The following was contributed by Ambassador of Kenya Ngovi Kitau on the occasion of the country’s 47th anniversary of Independence Day. ― Ed. 


I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the government and people of the Republic of Korea for the great cooperation they have given to Kenya ever since diplomatic relations between Kenya and Korea were established in February 1964. It is a great honor to reach the audience of the Republic of Korea as I introduce my country on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of Independence Day.

Jamhuri Day celebrations are held every year on Dec. 12 to commemorate the day Kenya gained independence. This year’s celebrations are special in the sense that the country adopted a new constitution that was promulgated on Aug. 27, 2010. The 47th anniversary of Kenya’s independence will be celebrated with renewed hopes and aspirations because the country took a bold step toward good governance, improved social welfare and greater economic prosperity.

On the occasion of Independence Day we therefore pay tribute to our nation’s founding fathers and freedom fighters who sacrificed so much in order that we be free. 

Economy

Kenya’s economy is market-based, with a few state-owned infrastructure enterprises, and maintains a liberalized external trade system. The country is Eastern and central Africa’s hub for financial, communication and transportation services.

In 2007, gross domestic product was approximately $27 billion (at an exchange of $1 to Kshs 67). The economy has in the past registered high growth rates of 6.4 percent and 7.0 percent in 2006, and 2007 respectively.

The economy expanded by 5.4 percent in the second quarter of 2010 compared to a growth of 0.9 percent in the same period in 2009. During the quarter, growth was mainly driven by agriculture, construction, manufacturing and financial sectors which accounted for approximately 60 percent of the GDP growth. An increasing portion of Kenya’s foreign exchange inflows is from remittances by non-resident Kenyans who work abroad.

The World Bank projection of 6 percent growth in 2011 is likely to be surpassed going by the current trend. No major external and internal shocks are foreseen during this period. The government’s plan to achieve 10 percent growth by 2012 and sustain it thereafter is well on course.

Agriculture

Agriculture is the mainstay of Kenya’s economy accounting for 26 percent of GDP. The four subsectors of industrial crops, food crops, horticulture and livestock and fisheries employ 75 percent of Kenya’s population either directly or indirectly. Some of the agricultural exports include tea, coffee, tobacco, barley, fruits, horticulture, livestock and fish.

The government has done much in making exports globally competitive; for instance, the provision of inputs to farmers and other essential services led to an increase in productivity, while at the same time value addition by processing, packaging and branding the produce is on the rise.

Tourism

Tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors with tourist arrivals growing by 15 percent in 2010 compared to last year while earning for the same period grew by 60 percent. The sector accounts for 10 percent of GDP and employs 9 percent of the total formal labor force.

Kenya’s tourism sector offers various attractions that include sunny and sandy beaches, water sports and marine parks. As the famed land of safari, Kenya provides unique experiences in its wildlife parks, popular ones including the Masai Mara, Amboseli, Nakuru and Tsavo. Scenic views of Hell’s Gate in the Rift Valley and the animal sanctuary of the Nairobi Safari Park, the world’s only such park within a capital city, are major tourist attractions. Niche attractions include home stays, eco-tourism packages and hiking high altitude mountains such as Mt. Kenya, while business and conferencing draws are centered around the capital.

The government has invested heavily in the improvement of infrastructure supporting this sector, particularly in the improvement of the road network, upgrading of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, establishing new parks and securing animal migration routes. This is in tandem with Kenya’s plans to reach the 3 million visitors mark by 2012. An effort to increase accommodation facilities as well as the construction of resort cities is underway.

Energy

Kenya attaches great importance to the energy sector as key infrastructural requirement to development. Reforms in the power sector from the 1990s have progressed to promote efficiency of power generation. The Electric Power Act (1997) and the Energy Act (2006) accelerated reforms by creating an autonomous regulatory body, unbundling electricity utilities to promote more private investment in generation. Reviewing tariffs to improve the financial performance of power companies has also been undertaken.

The energy sector in Kenya relies largely on hydropower accounting for 67 percent of power output. Other renewable sources of energy are geothermal, solar and wind. At present, peak electric power demand is estimated at 1,180 MW and it is projected to grow at 7 percent annually over the next 10 years.

In 2009, an extra 224,000 households were connected to electricity. The government plans to connect over one million households within five years and export the surplus in the regional market. To drive this, development of more power plants with an additional capacity of more than 2,000 MW from a variety of energy sources including geothermal, hydro, wind, coal, and diesel by 2015 is envisioned. Geothermal has gained attention with a potential of 7,000 MW in Rift Valley, out of which 130 MW has already been developed. Plans to build a nuclear power plant in 2017 for generation of 300-1000 MW will significantly reduce the cost of energy. To this end, a Nuclear Electricity Project Committee was constituted on November 26, 2010 to fast track the implementation of the plan. Coal deposits at Mui Basin are also earmarked for exploitation and use in development of coal fired power plants. 

Infrastructure

Kenya, as the commercial and communication hub for East and Central Africa, has made commendable progress in developing infrastructure. There is an extensive road network of approximately 160,000 km connecting most parts of the country. The port of Mombasa, which has an annual average freight throughput of about 8.1 million tons, is the country’s main seaport and serves as an important transport hub for the landlocked countries in East and Central Africa.

There are currently on-going infrastructure development projects focussing on the upgrade and modernization of roads, highways seaport facilities, and information and communication technologies.

