We have acquired acres of land across the country in a bid to grow more cotton to support our expansion drive,” said Prof Kipkurgat.
Some of the counties that the textile manufacturer has partnered with include Elgeyo Marakwet, West Pokot, Baringo and Kitui, among others.
Additionally, he said, it will satisfy the needs of the enterprises in the Export Processing Zone.
