Why counties should involve the diaspora

Governors and their teams have by now fulfilled the requirement to prepare County Integrated Development Plans – documents detailing their current and planned development projects for 2013-2017.

Being the first, many of the plans may have been done hastily. However, there is an opportunity to rethink some of them, capitalising on trends in regional and international trade, and the plentiful labour force in the counties.

Consider the “Asian Tigers”: their rise was launched by foreign direct investment in low-cost, export-oriented manufacturing. The investment was attracted chiefly by the competitive advantages of a large, low-cost labour pool, policy-supported investment partnerships with US companies, and the know-how and funding of an engaged Diaspora.

The apparel industry enriched these economies, thanks to the large volume of jobs it creates. In the early 1980s, the textile industry led manufacturing in Kenya, employing 30 per cent of factory workers. Unfortunately the sector steadily declined as liberalisation introduced competition to local products.

But textile exports to the United States and Europe began to rise again following the creation of trade preferences such as the 2000 Africa Growth Opportunity Act (Agoa), and African Women’s Entrepreneurship Programme (AWEP). The Cotonou Agreement, encourages exports to the European Union.

Counties should emulate the Asian Tigers and become the African Lions. For less advantaged counties, devolution presents the opportunity to jump-start local economies.

Counties in western Kenya could, for example, take advantage of the high literacy rates, a large, under-employed labour force; availability of water and energy; and the gateway to Uganda and Central Africa to invest in manufacturing and trade.

A CRYING NEED

The crying need for industrialisation in the counties provides tremendous opportunities for the private sector, including foreign corporations wishing to gain a foothold in the dynamic East Africa region by way of Kenya.

To help attract investment, county governments should press development agencies for capacity building that directly supports industrialisation, such as technical training.

But here is the real “secret weapon”: the abundance of expertise and financing within the large East African diaspora. Outside this country resides a multitude of economists, engineers, public financial planners, entrepreneurs, scientists and natural resource experts. Many send remittances, but diaspora groups could also be mobilised for investment, knowledge transfer, and marketing.

Let the counties call on diasporans to help plan and implement economic development, including helping establish industry-friendly policies to attract those badly needed jobs.

The East Africa Diaspora Business Council, based in Washington, is at this moment creating a database of highly-placed diasporans from East Africa, to facilitate access to diaspora expertise.

During the week of the White House–African Heads of State Summit in Washington, we are also hosting a high-level forum to evaluate what it will take for East Africa to compete against Asia in attracting labour-intensive industries.

Also, we will be matching up interested county agencies in Kenya and Uganda with US-based investors and companies.

Ms Mulamula is vice-president, Eastern Africa Diaspora Business Council, Washington, D.C.