Kenyan label to boost local brands and attract investors

• Brand Kenya has developed a trademark, to be affixed to Kenyan products

Sylvia Mwaura, the proprietor of Kimira Africa, a fashion design shop in Nairobi, would love to have a label for her products.

“In case they are sold to an Australian or anywhere abroad, the user will be able to identify the origin, and we feel motivated if the wearer from such a distant land communicates and appreciate that the material is of good quality,” she said.

But this is not the case for Ms Mwaura and thousands of small and medium enterprises as they are unable to produce the tag due to lack of money.

“Except for a few designers who can afford to have labels, Kenyan designers eyeing the export market rarely attach labels to indicate their origin,” she said.

She added that products made in Kenya often have labels indicating they are made elsewhere, and this deprives the producers “of the recognition and pride that accompanies the product”.

This is where Brand Kenya comes in. It has developed a trademark, to be affixed to Kenyan goods and products.

It was developed by a task force drawn from Brand Kenya, Kenya Chamber of Commerce, Kenya Private Sector Association, Kenya Association of Manufacturers and Kenya Bureau of Standards.

Brand Kenya managing director Mary Kimonye said branding Kenyan goods such as coffee, tea and horticultural products, which enjoy favourable ratings in the foreign market will create a positive image of the country.

Investment destination

In addition to efforts to market Kenyan goods and products, projecting the country as an investment destination has been their main objective.

On this front, they want to develop a national value system based on respect for other poeple’s property.

Ms Kimonye regerets that the national value system in Kenya has been so eroded that people steal from accident victims and those involved in crises.

“This was not the case in Japan when the tsunami hit, and that tells how patriotic the people are,” she said.

But she said the passing of the new Constitution projected a positive image of the country, which is good to attract investments.

“We will document the dos and don’ts to create a national value system for a positive image of the country,” she said.

She added that permanent secretaries should regularly brief the public on what is going on in their respective ministries.

Bidco managing director Vimal Shah said a set of national values needs to be developed and passed on to children.

In a bid to exploit athletics to market Kenya as a key tourism and investment destination, Brand Kenya has teamed up with Run with Kenyans, a US-based organisation to invite former and current athletes to sign autographs during the Boston Marathon in April.