Growing middle income population a boon for retail trade investors

An areal view of Nakuru Town. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATUAH

What you need to know:

  • The most compelling sign of the boom in the construction industry is the Sh1.6 billion shopping complex being developed by the Dalamere family in Naivasha.
  • The impact of the expanding middle class and a growing consumer culture is visible in high property prices and a booming construction industry.

With a rapidly growing middle class, especially in the major towns of Nakuru and Naivasha - the fast-moving consumer goods sector in Nakuru County looks promising.

In 2011, the UN- Habitat named Nakuru town, as the fastest growing town in East and Central Africa. Naivasha Town’s growth is also explosive.

There are huge opportunities for manufacturers and retailers of fast moving consumer products like food beverages home care products and personal care products.

The impact of the expanding middle class and a growing consumer culture is visible in high property prices and a booming construction industry.

Within the vicinity of the major towns, people have sold agricultural land to developers and used the windfall to construct hotels and venture into retail businesses.

But the most compelling sign of the boom in the construction industry is the Sh1.6 billion shopping complex being developed by the Dalamere family in Naivasha.

The Delamere family have also donated land for the building of a modern sports complex which will also have hotels, exhibition halls, conference facilities, a rugby stadium and a soccer stadium.

Naivasha is also in the middle of a boom in holiday housing, golf courses and gated communities - the most prominent being the  Longonot Gate and Abardares Gate projects.

“We think Naivasha’s  location as the centre of the country and its proximity to Nairobi is what  has made the town the focus for these heavy investments,” said the governor of the county, Mr Kinuthia Mbugua.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

Nakuru County is the home of several tourist attractions, including Lake Nakuru National Park, Menengai Crater, Hell’s Gate, Lake Naivasha, Lake Elementaita famed for flamingos, Hyrax Hill and the Longonot Crater.

According to the 2009 Population Census,1,603,325 people live in the cosmopolitan county which borders seven other counties including Baringo to the north, Laikipia to the north east, Nyandarua to the east, Kajiado to the South, Narok to the south west with Bomet and Kericho to the West.

“Statistics show that over 64 percent of the tourists who visit Kenya annually come to Nakuru,” said Sammy Gitau, the Executive Member for Trade, Tourism and Commerce during an earlier interview.

“Before an investor opts to set up a business at a certain place the first thing he will have to consider will be if the location is commercially viable.

And that is where the customers fall in. Looking at the figures, we do have the market for the investors,” added Mr Gitau.

“We are ready to support those investors who are ready to startup ventures that are likely to bring huge revenue. In partnership, we will lease pieces of land to them at an agreed rate approved by the county assembly,” said Mr Gitau.