339 300
The Annual Made in Kenya Extravaganza kicked off today, Thursday 20th January 2022 to Saturday 22nd January 2022 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).
The Annual Made in Kenya Extravaganza (MIKE) is a 3-day event for Kenyans to learn and engage with homegrown products and services primarily by Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME’s).
A sudden plunge in goods demand at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2019, followed by an equally sharp revival, helped set off massive disruptions in trade.
The crisis has been worsened by the intermittent shuttering of production facilities and ports as governments around the world seek to curb spikes in Covid-19 cases.
The disruptions aren’t expected to ease until the second half of 2022 and will be fuelled globally by renewed coronavirus outbreaks, China’s strict virus containment policies and the Chinese New Year on February 1, according to a report from insurers Euler Hermes and Allianz.
“The global disruptions have further catalyzed the need for more SME’s to manufacture homegrown products. At the same time, it is important to have platforms such as MIKE that allow consumers to interact with these numerous local manufacturers and appreciate the wonderful high-quality products that they have on offer,” said Head of Secretariat Made in Kenya, Kamuzu Banda.
“As the government, we are very happy to partner with private sector initiatives like the Made In Kenya Extravaganza (MIKE) to promote this agenda as we need all hands on board. The government is already doing a lot including giving loans of up to Ksh20 million loans at very low cost through the Kenya Industrial Estates, helping businesses brand and be export-ready through KEPROBA and also facilitating the registering of their ideas and trademark through Kenya Industrial Property Institute many other interventions,” said Industrialisation Chief Administration Secretary David Osiany in his remarks as he officially opened the MIKE 2022.
MIKE has partnered with several organizations to provide support for SME’s including Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency (KEPROBA), Google, Tononoka Group, Marini Naturals and East African Educational Publishers (EAEP) among others.
Kenyans are encouraged to visit KICC from 20th to 22nd of January to learn and purchase the various products on offer.