Kenya is a major exporter of primary agricultural commodities such as coffee, tea horticulture, sisal, pyrethrum, wattle extract, hides and skins. Some mineral products including cement, fluorspar and soda ash are also exported. Kenya 's major export destinations are Africa, Europe and Asia . However, US market is poised to be another main destination for textiles and apparels under the AGOA.
Kenya imports are primarily industrial inputs including crude petroleum and refined petroleum products, edible oils and fats, agricultural and transport machinery, resins and plastics, fertilizers and pharmaceuticals. The major sources of these imports are mainly Asia and Europe .
Table 6: Key Economic indicators: 1999 - 2004
|
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
Real GDP growth rate (%) |
1.4 |
0.6 |
4.4 |
0.4 |
2.8 |
4.3 |
Average Annual Inflation (%) |
4.48 |
8.29 |
3.83 |
1.76 |
9.63 |
11.62 |
Interest Rate (91 day Treasury Bills) |
|
13.47 |
10.85 |
8.37 |
1.41 |
|
Real GDP (Ksh Millions) |
103,702 |
103,456 |
104,731 |
105,945 |
107,8001 |
|
GDP @ factor price (Ksh Millions) |
639,056 |
685,436 |
767,381 |
849,988 |
968,424 |
1,131,768 |
GDP @market price (Ksh Millions) |
743,479 |
796,343 |
878,731 |
962,686 |
1,091,643 |
1,273,716 |
Total exports (Ks Millions) |
122,559 |
134,527 |
147,590 |
169,241 |
183,154 |
214,791 |
Total imports (Ksh Millions) |
206,401 |
247,704 |
290,108 |
257,710 |
281,844 |
364,405 |
Balance of trade (Ksh Millions) |
-83,842 |
-113,277 |
-142,518 |
-88,427 |
-98,690 |
-149,415 |
Current Account (Ksh Millions) |
-6,875 |
-15,512 |
-24,969 |
-13,946 |
4,844 |
-29,550 |
Overall BOP (Ksh Millions) |
-411 |
-8,244 |
-13,072 |
300 |
31,382 |
11,023 |
GDP Per capita (Ksh Millions) |
22,207 |
22,943 |
22,093 |
27,540 |
30,026 |
33,288 |
Gross Fixed Capital Formation (Ksh Millions) |
120,103 |
161,714 |
185,186 |
177,781 |
179,248 |
208,248 |
Money Supply M3 (Ksh Millions) |
312,116 |
314,686 |
322,326 |
350,733 |
396,968 |
432,568 |
Mean exchange rate (Ksh/ US$) |
70.3 |
76.2 |
78.6 |
78.7 |
75.9 |
79.3 |
Capital Markets and Nairobi stock Exchange
The Capital Markets Authority continued to implement its strategic plan that aims at broadening and deepening of the equity market in Kenya and the region to become a leading financial center. The players in the market included the Nairobi Stock Exchange (securities exchange), the Central Depository and Settlement Corporation, 6 Investment Banks, 13 stock brokers, 18 investment advisors, 8 fund managers, 1 credit rating agency, 1 capital venture fund, 2 collective investment schemes, 3 authorized securities dealers, and 4 authorized depositories or custodians.
The Nairobi Stock Exchange NSE is the only licensed trading exchange in the country. NSE originally started as a private association, but now a fully-fledged stock market.
Currently, there are 47 companies listed. The 20-share NSE index closed at 2,738 in 2003, up from 1,363 in 2002. Market capitalization as of December 2003 stood at US $ 4.18 billion, up from US$ 1.44 billion in December 2002.
Summary of performance is outlined in the table below.
Table 7. Performance of the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE), 2000 - 2004
|
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
NSE 20 Share Index |
1,913.35 |
1,355.05 |
1,362.85 |
2,737.59 |
2,945.58 |
Market Capitalization (Kshs billion) |
101.4 |
86.1 |
112.3 |
317.5 |
306.0 |
Total number of shares issued (billion) |
3.6 |
4.3 |
4.4 |
4.3 |
5.1 |
Number of shares traded (millions) |
141.6 |
109.2 |
135.7 |
381.2 |
625.3 |
Value of shares traded (Kshs billion) |
3.63 |
3.12 |
2.88 |
15.3 |
22.3 |
For more information consult www.nse.co.ke, www.cma.or.ke
Table 8: Trend in major exports: 1999 – 2004 (Kshs million)
Commodity |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
Fish & Fish preparations |
2,267 |
2,953 |
3,858 |
4,205 |
4,010 |
4,178 |
Maize (raw) |
488 |
33 |
18 |
1,693 |
125 |
246 |
Meals & flours of wheat |
423 |
201 |
155 |
32 |
6 |
1 |
Horticulture |
17,641 |
21,216 |
19,846 |
28,334 |
36,485 |
39,541 |
Sugar Confectionery |
874 |
1,326 |
1,576 |
1,879 |
1,829 |
2,005 |
Coffee, unroasted |
12,029 |
11,707 |
7,460 |
6,541 |
6,286 |
6,944 |
Tea |
33,065 |
35,150 |
34,485 |
34,376 |
33,005 |
36,072 |
Margarine &shortening |
1,309 |
246 |
245 |
306 |
383 |
1,017 |
Beer made from malt |
202 |
69 |
29 |
48 |
75 |
37 |
Tobacco & tobacco mfs |
1,554 |
2,167 |
2,887 |
3,454 |
2,982 |
2,951 |
Hides & skin (undressed) |
311 |
494 |
635 |
445 |
551 |
956 |
Sisal |
636 |
606 |
728 |
792 |
906 |
1,119 |
Stone, sand & gravel |
166 |
123 |
85 |
65 |
78 |
117 |
Fluorspar |
501 |
644 |
652 |
734 |
664 |
882 |
Soda ash |
1,280 |
1,440 |
1,993 |
2,127 |
2,392 |
5,359 |
Metal scrap |
147 |
153 |
123 |
98 |
147 |
208 |
Pyrethrum extract |
656 |
704 |
993 |
798 |
813 |
943 |
Petroleum products |
9,555 |
9,429 |
12,345 |
3,896 |
69 |
1,104 |
Animal & vegetable oil |
2,186 |
1,1204 |
1,298 |
2,227 |
2,410 |
2,505 |
Pharmaceuticals |
1,657 |
2,350 |
1,570 |
1,697 |
2,153 |
2,274 |
Essential oils |
3,361 |
2,116 |
2,470 |
2,452 |
2,838 |
3,121 |
Insecticides & fungicides |
501 |
465 |
523 |
353 |
255 |
425 |
Leather |
387 |
486 |
576 |
601 |
1,018 |
1,115 |
Wood mfs |
384 |
388 |
449 |
433 |
288 |
399 |
Paper & paperboard |
618 |
713 |
784 |
647 |
777 |
1,026 |
Textile yarn |
303 |
488 |
518 |
485 |
394 |
349 |
Cement |
1,248 |
1,358 |
1,031 |
1,479 |
1,976 |
1,959 |
Iron & steel |
2,757 |
2,605 |
3,673 |
4,122 |
4,047 |
7,532 |
Metal containers |
193 |
97 |
121 |
114 |
204 |
256 |
Wire products |
181 |
113 |
117 |
100 |
154 |
360 |
Footwear |
1,121 |
1,140 |
1,204 |
1,549 |
1,457 |
1,789 |
Articles of plastics |
1,573 |
2,104 |
2,572 |
2,990 |
2,598 |
3,136 |
Articles of apparel and clothing accessories |
|
15,476 |
16,415 |
22,271 |
25,334 |
29,135 |
All other commodities |
15,831 |
15,476 |
16,415 |
22,271 |
25,323 |
29,135 |
Grand Total |
122,559 |
134,527 |
147,590 |
169,283 |
183,153 |
159,061 |
Table 9: Percentage Export share by destination: 1999 - 2004
|
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
Africa |
46.8% |
46% |
49.3% |
49.1% |
46.2% |
47.5% |
Europe |
32.4% |
31.1% |
28.8% |
29.2% |
30.9% |
27.9% |
Asia |
16.9% |
