Kenya needs to double savings for growth

NAIROBI: The Kenyan Government has set the economy on an ambitious target of 7 per cent annual growth as part of Vision 2030. The economy however has grown by over 7 per cent only four times in the last 50 years.

Kenya’s economy remains among the poorest 25 per cent of countries in the world. Investment can stimulate short and medium-term growth, but this requires high levels of savings. However, the 2016 Country Economic Memorandum (CEM) spells out the challenge for the country: not only are Kenya’s savings low, they also lag behind those of peers, some of which even have lower per capita incomes.