Key Facts

GDP (ppp) per CAPITA

$1,600 (2008 est.)

Inflation Rate

26.3% (2008 est.)

Population

39,002,772 (July 2009 est.)

Country Risk Ratings

C

Ease of Doing Business

82/181

Global Competitiveness

3.84/134

Country Map

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gE Network

There are 34 members in the
gE Network for this country.

Kenya : Introduction

Founding president and liberation struggle icon Jomo KENYATTA led Kenya from independence in 1963 until his death in 1978, when President Daniel Toroitich arap MOI took power in a constitutional succession. The country was a de facto one-party state from 1969 until 1982 when the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) made itself the sole legal party in Kenya. MOI acceded to internal and external pressure for political liberalization in late 1991. The ethnically fractured opposition failed to dislodge KANU from power in elections in 1992 and 1997, which were marred by violence and fraud, but were viewed as having generally reflected the will of the Kenyan people. President MOI stepped down in December 2002 following fair and peaceful elections. Mwai KIBAKI, running as the candidate of the multiethnic, united opposition group, the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), defeated KANU candidate Uhuru KENYATTA and assumed the presidency following a campaign centered on an anticorruption platform. KIBAKI's NARC coalition splintered in 2005 over the constitutional review process. Government defectors joined with KANU to form a new opposition coalition, the Orange Democratic Movement, which defeated the government's draft constitution in a popular referendum in November 2005. KIBAKI's reelection in December 2007 brought charges of vote rigging from ODM candidate Raila ODINGA and unleashed two months of violence in which as many as 1,500 people died. UN-sponsored talks in late February produced a powersharing accord bringing ODINGA into the government in the restored position of prime minister.

Kenya: Central Bank of Kenya

The main task of the Central Bank of Kenya is maintaining price stability and fostering liquidity, solvency and proper functioning of a market-based financial system. The website provides information on financial news, publishes periodic financial reports, and lists the Kenyan commercial banks and non-banking financial institutions.

Kenya: Export Promotion Council - Promoting Kenya Worldwide

EPCKenya provides comprehensive information about Kenya and its economic activities. The country profile includes information such as Economic Overview, Market Access, Export Statistics, and Key Economic Sectors, with most of the subjects breaking down into greater detail. The site also provides a business directory, trade news and events, and other trade related resources.

Kenya: Nairobi Stock Exchange

Sources:
CIA World Factbook (September 2009)
U.S. Dept. of State Country Background Notes (July 2009)