German-Kenyan Food Processing and Packaging Forum: A New Chapter for Kenya’s Industrial Growth

Team, welcome to our beautiful country, Kenya. I have enjoyed your food, bought some food cups — the only thing I haven't yet mastered is your long German greeting. So let me just go with the Kenyan one: Karibu sana na Asante.

Our relationship with Germany spans close to 60 years since our independence. We’ve had strong diplomatic ties, with both Kenyan and German embassies playing a key role over the decades.

If you rewind 120 years, this country was largely bushland. The only way to get here was by ship to Mombasa. Your ancestors then walked for months—from Mombasa to Nairobi, then onwards to Kisumu and into Uganda. Kenya as we know it did not exist yet; we were many different communities, vibrant and independent. The British colonial era introduced infrastructure like education, health, roads, and the railway, bringing us to where we are today.

Just two weeks ago, the IMF and World Bank reclassified Kenya. We are now the 6th largest economy in Africa, having just surpassed Angola and Ethiopia. In East and Central Africa, Kenya is the largest economy.

We’re not only growing, but we’re also strategically positioning Kenya as your gateway into East Africa and Africa as a whole.

When the First Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the 1740s, it spread to Europe, then America, and later manufacturing shifted to Asia. One region it has not yet fully reached is Africa. Africa has 17% of the world’s population but contributes only 3% of the world’s manufactured products. That gap is where the opportunity lies.

With 1.4 billion people and a rising middle class of about 300–400 million, Africa presents vast consumption and manufacturing potential. Kenya offers access to this growing demand.

Traditionally, our exports to Germany have been tea and coffee. But over the past 10–15 years, we've diversified into horticulture, floriculture, vegetables, dairy, and processed nuts.

We have worked hard to create trade agreements that add value:

Manufacturing in Kenya gives you access not only to Kenya but also the East African Community market—Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Somalia, DRC—with over 300 million people, duty- and quota-free.

We have Special Economic Zones from Dongo Kundu in Mombasa to Tatu City inland. Counties are establishing County Aggregation and Industrial Parks (CAIPs) to promote local value addition in crops like macadamia, avocado, potatoes, rice, maize, groundnuts, and sunflower.

We are signatories to AfCFTA, opening access to the entire African market. Kenya is also part of the Tripartite Free Trade Area (EAC, COMESA, SADC), giving manufacturing access to vast markets in Southern, Eastern, and Central Africa.

We have robust ICT hubs like Konza Technopolis and strong partnerships for digital jobs, including labor mobility programs with Germany.

There is opportunity in EV assembly, infrastructure like charging stations, and component manufacturing.

Opportunities exist in equipment leasing, setting up labs and hospitals, and leveraging universal health care reforms.

We’ve moved from an employer-based insurance model to Universal Health Care through the Social Health Authority. Coverage is expanding from 5–7 million to all 55 million Kenyans.

Kenya has introduced an Affordable Housing Program, funded through a national levy. We're building over 250,000 housing units, allowing people to own homes at as low as KES 3,000/month for 20 years.

Karibuni Kenya—welcome to Kenya. This is your launchpad into East Africa and Africa at large. We are open, ready, and willing to partner with you across sectors: agriculture, pharmaceuticals, ICT, manufacturing, infrastructure, housing, and more.