The Move to the Formai Sector in the Metalwork Industry in Kenya

Abstract

The critical importance of managerial human capital in carrying out multifaceted innovations, including upgrading of products in Vietnam, has been reported in Chapter 4 and a large number of other case studies in other Asian countries. The question now arises as to whether managerial human capital plays a similar role in SSA. True, it has been found to be important in the leather shoe industry in Ethiopia, but whether this can be generalized to the rest of SSA is a critical question. In this chapter, we take up the case of indigenous garment industrial clusters consisting of marginal and small enterprises in Kenya, which have been largely stagnant and have suffered from the China shock.