Kenya up 15 places in quality of life for expatriates

Kenya rose 15 places on the expatriate attractiveness index this year, helped by political stability and citizens’ perception of foreigners, a new survey shows.

A country’s attractiveness to expatriates is a key determinant in decisions by multinationals seeking locations to invest. It, therefore, helps in attracting foreign direct investment.

A survey called Expat Insider, compiled by the InterNations Business Solutions Group, ranked countries according to the quality of life, ease of settling in, personal finance, family life, and career prospects.

The index also indicates the general quality of life of the country’s citizens relative to the rest of the world.

Kenya rose to position 36 in the overall ranking from 51 in 2018.

This was helped by improved political stability since last year following the famous handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Happiness

On leisure options, Kenya was ranked 12 out of 64 countries and 18 on the personal happiness index.

East Africa’s most sophisticated economy also did well on the ease of making friends, putting it eighth out of 64 countries that were ranked.

Kenya, however, ranked in the bottom 10 in terms of safety and security. It also ranked poorly in the economy and job security prospects.

This means Kenya’s economic growth prospects were shaky and the likelihood of retaining one’s job was deemed low.

Kenya is battling corruption and heavy debt with a huge public wage bill that has seen the Government raise taxes across the board to get an extra coin.

The country also ranked poorly in cost of living, meaning life is expensive in Kenya for expatriates - which shows that it could even worse for locals.