Why private sector is key in Big Four agenda success

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s ‘Big Four’ agenda has the single aim of improving the welfare of Kenyans by ensuring that no citizen goes hungry, more people have roofs over their heads, jobs are created in the manufacturing sector and everyone gets access to affordable healthcare.

With only four years left to achieve these goals, President Kenyatta has embarked on a spirited campaign to rally key stakeholders behind his agenda.

On the political front, he has built bridges with his erstwhile political arch-rival, opposition chief Raila Odinga. This move has not only resulted in bipartisan support for the Big Four agenda in the Legislature but also created a conducive political environment for its implementation.

PLEDGE SUPPORT

On the diplomatic front, the President has purposely made the Big Four agenda the focal point of Kenya’s bilateral engagements. As a pointer to this, the European Union (EU), which accounts for close to 30 per cent of all Kenyan exports, has publicly pledged its support for the development blueprint.

China, which has emerged as Kenya’s largest trading partner and investor over the past three years, has also done the same.

Similarly, United States Under-Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Gil Kaplan in June led a delegation of 60 American business executives and senior government officials in signing trade deals with their Kenyan counterparts.

MILESTONES

The agreements, which totalled Sh10 billion, were largely within the Big Four priority sectors.

After securing the support of his fellow political leaders and Kenya’s key bilateral partners, President Kenyatta has now set his sights on the private sector. His government has been engaging key industry stakeholders with a view to identifying ways of collaborating on the implementation of the Big Four agenda.

In my view, the engagement between the government and the private sector on the Big Four agenda needs to be fast-tracked.

The private sector could be the game changer that the President needs to achieve these milestones in just four years. This is because, after the people of Kenya, businesses stand to gain the most from the successful implementation of the Big Four.

CONSUMER CLASS

A well-fed, decently housed and vibrant healthy population, where the youth have access to sustainable and fairly paying jobs, will unlock numerous opportunities for businesses.

For example, a population that has attained these critical development indicators can easily be transformed into a robust consumer class capable of sustaining demand for locally produced goods and services. That can create opportunities for local producers in multiple sectors, provided policies aimed at promoting local industries and keeping out cheap imports exist.

The private sector, evidently, needs to start working more closely with the government. President Kenyatta has already expressed his readiness to partner with it. The ball is, therefore, in the business community’s court.

In light of this, the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry has taken a significant step towards giving businesses a louder voice in the Big Four agenda.

STRUCTURED DIALOGUE

KNCCI has partnered with Kountable, a Nairobi-based trading company which helps SMEs to integrate into global value chains, to launch the “Big Four Dialogue”— an interactive platform aimed at driving private sector participation in the Big Four agenda.

Through this initiative, the partners will engage in a range of activities over the next one year aimed at promoting structured dialogue between the private and public sectors on Big Four priority areas.

The initiative will culminate in a high-level conference next year. Cabinet secretaries and principal secretaries have pledged their support for this transformative initiative and there are great expectations that the President, too, will accord it the support it needs.

QUALITY PRODUCTS

I believe it is imperative to point out that closer engagement between the private and the public sectors on the Big Four agenda should not be used as a pretext to unscrupulously canvas for public contracts. This will not only derail the Big Four agenda, which is the key focus of these engagements, but also make our economy less competitive in the long term.

I strongly believe that businesses should become successful because they produce quality products at competitive prices and not because they have contacts in influential public offices.

Mr Kittony is the national chairman of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry. [email protected]