Best Business Opportunities in Kenya

Kenya has maintained a growth over the past years, which has opened the doors for a number of business opportunities. As political stability improves, Kenya has seen then rise of a growing entrepreneurial middle class – which has reduced the country’s unemployment rate. Recently, the current government has successfully attracted foreign direct investment, mainly going towards infrastructure development.

Kenya business overview

Population: 46.7 million

National currency: Kenyan Shilling (KSh)

Economic freedom score: 55.1 (ranked 130th worldwide)

GDP (PPP): $163.1 billion

Growth (2018): +4.8%

Unemployment: 11.5%

Inflation: 8.0 %

(source: The Heritage Foundation )

Kenya is ranked in 22nd position among 47 countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, with an economic freedom score of 55.1. Kenya is the 101st largest export economy in the world, with its preferred export destination being the United States ($531 million).

Kenya’s top 5 commodity exports

  1. Tea – $1.38 billion
  2. Cut Flowers – $688 million
  3. Refined petroleum – $294 million
  4. Coffee – $265 million
  5. Legumes – $134 million

Kenya’s top 5 commodity imports

  1. Refined petroleum – $2.34 billion
  2. Palm oil – $542 million
  3. Cars – $498 million
  4. Packaged medicaments – $431 million
  5. Raw sugar – $409 million

Top 5 business opportunities in Kenya

Here are the 5 best business opportunities in Kenya. These business opportunities are considered as ‘safe’ investments, since the demand far exceeds the current supply volume. Most of these businesses have a more-than-decent room for improvement and will generally provide generous ROI.

1. Manufacturing

As mentioned previously, the Kenyan government has been gradually implementing industrial policies to encourage development in the manufacturing sector. Kenya aims to increase its share of products in the regional market from 7% to 15%. Over the past years, various reforms have been set forward to promote the development of medium to large scale manufacturing firms. Manufacturing of engineering products, garments and fertilizers are among the most promising investment opportunities the country has to offer.

2. Agriculture

Agriculture in Kenya represents a massive 26% of the country’s GDP annually. The agri-sector makes up for almost 65% of Kenya’s total exports, and employs up 70% of informal manpower, mostly in rural areas. Getting into this sector may be highly profitable on the long run, especially if you are tackling most challenges faced by the agri-sector, such as transportation of food, food-processing and packaging, irrigation and production automation.

3. Technology

The ICT market in Kenya is currently estimated at around $500 million only! This leaves a huge room for development, and start-ups are rapidly emerging all over the country. With the introduction of a ‘National ICT Masterplan’, the country aims to become a major player in the Business Process Outsourcing space by 2030. Moreover, around 70% of Kenyans have access to financial services, which represents the highest share in all the Sub-Saharan Africa region. More and more investors recognize the need to fill the increasing demand for technology in Kenya.

4. Tourism

Being the 3rd largest contributor to the GDP, Tourism is a key foreign exchange earner for Kenya. Continued government commitment has enabled the country to diversify its tourism generating markets. Investors can make the most of this sector by developing relatively untapped niches, such as cultural tourism, ecotourism and cruise tourism.

5. Infrastructure development

The increase in population has been pressuring Kenya’s current infrastructures and the government actively welcomes investors in the construction and development sector. Recently, different high priority projects have been set forward by the Kenyan authorities:

  • development of a commuter railway system around Nairobi
  • construction of a standard gauge line to replace the current Kenya-Uganda railway
  • design and construction of a new terminal at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport
  • development of a new corridor from Lamu to South Sudan and Ethiopia

3 reasons to invest in Kenya

  • Kenya has 536 kilometers of coastline. Currently most of this coastline is underdeveloped and unused.
  • Since its independence, Kenya has maintained remarkable stability, despite changes in political system.
  • Kenya takes a liberalized economy approach to promote free trade and private investment, including import & export licensing and exchange controls.

Starting a business in Kenya – the smart way

Being East Africa’s largest economy, Kenya has attracted considerable attention from investors over the past decadce. While the local government is committed to implementing business reforms to facilitate trade, it is however, not always easy to get up and running.

Africa HR Solutions offers a range of reliable business services that can help your organization get started the easy way:

  • Central point of contact for all your queries
  • Guaranteed compliance to local laws
  • Professional indemnity and employer liability

As always, Africa HR Solutions guarantees 100% compliance for your business operations in Africa.

Talk to us today

Related posts

What Can We Help You With?

KEVINA TAKOORDYAL

KEVINA TAKOORDYAL

HEAD OF OPERATIONS

Kevina Takoordyal has a BA Hons Business Management from the University of Glamorgan, UK, with MBA in leadership and Innovation, MBA General, PMP Certified, and Agile Scrum Master. She currently works as the Head of Operations at Africa HR Solutions Ltd with more than 20 years of proven leadership capabilities in Operations, Business Development, People Management, Process Optimization, and Project Management in the Financial Services, BPO, Banking Industry, and Heath Care Industry. In Senior leadership roles with an international footprint across Europe working and extensive Pan- African experience from a compliance, finance, and operations angle, Kevina comes across with a panoply of cross-functional skills. Kevina also serves on a few Boards, Non-Independent Executive at MioD and for NGOs on a voluntary basis, a coach and mentor to aspiring female leaders across Africa and Mauritius.

Kevina is a firm believer in Servant Leadership with a strong focus and commitment to uplifting others, with the ability to deliver through a highly engaged – diverse team, and works towards consistently synergistic value creation. While being a focused and adaptive thinker and Kevina is actively participating in panel discussions on Innovation, CX, Digital transformation.

Kevina serves as Project Assessor for the National Youth upskilling program. She has been recognized as Global Talent in a few companies, Ceridian, and International SOS Ltd whereby she has been awarded a few scholarships and had the opportunity to be mentored by Senior Vice President in the US. Award Winner in various fields and at a national level and recognized including Super Achiever Leader Award in Africa in 2016, Awarded Africa Women Leader 2018.

MARK DU PREEZ​

MARK DU PREEZ

Head of Legal & Compliance

A qualified lawyer who joined Africa HR Solutions in July 2020, Mark Du Preez has experience working in private practice for a reputable law firm in South Africa. He also played commercially focused roles at a leading private bank, wealth management company, and outsourcing firm in South Africa and Mauritius.

Mark has played a pivotal role in Africa HR Solution’s risk mitigation strategy, which positively impacted P&L performance over the years.

He currently leads the Partnerships function of the company including relationships and oversight with in-country partners (ICPs) across Africa.

alex daruty

ALEX DARUTY

Head of Commercial

Alex has more than 15 years of experience in the global, strategic development of both enterprise and consumer brands in categories including technology, transport, enterprise software, entertainment, and travel.

With experience in roles on both agency and corporate side, he has worked across international brands and has led the development and execution of multi-discipline campaigns across EMEA, NORAM and Asia Pacific.

His focus is on driving meaningful business impact through brand differentiation and building high-functioning, digitally oriented, and analytically driven capabilities. He is motivated by working with, and developing dynamic people, teams, and organizations.

He leads, manages, develops and mentors the Key Account Management department, including line management responsibility for the team of Key Account Managers and Key Account Administrator who represent the Company as the primary communication link between all relevant stakeholders, including clients, third party in-country partners and internal functions.

Originally from Mauritius, he holds bachelor’s degrees in International Business, Finance and Management from the University of Nevada, Reno.