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The Standard on Sunday
Date: 26.06.2016
Page 22
Article size: 172 cm2
ColumnCM: 38.22
AVE: 87911.11
Emulate
Mauritius and
expand trade
[email protected]
Ipsos Kenya ­ Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road ­ Lavington ­ Nairobi ­ Kenya
The Standard on Sunday
Date: 26.06.2016
Page 22
Article size: 172 cm2
ColumnCM: 38.22
AVE: 87911.11
on the green economy Highway?
Mauritius is trading its way into sustainable
than Kenya. It is smaller than
prosperity. We too can do so.
Nakuru County and has al­
most half a million fewer peo­
ple than Nakuru. But despite
The writer is the founder and chairperson, Green
its vastly smaller size com­
Africa Foundation and runs a blog on conserva­
pared to Kenya, Mauritius's
tion—www. isaackalua. com
economy is far stronger than Kenya's, with a
GDP per capita that is nearly nine times stron­
ger than ours.
So what is Mauritius doing right that we
Mauritius is 285 times smaller
can learn from? In one word ­ trade!
In 2014, Mauritius earned $3.01 billion from
exporting a rich variety of goods that included
processed fish, raw sugar, broadcasting equip­
ment, knit T­shirts and non­knit men's shirts.
Such trade is enhanced by preferential access
to trading partners in places like the Europe­
an Union. For a country that was a mono­crop
sugar economy 50 years ago, such expansive
trade is no mean feat.
In order to further enhance its trade com­
petitiveness, last year Mauritius established
the Government Programme 2015­2019. This
programme emphasises among other things,
'partnership agreements and preferential
trade agreements to respond to development
needs and aspirations as they evolve.'
Such emphasis on trade is critical not just
for our national government here in Kenya,
but also for all the 47 county governments. If
the Indian Ocean adjacent counties of Kwale,
Mombasa and Lamu go the Mauritius way and
start processing fish for export, there will be an
explosion of green jobs in the coastal region.
These counties must therefore facilitate the
purchase ofdeepsea fishing vessels and the
establishment of fish processing factories.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) reports that fishery pro­
vides employment for over four million Afri­
cans with additional 150,000 employed as fish
farmers. Kenya should be a bigger part of these
positive statistics by transitioning its fishery
sector into modern and sustainable fishing
practices that will include mariculture where
fish can actually be cultivated in the open
ocean. But even as the country turbo­charges
its fishery sector, we must remember that in
Mauritius, sugar and textiles account for more
exports than fish. Such diversification is vital. I
suggest that our coastal counties need to work
on diversifying exports to optimal markets.
This is a marathon venture that must be ap­
proached with the same discipline and smart­
ness with which our long­distance athletes
employ in their race preparation.
For instance, Lamu County can target to
sell several tonnes of salt­water fish to Ka­
kamega County every quarter of the year. If
Lamu can do this, then they will sharpen both
their fish trade instincts and infrastructure,
which will augur well for subsequent overseas
exports. It is telling that the vast majority of
Kenyans in hinterland counties like Kakamega
never taste salt­water fish like tafi and tangu
for their entire lifetimes. If we can't trade opti­
mally within our own country, how can we ex­
pect to charge ahead of other African countries
Ipsos Kenya ­ Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road ­ Lavington ­ Nairobi ­ Kenya