Kenya

In 2008, for the first time in history, more than half of humanity was living in urban areas. Perhaps the most remarkable observation about this trend is the speed at which it has happened: as recently as 1900 urban areas accounted for 13% of the global population. Towns and cities are seen as the crucibles of opportunity for many rural...

Kenya’s construction sector experienced slower growth in 2017 than in previous years, owing in part to uncertainty surrounding the contested August general elections, which translated to no major government-led infrastructure projects being announced in the second half of the year. However, while the construction sector grew by less than the 9...

The domestic real estate environment in 2017 was shaped by slower economic growth as compared to 2016, stagnating prices and shifts in the retail scene. The Kenyan property market experienced strong performances in 2014-16, with high occupancy seen in the office segment, in particular. However, both commercial and residential real estate...

Growth in mobile payments reached 8% in 2017, according to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). While steady, this was slower than in 2016 and 2015, when industry growth was 19% and 17%, respectively. Industry stakeholders reported that muted consumer spending was partly due to lower-than-expected economic growth.

Blockchain – the distributed-ledger technology that underpins cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin – appears set to transform a wide variety of industries and perhaps fundamentally change the way business is conducted across the global economy.

Having earned the moniker Silicon Savannah – a status the country first actively sought in 2013 when it launched its economic development roadmap, Vision 2030 – Kenya has made significant strides in ICT. Vision 2030 included a technology development blueprint with the main objective of transforming the country into a global digital player....