Editor's Review

Some online users had wondered why the focus was shifting from Singapore to Bangladesh.

Economic Advisor David Ndii has defended his sentiments of comparing Kenya to Bangladesh after an uproar from Kenyans.

In a rejoinder statement on Saturday, November 9, Ndii explained why he had stated that Kenya was economically competing with the likes of Vietnam and Bangladesh.

As detailed by President William Ruto's advisor, Kenya and Bangladesh wanted to grow their economies in the 90s based on their exports.

At the time, Ndii indicated that Kenya had a better Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita.


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However, down the line, Bangladesh overtook Kenya given the revenue that the Asian country earns from its exports.

"In 1990, when I was a rookie economist at the World Bank, Kenya and Bangladesh embarked on “export-led growth”. Both were exporting 2 billion US dollars. Our GDPpc (PPP$) was 70 per cent higher," he stated.

"Today Bangladesh exports 60 billion USD while Kenya exports 13 Billion USD. Bangladesh's GDP per capita is 40% higher. We are not competing, we’ve been leapfrogged by Bangladesh."

Ndii had elicited debate on X on Friday, November 8 when he claimed that Kenya was competing with Bangladesh.

In response to the remarks, some online users wondered why the focus was shifting from Singapore to Bangladesh.

"When levying taxes, we're compared to Singapore; when borrowing, we're compared to Japan; when making economic comparisons, suddenly the metric is Vietnam and Bangladesh," X user Timo Utd wondered.