Kenya’s economic growth slows to 5.4pc in 2019

Kenya’s economy expanded at a slower pace of 5.4 percent last year, down from 6.3 percent in 2018, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani has announced.

The pace of economic activity was hurt by slowdown in agriculture, building and construction as well as manufacturing, Mr Yatani said as he released Kenya’s Economic Survey 2020 in Nairobi on Tuesday.

Agriculture, which accounts for more than one third of the national GDP for 2019 slowed to 3.6 percent compared to six percent the previous year.

Building and construction contracted to 6.4 percent compared to a growth of 6.9 percent in 2018, largely on reduced activity on the standard gauge railway (SGR) project.

Similarly, the manufacturing sector, which is expected to churn out most of the high-quality jobs under President Uhuru’s Big Four Agenda, slowed to 3.2 percent from 5.3 percent the previous year. 

Financial and insurance sectors, however, posted improved growth of 6.6 percent compared to 5.3 a year earlier.

Mr Yatani said the economy is expected to grow at a much slower pace of between 1.8 percent and 2.5 percent this year, from an earlier forecast of 6 percent, on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.