Kenyan private sector

Running on One Engine

This week, the World Bank launched its second Kenya Economic Update. We have been positively surprised to see such a strong uptake of our previous report and were pleased to have a full house at the launch and informal briefings we have in the run-up of the launch. These Economic Updates aim to replicate a model of shorter, crisper and more frequent country economic reports, which have become a trademark of the World Bank’s analytical presence in other countries, in particular China and Russia.

My colleague Jane Kiringai and I have been visiting Kenyan companies every 2-3 weeks. These visits have convinced me that Kenya can indeed make enormous progress and prosper. The strength of these companies and their peers is one reason why, after four waves of shocks since 2008, Kenya is still standing. Just imagine of how the country would prosper if the bottlenecks facing companies and individuals were removed!

We have been visiting companies producing cut flowers, textiles, dairy, consumer goods, telecommunication services, and most recently, an up-and-coming brewery. Despite their differences, the most impressive companies were similar with respect to two related management principles: