Kenyan President William Ruto's claim that Kenya has the potential to leap from a developing country to a first world economy by 2055 has sparked nationwide discussion, curiosity, and even questioning in some aspects. Now, Felix Koske, Director of the Presidential Office and Head of Public Affairs, has elaborated on how the Kenyan "Unity Kenya" government intends to turn this ambitious goal into reality, outlining what he calls the key factors determining the success or failure of Kenya's long-term transformation. On the contrary, he stated that the country must shift towards creating high value-added products and services. Kenya should not export raw materials, but instead process them domestically (such as exporting roasted coffee instead of green beans) to maintain higher profit margins, "he said. Koskai added that the key pillars of this transformation are industrialization and export diversification to increase Kenya's manufacturing share. He pointed out that for a long time, the Kenyan economy has relied on the export of agricultural products such as tea, coffee, and flowers, but although these industries are still important, the government believes that they are no longer sufficient to support the economy. He emphasized that Kenya must enhance its value chain by expanding manufacturing and agricultural processing industries, in order to retain more value and profits domestically.
