This archive report was first published on 5 July 2020.
Kenya's economy is facing a severe crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with projections indicating a significant decline in growth.
According to various institutions, including the World Bank and the National Treasury, the economy is expected to grow at best at 2.5 per cent this year, and at worst to shrink to negative one per cent.
Latest tax numbers show that collections dropped by Sh20 billion in April, compared to a similar period last year, with Treasury data indicating a 14.46 per cent drop in tax collections from Sh140.41 billion to Sh120.1 billion.
Both imports and domestic consumption have slowed down as a result of the pandemic's impact, with estimates suggesting that the number of Kenyans put out of work could be racing towards the two million mark.
By the beginning of June, at least one million had been fired, with more companies throwing in the towel and severing their links with their staff in the last one month.
The worst-hit sectors are tourism, hospitality, aviation, and horticulture, with hundreds of thousands of teachers in private schools and security guards also affected.
Kenya Airways has also announced plans to reduce its operations, with a memo to staff stating that the company must inevitably reduce its operations before scaling up again.
