Browsing: Kenya

• Kenya’s FY2024/25 budget is the largest in the nation’s history at $31.1 billion.
• It, however, seeks to reduce the budget deficit through contentious tax reforms despite public outcry.
• The budget also seeks to roll out key banking and state corporation reforms.

Kenya’s Treasury Cabinet Secretary, Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u, presented the largest budget in the country’s history for the fiscal year 2024/25, amidst a backdrop of economic challenges and simmering public discontent on punitive tax measures.

The proposed budget of Kes4 trillion ($31.1 billion), up from Kes3.75 trillion in the previous year, aims to spur socio-economic transformation while addressing the budget deficit.

Kenya’s 2024/25 budget is anchored on five pillars and twelve enablers. These pillars include Agricultural Transformation and Inclusive growth, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Housing and Settlement, Healthcare, and Digital and Creative Industry – $2.2 billion (Kes283.5 billion) has been allocated under the five pillars.

Allocation to other thematic …

• President Ruto calls for reforms in the IMF to address emerging global challenges and seeks flexible lending instruments, equitable special drawing rights, and debt financing plans.
• He also advocates for governance reforms to better represent the Global South’s economic and demographic contributions.
• These changes are crucial for maintaining the IMF’s relevance and effectiveness in fostering stability and sustainable development.

In a rapidly evolving global economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) finds itself at a critical moment as President William Ruto of Kenya articulates in the latest issue of the IMF’s Finance and Development Magazine. With over eight decades of history, the IMF’s journey from supporting the gold standard to promoting flexible exchange rates and development financing mirrors the dynamic changes in the global financial architecture.

President Ruto says that the IMF has to adapt once again, highlighting four key areas for reform: lending instruments, special drawing rights (SDRs), addressing …

• 2024 Economic Survey says employment in the modern and informal sectors, excluding small-scale farming and pastoralist activities, went up from 19.1 million in 2022 to 20 million in 2023.
• The nominal wage bill rose by 7.3 per cent to Sh2.8.6 trillion in 2023.
• According to the 2024 Economic Survey, Real annual average earnings per employee in the private sector declined by 2.5 per cent

At least 848,200 new jobs were generated in Kenya last year despite a tough economy that saw firms resort to retrenchment to cut operating costs. The Kenya Economic Survey 2024 released today by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows the informal sector contributed the majority of the jobs at 720,900 or 85 per cent.

Employment in the modern and informal sectors, excluding small-scale farming and pastoralist activities, went up from 19.1 million in 2022 to 20 million in 2023.

In the year under review, …

• Kenya’s GDP grew by 5.6% in 2023, driven by a rebound in agricultural activities and strong performances in transportation, communication, and hospitality sectors.
• The manufacturing sector saw mixed results with modest growth in food production and significant increases in non-food manufacturing.
• Despite inflation remaining stable and financial indicators showing growth, the Nairobi Securities Exchange saw a decline, highlighting some challenges amid the overall economic recovery.

Kenya’s economy achieved a significant milestone in 2023, recording a robust Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 5.6 percent, official data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday. This impressive growth rate, up from a revised 4.9 per cent in 2022, marks a notable recovery driven largely by the agricultural sector’s rebound and a strong performance across various industries.

The 2024 Economic Survey Report paints a comprehensive picture of the factors contributing to this resurgence, highlighting both the successes and challenges faced …

• The Communications Authority of Kenya has finalised Phase I of the cellular mobile infrastructure project which connected 76 sub-locations.
• The authority also targets the expansion of the postal services and digitally empowering the youth.
• The Authority finalised the rollout of Internet connectivity in 886 public secondary schools spread across 47 counties.

The Communications Authority of Kenya will need at least Sh107 billion ($819.9 million) to protect consumers and foster competitive ICT markets in a bid to establish Kenya as a digital superhighway. While unveiling its five-year strategic for 2023-27, CA Director-General David Mugonyi said the authority would prioritise increased broadband penetration, adoption of emerging technologies and improvement of cyber security as a way of powering the government’s Bottom-Up Economic policies.

The authority also targets the expansion of the postal services and digitally empowering the youth, women and people living with disabilities. “The goals are backed by a robust implementation plan …

• Four innovators from Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, and Uganda, selected from a shortlist of 16, vie for the £50,000 (over $62,000) Africa Prize.
• Their innovations encompass recycling in construction, AI tools for healthcare and farming, and reengineered waste collection, addressing crucial societal needs.
• The three runners-up will each receive £15,000 (over $18,000), while a £5,000 (over $6,000) prize titled ‘One to Watch’ will be awarded to the most promising business among the shortlist.
• Since 2014, the Africa Prize has empowered nearly 150 entrepreneurs across 23 African countries, creating over 28,000 jobs and positively impacting more than 10 million people with their innovative products and services.

The Royal Academy of Engineering is set to host the final showdown of the 10th Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, the continent’s premier engineering accolade, on June 13, 2024, in Nairobi, Kenya. Out of an initial pool of 16 visionary innovators crafting sustainable, scalable engineering solutions …

• Over 68% of the world’s population will be living in urban areas in 2050 up from the current 55%.
• However, poor living conditions are worsening with about 1.1 billion people worldwide residing in informal settlements or slums.
• Furthermore, another 318 million people are either homeless or at risk of homelessness globally.

As the world grapples with the unprecedented pace of urbanization, the role of city planning has never been more critical. As populations surge, housing shortages bite harder, and the impacts of climate change manifest in increasingly severe ways, the traditional paradigms of city planning are being challenged like never before.

As projections indicate that over 68 percent of the world’s population will be living in urban areas by 2050, the imperative need for visionary city planning has never been clearer, Dr. Erfan Ali, Chief of Staff at UN-Habitat, Nairobi, told delegates at a forum on Future Cities at …

• The prices of key food commodities influenced Kenya’s Inflation drop.
• KNBS says the food and non-alcoholic beverage index, which represents 32.9 per cent of inflation measurement, dropped by 0.1 per cent.
• KNBS data adds that housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels’ index dropped by 1.3 per cent

Kenya’s inflation dropped to a record 24-month low in April, hitting five per cent, according to the latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, as prices of key food commodities continued to fall.

This is the third month in a row that the index has dropped, from 6.9 per cent in January to 6.3 per cent in February 5.7 per cent in March, and now five per cent last month. (https://hummingbirddental.ca/)   The continued drop comes despite some price rises on some indices.

Major contributors to April’s year-on-year price rises included transport, food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing, water, electricity, …

• US Congress members ask Speaker Mike Johnson to invite President Ruto to address the assembly.
• President Ruto will be visiting the US on May 23 to mark 60 years of US-Kenya diplomatic ties.
• If invited, President Ruto would become the first Kenyan Head of State to address a joint session of US Congress.

In a historic plan highlighting the deepening ties between the United States and Kenya, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul (Republican – Texas) and Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (Democrat – New York) have jointly sent a letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (Republican – Los Angeles, asking him to extend a formal invitation to President William Ruto of Kenya to address a joint session of Congress during his upcoming visit to the US, slated later in May.

“This year, we are celebrating the historic 60-year anniversary of the U.S.-Kenya diplomatic relationship. Such an invitation …