Mohamud A. Mohamud Chief Executive Officer Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) (PHOTO: WILBERFORCE OKWIRI) What kind of year will 2021 be? Last year broke the crystal ball, and Kenyan captains of industry have become more guarded in their predictions about the New Year.
However, consensus remains that the pandemic will finally be tamed following the expected roll-out of a vaccine in the first quarter of the year, giving the economy a much-needed boost, although challenges remain.
KCB Group Chief Executive and Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) Chairman Joshua Oigara said the current healthcare crisis occasioned by Covid-19 still remains a big risk to business operations and economic recovery efforts.
"The concerns of 2020 are perhaps, however, giving us new strength to fight to build our businesses and for the economy to grow,” Mr Oigara told Financial Standard. Read More
He predicted a positive outlook in the next 12 months, going by the momentum witnessed in the last quarter of last year.
"The economy has been in a rebound since the beginning of the last quarter of 2020, setting the stage for strong growth in 2021. There are signs of recovery in the real economy, with catalytic sectors like trade, transport, and manufacturing witnessing a significant level of vibrancy following the easing of the lockdown measures,” said Oigara.
"The banking sector is well primed to support the renewed economic activity and to enable the country to emerge out of a most turbulent period."
Isuzu East Africa Managing Director Rita Kavashe expects a positive year, with the only blip being heightened political activity expected in the third quarter.
"We anticipate a better year than 2020 because of the good news around the vaccine. There has been some level of reduced restriction on movement. When restrictions were reduced last year in June, we started to see some activity and growth and demand for products," said Ms Kavashe.
She projected an over 10 per cent growth in the business compared to 2019’s performance.
Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) Chief Executive Mohamud Mohamud described the promise of a vaccine as a “ray of hope.”He, however, noted that the positive outcome in terms of recovery might not be witnessed until the second quarter of the year."In the first quarter, we might still be coming out of the pandemic, but towards the second quarter, we might see some positive outcome,” he told Financial Standard in an interview."I am sure our banks now have come up with […]