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Country Commercial Guides for FY 2000: Kenya Report prepared by U.S. Embassy Nairobi, released July 1999

CHAPTER X:   Economic and Trade Statistics

APPENDIX A:   COUNTRY DATA

   		                     		
Population:		30.0 million (1999 estimate).
Population Growth Rate:	2.6 percent	
Religions:		Christian, Islam, Hindu, and traditional.
 

GOVERNMENT SYSTEM:   Kenya has a democratic government with an elected president and a directly elected parliament modeled on the British pattern.

LANGUAGE:   The official languages of Kenya are English and Swahili. Many dialects are also spoken throughout the country. English is the commercial language; therefore, language is not a barrier to business transactions.

WORKWEEK:   40 hours for both offices and factories. Working hours are 8:00 am to 5:00 p.m. with lunch from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.. Monday through Friday. Banking hours are 9:00 am to 3:00 p.m.

APPENDIX B:   DOMESTIC ECONOMY

			(In $ millions  unless otherwise specified)

				1996	1997	1998	1999 (est.)

GDP at Market Prices		8,985	9,192	9,357	9,488

GDP Growth Rate (%)		 4.6	2.3	1.8	1.4

GDP Per Capita: (in '000)	 0.318	0.317	0.314	0.300		 	 
Government Spending (% of GDP) 	31.3 	29.6	29.4	29.2
	
Inflation (%)			 9.0	 8.5	 6.6	 6.6

Unemployment (%) 		24.6	24.9	25.0	30.0		
Foreign Exchange Reserves	860	788	783	746

Av.Exch. Rate: KSH./$		57.1	58.0	60.4	70

Debt Service Ratio		24.6	21.5	21.4	N/A

APPENDIX C: TRADE

			(In $ million unless otherwise specified) 

			1996	1997	1998 	1999 (est.)

Total Country Exports	1,969	2,001	1,994	N/A	
Total Country Imports	2,929	3,263	3,155	N/A	
U.S. Exports		104.2	225.6	199.0	191.0
U.S. Imports 		106.6	114.0	  98.5	106.5

APPENDIX D:   INVESTMENT STATISTICS

		(In $ million unless otherwise specified)

				1992	1993	1994

Total Direct Foreign Inv.	2,040	2,050	2,100

U.S. Share (%)			13.5	13.5	13.5

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT STATISTICS

The flow of direct foreign investment in Kenya stagnated in the 1980's owing to a deterioration of the investment climate. Investors complained of excessive government regulation, high taxation and delays in profit and dividend repatriation which had fallen three years in arrears. During this period, corruption increased and infrastructure deteriorated. In the 1990's the GOK began implementation of a series of policy measures aimed at improving the investment climate. These include liberalization of exchange controls for exporters, price decontrol of most items, interest rate decontrol and development of export processing zones. These changes have substantially improved the business environment.

Kenya does not keep data on the value of foreign direct investment (position/stock and annual direct investment capital flows) by country of origin or by industry sector destination. Neither is data available on Kenya's direct investment abroad.

MAJOR FOREIGN INVESTORS

A reliable source for the value of foreign investment in Kenya is lacking. According to available information, over 200 multinational corporations have invested in Kenya. The British lead with about $2.0 billion. The book value of U.S. investment is estimated at $97 million, while the market value is over $285 million. Investment from Far Eastern countries, including China and Japan, though insignificant, is rapidly rising. Major investors in key subsectors of the economy are listed below.

Sub-Sector			Company			Country

Canned Fruits			Del Monte			Britain
Oils, Fats and Fruit		Unilever Plc.		Britain
Tea and Coffee			Brooke Bond Liebig	Britain
Mineral Water and
Confectionery			Cadbury Schweppes Ltd	Britain
Paper				Oriental Paper Mill  	India
Cement				Bamburi Portland Cement Britain
Knitted Fabric			Raymond Woollen Mills	India
Metal/packaging cans       	CMB (owned jointly by
				Metal Box Ltd UK and
Carnaud Ltd)			France
Vehicle Assembly		General Motors		U.S.A. 
          			Leyland Motors		Britain
Pharmaceutical			Smithkline-Beecham	Britain
Toiletries			Colgate Palmolive	U.S.A.
          			Unilever		Britain
Cosmetics & Allied		Chesebrough-Pond's	U.S.A.
 Industries 	             	Henkel			Germany
Synthetic resin
 emulsions and other
 chemicals			Hoechst			Germany
Pharmaceutical and
  Cosmetics			Sara Lee		U.S.A.
Pharmaceutical and
  Infant Food			Glaxo Holdings		Britain
Electric and
Electronic Equipment       	Philips			Holland
   		  		SANYO 			Japan
Telecommunication
  Equipment			Siemens			Germany
         			L.M. Ericson		Sweden
Textiles			Amatex T. OmbH & Co	Germany
         			S.I.F.I.D.A.		France
         			Hisata Spinning Co.	Japan
  		       		Khatau Group		India
Petroleum Refining/		Mobil   		U.S.A.
  Distribution			Caltex			U.S.A.
Total				France
Shell/BP			UK/Netherlands
Agip				Italy