Uhuru plan on inclusive growth timely

Earlier this week, I attended the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa)’s Presidential Roundtable at State House, Nairobi. It provided an interesting opportunity to observe how our country is run and hear firsthand issues of concern to the President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto as they seek a second term in office.
First, Jubilee has done well in creating an enabling environment to facilitate the growth of business.

The President’s observation that they have laid a strong foundation upon which the future success of Kenya will be built was strongly supported by the scorecard of the Jubilee administration presented by Carol Kariuki, the CEO of Kepsa.

The scorecard, which enumerate achievements against the National Business Agenda 2, which was adopted at an earlier Presidential Roundtable in 2014, highlighted numerous successes. Most notably was the country’s improvement in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index which is largely driven by improvement in the business regulatory environment. Other notable successes included improvements in security and infrastructure.

Secondly, as I have indicated before, Uhuru and Ruto have clearly gained the governing competence required to run the country. As evidenced by the numerous blunders at the beginning of the term, it takes a while to figure out where the switch is and which direction the tap turns, once elected into office. From their focus and manner of engagement, they certainly have their eyes on the road and their feet are firmly on the peddle.

Third, it is evident that they want to leave a solid legacy. Having invested in infrastructure in their first term, their focus is now shifting to more inclusive growth. They sought input from the private sector on how to create more jobs and build low-cost housing, especially for the urban poor.

Ruto noted the challenges we face as a country in creating employment opportunities for 100,000 young Kenyans graduating from universities and TVET institutions annually.

He proposed an internship programme that would ensure every young Kenyan would be absorbed by the private sector for at least one year. This would enable these graduates gain experience and skills to get jobs or set up successful businesses. The government will provide incentives to the private sector to encourage them to create the internship opportunities within their institutions.

On housing, the two leaders admitted that shortage of housing units has persisted with the cost of housing worsening, despite their efforts in their first term. They sought input on how the government can develop more than a million houses in 5 years to plug this gap. Their focus is not only on housing the urban poor but also to make it possible for those Kenyans earning between Sh30,000 and Sh50,000 to access affordable mortgages. Even as they seek to crystallise their ideas, they received strong feedback on the need to adopt new building technology, some of which is patented locally, to help lower the cost of putting up houses in the country.

To me, this meeting served as a good indicator of who the Jubilee leaders are and what they are focusing on. They have their finger on the real issues affecting ordinary Kenyans. As I have argued here before, while building of infrastructure is great, it is important to pursue inclusive growth that enables everybody, including the poorest and most vulnerable people to feel that they also belong. It is hard to imagine something more apt in helping people feel this inclusion than providing them with housing and opportunities to earn a livelihood.

-The writer is a researcher and analyst in Nairobi.

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