20 years of Kepsa driving private sector growth

The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa) was founded in 2003 to unify the private sector's voice during President Mwai Kibaki’s administration, addressing confusion from multiple organisations with conflicting solutions.

 It aimed to engage the government on policies to enhance Kenya's business environment and foster growth. This initiative marked a significant turning point, as various associations joined forces to develop an economic recovery strategy. Today, Kepsa represents a diverse network of local and foreign business associations, chambers of commerce, and corporations, reaching over 2 million businesses directly and indirectly.

We’ve since worked with three presidents, navigating different administrations but always holding firm to one constant: the private sector’s critical role in driving Kenya’s economic growth. Through our established public-private dialogue mechanisms, we rally the private sector to collectively engage in organized discussions with key stakeholders and the government on cross-cutting policy issues affecting business development and investment.

In June 2010, former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government tasked Kepsa with the Kenya Youth Empowerment Project (KYEP) to provide youth with work experience and skills through training and internships. The pilot program in Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu included two months of training and four months of work experience.

Paid jobs

A total of 20,384 youth (47 per cent female) were trained, exceeding the target of 15,000, while 13,289 (49 per cent female) secured internships, surpassing the goal of 10,000. The project achieved a 75 per cent placement rate in paid jobs and encouraged about 10 per cent of participants to develop further skills.

On December 10, 2024, we celebrated 20 years of Kepsa's role as a convening power in the business environment, investments, enterprise development, youth, and jobs. This year, we held engagements, including Presidential Roundtables with President William Ruto, addressing key issues affecting the ease of doing business. Discussions focused on competitive factors like raw material costs, logistics, credit, labour productivity, and utilities.

Other engagements included the 6th Speaker’s Roundtable with the Senate, which set the legislative agenda for FY 2024/25 to enhance county economic competitiveness. The 7th Speaker’s Roundtable with the National Assembly focused on sector-specific reforms and fostering a thriving business environment through clear regulation. The Chief Justice Roundtable aimed to improve judicial accessibility. The EAC Secretary General Roundtable was crucial for regional economic integration. Various Ministerial Stakeholder Forums provided platforms for dialogue with Cabinet Secretaries. Additionally, we launched the County Regional Economic Blocs Roundtable.

Our interventions now go beyond policy to also focus on enterprise development. We collaborate with national and international partners to implement over 50 projects. We’ve created about 1 million decent jobs, supported over 30,985 SMEs (51 per cent women-led), and linked 300,000 youth to jobs through programs like Ajira Digital and Jiinue Growth Program.

With six years left to achieve Vision 2030, we must enhance industrial transformation while ensuring environmental sustainability. Current key challenges include high business costs from expensive energy, logistics inefficiencies, and unpredictable regulations.

SMEs and startups face limited access to affordable financing, and there’s a skills gap due to education not meeting industry demands. Regulatory uncertainty also complicates taxes, while climate change risks supply chains and agriculture.

The author is the CEO of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa). She can be reached at [email protected].