The Nonwoven Tech Africa Exhibition and Conference will be held in KICC, Kenya during 23, 24, 25 February 2023. Africa has huge potential for Nonwoven growth, thanks to the medical & hygiene, plastic industry which is estimated to be worth Kshs 170 billion as in 2017. The sector’s raw materials are all imported in the form of granules. The Nonwoven sector directly employs 30,000 people and 100,000 indirectly.
Kenya’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth was 5.7% in 2018 – up from 4.9% in 2017 & continue to increase steadily to 5.8% in 2019 & 6.0% in 2020, according to the World Bank.
Key Points:
- Kenya is the most industrially developed country in East Africa.
- Kenya is East Africa’s largest economy and Nairobi is East Africa’s economic hub.
- China, India and UAE are its Kenya’s biggest trade partners.
- Kenya’s GDP is 50% of the total of Eastern African Community.
- Kenya is the entry point to five landlocked countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Burundi and Eastern part of Congo DR.
Kenya’s Nonwoven sector indirectly influence overall economic performance through its contribution to GDP. Periods of high economic growth rates have been synonymous with increased Nonwoven sector growth. The Department of Trade recently set up Nonwoven section to gather more information and market trend on the industry.
As Kenya is the largest importer in East Africa currently of Nonwoven Raw Materials and Finished products and following the ban of plastic bags by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources non-woven bags became the popular replacement. Now there is a growing need for a much wider range of items made with this eco-friendly material. Since 1994, about US$900 million has been spent on modernising and upgrading this industry, making it efficient, internationally competitive, and ready to become a major force in the world market.