Nairobi, April 30 -- Slightly over half a year ago, President William Ruto was in Kilifi to launch the Vipingo Special Economic Zone (SEZ), a landmark 2,000-acre project envisioned to create 35,000 jobs.

For many observers, the headline numbers captured the moment, but for those of us invested in the real economy of the county, the significance lies more in what such initiatives unlock.

The Vipingo SEZ is leveraging government incentives designed to attract both public and private capital to the tune of Sh390 billion, an ambitious effort to catalyse large-scale economic transformation.

According to government data, 870,425 people in Kilifi, or 59.9 percent of the county's population, are multidimensionally poor. This means they suffer ...