President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big 4 Agenda has been boosted by a new report released by Standard Chartered bank, on September 23.
The Trade20 report ranked the country as the 3rd globally with the potential for future growth.
The country was ranked alongside Ireland, Ivory Coast, and India, in effect indicating that the country is making swift progress towards increased trade growth.
At the heart of this ranking is Uhuru’s Big 4 focus that includes manufacturing activities, achieving universal health coverage, improving food security, and supporting the construction of affordable housing.
This, according to the report, has been the biggest success in attracting external investors.
Also stated as key driver to the recorded growth was the country’s improved ranking in the ease of doing business index.
“Improvements in Kenya’s ease of doing business ranking over the last few years have been driven by governmental reforms, including in the areas of starting a business, access to electricity, registering property and protecting minority investors,” stated Standard Chartered Kenya CEO, Kariuki Ngari.
The Standard Chartered Trade20 report also referred to Kenya as the East African business powerhouse, while Ivory Coast was ranked as the centre of power in West Africa.
The study claimed that in their investigations into 66 markets across the world, they discovered that African economies are making a strong impression despite their low starting point.
The Trade20 Index stated that it analyzes changes in a span of 10 years across the pillars of economic dynamism, trade readiness and export diversity.
The researchers stated that they examine 12 metrics across 66 global markets – the major global economies plus the major economies in each region – to reveal the 20 economies that are most rapidly improving their potential for trade growth.
While many other surveys base their research on the market’s present performance, the Trade20 captures changes over time to reveal which companies have improved most over a period of time.