Columnist proposes industrial SEZ in Magadi — Nation Kenya
A columnist for a Kenyan publication proposed transforming the Lake Magadi area in Kajiado County from a soda ash extraction site into a special economic zone for the chemical and glass industries. In his view, instead of changing the owner of the Tata Chemicals Magadi mine, an industrial cluster with affordable electricity should be created around it.
This was stated in an opinion column published by Nation Kenya. The author supported the position of Kenya's Principal Secretary for Industrialization, Juma Mukhwana, who called for developing the processing of soda ash from Lake Magadi in the country, including the production of glass and chemical products.
Extraction and processing
Kenya has been extracting soda ash since 1911. According to data cited in the column, the Magadi Basin contains more than 30 billion tonnes of trona, a natural raw material used to produce soda ash. The author writes that soda ash from Magadi was exported as a raw material for more than a century, while finished glass and chemical products were manufactured outside the country.
The article states that a high-grade soda ash production facility built in Magadi was mothballed in 2014. According to the author's assessment, this happened because of high electricity costs rather than a lack of demand. He calls energy costs the main obstacle to developing local processing.
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Affordable energy
As a possible solution, the author proposes a gas-fired power plant that a private investor could build as part of a public-private partnership. In his view, it could supply electricity to enterprises in the future zone at a price lower than the approximately 17 US cents per unit currently paid by Kenyan industrial consumers.
The columnist also drew attention to open-access rules for the power grid published in Kenya in May 2026. According to his account, they allowed independent power producers to sell electricity directly to large industrial consumers rather than only to the national power company.
In the author's view, an industrial zone in Magadi could bring together soda ash, glass and cement producers, as well as logistics and engineering companies. The column also states that Kenya's trade turnover with India amounts to about $4.3 billion and is substantially tilted in India's favor, as Kenya exports raw materials and imports finished products.
