Kenya

Kenya's new constitution marks a critical juncture in the nation's history. It is widely perceived, by Kenyans from all walks of life, as a new beginning. Indeed, many... Show More + feel that post- independence Kenya has been characterized by centralization of political and economic power in the hands of a few, resulting in an uneven and unfair distribution of resources and corresponding access to social services; the opposite of an inclusive state. Born of the political opportunity created by the 2008 post-election violence, the constitution finally adopted, after almost a decade of unsuccessful reform attempts, presages far-reaching changes. Its vision encompasses a dramatic transformation of the Kenyan state through new accountable and transparent institutions, inclusive approaches to government and a firm focus on equitable service delivery for all Kenyans through the newly established county governments. Devolution is at the heart of the new constitution and a key vehicle for addressing spatial inequities. A more decentralized government makes eminent sense, given Kenya's diversity and experience with political use of central power. Decentralization has been increasingly seen and adopted worldwide as a guarantee against discretionary use of power by central elites as well as a way to enhance the efficiency of social service provision, by allowing for a closer match between public policies and the desires and needs of local constituencies. Kenya's constitution entrenches devolved government by guaranteeing a minimum unconditional transfer to counties under the new dispensation. The devolution train has already left the station: the challenge is to make sure it arrives at destination, safely and on time. The politics of devolution explain the high intensity of hopes and expectations that have been pinned to it. It also means there are high risks if they are disappointed. There are great opportunities and enormous challenges waiting for Kenya, in a critical election year, which will determine the fate of the country, politically and economically for years to come. This report takes a snapshot look at the critical issues facing Kenya's policy makers today. It does not argue for or against devolution (a decision that belongs solely to Kenyans), but presents suggestions and recommendations on how best to navigate the tough choices ahead. It's main focus in on helping Kenya manage a delicate transition. Show Less -

Kenya's new constitution marks a critical juncture in the nation's history. It is widely perceived, by Kenyans from all walks of life, as a new beginning. Indeed, many... Show More + feel that post- independence Kenya has been characterized by centralization of political and economic power in the hands of a few, resulting in an uneven and unfair distribution of resources and corresponding access to social services; the opposite of an inclusive state. Born of the political opportunity created by the 2008 post-election violence, the constitution finally adopted, after almost a decade of unsuccessful reform attempts, presages far-reaching changes. Its vision encompasses a dramatic transformation of the Kenyan state through new accountable and transparent institutions, inclusive approaches to government and a firm focus on equitable service delivery for all Kenyans through the newly established county governments. Devolution is at the heart of the new constitution and a key vehicle for addressing spatial inequities. A more decentralized government makes eminent sense, given Kenya's diversity and experience with political use of central power. Decentralization has been increasingly seen and adopted worldwide as a guarantee against discretionary use of power by central elites as well as a way to enhance the efficiency of social service provision, by allowing for a closer match between public policies and the desires and needs of local constituencies. Kenya's constitution entrenches devolved government by guaranteeing a minimum unconditional transfer to counties under the new dispensation. The devolution train has already left the station: the challenge is to make sure it arrives at destination, safely and on time. The politics of devolution explain the high intensity of hopes and expectations that have been pinned to it. It also means there are high risks if they are disappointed. There are great opportunities and enormous challenges waiting for Kenya, in a critical election year, which will determine the fate of the country, politically and economically for years to come. This report takes a snapshot look at the critical issues facing Kenya's policy makers today. It does not argue for or against devolution (a decision that belongs solely to Kenyans), but presents suggestions and recommendations on how best to navigate the tough choices ahead. It's main focus in on helping Kenya manage a delicate transition. Show Less -

