Kenya’s journey toward becoming an innovation-driven economy remains riddled with structural challenges. While global economies are steadily progressing from factor-driven to efficiency-driven- and ultimately to innovation-driven stages, Kenya remains largely commodity-dependent. The country’s manufacturing sector, a potential growth engine, continues to underperform, struggling to lift its GDP contribution from a stagnant 7% toward the Vision 2030 target of 15%. A comparative analysis with Switzerland, ranked first globally with a score of 67.5% in the 2024 Global Innovation Index (GII) by WIPO, offers a mirror for Kenya, which came in at position 96 with just 21%. Themed “Unlocking the Promise of…
Author: Nicasio Karani Migwi
As Kenya contemplates undergoing a Governance Diagnostic Assessment (GDA) by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the experiences of Sri Lanka and Cameroon offer timely and cautionary lessons. While such an assessment could unlock a new $ 3.5 billion Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) program for 2025 – 2028, positioning Kenya for stronger fiscal consolidation and foreign capital inflows, it also risks exposing systemic governance failures with far-reaching economic consequences. Sri Lanka’s GDA, conducted in March 2023, laid bare widespread corruption and governance weaknesses. These ranged from weak central bank independence and legal frameworks to compromised…
East African central banks are increasingly turning to gold as a strategic component of their foreign exchange (FX) reserves, joining a growing global shift toward buffering against external shocks and reducing overreliance on the U.S dollar. The trend comes amid rising geopolitical tensions, persistent currency volatility, and the need to shield domestic economies from disruptions caused by crises such as the ongoing Middle East conflict, the Russia-Ukraine war, and lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the region, countries are enhancing their FX reserves to protect their currencies and stabilise markets. On June 19, 2025, Kenya’s usable FX reserves stood…
Fewer, better capitalised banks may catalyze the mobilization of domestic savings, boost national investment, support economic modernization, and advance Kenya’s Vision 2030 goal of attaining upper-middle or high-income status, comparable to the achievements of the Asian Tigers and Tiger Cubs. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has hiked the minimum Tier 1 capital from KSh 1 billion to KSh 3bn by 2025, KSh 5bn by 2026, KSh 6bn by 2027, KSh 8bn by 2028 and KSh 10bn (USD 77.38 million) by 2029. The primary rationale is to enhance the stability, resilience, and solvency of the banking sector, protecting consumer deposits…