Kiharu Member of Parliament, Ndindi Nyoro, has suggested that Kenya should emulate South Korea instead of Singapore.
Speaking on the night of Wednesday, January 14, 2025, during an interview with one of the local TV stations, Nyoro said the Kenyan economy is very close to that of South Korea.
He pointed out that the two countries have almost the same population size and their economic ideals blend.
“The economy actually that is very close to what Kenya should be if we actually mean to emulate it is South Korea. If you look at the size of Singapore and compare it to Kenya is totally off, even a county in Kenya is bigger in terms of geographical size, population-wise the same
“But if you compare the same with South Korea, more or less, our ideals economically blend. Our population is in the 50 million same as South Korea. Our aspiration is to promote private sector-driven capitalism. If you look at South Korea, that is what it advanced,” Nyoro stated.
The Kiharu lawmaker went on to say the Kenyan and Singaporean economies are not comparable.
Nyoro argued that Singapore’s GDP per capita is around $90,000 where as in Kenya it is around $3,000.
“In economics, just to bring it in terms of real life, if you are a banana farmer, you can’t compare how well you’re doing with another banana farmer by using oranges or pears,” said Nyoro.
The UDA MP also pointed out that in Singapore, the government is heavily involved in the economy, unlike in Kenya.
“If you check the Singaporean stock market, you take the top ten companies, you realise that Temasek is very dominant in ownership because Singapore, in its start as it was promoting the private side of the economy, the government was also very heavy in terms of state capitalism,” Nyoro added.
President William Ruto on November 20, 2025, during the State of the Nation address, outlined ambitious plans to transition Kenya into a first-world country, specifically modeling Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia.
The President spoke of bold infrastructure projects potentially costing over Sh5 trillion, to be funded through novel mechanisms including a National Infrastructure Fund and a Sovereign Wealth Fund, rather than traditional debt or additional taxes.
His ten-year vision also includes dual carriageways for over 2,500 kilometers of highways, tarmacking 28,000 kilometers of roads, completing the Standard Gauge Railway to Malaba, and constructing at least 50 mega dams alongside hundreds of smaller dams to bring 2.5 million acres under irrigation.
President Ruto also stated that seed funding would come from natural resource revenues and proceeds from the privatisation of national assets, positioning the funds as “a generational strategy to preserving value, mobilising capital, accelerating delivery, and ensuring Kenya becomes stronger, wealthier, and more competitive.”