In this paper the authors compare indicators of development, infrastructure, and living conditions in the slums of Dakar, Nairobi, and Johannesburg using data from 2004... Show More + World Bank surveys. Contrary to the notion that most African cities face similar slum problems, find that slums in the three cities differ dramatically from each other on nearly every indicator examined. Particularly striking is the weak correlation of measures of income and human capital with infrastructure access and quality of living conditions. For example, residents of Dakar's slums have low levels of education and high levels of poverty but fairly decent living conditions. By contrast, most of Nairobi's slum residents have jobs and comparatively high levels of education, but living conditions are but extremely bad . And in Johannesburg, education and unemployment levels are high, but living conditions are not as bad as in Nairobi. These findings suggest that reduction in income poverty and improvements in human development do not automatically translate into improved infrastructure access or living conditions. Since not all slum residents are poor, living conditions also vary within slums depending on poverty status. Compared to their non-poor neighbors, the poorest residents of Nairobi or Dakar are less likely to use water (although connection rates are similar) or have access to basic infrastructure (such as electricity or a mobile phone). Neighborhood location is also a powerful explanatory variable for electricity and water connections, even after controlling for household characteristics and poverty. Finally, tenants are less likely than homeowners to have water and electricity connections. Show Less -

After many decades of stagnation, Kenyan economy started to grow from the early-2000s. Much of this growth has been attributed to total factor productivity improvements... Show More + in Kenyan economy arising out of many factors. A large share of this growth originated in urban areas, in the service and manufacturing sectors. These gains also paralleled reduction in poverty and higher enrolment in primary education. Yet, it has been argued that Kenyan cities, especially Nairobi, are not realizing their potential to contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction. Rapid urbanization has left Kenyan cities with huge backlogs in critical infrastructure and basic services, resulting in sprawling, overcrowded and impoverished informal settlements. The management of these cities has been dogged by fragmentation in responsibilities, lack of accountability at the local level, and weak capacities of key institutions. Within 20 years or so, the majority of the Kenyan population are expected be living in urban areas. This scale of urbanization will pose further socio-economic, environmental and institutional challenges for Kenyan cities. The Government's vision 2030 has highlighted rapid urbanization as one of four key challenges for the country alongside income inequality, unemployment and low savings. Despite their notable demographic and economic weights of urban centers in Kenya, there is no single study that gives a comprehensive overview of the urban landscape in Kenya. The objective of this sector work is to fill that gap by documenting and analyzing the situation in Kenya's five largest urban centers. The study aims to provide data and analysis regarding the state of these cities to help inform the evolving urban agenda in Kenya and to provide inputs into the preparation of the Kenya Municipal Program (KMP). Show Less -

This report discusses the results of a study designed to fill gaps in knowledge about slums in Nairobi. Drawing on detailed surveys of households residing in slums in... Show More + Nairobi, this study aims to develop a demographic, economic and infrastructure profile of slum settlements in these two cities. Analytically, it focuses on the following questions: how poor and inadequately served are slum dwellers in Nairobi? What are the factors correlated with poverty among slum households in the city? The report finds: First, the incidence of economic poverty is very high in Nairobi's slums and it is accompanied by horrible living conditions and other forms of non-economic poverty. Second, Nairobi's slums provide low-quality but high-cost shelter. Third, somewhat encouragingly, there is heterogeneity among Nairobi's slums dwellers, their living conditions, and their economic welfare. Fourth, a systematic comparison between poor and non-poor households reveals five types of non-monetary factors that are strongly correlated with poverty in the slums: (1) household demographics (size and gender and age composition); (2) education; (3) ownership of a micro-enterprise; (4) unemployment in the household; and (5) infrastructure access, in particular electricity and water supply. Given their strong correlation with poverty, these five factors can and should serves as a basis-a starting point-for the design of any poverty alleviation efforts in the slums. Fifth, slum dwellers' own development priorities -- a first proxy for "demand"-- resonate strongly with the technical analyses. Sixth, although upgrading efforts in the slums have been piece-meal and modest thus far, they do appear to have created some benefits. The paper is structured as follows. Section two outlines the research methodology and the data. Section three estimates poverty incidence in the slums and identifies factors correlated with poverty. Sections four through nine present both descriptive data and analyses on each of the following topics: demographcs, economic base, housing, previous residence of "emigrants," infrastructure, and education. Section 10 summarizes the development priorities of slum dwellers and Section 11 presents conclusions and policy implications. Show Less -

