President Uhuru Kenyatta now says that under his administration, Kenya has moved six positions, to become Africa’s sixth-richest country, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Ksh. 11 trillion.
According to the Head of State who was making his last State of the Nation Address before a joint parliament sitting, Kenya had a GDP of Ksh. 4.74 trillion in 2013 when he took over the reins.
He went on to add that the GDP at the time was a result of the combined efforts of the four governments that preceded his tenure in office.
“We have managed to multiply what was bequeathed to us, in just 8 years my administration has multiplied the GDP by a factor of 2+,” President Kenyatta said on Tuesday.
The GDP as of 2013, President Kenyatta said, had been accumulated over 123 years, including the colonial period.
“Today our GDP stands at Ksh.11T up from Ksh.4.75T and from being ranked 12th when I took over we have now moved 6 ranks to become the 6th wealthiest nation in the continent.
“I’m happy to report to this parliament that we have multiplied our critical fundamentals in ways that even I did not imagine possible," Kenyatta stated.
In the second quarter of 2021, the Head of State said, Kenya’s real GDP grew by 10.1 percent, registering the first-ever such growth in the history of Kenya’s economy.
“The notable contributions to this growth includes the ICT sector which grew by a 25.1 percent in the second quarter of 2021.”
The Head of State noted that the ICT sector will become a pivotal driver of the Kenyan economy in the years to come.
The transport and manufacturing sector grew by 16.9 percent and 9 percent respectively, and contributed to growth of Kenya’s real GDP.
At the same time, President Kenyatta noted that the hotel industry, which registered a negative growth of 63.3 percent at the height of the pandemic in 2020, was now on a positive upturn.
The industry, according to President Kenyatta, contracted by 48.8 percent in the first quarter of 2021, and was on a path of tremendous recovery by the second quarter of 2021, registering a positive growth of 9.1 percent.
President Kenyatta also seized the moment to speak against the punitive travel bans that have been imposed on some African nations following the report of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in South Africa.
“COVID will not be defeated by locking us down and locking up some parts of the world that are problematic, the world will only be safe when everyone is safe,” he added.
“No one will be safe from COVID until we’re all safe. Please, jameni, tumefanya kazi, msitufungie tena jameni.”
After the potentially more contagious variant was discovered earlier this month in South Africa and Botswana, eight southern African countries have been placed under travel restrictions.
South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Lesotho are all subject to the bans.
The European Union announced on November 26 that flights from these countries would be prohibited.
