Kenyan First Lady, Margaret Kenyatta Models Son's Clothing Line at Industrialization Gala

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta was among several models that strut the catwalk at the launch of the Origin Africa Exhibition and Fashion event held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi on Monday night.

Kenyan First Lady Margaret Gakuo Kenyatta

Kenyatta wore a design from her son Muhoho Kenyatta's label - Nomadic designs - which was among seven entries from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and Mauritius.

Other emerging designers who showcased their designs during the fashion show included Firyal Nur Al Hossain (Nur designs), Wendy Awour (Wendy Awour designs) and Stephen Kamau (KIMCHI designs).

The fashion show was the highlight of the event at which President Uhuru Kenyatta opened the forum to showcase Africa's textile industry.

Uhuru said his government is working at positioning Kenya as Africa's manufacturing and technology hub adding that the global economic tide is changing in favour of Africa to take off through industrialisation.

"Kenya wants to be among the first movers in Africa by creating an enabling environment to attract investment," he said.

The president added that the textile and clothing sector - with a potential to create 200,000 jobs in the next 24 month - is one of the key priority areas which the Government has targeted for job creation.

Uhuru said there is a deliberate effort by his administration to make the country the preferred gateway to Africa for foreign investors through initiatives such as: the 40-month programme to inject over 5000MW of electricity into the national grid; reduce the cost of power by over 40% by end of this calendar year; fast track the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project and the 10,000km road infrastructure through an innovative financing model.

"These are in line with the aims of the 'Kenya Vision 2030' which seek to transform Kenya into an upper middle income economy driven by industrialisation," Uhuru said.

Also speaking during the occasion, United States Ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec announced the launch of a US $65 million trade hub project in Kenya through the Trade Africa Initiative.

He said choice of Kenya for the project was driven by the country's position as a regional leader with ongoing implementation of conducive trade policies.

The event attracted nearly 300 investors from 32 African countries including partner states of the East African Community. As reports allafrica.com