Kenya

Jua Kali is a commonly-used Swahili word that translates literally as “hot sun”. It is used to refer to the small, roadside businesses that sell everything from tires and laundry detergent to phone credit and oil changes. They include hawkers, small repair workshops, manufacturers and a host of entrepreneurial activities, including...

Several changes are under way in Kenya’s tax landscape for 2017. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is in the midst of implementing long-term and multi-pronged strategies to collect more revenue, and politicians are continuing to tweak the legal environment to serve the same goals. County-level politicians have joined the discussion as well in...

The market for government debt is changing across Africa, and in ways that pose risks for local banks as well as for their investors and customers. States are looking to their banks to help bridge funding gaps so they can better ride out the cycle of lower commodity prices and tepid global growth. That means it is harder to raise international...

Even amidst a broader downturn in many African markets, Kenya has consistently been one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most reliable performers. It was the sub-Saharan Africa’s fifth-largest economy in 2015 behind Nigeria, South Africa, Angola and Sudan, ranked 11th in inward foreign direct investment and is one of the few countries in Africa that is...

Three years into its implementation, Kenya’s devolution project remains a work in progress. The country appears to be on track to reap the benefits of creating 47 new counties and devolving many of the national government’s powers to them, but not without some growing pains along the way.

Increasingly a mainstay of the manufacturing and retail industries, Kenya’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) have shown considerable expansion in recent years, buoyed by a rising middle class, significant opportunities for regional expansion and local brand loyalty.