We have new investors to develop Kibuye market - Nyong'o

By Peter Ochieng

Kisumu governor Anyang' Nyong'o says his administration has found new investors to help develop Kibuye market, to a modern standard.

Speaking during the launch of a fish processing and storage facility at the Jubilee market on Thursday, Nyong'o said the county had to part ways with the previous investors, after disagreement arose and the county couldn't budge to their demands.

"The good news is that we have found new investors who will be in the county next week. We will continue building more modern markets to give traders a conducive business atmosphere within the county like we have done in Uhuru, Otonglo, Korowe and so forth," he said.

Modernisation of Kibuye market - one of the largest and most vibrant open-air markets in Africa started in November, 2020.

The market was to undergo a major infrastructural transformation following a ground breaking ceremony, led by Nyong’o on November 16, 2020, with an aim of upgrading it into a modern business complex.

However, work at the market stalled after several months.

The initial partners included the National government, the World Bank Group and the French government through the Kenya Urban Support Programme and Kisumu Urban Project.

Meanwhile, the Jubilee Fresh Fish Market Scaling and Filleting Unit, is a project being implemented under the Agriculture Sector Development Support Programme (ASDSP II) in partnership with the county government of Kisumu.

Besides this, the program is in the process of rolling out a number of innovation projects in its three priority value chains, with an estimated cost of Sh25million in the current 2022/2023 financial year.

Governor Nyong'o said these innovation projects include; brick energy saving stove for fish farmers, construction of two fish processing facilities at Jubilee and Obunga fish markets, solar powered cold storage reefer for chicken, live bird cages for chicken value chain actors and clay brooding jikos for chicken farmers.