How we can spark Nairobi's economic growth

A trader sells palm leaves to catholics in Nairobi on April 10,2022 when they celebrated Palm Sunday. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

Nairobi City County population makes up more than 30 per cent of Kenya's urban population with an estimated 4,397,073 people. This is three times more than that of the second city, Mombasa.

The growing urban population is mainly attributed to rural to urban migration in search for economic opportunities. Like many African cities, Nairobi is yet to realise full potential and benefits that come with urbanisation. Urbanisation is a key feature of structural transformation that drives economic growth. To unlock economic opportunities of urbanisation, the Africa Growth Initiative (AGI) at the Brookings Institution in the US has developed an "Urban Economic Growth Framework for African cities".