Kenya
is well placed to serve as an engine of growth in East Africa, but its
economy has been stagnating because of poor management and uneven commitment
to reform. In 1993, the government of Kenya implemented a program of economic
liberalization and reform that included the removal of import licensing,
price controls, and foreign exchange controls. With the support of the
World Bank, IMF, and other donors, the reforms led to a brief turnaround
in economic performance following a period of negative growth in the early
1990s.
Kenya's real GDP grew 5% in 1995 and 4% in 1996, and inflation remained
under control. Growth slowed after 1997, averaging only 1.5% in 1997-2000.
In 1997, political violence damaged the tourist industry, and Kenya's
Enhanced Structural Adjustment Program lapsed due to the government's
failure to maintain reform or address public sector corruption. Severe
drought in 1999 and 2000 caused water and energy rationing and reduced
agricultural sector productivity. A new economic team was put in place
in 1999 to revitalize the reform effort, strengthen the civil service,
and curb corruption.
The IMF and World Bank renewed their support to Kenya in mid-2000, but
a number of setbacks to the economic reform program in late 2000 have
renewed donor and private sector concern about the government's commitment
to sound governance. Long-term barriers to development include electricity
shortages, inefficient government dominance of key sectors, endemic corruption,
and high population growth.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $45.6 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 0.4% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,500 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture 25%, Industry 13% , Services: 62%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7% (2000 est.)
Labor force: 9.2 million (1998 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: Agriculture 75%-80%
Budget: revenues: $2.91 billion
Expenditures:
$2.97 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)
Industries: small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture, batteries,
textiles, soap, cigarettes, flour), agricultural products processing;
oil refining, cement; tourism
Industrial production growth rate: 0.5% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production: 4.225 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 31%
Hydro: 67%
Other: 2% (1999 est.)
Electricity - consumption: 4.075 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports: 146 million kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products: coffee, tea, corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruit, vegetables;
dairy products, beef, pork, poultry, eggs
Exports: $1.7 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities: tea, coffee, horticultural products, petroleum
products, fish, cement
Exports - partners: Uganda 18%, UK 15%, Tanzania 12%, Pakistan 8% (1999)
Imports: $3 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum
products, iron and steel
Imports - partners: UK 12%, UAE 8%, Japan 8%, US 7% (1999)
Debt - external: $6.2 billion (2000)
Economic aid - recipient: $457 million (1997)
Currency: Kenyan shilling (KES)
|
Currency
code: KES
Exchange rates: Kenyan shillings per US dollar - 78.733 (December 2000),
76.176 (2000), 70.326 (1999), 60.367 (1998), 58.732 (1997), 57.115 (1996)
Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June
Kenya Communications:
Telephones - main lines in use: 324,000 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 854,345 (2002)
Telephone system: Trunks are primarily microwave radio relay; business
data commonly transferred by a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) system
 TEA CULTIVATION IN KENYA
International:
satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat
Radio broadcast stations: AM 24, FM 8, shortwave 6 (1999)
Radios: 3.07 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 8 (1997)
Televisions: 730,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .ke
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 5 (2000)
Internet users: 245,000 (2001)
Railways: total: 2,778 km
Narrow gauge: 2,778 km 1.000-m gauge
Highways: total: 63,800 km
Paved: 8,868 km
Unpaved: 54,932 km (1996)
Pipelines: petroleum products 483 km
Ports and harbors: Kisumu, Lamu, Mombasa
Merchant marine: total: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,893 GRT/6,255
DWT
Ships by type: petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1 (2000 est.)
Airports: 230 (2000 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 22
Over 3,047 m: 4
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 13
Under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 208
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 14
914 to 1,523 m: 109 |