Education

Kenya’s literacy rate is 85 percent, one of the leading rates in Africa. The government introduced Free Primary Education in 2003. This has led to a rise in enrolment, from 5.9 million pupils in 2002 to 8.6 million in 2009 in public schools. The national gross enrolment in primary school rose from 93 percent in 2002 to 107.7 percent in 2007. About 75 percent of those who complete primary education proceed to secondary schools and 60 percent of those who complete secondary school proceed to higher institutions of education which include business and vocational institutions, national polytechnics, and public and private universities within the country.

Health

Since independence, the government has given high priority to the improvement of the health of Kenyans. It recognizes that good health is a prerequisite to socio economic development. The government’s priority has been to meet the basic needs of the population by providing health services within easy reach with emphasis on preventive, rehabilitative and curative services. There are over 4,500 health facilities in the country. The government controls and runs 52 percent while the private sector, the Christian missionary organizations and local authorities run the remaining 48 percent.

Immunization for children between 12-23 months recorded coverage of 80 percent at community level. To combat malaria, mosquito nets have been distributed to 68 percent of the households.

Kenyatta National Hospital, established in 1901, has evolved to become the largest modern health facility in East and Central Africa and a popular referral hospital within the region.

Culture and sports

Kenya, globally renowned as the cradle of mankind, has a population of approximately 40 million and 42 linguistic groups each with its own unique dialect. The plural culture of Kenya is expressed in different forms, ranging from its people and language, food, music and dance, art, theatre and literature. Combined with other traditions, these forms of expression and lifestyle form an identity that is uniquely Kenyan.

Swahili is the national and official language spoken throughout the country. It is an important aspect in enhancing cohesion among the linguistic groups of Kenya.

Kenya has excelled in world sporting competitions with the marathon being the most popular. Long distance runners such as Paul Tergat, Catherine Ndereba and the 800m IAAF world athlete of the year in 2010, David Rudisha, have acquired international fame. Other sporting areas where Kenya has done well include rugby and swimming. 

Trade and investments

Under “Vision 2030” as a long term development strategy, Kenya aims at restructuring the country from a largely rural and land based economy to a rapidly industrializing and urbanized society. This transformation will focus on:

1. Developing the counties as the centres for growth and development;

2. Industrializing cities and towns to ensure that they become job creation and socio-economic development centres;

3. Creation of industrial and service sector jobs so that they are the primary employment areas in addition to agriculture

4. Investment in youth polytechnics and middle-level colleges and national polytechnics to equip our youth with employable skills for industrial and service sector jobs.

The Vision 2030 provides many investment opportunities that foreign businesses can be involved. These include infrastructure, building and construction, energy, information and communication technology, tourism, manufacturing, agriculture, environment, housing and energy sectors.

Food processing is also an important sector. The key inputs include tea, coffee, horticulture, fruits, tobacco, cotton, sisal, livestock and fish. The country’s potential for commercial exploration and exploitation of minerals such as titanium, coal, limestone and iron ore is also rising.

Investing in Kenya enables an entrepreneur to have access to the regional trading blocs of East Africa Community of five countries and the Common Markets for Eastern and Southern Africa of 19 countries which have a combined market in excess of 400 million. About 40 percent of Kenya’s exports are already going to the regional markets. In addition, Kenya is a beneficiary country under the preferential trade enhancing schemes offered by the AGOA legislation of the U.S. and the ACP-EU Cooperation and various bilateral Cooperation Agreements.

The government has taken steps to enhance Kenya’s economic competitiveness by enacting several regulatory reforms to simplify both foreign and local investment. Protection of private property and investments is entrenched in the new constitution. In addition, Kenya is a signatory to alternative instruments including the International Convention on Settlement of investment Disputes, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency and Africa Trade Insurance Agency. The country has a fully liberalized economy without exchange or price controls and there are no restrictions on domestic and foreign borrowing by residents and non-residents.

Kenyan businesses, especially those operating in the burgeoning information and computer technology sector stand to reap strong benefits from the two fibre-optic cables (TEAMS and SEACOM) that came into operation in 2009. The Nairobi Stock Exchange is the most developed stock market in the Eastern and Central African region and offers an attractive and comprehensive package of incentives to investors.

Bearing all these factors in mind and barring any major external shock, Kenya’s economy is likely to perform well in 2010 and beyond.

Cooperation

Kenya and Korea established diplomatic relations on Feb. 7, 1964. Korea has maintained an Embassy in Nairobi since then. Kenyan established a resident Mission in Seoul on July 31, 2007. The two countries have signed several agreements and Memoranda of Understanding, these are: Agreement on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation (1977), Cultural Agreement (1980), Bilateral Air Services Agreement of 1981 and a memorandum of understanding between Kenya Agricultural Research Institute and Rural Development Administration of Korea at the Africa Center for Korea Project on International Agriculture, signed on June 29, 2009. 

Kenya-Korea relations have been complimented by high level visits. Most recently, Kenya’s vice president visited Korea and discussed with Korean officials issues of profound importance in our relations.

Tour visits

Kenya is a leading tourism, wildlife and safari destination in the region where the tourism industry, already one of the most successful in the world, continues to expand. There is favorable weather all year round as well as attractive and diverse social and cultural experiences worth trying. The wildebeest migration, the eighth wonder of the world is one such spectacular experience.