The manufacturing sector posted the slowest growth in 16 years in the first three months of 2024, spooked by high production costs and a recent barrage of tax measures, dealing a blow to prospects of generating quality jobs in the economy.
Data by the Kenya National Bureau of Standards (Kebs) show that the sector grew by 1.3 percent in the quarter to March compared to 1.7 percent a year prior - the slowest pace since the same quarter of 2008 when it grew by a paltry 0.7 percent amid deadly violence and economic disruption caused by the disputed outcome of the 2007 presidential election.
