Lockdowns , the informal sector and the prospects of the Kenyan Economy

President Uhuru Kenyatta

The lockdown of five counties came on the heels of a big rise in fuel prices and uncertain rains. Can our economy absorb such shocks? I have no doubt that Kenyans would get a Nobel prize on resilience if such an award was ever given.

The number of employees in the informal sector is the best evidence of our resilience. In Kenya, 83 per cent of the citizens work in the informal sector. It seems a global phenomenon. International Labour Organization(ILO)  in 2018 gives some interesting statistics, “ In Africa, 85.8 per cent of employment is informal. The proportion is 68.2 per cent in Asia and the Pacific, 68.6 per cent in the Arab States, 40.0 per cent in the Americas and 25.1 per cent in Europe and Central Asia. “  There is no continent without hustlers.