Doing Business In Kenya

Country Characteristics

Kenya has an estimated population of 30 million and has a gross domestic product (GDP) of US$ 10.9 billion. Agriculture and Manufacturing are the main drivers of the economy. Principal foreign exchange earners are tea, tourism, coffee, horticulture and petroleum products. The country's economy has been through a turbulent period in the past few years and a key concern is the cumulative impact of drought. The highest growth rate in (GDP) recorded in the current decade is 5.2 per cent in 1994. Since then, economic growth has been declining and the current estimated growth rate is 2.5 percent. Real growth in 2003 is estimated at 2.5%.

The Government is now fully focused on the state of the economy and has presented a plan of action to revive the economy. The Government's primary objectives are: the elimination of fiscal deficit to bring interest rates down which in turn will increase credit to the private sector and hence lead to greater economic growth; the creation of a favourable environment for the private sector to flourish. The Government has taken significant steps to accelerate trade and foreign investment as part of its overall liberalisation program. This includes a high profile privatisation program, supported by the World Bank and the IMF has been underway since the early 1990s. The Government has also embarked on an aggressive initiative to expand the manufacturing sector under it's "Industrialisation to Year 2020" industrial policy program.