Policy on production of motorcycle spares in works

What you need to know:

Kenya is working on a policy for the production of spare parts for the boda bodas in the country.
The policy, which is expected to be in place by end of next month, will indicate who an assembler is and what an assembly plant is.

The Ministry of Industrialisation and Motorcycles Assemblers Association of Kenya (MAAK) are working on a policy for the production of spare parts for the boda bodas in Kenya.

Currently, over 90 per cent of motorcycle parts are imported.

The policy, which is expected to be in place by end of next month, will indicate who an assembler is and what an assembly plant is.

This is because currently all the 21 dealers operating in the country are categorised as motorcycle assemblers without actual definition of what an assembly plant is.

“The new regulations will specify how many people should be employed in an assembly, the sequence and system that will be used in terms of production, health and safety issues among others,” said MAAK chairman Isaac Kalua.

Mr Kalua said they targeting to employ about 500,000 people within the next five years.

This even as motorcycle spare parts dealers emerge as the major beneficiaries of the booming boda boda transport business in Kenya.

Despite being a major cause of accidents, the sub-sector is considered among the most promising transport mode thanks to incessant traffic jams and poor roads in some areas.

This has led to motorcycles spare parts outlets dotting every other town and the backstreets of Nairobi and other major towns.

MAAK estimates that there are about 600,000 boda boda operators in the country transporting about 21 million Kenyans.

READ: Kenyans buy Sh9.2bn motorcycles in nine months

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) data shows that between January and September 2017, motorcycles worth Sh9.2 billion were bought by Kenyans.

The data also showed that motorcycles imports grew by 61 per cent in the nine months to September last year, from the Sh5.8 billion recorded during the same period in 2016.

In December 2017 alone, KNBS data shows that the total number of motorcycles registered was 14,013.

The National Transport and Safety Authority recently said that the boda boda operators are injecting Sh400 million into the country’s economy daily.

“Until that time when we have a solution on mass transport system, boda bodas shall continue to be a need that must be met. And therefore, motorcycles are here to stay,” said Mr Kalua.

The association said the future of motorcycles is looking towards renewable energy where they shall have electric types that are efficient and ecofriendly.