Industry accounted for 13% of GDP in 2000. Although Kenya's manufacturing industries are small, they are the most sophisticated in East Africa. The manufacturing sector has been growing since the late 1990s and into the new century. The manufactures Kenya produces are relatively diverse. The transformation of agricultural raw materials, particularly of coffee and tea, remains the principal industrial activity. Meat and fruit canning, wheat flour and cornmeal milling, and sugar refining are also important. Electronics production, vehicle assembly, publishing, and soda ash processing are all significant parts of the sector. Assembly of computer components began in 1987. Kenya also manufactures chemicals, textiles, ceramics, shoes, beer and soft drinks, cigarettes, soap, machinery, metal products, batteries, plastics, cement, aluminum, steel, glass, rubber, wood, cork, furniture, and leather goods. It also produces a small number of trucks and automobiles. One quarter of Kenya's industrial sector is owned by UK investors; American investors are the next largest group.
Kenya has no known oil or natural gas reserves, although the government had spent $1.6 million on oil exploration by 2000. The oil refinery in Mombasa, built in 1959 and half-owned by the government, and major oil companies, typically operates at around 65% of its total capacity (averaging 95,000 barrels per day) and is supposed to serve Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, and offshore islands. Kenya deregulated its oil industry in 1994. Refinery products include gasoline, jet/turbo fuel, light diesel oil and fuel oil. The refinery's future is an important domestic issue in Kenya, and management is considering upgrading the facility rather than allowing the refinery to close.