The government is developing a new industrialisation policy that will enable local firms, especially manufacturers, to tap into the lucrative and fast-growing carbon credit markets.
Industry Principal Secretary Juma Mukhwana said the policy will include assessment criteria that will help manufacturers assess their carbon footprint and benefit from potential carbon credits.
“The ministry is working on an industrialisation policy where we are also looking at putting in place an assessment criterion for each manufacturing entity in terms of sustainability and carbon footprint,” he said.
“We will link this to carbon credits so that someone is able to conserve energy or offset emissions they are able to be given carbon credits out of it,” the PS added.
Carbon credits are permits that allow firms to produce a certain amount of carbon emissions.
Organisations that run environmental conservation projects that remove carbon from the atmosphere or prevent carbon emissions can sell their credits to those that generate emissions.
For instance, as many manufacturers switch to their own-source electricity generation with investments in solar and other renewable energy technologies, they can claim carbon credits for the carbon offset from these projects.
The new industrialisation plan will build on the existing policy which has been in place since 2012. Many of the objectives of the existing industrialisation policy have yet to be achieved.
This also comes at a time when the Ministry of Investments, Trade, and Industry, under which PS Mukhwana’s docket lies, is inviting members of the public, including traders, manufacturers, investors, and other stakeholders, to submit proposals on how to attract private investments into the country.
The State also wants proposals on rationalisation of incentives to boost manufacturing, measures to improve consumer protection and fair trade, measures to improve exports, and harmonisation of taxes within the manufacturing sector.
The deadline for submission of the proposals to the ministry has been set for September 27, 2024.
“We are promoting our potential, but it is not translating into actual market entry. It’s important to engage with industry players who work in the businesses daily to understand how we can create an enabling business environment and ultimately raise the country’s GDP,” said the Industry Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya on Thursday.
This comes amid a gradual decline in the manufacturing sector’s contribution to the economy, which has halved to just 7.6 percent from 15 percent a decade ago.
The drop has been driven by the tough economic environment, charactarised by high taxation, increased interest rates and stiff competition from cheaper imports.
