Rising tide must lift all boats

The latest economic forecasts paint an encouraging picture of Kenya’s growth prospects with the International Monetary Fund projecting our GDP to overtake Angola’s to become the fourth-largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa this year. But behind the headline numbers is a stark reality: Most Kenyans may be left out.

For the millions of Kenyans who live in extreme poverty, the eye-catching statistics offer little solace amid daily struggles for basic necessities.

With a national Gini coefficient of 0.408 indicating high income inequality, the rising economic tide has not lifted all boats equally. The disparities are even starker in rural Kenya, where the Gini coefficient is 0.361, compared to 0.368 in urban areas.

The figures represent the manifestation of our slow transition to a more equitable economy providing opportunities for all citizens to meaningfully participate and thrive.

That’s why the government’s new “bottom-up” economic strategy, aiming to accelerate growth to 7.2 per cent by 2027 while tackling inequality and low productivity, could be a crucial turning point. For far too long, policies have failed to substantively uplift the poor and disadvantaged.

The innovative approach finally positions their upward mobility as not just a moral imperative but economic necessity for sustainable inclusive growth. But the strategy’s success hinges on implementation and the government’s willingness to embrace transparency.

Kenyans need regular, unvarnished updates with clear metrics demonstrating how “The Plan” is tangibly reducing poverty, improving education and health outcomes, catalysing entrepreneurship and bridging the rural-urban divide.

Mere reassuring rhetoric won’t suffice. We have suffered from an abundance of lofty economic development rhetoric and policies that failed to resonate on the ground.

The “bottom-up” plan deserves a chance, but only with an openness to course corrections based on real data and the lived experiences of Kenyans still struggling and yearning to feel the upsides of our alleged rising economic fortunes.

- Mr Keya is a strategy adviser at WYLDE International. [email protected].