President William Ruto says his administration is achieving key targets under the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) as Kenya marks 61st Jamhuri Day.
Speaking at Uhuru Gardens during the marking of the country’s independence day, President Ruto said through the Hustler Fund, his administration has been able to enhance financial inclusion across the country by availing affordable credit to the tune of Ksh 60 billion to at least 24 million borrowers.
“In response to this feedback, the Fund has designed a new product, the Bridge Loan, to help Kenyans with good credit scores transition from personal loans to enhanced facilities offering larger loan amounts with longer repayment periods. This will enable Kenyans to pursue bigger opportunities and better investments,” he stated.
According to President Ruto, efforts to supply farm inputs such as subsidized fertilizer have sustained agricultural production with the country on course to achieve food surplus after averting perennial hunger crises in three consecutive seasons.
“Food is now more accessible to households than before and, as I stated in the State of the Nation Address, our country now boasts substantial national food stocks: 95 million 50kg bags of maize, 9 million bags of beans, 10 million bags of wheat, and 2 million bags of rice. Step by step, we are building a food-secure Kenya where every family can afford and access a meal,” said the President.
Through the interventions to transform agriculture, President Ruto said farmers in the maize, tea, sugar, coffee and dairy value chains have also be able to multiply their income by putting additional land under cultivation resulting into higher yields.
“Agro-industries have more raw materials, and value addition is on the rise. The agro-industrial sector is also creating more jobs each year as we gear up to compete in various export markets driven by expanding intra-African trade, opportunities in the European Union and United Kingdom markets, and our growing competitiveness in global markets,” he added.
To further expand opportunities under the digital economy, the government targets to extend Internet connectivity to 8.5 million homes and businesses, connect over 74,000 public institutions and establish 25,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots across the country.
Under the affordable housing programme where the government targets to supply at least 200,000 annually, President Ruto said since September this year, 1,200 affordable housing units have been completed while 4,888 units are now available for sale to the public through the Boma Yangu platform.
“Our goal to increase the number of mortgages from 30,000 to one million has now shifted gears. Our delivery pipeline for affordable housing now has a total of 124,000 units at various stages of development across Kenya, while a total of 840,000 planned projects over the next four years are projected to create 1 million jobs,” he noted.
The government is further targeting to create 30,000 jobs from six flagship Export Processing Zones (EPZ) currently under development in Busia, Kirinyaga, Murang’a, Eldoret, Kwale, and Nakuru.
Within the last two years, the government has licensed at least 80 firms in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and EPZs which have brought in 14,000 new jobs.
The ongoing operationalisation of Dongo Kundu and Naivasha SEZs are also projected to create additional 26,000 jobs.
