INDUSTRIALISTS have called on the Kenyan government to improve the country’s business environment by tackling corruption, improving the infrastructure and reducing taxes, Reuters reported on Thursday. “We became a kind of spoilt boy and we took things for granted, whereas in fact Kenya is no longer a favoured destination for investment,” it quoted Suru Tanna, chairman of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers as saying. Tanna said that 50 companies are planning to move from Kenya to other countries within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) to take advantage of lower input costs. He cited duties on raw materials, bad roads, an ineffective and expensive telephone system, and the comparatively high cost of power as deterrents to foreign investors. Kenya’s economy, the most industrialized in East Africa, actually shrank last year as a result of drought and a collapsing infrastructure. In the manufacturing sector, which accounts for 14% of the economy (in terms of Gross Domestic Product), 20_000 jobs are being lost annually, according to Tanna. – – IRIN