This archive report was first published on 5 May 2020.
As of May 5, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the Kenyan economy to its knees, with various sectors experiencing significant losses.
Stock Market Plunges ¶
The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) saw a massive drop in share prices after the first Kenyan case of COVID-19 was reported, with the total value shrinking by KES 120 billion.
One of the biggest hits was KCB Bank, which saw a 7% fall in its share prices.
Online Gambling Takes a Hit ¶
Even before COVID-19 cases were reported in Kenya, the cancellation of sports globally had a significant impact on Kenyan online betting sites.
Existing customers were not using the services as much, and the number of new customers dropped to a much lower level.
Tourism Industry Suffers ¶
The tourism industry, which brought in KES 163.5 billion in 2019, was severely affected by the pandemic.
Even though Kenya was without cases for a long time, the outbreak of cases in other countries meant that travel into Kenya was restricted, leading to large drops in revenue.
Agriculture Sector Impacted ¶
Agriculture is another large part of the Kenyan economy, with 83.6% of the country's workforce being informal manual labourers.
The inability to harvest crops effectively due to social distancing measures means that not only are these crops left unpicked, but many Kenyan citizens are left without work.
