African countries are using debt strategically to fund sustainable initiatives in areas such as health, food, education, environment and urban planning. Debt-for-development swaps are redirecting savings from high-cost loans into measurable social and economic outcomes, strengthening fiscal resilience.
Kenya’s economy grew by 5.6% in 2023 from a revised 4.9% in the previous year, the head of the statistics office said on Monday, buoyed by robust output in the agriculture sector.
The East African nation’s economy relies on farming, which contributes more than a fifth of annual economic output, and abundant rains after years of drought helped the sector to recover from contractions in the previous two years.
“Last year it shot to 7% (growth),” Macdonald Obudho, the director general of the statistics office, told an event to launch the economic growth report for the period.
Tourism, which is another key sector, also posted growth, Obudho said, with visitor arrivals surpassing the annual pre-pandemic level of 2.035 million, to 2.087 million visitors last year.
Steven Umidha is a data and financial journalist with over 15 years of work experience in journalism and communication.
He specialises in finance and economics reporting as well as on the causes, impacts, and solutions of global warming, conservation, pollution and sustainability, often blending scientific literacy with journalist ethics, while involving policy analysis and multimedia storytelling across various platforms in highlighting issues from biodiversity loss to ecological justice.
He is the founder of Financial Fortune Media, and a Co-founder of One Planet Agency (OPA). He has previously worked with the Standard Media Group, Mediamax Networks LTD, bird story agency, Business Journal Africa, and Financial Post among other outlets.
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