The Kenyan government has expressed interest in making the retail sector more formal.
Trade Principal Secretary, Chris Kiptoo has said the government is now keen on propelling the country's retail trade sector to a more developed formal sector, in a move that will see greater diversification in product range and innovations to achieve an efficient market system.
For the past decade, the nation's wholesale and retail sectors have been contributing close to 8.8 percent Gross Domestic Product.
The sector is largely informal and its members largely include those in micro and small scale business enterprises. For the past five years, the retail sector has also managed to put up about 1.6 million job opportunities in the country.
In addition to this, Kenya has been ranked as one of the six best countries to invest in and with the second biggest retail market for investors in the continent. However, the level of unemployment in the country still remains at over 40 percent with a majority of the unemployed being the youth. Kiptoo is, therefore, calling on the Kenyan youth to venture and explore into business opportunities instead of only looking for white-collar jobs which are not readily available.
Towards professionalising the sector, the government has rolled two pilot projects in Maragua and Athi River, after which they shall be initiated to other parts of the country.