Condom shortage a result of prolonged donor dependency

 USA President Donald Trump’s administration terminated thousands of foreign assistance grants and awards provided through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of a broader effort to reduce the size of the federal government.

Kenya was among the beneficiaries affected by this move and this has inevitably led to the increase in condom prices, also the access to PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) and PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) are medicines that to prevent HIV. They are prescribed before (PREP) or after there is exposure to HIV (PEP). 

As part of a review of foreign aid spending, the U.S. State Department  discontinued at least 10,000 grants and contracts from the USAID and the State Department. The termination of these grants has disrupted critical services leading to the closure of clinics that assisted people with contraceptives and other reproductive services. 

Sex workers are the worst hit with most are facing adverse effects of this move by the US.

Plans to create a condom processing plant in Kenya commenced in 2011 with the introduction of a Kenyan owned firm, East Africa Latex Manufacturer (EALM). The firm which was to be based in Thika was estimated to start making 180 million male condoms per year with an aim to reduce imports. The demand for condoms in 2011 was 240 million and the government was importing 180 million condoms pieces from Asia, meaning a gap would still be left. 

Some of the reasons why 14 years later the firm is still yet to start production were the lack of rubber supplies which meant importing the rubber from Malysia. Malysia in 2024 was ranked the sixth leading producer of natural rubber in the Asia Pacific. The industry itself contributed around 1.8 billion Malaysian ringgit to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Meaning Malaysia has an upper hand in latex and condom production.

The condoms from Kenya were still expected to be expensive as a result of the rubber imports meaning the government was likely not going to gross any major profits. But this move was going to be a major step for Kenya and Africa closing the overdependence on donors’ supply and Kenya in particular will not go into shook every time donor supply is cut.

 

On November 29, 2017 an American Firm called Restance had plans to start manufacturing condoms in Kenya. American firm Restance Incorporated had announced that they will be manufacturing condoms in Kenya using a local brand after they managed to successfully raise Sh52 million.

The Sh52 million would bring the company’s total investment to Sh502 million and the funds would be used in a contribution campaign dedicated to the United Nations’ goal of ending Aids."Restance plans to contribute to the UN goal to end the AIDS epidemic by making condoms available everywhere in Africa through the previously announced #DoItForAfrica buy-one-give-one campaign where an anticipated $20 million (Sh2.06 billion) worth of condoms will be sold in North American and for each a condom will be manufactured in Africa and given away,” said Restance Inc chief executive Randell Torno.

Restance was set to announce the brand name on World Aids Day on December 1 the same year. 

Randell Torno when asked later in the following year (2018), to clear the air on the condom investment after OTC Markets Group, an American trade market which provides liquidity information and prices for almost 10,00- over-the-counter (OTC) securities warned stakeholders. 

OTC warned stakeholders’ funds being at stake since the condom business was oversaturated. Torno dismissed the claims as exaggerated and ordered OTC to pull down the information from their website. Torno who promised to comment on the Kenyan investment is yet to communicate, marking another plan yet to see the dawn of day.

On 29th October 2023, a condoms and gloves manufacturing plant, was established in Dongo Kundu in Mombasa and said to start operations on February 2024. The firm which is also yet to start production was meant to ensure a stable supply of condoms at an affordable price in the country. 

Dr Samuel Kinyanjui who is the AIDS Healthcare Foundation Kenya Country Programme Director, in 2024 announced that at least 400 million condoms are needed in Kenya annually yet only 150 million are distributed.

The former Health CS Susan Nakhumicha, ironically stated that there was no condom shortage in Kenya. Nakhumicha stated that the government had ample condom supply, adding that it’s the process of the condoms reaching Kenyans from the health facilities that was the issue. She said that the health facilities had to request for condoms to be supplied.

Condoms reach Kenyans by either from the government which are usually free, from commercial traders and those subsided by non-governmental organisations such as Trust condoms. 

In the 2019 population and census results by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics indicated that 75% of the 47.6 million Kenyan are aged under 35 years old totaling 35.7 million.  Those aged 18-34 years old are 29% of the total population.

These numbers continue to change meaning this is a wake-up call for the government to be more intentional about the reproductive health of Kenyans. This also calls for intervention from the private sector and NGOs. Meeting the gap will bring down the HIV and STIs infections in this country improving the reproductive health for many Kenyans.

Employment opportunities will be created as a result of condom plants being established in Kenya. It is time for Kenya and Africa in general to wake up and invest in reproductive health. This will eliminate the one single story of Africa being the poor continent that relies on donor fund even when it comes to latex. This will open doors to other great manufacturing firms too.