NCBA Bank is collaborating with the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) at the 8th Changamka Kenya Shopping Festival to bolster Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) within the manufacturing sector.

• NCBA Bank offers up to 90 percent asset financing for equipment and machinery imports, alongside working capital support.
• Director of Commercial and SME, Robert Kiboti, stated NCBA's goal is to support clients from startup to scale-up.
• The bank previously facilitated a trade delegation of over 100 Kenyan entrepreneurs to China for benchmarking visits.

Kenya is launching a new industrial push, leveraging green energy and artificial intelligence to become a regional manufacturing hub. This initiative, spearheaded by the Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade and Industry Lee Kinyanjui, focuses on sustainability and technology.

• The country’s industrial transformation rests on three pillars: industrial infrastructure via County Aggregation Industrial Parks, digitalization and AI, and greening industries.
• Lee Kinyanjui highlighted green hydrogen as a key area for industrial decarbonization, with demonstration projects already underway around Olkaria.
• The Ministry is collaborating with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to help local industries transition to low-carbon production.
• In the automotive sector, Kenya is reviving its vehicle assembly industry through the National Automotive Policy and E-Mobility Framework to attract investment in local assembly and electric mobility.

HACO Industries Kenya Limited, in collaboration with UNHCR and Nemlon Training Institute, has launched the HACO ElevateHER Initiative, a social enterprise program aimed at empowering women from refugee and host communities in the haircare sector.

• The initiative will support women in transitioning from vocational training to sustainable, income-generating enterprises, with the first Haco Kwa Mtaa model container handed over to the community.
• Mary-Ann Musangi, Managing Director of HACO Industries, emphasized collaborative action to enable women to translate skills into livelihoods.
• The program aligns with Kenya’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, Vision 2030, and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).