Kisumu has the resources and strategic location to become a major economic hub in the region, but poor exploitation of its assets has left the county performing below its potential, planner and urban specialist Patrick Adolwa has said.
Adolwa said Kisumu’s position along Lake Victoria, its agricultural base and links to other parts of the region provided opportunities for major investments in transport, fisheries, tourism and trade.
Speaking on Radio Generation on Thursday, he said Kenya needed to change how it defines development, arguing that the focus should go beyond visible infrastructure such as roads, airports and stadiums to include improvements in housing, education, healthcare and access to economic opportunities.
“There is more to development than infrastructure,” Adolwa said, calling for a broader approach to planning and development.
He singled out Kisumu as an example of a place that was “punching below its potential” despite its strategic position within the Great Lakes region.
According to Adolwa, the potential of Kisumu and other areas has been known for many years, with government planning agencies and regional development authorities having documented the resources and opportunities available.
“There wasn’t a shortage of information on what the capacity, what the potential was,” he said. “There was always very good mapping about these potentials.”
He said the bigger problem had been the failure to put in place practical measures to turn the identified opportunities into economic activity.
Adolwa pointed to Kisumu’s history as an important railway and lake transport centre, noting that the railway station and harbour were established in 1901 when the city was known as Port Florence.
He questioned why the facilities had not undergone the level of transformation expected after more than a century.
“Why is it that in 100 years we have not had the transformation that we needed to have in Kisumu, for example?” he asked.
He said Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest inland water body, remained largely underused despite the opportunities it offers in transport, tourism and other economic activities.
Beyond the lake, Adolwa identified agriculture as another area that could drive Kisumu’s economy. He cited opportunities in rice and sugar-cane production, alongside fisheries and tourism based around Lake Victoria.
He urged county governments to place greater emphasis on developing local economic assets that can create jobs, generate wealth and increase own-source revenue.
Such an approach, he said, would help counties reduce their heavy reliance on funds allocated by the national government.
Adolwa also used large-scale investments such as the proposed Dangote refinery as an example of how major projects can generate economic activity beyond the facilities themselves.
“An oil refinery has a huge value chain around it,” he said, pointing to logistics, ports, pipelines, petroleum products and other businesses that can grow around such an investment.
He said Kenya should similarly seek to position itself as a regional hub by developing facilities that can serve neighbouring countries and support trade beyond its own borders.
“Kenya just needs to position itself as a hub,” he said, adding that the country needed to identify and develop opportunities capable of creating a much larger economy.