16.5% |
17.2% |
15.3% |
15.2% |
15.8% |
America |
2.7% |
2.7% |
2.9% |
2.4% |
2.1% |
2.8% |
Australia & Oceanic |
0.5% |
0.5% |
0.6% |
0.3% |
0.4% |
0.3% |
Others |
0.7% |
3.2% |
1.4% |
3.6% |
3.6% |
5.8% |
Total Exports (Ksh Millions) |
122,559 |
134,527 |
147,590 |
169,283 |
183,153 |
214,402 |
Click here to download the 2004 piechart
Table 10: Trends in major imports: 1999 - 2004 (Kshs million)
Commodity |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
Wheat, unmilled |
5,899 |
6,989 |
7,515 |
5,577 |
6,099 |
6,754 |
Rice |
1,013 |
1,968 |
2,619 |
2,104 |
2,981 |
3,659 |
Maize |
906 |
4,664 |
3,342 |
229 |
1,417 |
4,647 |
Wheat flour |
194 |
180 |
636 |
237 |
168 |
200 |
Sugars, Molasses & Honey |
1,468 |
2,730 |
6,648 |
3,074 |
4,334 |
3,545 |
Textile fibres & their waste |
4,747 |
1,636 |
1,605 |
1,566 |
1,845 |
2,337 |
Second hand clothing |
3,695 |
2,360 |
2,937 |
2,359 |
2,242 |
2,440 |
Crude petroleum |
22,355 |
41,907 |
31,179 |
23,940 |
25,415 |
45,954 |
Petroleum products |
18,433 |
21,773 |
26,035 |
22,065 |
39,493 |
43,056 |
Animal/vegetable fats & oils |
9,184 |
8,016 |
10,125 |
14,333 |
13,332 |
8,063 |
Organic & inorganic chemicals |
4,418 |
4,546 |
5,865 |
5,280 |
5,598 |
6,618 |
Pharmaceuticals |
6,373 |
5,976 |
7,186 |
8,678 |
9,728 |
11,618 |
Essential oils & perfumes |
1,652 |
1,583 |
1,984 |
3,791 |
3,741 |
5,414 |
Chemical fertilizers |
5,488 |
5,448 |
6,307 |
5,497 |
6,524 |
11,079 |
Plastics in primary & non primary forms |
7,083 |
8,446 |
9,131 |
8,816 |
11,211 |
15,420 |
Paper & paper board |
2,305 |
2,613 |
3,978 |
3,319 |
5,409 |
5,283 |
Iron & steel |
9,103 |
8,604 |
11,969 |
11,115 |
12,504 |
21,265 |
Non ferrous metals |
2,153 |
2,404 |
3,601 |
2,977 |
3,615 |
4,695 |
Hand & machine tools |
861 |
792 |
691 |
747 |
717 |
773 |
Industrial machinery |
30,753 |
39,438 |
37,933 |
25,474 |
32,764 |
43,516 |
Agricultural machinery |
1,247 |
966 |
1,270 |
1,310 |
1,526 |
2,756 |
Road motor vehicles |
11,906 |
9,659 |
14,524 |
14,382 |
17,955 |
24,361 |
All other commodities |
55,165 |
65,106 |
93,026 |
90,839 |
73,226 |
90,112 |
Grand total |
206,401 |
247,804 |
290,108 |
257,710 |
281,844 |
364,205 |
Table 11: Percentage import share by region: 1999 - 2004
|
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
Africa |
10.8% |
9.2% |
10.9% |
11.2% |
13.2% |
14.4% |
Europe |
33.8% |
34% |
27.4% |
34.5% |
27.5% |
27.0% |
Asia |
44.1% |
49.5% |
44.7% |
45.8% |
52.0% |
51.1% |
America |
9.2% |
5.9% |
15.7% |
7.4% |
6.4% |
6.7% |
Australia & Oceanic |
1.4% |
1.1% |
1.2% |
0.8% |
0.6% |
0.4% |
Others |
0.7% |
0.3% |
0.02% |
0.3% |
0.1% |
0.4% |
Total imports (Ksh m) |
206,401 |
247,804 |
290,108 |
257,710 |
281,844 |
364,205 |
Profile of Key Sectors
Agriculture is the backbone of the economy for it accounts for about 24.2% of real GDP and approximately 60% of exports. Manufacturing constitutes 9.9% (2004) of GDP. Manufacturing sector is composed of medium and large-scale enterprises with major foreign multinational companies from Europe, USA, and Asia.
Click here to view the graphical representations of the statistical data.
[Back to Top] |
