Local Content in Kenya’s Extractive Sector

Resource-rich countries are increasingly embracing local content policies with increasing focus on value-addition over and above promoting local procurement and employment. This meeting report summarises key points from the Third Extractive Sector Forum (ESF) which was convened in Nairobi, Kenya on 15 September 2016 under the theme Local Content.

The ESF was organised into four sessions.

• The first session – Contextualising Local Content – focused on conceptual discussions and clarifications on the meaning of local content.
• The second session – Trends in Local Content Policies – discussed trends and emerging lessons that could be learned from other countries.
• The third session - Review of the Local Content Bill, 2016 – examined key provisions of the recently published Local Content Bill, and gave participants a chance to debate how they could be improved.
• In the final session – Partnerships for Local Content Realisation – participants shared experience and information regarding industry, government, academia and community level initiatives to support local content realisation.

The ESF concluded that there may be no universal definition of “local content” but it generally speaks to promoting local ownership; maximising use of local goods and services; value addition; local employment; and research and development. Nevertheless, local content is very important for resource-rich developing countries as it can ensure that these countries benefit from their resources beyond the royalties and taxes. To realise this, all stakeholders have important roles to play, and partnerships among stakeholders can accelerate faster and more effective delivery on these various roles.

Image: Davis Osoro