An employee makes notes in front of an electronic stock information screen inside the Nairobi Securities Exchange Ltd. (NSE), in Nairobi, 2015.[Riccardo Gangale/Bloomberg] For investors, Mwai Kibaki’s transformative ideas in the capital markets between 2002 and 2013 will surely outlive him.
President Kibak i was many things to different people, but an admirable economist to nearly all.
He exits the stage at a time every current economic problem tempts enemies and friends to pose in unison: What would Kibaki do?
A career civil servant, Kibaki took office in 2002 when the economy was nearly grinding to a halt, having posted 0.5 per cent growth that year. The economy had created 26,552 additional jobs in the formal sector and foreign direct investments into Kenya were $27.62 million (Sh3.2 billion).
But it was his five-year economic recovery for wealth and job creation, rolled out in 2003, that would etch him into the hearts of many Kenyans and investors.
The strategy sought to create at least half a million jobs annually, cut poverty rate by at least five per cent, reduce inflation to below five per cent and grow the economy by at least seven per cent.
His magic wand? Find a way into the hearts of investors so that they would invest more and expand businesses, and in the end employ more people and share the returns with locals.
He needed to see companies expand and new ones set up so as to increase the size of the national cake. That required investors to open their wallets.
And it was not long before green shoots started emerging.
Foreign direct investments inflows, for instance, hit $1.1 billion (Sh127 billion) at the end of his first term in office.
His ideas had awed deep-pocketed investors as much as he impressed ordinary Kenyans.To date, the best years for many businesses remain 2012—the final full year of Kibaki in office before handing over power to Uhuru Kenyatta the following year.His accelerated infrastructure spending soon opened up once sleepy areas, helping locals to appreciate the process of creating wealth.The Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Act of 2013 was, for instance, introduced to help support small businesses to grow and help achieve economic growth. Former President Mwai Kibaki. He served as finance minister for 13 years. [File, Standard] It was under his watch that the financial services sector was revolutionised to allow for M-Pesa, a technology that continues to awe Kenyans and the world in equal […]
