Economic growth plan gathers steam

Vision 2030, the ambitious economic blueprint primed to hoist Kenya to a middle-income status, will be managed by a newly created state corporation by the same name.

President Kibaki transformed the country’s long-term economic strategy into a parastatal through a special Kenya gazette notice of February 17, 2009. This transforms Vision 2030, which seeks to turn Kenya into a newly industrialised country by 2030, into a semi-autonomous body within the Ministry of Planning, National Development and Vision 2030.

Prepared between October 2006 and May 2007, Mr Kibaki launched the Vision in June last year, although it became effective a month later. Perhaps signalling its new status, the organisation is relocating its offices from KICC to Kusco Centre in Upper Hill, Nairobi.

The President has established a 32-member “Vision Delivery Board,” which is its board of directors, chaired by Equity Bank Managing Director Mr James Mwangi, expected to be launched today.

According to the gazette notice the board, which will serve for a term of three years, will play a policy-making and advisory role, provide overall leadership, oversight, guidance and direction in implementing Vision 2030. Among the board members are permanent secretaries of key ministries and head of the civil service and secretary to the Cabinet.

Others are representatives of the Kenya Investment Authority, National Economic Social Council, Capital Markets Authority and Central Bank of Kenya.

However, it draws eight members — including Mr Mwangi — from the private sector, four of whom have been nominated by Prime Minister Raila Odinga. They are Prof Agnes Mwang’ombe, Prof Peter Wanyande, Safaricom CEO Mr Michael Joseph, Abdi Mohamed Ahmed, Dr L. K Sangale, Mr Peter Gakunu and Mr John Chemitei.

While there will be a Cabinet committee to be chaired by the President or the PM, it will be run by the secretariat. “It (secretariat) will provide strategic leadership and coordination in the realisation of the overall goals and objectives of the Vision and its medium-term plans,” explains the gazette notice.

Former East African Cables chief executive officer Mugo Kibati is the secretariat’s director-general and secretary to the board. Four directors – Andrew Toboso in charge of strategy and marketing, Juda Abekah to head enablers and micro, Mr Gituro Wainaina for social and political matters and a yet to be named economic director – will assist Mr Kibati.

“This change is significant because it gives the corporation flexibility to operate and discharge its mandate as well as monitor its implementation and, where necessary, take remedial measures,” Mr Toboso said in an interview.

The Vision, which hinges on three pillars of economic, social and political wellbeing, replaced the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (ERS) that had guided the economy since 2003.

The ERS steered the country’s economic recovery from a 0.6 per cent growth rate in 2002 to 7.1 per cent last year. The fruits of the ERS were, however, pulverised by the post-election violence and the global financial crisis which slowed growth to 1.7 per cent in 2008 with a projected 2-3 per cent this year.

And this is what the Vision, being implemented through five-year rolling plans beginning with the ongoing first Medium Term Plan 2008-2012, aims to deal with first. Some 98 projects flagship projects have been identified for implementation in the first phase.

The economic pillar, which has six sectors, seeks to transform Kenya into a newly industrialising, middle-income country growing at a stable 10 per cent annual growth rate from 2012 until 2030.

Mr Toboso says they are up to the challenge and will rope in Kenyans through key sector delivery teams and working groups.

“We will be able to track progress nationwide as opposed to individual sectors and, where necessary,” he says, “quickly take appropriate remedial measures.”