Millions Lost Through Counterfeit Goods

Kenya loses about 200 billion shillings annually on counterfeit goods in annual revenue.
According to a research done by the Anti-Counterfeit Agency (ACA) it indicated that about 70% of Kenyans have used counterfeit goods. Out of the 70%, 19% have purchased counterfeit goods knowingly out of which 50% indicated that they purchased the goods because they were of cheaper price.
The most counterfeit products were electronics including mobile phones, DVD players others also included alcohol with stationaries being among the least counterfeits items
According to Flora Mutahi, the chairperson of ACA, she attributed counterfeit to branding, trademark manipulation, misspelling and coloring of the original product.
The agency has so far seized counterfeit goods worth KES2.1B and destroyed goods worth KES612M.
Porous borders and lenient laws are undermining efforts to fight counterfeit trade. The agency is planning to introduce stickers that will authentic legal products, further indicating that there is a pending anti-counterfeit bill to the East Africa Legislative Authority to prevent goods being imported back from the region.
The ACA is a state corporation within the Ministry of Industrialization, under the Anti-Counterfeit Act 2008.