Kenya has achieved the highest Human Capital Index (HCI) score in mainland Sub-Saharan Africa.
According to the April 2024 Africa Pulse Report by the World Bank, the proportion of households with a primary school-aged child not attending school declined from 17 per cent in 2005 to 5 per cent in 2021.
The World Bank attributed the decline in the cases to the Government’s efforts to provide free Primary education to its citizens.
Consequently, within the same period, the country recorded a significantly high growth and declining poverty and inequality.
Further, many households in Kenya can react positively to shock from fluctuating market prices, and inflation of various commodity prices.
Market-oriented reforms and progress in the pre-market outcomes including education and health have greatly contributed to the notable progress in the region.
World statistics show that 60 per cent of the 700 million people living in extreme poverty in 2019 were in Sub-Saharan Africa.
World Bank has revealed that “Along with pockets of high poverty across the region, almost a third of the extreme poor live in two countries—the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria—and another third live in six countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda.”
According to evidence collected from various countries over the past thirty years, nations with higher initial levels of inequality have lower reductions in poverty.
“While the pace of reduction of monetary poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa has mirrored that of aggregate per capita growth, the rate of transmission of growth to poverty reduction is among the lowest in the world, largely on account of high inequality in the region,” World Bank notes citing efficient economic growth in the region.
In line with positive projections, the country's economy is set to grow by 5.2 per cent for the 2025/2026 financial year.
Factors contributing to the projections include the anticipated inflows of investors into the country.
