Browsing: President William Ruto

• The government of Kenya is deploying measures to protect local industries from the onslaught of cheap imports.
• Kenya’s $26.4 billion FY2023/24 budget is an increase from $23.6 billion plan for the fiscal year ending June 30.
• The country is, however, facing high inflation, ballooning debt, and a high rate of joblessness.

President William Ruto’s first $26.4 billion budget for the FY2023/24 starting July 1st seeks to boost job creation, power growth of industries, and reduce borrowing.

Kenya’s $26.4 billion FY2023/24 budget is an increase from the $23.6 billion plan for the fiscal year ending June 30. East Africa’s economic powerhouse, Kenya, continues to struggle with growing inflation, skyrocketing debt, and a high unemployment rate.

Job creation targets Kenya’s youth

The lack of enough jobs is disproportionately affecting the country’s young people. The economy is also struggling from the impact of external shocks. For instance, Kenya is hurting from the Russia-Ukraine …

• Kenya’s President William Ruto is urging Africa to shift from exports of raw materials to industrial processing of goods. He says African economies must change tact to revamp import/export trade.
• Comesa bloc has a combined GDP of $805 billion and a global export/import trade in goods worth $324 billion. 
• In a radical move, Dr Ruto calls for merging of Comesa, the East African Community, and the Southern African Development Community. 

Kenya’s President William Ruto is calling on the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) member-state to embrace industrial processing of to boost the value of exports and in turn enhance Africa’s share of global trade. 

In a radical shift that is also seeking to boost trade across Africa, Dr Ruto is also calling for the consolidation of trading blocs Comesa, the East African Community, and the Southern African Development Community.

Industrial processing to boost Africa trade

By joining …

China’s reduced lending to Africa has raised concerns about the future of Africa’s economic development and its relationship with China. The reduction in lending is due to a combination of factors, including the slowdown in the Chinese economy, the growing debt burden of African countries, and China’s increased selectivity in its lending.

The reduced lending has several implications for Africa’s economic future. African countries must find alternative sources of financing, a shift towards domestic resource mobilization, a change in the balance of power between China-African relations, and a potential slowdown in infrastructure development. African countries must navigate these changes carefully to ensure sustainable economic growth in the coming years.…

The Kenya-South Africa visa deal will take effect on January 1.

At the time of the announcement, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was in Kenya for his first official trip to the country at the invitation of President Ruto.

Ramaphosa said they discussed the visas issue between Kenya and South Africa to allow Kenyans to visit the Southern African nation visa-free basis.

“This will officially start on January 1, 2023, and it will be available to Kenyans for a 90-day period per year,” he said.

In addition, the Kenyan and South African leaders directed their respective trade ministers to work on removing barriers limiting trade between the two African countries. The two countries are also working to address trade barriers to increase business and trade cooperation.…

Speaking on the first day of COP27 in Egypt, Dr. Adesina said the funding would strengthen collective efforts to build climate resilience for African countries which are suffering from increasing frequencies of droughts, floods and cyclones that are devastating economies in Africa.

The Glasgow Climate Pact included a commitment from donors to double adaptation finance in 2025 from 2019 levels. Earlier, Sunak announced that the UK will surpass that target and triple adaptation funding from £500 million in 2019 to £1.5 billion in 2025. The funding package provided to AfDB will be part of this commitment.

The Netherlands has also announced that it will contribute to the CAW alongside the UK funding. The Foreign Secretary has called on other countries to contribute over the coming months.

Sunak also confirmed during the COP27 in Egypt that the UK is delivering the target of spending £11.6 billion on International Climate Finance (ICF) …

Kenya is one of 23 African nations at risk of debt distress. The major causes of debt distress include poor fiscal management and macroeconomic frameworks to sustain growth, a shift in debt structure toward more costly financing sources, and excessive government expenditure levels.

Kenya’s debt was at about 70 per cent of GDP in 2021, up from 50 per cent in 2015. China is Kenya’s biggest bilateral creditor. It accounts for 67 per cent of the bilateral debt (primarily for infrastructure projects), an increase from 13 per cent in 2011.…

Some worry that monetary policy is still excessively accommodating, given that rate hikes have not matched inflation. Policy cooperation may be beneficial. Fiscal consolidation and a mix of rate rises and currency depreciation may play a role in nations where policy is overly permissive.

The shaky recovery in Sub-Saharan Africa, coupled with domestic demand constraints, has not significantly fueled inflation so far. However, in the coming months, governments and policymakers must carefully monitor and prioritise tackling the rising inflation in Africa.…

Dangote uses lower pricing to grow its market share, but Kenyans have had to wait longer for this to happen.

However, Dangote was a surprise attendee at William Ruto’s inauguration as Kenya’s fifth president. This revived talks among Kenyans that he probably would now be able to jumpstart his investment plans in Kenya and have the cement plants going.

Ruto and Dangote met in March 2014 when the then Deputy President visited the Obajana plant of Dangote Cement in Kogi State, Nigeria. At the time, Kenya intended to fast-track licensing for Dangote Cement in the country to boost job creation opportunities for Kenyans.

Dangote’s attendance was thus a reminder and probably a harbinger of what is to come in the cement production sector in Kenya.…