Close to two million Kenyans have become jobless in the last five years following closure of small businesses. According to a survey conducted by the Kenya National Bureau Standards on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), 2.21 million businesses with an average of 1.6 employees closed down during the period.
The survey report, Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Establishment: Basic Report indicates that 33.5 per cent of the owners of the failed businesses are now not engaged in any meaningful economic activity—around 1.8 million people.
Last year saw the biggest job losses because it is the year that had the biggest closure of small businesses in the last five years. Approximately 783,000 businesses shut down, with an employee complement of 1.25 million.
The sector continues to experience many constraints that have inhibited the realisation of its full potential, such as unfavourable operating environment. This has resulted in high mortality rate of MSMEs with about 2.2 million businesses being closed within the last five years,” he said.
The article also mentions low number of customers. Why you ask? High cost of living!
Kenyans are saving every penny they can to buy food, pay rent, pay bills etc and cutting down on luxury items. People spending generously is the backbone of a good economy (USA style). A consumer driven economy.
Not the SGR, pipeline project, a new port etc The regime should first focus on developing the foundations of a good economy and the later spend big on multi billion projects. These projects are not free. Mtalipia. Massive job losses and high cost of living means the govt. will squeeze the remainig workforce’s balls harder to pay the debt. Remember the ICT Practitioners Bill? Brace for hard times.
I doubt the person who came to that analysis statistically that is. on the national statistic the rate stand at 17.1% on these quarter. so if 2 million people lost work to unemployment. then it means all the Kenyan youth are out of employment…5% of the whole population out of work.
Not only in Kenya…worldwide that is the trend senior graduates going for any jobs that is there. belive me that when two million people are out of work a huge disaster has occurred(PEV, tsunami…et al) in Kenya and it will be felt even by our neighbouring countries.
Sasa kenya national bureau standards ni mnyama gani? ama rao aliambia huyo writer wa hio article a guy called gitahi ngunyi (very suspect name) “Wee andika tu Kenya national bureau standards. Kenyans don’t care about the name of the place they just want figures and 2 million is a very nice, fat and round figure.”
According to kenya national bureau standards…hawa wafunga nyama.
Sasa kenya national bureau standards ni mnyama gani? ama rao aliambia huyo writer wa hio article a guy called gitahi ngunyi (very suspect name) “Wee andika tu Kenya national bureau standards. Kenyans don’t care about the name of the place they just want figures and 2 million is a very nice, fat and round figure.”
According to kenya national bureau standards…hawa wafunga nyama.
And these figures are very round 5 billion at afya house how comes it’s not 4, 375 or something like 4, 981? Very nice round figures. “Close to two million people are jobless…” how vague is that? Did the count the hawers, boda boda etc? When and how was this figure of 2 million arrived at?
I think as the president is saying sasa imeanza kuwa propaganda… keep the masses agitated with very loud figures.
Yeah. You forget they had the means to put them up (no borrowing) and due to the nature of their economical activities, they were really needed.
In Kenya, we are heavily borrowing to construct the SGR when we really dont need it (it is important but not a priority), besides we import more than export. What will we export, that we arent already, that will improve the trade deficit? There are more pressing matters. e.g need for cheap reliable power, a solution to the annual ravaging droughts in parts of the country, putting up more higher institutions of learning, improved health care esp for cancer patients etc Bana kuna shida mob Kenya iko nayo kushinda that brand new SGR.
The current insane debt has mainly been due to the healthcare programs, social security programs, defense budgets, defense projectswhich have exceeded estimates (eg the fifth gen fighter jets project), Iraq and Afghanistan wars etc The backbonw of US infrastructure was mostly done even before Kenya was independent. The debt sky rocketed about 2 decades ago.
Try checking their major projects like the panama canal, the rail system, the interstates… and look up their debt at the time of the construction. Kenya is borrowing more than it generates whch is worrying. The USA has the capacity to pay its debt, hence no default risks. (Unlike Kenya)
Dont listen too much to the lord of poverty otherwise you might never do anything. Whether you are rich or poor you have to eat and cloth. How you finance those basic needs is up to you