Economy of Kenya - Economic History

Economic History

After independence, Kenya promoted rapid economic growth through public investment, encouragement of smallholder agricultural production, and incentives for private (often foreign) industrial investment. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual average of 6.6% from 1963 to 1973. Agricultural production grew by 4.7% annually during the same period, stimulated by redistributing estates, diffusing new crop strains, and opening new areas to cultivation. Between 1974 and 1990, however, Kenya's economic performance declined. Kenya's inward-looking policy of import substitution and rising oil prices made Kenya's manufacturing sector uncompetitive. The government began a massive intrusion in the private sector. Lack of export incentives, tight import controls, and foreign exchange controls made the domestic environment for investment even less attractive.

From 1991 to 1993, Kenya had its worst economic performance since independence. Growth in GDP stagnated, and agricultural production shrank at an annual rate of 3.9%. Inflation reached a record 100% in August 1993, and the government's budget deficit was over 10% of GDP. As a result of these combined problems, bilateral and multilateral donors suspended program aid to Kenya in 1991.

Throughout these first three decades of independence, Kenya's parastatals, partly from a lack of expertise and endemic corruption, largely inhibited economic development. In 1979, a presidential commission went as far as saying that they constituted "a serious threat to the economy"; a decade later, they had still not furthered industrialisation or fostered the development of a Black-Kenyan business class.The backbone of the country's private-sector success was provided by Asian Kenyans; during the colonial period, it was they who had created their country's internal market, and then dominated internal trade. British colonizers instituted segregation based on skin colour: Whites were first-class citizens, Indians (who had been brought to Kenya to work on the East African Railway as slaves, were second-class citizens, and native Kenyans were third-class citizens. As a result various laws were set in place to limit African Kenyans in their own land, for example, they had to walk around with 'Passes' at all times, and free movement, schooling and entrepreneurial endeavors for Africans in Kenya was strictly enforced by colonial policebetween the late 1800s and

In 1993, the Government of Kenya began a major program of economic reform and liberalization. A new minister of finance and a new governor of the central bank undertook a series of economic measures with the assistance of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). As part of this program, the government eliminated price controls and import licensing, removed foreign exchange controls, privatized a range of publicly owned companies, reduced the number of civil servants, and introduced conservative fiscal and monetary policies. From 1994 to 1996, Kenya's real GDP growth rate averaged just over 4% a year.

In 1997, however, the economy entered a period of slowing or stagnant growth, due in part to adverse weather conditions and reduced economic activity prior to general elections in December 1997. In July 1997, the Government of Kenya refused to meet commitments made earlier to the IMF on governance reforms.As a result, the IMF suspended lending for three years, and the World Bank also put a $90 million structural adjustment credit on hold.

The Government of Kenya took positive steps on reform, including the 1999 establishment of the Kenyan Anti-Corruption Authority, and measures to improve the transparency of government procurements and reduce the government payroll. In July 2000, the IMF signed a $150 million Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility, and the World Bank followed suit shortly after with a $157 million Economic and Public Sector Reform credit.

This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Kenya at market prices estimated by the International Monetary Fund with figures in millions of Kenyan Shillings.

Small scale businesses are providing a more and more jobs in Kenya. With increased but simplified regulations, they are able to blossom into large, legitimate businesses that can eventually create more jobs and government revenue.