Kirinyaga County has begun onboarding investors for its nearly complete County Aggregation and Industrial Park (CAIP) at Sagana, even as more counties continue visiting to benchmark on the project’s successful implementation.
Bungoma County’s Department of Trade, Energy and Industrialization is the latest to tour the industrial park to learn from Kirinyaga’s experience ahead of implementing a similar project. The visit follows an earlier benchmarking mission by Kitui County, further affirming Kirinyaga’s position as a national leader in industrial park development.
The benchmarking comes as the Sagana CAIP enters its final phase of construction, with the project now 96 per cent complete. Eight warehouses have already been completed, while the County Government has commenced the process of onboarding investors interested in establishing industries at the park ahead of its official commissioning.
Governor Anne Waiguru welcomed the Bungoma delegation, saying county-to-county learning continues to strengthen devolution and promote economic transformation across Kenya.
“County-to-county learning remains one of the greatest strengths of devolution, and we are glad to share our experience in advancing agro-industrialisation and value addition,” the Governor said.
Kirinyaga Investment Development Authority (KIDA) Chairman Michael Ndwiga said the county had already gazetted KIDA regulations, paving the way for investor applications.
“Investors are already submitting applications. They are evaluated and, once they qualify, they are issued with lease agreements to establish industries at the park,” Ndwiga said.
He said the remaining works mainly involve landscaping and cabro paving, noting that early investor onboarding would ensure industries begin setting up operations immediately after completion of the park.
“The project is now 96 per cent complete and what remains are the final touches. Early onboarding will accelerate industrial operations, value addition, job creation and investment in the county,” he added.
The CAIP is one of the flagship projects within the 252-acre Sagana Agro-Industrial City, a designated Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Ndia Constituency. Once fully developed, the industrial city is expected to create more than 10,000 direct jobs and over 100,000 indirect employment opportunities while positioning Kirinyaga as a major manufacturing, agro-processing and export hub.
The development will also host an Export Processing Zone (EPZ), agro-processing industries, hotels, a golf course, affordable housing projects and other commercial investments, making it one of the country’s most ambitious county-led industrialization initiatives.
Bungoma County Chief Officer for Trade, Energy and Industrialization Stephen Wamalwa said the delegation chose Kirinyaga because of the significant progress it has made in implementing its County Aggregation and Industrial Park.
“We came to Kirinyaga because they are way ahead of us in the implementation of CAIPs. We wanted to benchmark and collect lessons that will help us implement ours,” Wamalwa said.
He said the team had acquired practical lessons that would help improve implementation and accelerate completion of Bungoma’s own industrial park.
“We have gained valuable insights that we can apply back home. They will help us move faster and also push our contractor to pull up his socks,” he said.
Wamalwa noted that the delegation had also benchmarked in Meru and Laikipia counties but found Kirinyaga to be the most advanced.
“We have visited Meru and Laikipia too, but Kirinyaga is ahead of the rest. We appreciate the support we have received from the County Government and KIDA, and we hope to come back for more benchmarking,” he added.
By Mutai Kipng’etich
