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PRACTICE ENVIRONMENT
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Over View
Kenya is sub-Saharan Africa’s fast growing
economy after South Africa and Nigeria. Its
economy is principally agriculture based (30%
of GDP) with tea, coffee and horticulture providing
the principal export commodities. Tourism is
a major foreign exchange earner.
Nairobi is the third largest
centre in the world for the UN and is also home
to numerous other international organizations,
non-governmental organizations, press agencies
and diplomatic missions who use Nairobi as their
African or regional base. Significant resources
have been committed to the East African region
in recent years in terms of relief and conflict
resolution in Somalia, Sudan, Rwanda, Democratic
Republic of Congo and Burundi, and most of these
operations have been conducted from Nairobi.
With relative political stability,
a multi-party parliamentary democracy (since
1991), a well educated and hard-working population
of about 33 million and a sound legal system,
Kenya has the potential to be the power-house
of development for Africa. The current surge
in tourism, infrastructure development (notably
roads and telecommunications), regional economic
integration demand for products through the
reconstruction of Southern Sudan and improved
prospects for agriculture suggest, among other
factors, that economic growth is exponential.
However, a highly partisan
political climate and an endemic malaise of
corruption within most aspects of public services
continues to hamper Kenya ’s development.
With the Parliamentary and Presidential elections
scheduled for this year (2007)Inflation is running
at an annual rate of approximately 10.3%. Exchange
rates are relatively stable in a range of 69
to 72 Kenya shillings to 1 US Dollar.
Kenya is a member of COMESA
(The Common Market for East and Central African
States) and of the EAC (East African Community).
These entities seek to establish a common market
for trade and economic activity, free movement
of goods and labour with common external tariffs.
Other international memberships include the
UN, the African Union and the British Commonwealth.
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