The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. Lying along the Indian Ocean, at the equator, Kenya is bordered by Ethiopia (north), Somalia (northeast), Tanzania (south), Uganda plus Lake Victoria (west), and Sudan (northwest). The capital city is Nairobi. Kenya spans an area about 85% the size of France or Texas. The population has grown rapidly in recent decades to nearly 38 million. Kenya has numerous wildlife reserves, containing thousands of animal species.The country is named after Mount Kenya, a significant landmark and the second among the highest mountain peaks of Africa. Until 1920 the area that is now Kenya was called the British East African Protectorate. The capital of Kenya is Nairobi.
Kenya is a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President is both the head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly.
Since independence was achieved in 1963, Kenya’s economy has contained both privately owned and state-run enterprises. Most of the country’s business is in private hands (with a large amount of foreign investment), but the government also shapes the country’s economic development through various regulatory powers and “parastatals,” or enterprises that it partly or wholly owns. The aim of this policy is to achieve economic growth and stability, generate employment, and maximize foreign earnings by achieving high levels of agricultural exports while substituting domestically produced goods for those that have been imported. For a decade after independence this policy showed great promise as rising wages, employment, and government revenue provided the means for expanding health services, education, transportation, and communication. But problems that arose with the rise of global oil prices in 1973 have been aggravated by periodic drought and accelerating population growth, and Kenya’s economy has been unable to maintain a favourable balance of trade while addressing the problems of chronic poverty and growing unemployment. The country’s ability to industrialize has been hampered by, among other factors, limited domestic purchasing power, shrinking government budgets, increased external and internal debt, poor infrastructure, and massive governmental corruption and mismanagement.
In an effort to decrease its dependence on volatile agricultural markets, Kenya attempted to diversify its exports in the last decade of the 20th century, adding horticultural products, clothing, cement, soda ash, and fluorspar. The country also made the export of manufactured goods such as paper and vehicles a priority. Domestic restrictions on imports have been removed slowly, however, and this policy has been only partially successful. Kenya’s economy, which did not grow at a constant rate during the last two decades of the 20th century, continued to be dominated by the external market; tourism and agricultural exports were still the major source of foreign exchange for the country in the early 21st century.
Though the country was built on agriculture, today one of the largest parts of the Kenya economy is the tourism market. Between 1 and 2 million foreign tourists visit the country each year, bringing in between US$ 800 million and 1 billion annually. Adventure travel has become a booming business, and tourism trips to the various safari parks has greatly improved the financial position of Kenya.
Kenya is the biggest exporter of tea in the world. With roughly US$ 1 billion in revenues (in 2007), tea exports account for two-thirds of agricultural exports. Flowers have been a major growth area during the last years. In 2007, Kenya’s exported 90,000 tons of flowers for a total of US$ 700 million. Kenya also ranks number 17 on the list of biggest coffee exporters. Kenyan coffee is a delicacy around the world. In 2005, Kenya earned US$ 131 million with coffee exports.
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| Number of EWB companies registered | 0
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| National EwB coordinator | Lewis Olaka |
| Email | Lolaka [at] jakenya.org |
| Official languages | Swahili, English |
| Population | 37,953,840 |
| GDP |
Total $60.410 billion
Per capita $1,713 |
| Currency | Kenyan shilling (KES) |
| Time zone | EAT (UTC+3) |
| Internet TLD | .ke |
| Calling code | +254 |
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