Kenya’s extreme inequality is out of control. Despite strong economic progress since 2005, poverty continues to touch the lives of millions of people.
A small group of affluent individuals and investors appears to be profiting from the country’s economic performance.
While a small group of Kenyans are becoming increasingly wealthy, the benefits of economic expansion are failing to reach the poorest.
The wealthy are reaping the majority of the advantages, leaving millions of people at the bottom behind. If inequality stayed unchanged over the next five years, an additional 2.9 million people may be living in extreme poverty.
8,300
The gap between the richest and poorest has reached extreme levels in Kenya. Less than 0.1% of the population (8,300 people) own more wealth than the bottom 99.9% (more than 44 million people). The richest 10% of people in Kenya earned on average 23 times more than the poorest 10%.
80%
The number of super-rich in Kenya is one of the fastest growing in the world. It is predicted that the number of millionaires will grow by 80% over the next 10 years, with 7,500 new millionaires set to be created.
$ 1.1 bn
Corporate tax dodging is undermining Kenya’s tax base. Kenya is losing $1.1bn a year to tax exemptions and incentives – almost twice what the government spends on its entire health budget in 2015/16, in a country where mothers face a 1 in 40 chance of dying in childbirth.
Extreme inequality is a political choice, not an inevitability. To bring it down to sustainable levels, Kenya’s government should enact economic policies and legislation to reform the fiscal system, increase funding for free, high-quality public education and healthcare, and close the gender wage gap.
It might help millions of Kenyans escape poverty and secure a more egalitarian and prosperous future for all.
