Strengthening Quality Infrastructure Through County Partnerships
Strong quality infrastructure is essential for facilitating trade, protecting consumers, and enhancing the competitiveness of businesses. As counties continue to play an increasingly important role in economic development, partnerships between national and county institutions are critical in creating an enabling environment for enterprise growth and industrialization.
In this regard, the Kenya Accreditation Service (KENAS) engaged Hon. Farida Ahmed Salim, Minister for Trade, Industry, Tourism and Cooperatives, County Government of Kisumu, together with officials from the department, to explore opportunities for collaboration in advancing quality infrastructure and supporting enterprise development.
The discussions highlighted the role of accreditation in strengthening confidence in products, services, and processes by ensuring that conformity assessment bodies operate competently and in accordance with internationally recognized standards. Accreditation supports trade facilitation, consumer protection, regulatory compliance, and market access across various sectors of the economy.
A key focus of the engagement was exploring opportunities to bring accreditation services closer to industries and institutions within Kisumu County and the wider Lake Region Economic Bloc. Discussions identified potential areas of collaboration, including strengthening calibration capacity, supporting weights and measures services, enhancing inspection systems, and promoting awareness of accreditation and conformity assessment services among businesses.
The engagement also underscored the importance of quality infrastructure in supporting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which form a significant part of the region's economy. Strengthening quality assurance systems can help enterprises improve product quality, demonstrate compliance with market requirements, and enhance competitiveness in local, regional, and international markets.
For the Lake Region Economic Bloc, improved access to quality infrastructure services presents an opportunity to support value addition, industrial growth, and increased market confidence in locally produced goods and services.
KENAS remains committed to working with county governments and other stakeholders to develop practical quality solutions that support enterprise development, reduce technical barriers to trade, and strengthen Kenya's competitiveness. Through such partnerships, accreditation can continue to contribute to sustainable economic growth and improved market access for businesses across the country.
