Kenya seeks to close gap on Africa’s biggest economy.

The Kenyan economy is expected to weather storms to present an improved economic performance from the previous year.

CNBC Africa spoke to Phyllis Wakiaga, CEO of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers for an outlook on trends and areas that will define 2016 growth.

“The economy had grown at about 5.4 per cent in 2014 and in 2015 the projected growth was about six per cent according to the World Bank. Based on this we saw a lot of activities that defined growth last year.” -          Kenya Association of Manufacturers CEO, Phyllis Wakiaga.

“There’s about $60.9 billion (Kenya GDP). So we are the 8^th largest African economy in 2015. This means we are behind Nigeria, which is at number 1 at $570 billion.”
-          Kenya Association of Manufacturers CEO, Phyllis Wakiaga.

“In terms of trade agreement, we’ve also been able to open additional markets last year and for 2016. Taking advantage of this new market is a big opportunity. Some of the markets are the AGOA market. We had a 10 year extension of the AGOA last year so there are about 6 000 opportunities that entrepreneurs and manufacturers can take advantage off.”
-          Kenya Association of Manufacturers CEO, Phyllis Wakiaga.

“Another area that’s important to us is illicit trade. We are not going to be able to compete as legitimate manufacturers if we are competing against substandard goods, counterfeit goods and unaccustomed goods.”
Kenya Association of Manufacturers CEO, Phyllis Wakiaga.

By:  Aviwe Mtila.

Review: Emerging Market Formulations & Research Unit, Flagship Records.
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