Government should move fast to bridge urban services divide

An aerial view of Nairobi's skyline showing parts of Kibera slums and Central Business District. [Davdi Njaaga, Standard]

If you live in Nairobi, you are likely to be three times wealthier than average folk residing in other parts of the country. According to the 2023 Gross County Product (GCP) report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, on average, residents of Nairobi are 2.7 times better off than an average Kenyan.

Cumulatively, the report shows that Nairobi City County is contributing more to Kenya's economy than 29 other counties combined, highlighting the fact that Kenya's wealth is concentrated in the capital. For that, the city attracted more than half of the 1.6 million Kenyans who moved to towns across the country in 2019.