This archive report was first published on 2 July 2020.
On July 2, 2020, Kenya's economic growth slowed down to 4.9 per cent in quarter one, marking an eight-year low.
While the official figures indicate that last year the country managed an impressive 5.8 per cent expansion in quarter one, the current rate is alarming.
The major worry is what the numbers will look like in the second quarter, considering that the economy has been in a partial lockdown, which has hurt exports, hospitality, and transport industries.
Alarmingly, this comes alongside the closure of institutions of learning, whose impact implies that the newly officially unemployed numbers are just a tip of the iceberg.
President Uhuru Kenyatta must weigh heavily on the mind of the measures to take to slow down the spread of Covid-19 without hurting the economy.
The reality is that this virus, like many others, is not going away, and the government at all levels has to step up measures to curb the spread of the virus.
At some point, the economy has to reopen, unless the government intends to cushion everyone from the economic shocks of the virus.
Tanzania, which does not look like a strong role model, has largely reopened, and it would be prudent to carefully reopen the economy to prevent a socio-economic catastrophe.