This working paper presents the findings of "A Study of Urban Transport Institutional, Financial and Regulatory Frameworks in Large Sub-Saharan African Cites" and it... Show More + was commissioned by the Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Program (SSATP). The study objective was to review the institutional, financial and regulatory frameworks for the provision of urban transport in four selected cities, Dakar (Senegal), Douala (Cameroon), Kampala (Uganda) and Nairobi (Kenya). The specific focus was to examine: (a) the structure, process and performance of the existing institutions and financing arrangements; and (b) operational practices of public and private bus operators. The study has examined the existing institutional arrangements in the four cities and identified opportunities and constraints for policy reform. The general focus is on identifying mechanisms suitable in different cultural and political environment to organize planning, regulation and monitoring of urban transport services. The study has identified a phased program of improvements required in the urban transport systems, with the short-term measures focused on traffic management, overloading controls, vehicle inspections; medium-term measures focused on a gradual consolidation of the informal sector bus operators into small or medium-sized enterprises, introduction of a formal route structure and licensing system and long-term measures focused on institutional restructuring supported by appropriate legislation, funding and technical support. Show Less -

This case study describes how donors successfully supported microfinance institutions (MFI )product development. Initiated by Swisscontact (a nongovernmental organization),... Show More + led by Micro-Save Africa (a donor-funded project providing product development services), and supported by DFID, EU, UNDP, and AfriCap, Equity Building Society's product development capacity has grown rapidly. By December 2002, Equity Building Society (EBS) emerged as one of Kenya's leading microfinance institutions, with over 155,000 savings clients, and 41,000 borrowers. Although once insolvent, EBS transformed itself into a profitable financial-service provider, by rigorously focusing on the needs of its clients-in particular, by developing a wide range of market-based financial products and services. Applying what it learned, the staff embarked on a systematic program of product development, tailored to the needs of its clientele. The resulting popular products have effectively reduced EBS's client drop-out rates, attracted new clients, and expanded its outreach. The transformation from a product-led, to market-led institution has also improved EBS's institutional stability and financial sustainability. Show Less -

The Energy Assessment report on Kenya (Report no. 3800) identified the country's dependence on costly imported energy as one of two major issues in the energy sector.... Show More + Subsequently the government requested assistance in evaluating the potential for increasing the efficiency of energy use in the industrial sector and in then tea industry, two major consumers of imported fuels. This evaluation was to include both measures to conserve on the use of energy and to substitute less costly fuels, including imported coal and indigenous biomass fuels. This report and a companion report, "Kenya: Energy Efficiency in the Tea Industry," present the results of that evaluation. This report is based on analyses of energy conservation and substitution options performed in 1985, prior to the collapse of world oil prices. Second, average biomass fuel costs, not location-specific supply and cost estimates, were used for the pre-feasibility analysis of potential biomass substitution projects. Show Less -

As Kenya is experiencing a rapid transition from a mainly agricultural society to an increasingly urbanized one, the Kenyan Government faces many challenges in providing... Show More + suitable mechanisms to guide this urbanization as well as finding the resources to further its growth. This report draws as its theme the growing complexity of urbanization in Kenya and the need to develop an institutional and financial base that can channel this growth in productive ways. Chapter I of this report begins with an overview of the economic and demographic basis for urbanization in Kenya and the probable impact on urbanization patterns of current changes in Kenya's macroeconomic policies. Chapter II moves to urban development policies and reviews the record of what Kenya has sought to bring about in this field in the past ten years. On this basis, the next three chapters provide the substantive discussion of the institutional and financial framework for urbanization in Kenya. Chapter III focuses on central-local government relationships and investment programming, Chapter IV covers local authority services and financing, and Chapter V discuses housing institutions and finance. Show Less -

Evaluates progress made by Kenya in implementing its Development Plan (1970-74) in the first two years. Reviews significant sectoral developments, the role of the public... Show More + sector in the economy, the initiatives for reducing unemployment and effecting a more equitable income distribution with a comparison of farm and non-farm income, and the country's external economic relations. Assesses Kenya's growth prospects and priorities for external aid. Show Less -