125 Kenyans hold more wealth than 42 million individuals – Report
A new report has highlighted the worrying scale of Kenya’s economic inequality, revealing that just 125 individuals now hold more wealth than 42 million Kenyans combined
A new report has highlighted the worrying scale of Kenya’s economic inequality, revealing that just 125 individuals now hold more wealth than 42 million Kenyans combined.
According to the findings of the report titled Kenya’s Inequality Crisis: The Great Economic Divide, this elite group controls more financial resources than 77 per cent of the entire population in a state, which underscores the widening gap between the rich and the poor.
Between 2019 and 2023, the top 1 per cent captured nearly two-fifths of all the newly created wealth, as per the report.
Alarmingly, this was more than what the bottom 90 per cent of the population gained altogether.
In the labour market, inequality also came into focus, as the report highlighted that CEOs of Kenya’s 10 largest companies earned a staggering 214 times more than the average teacher.
Further, the salary increase which top executives enjoyed from 2023 to 2024 was enough to pay public school teachers for six years.
The widening disparity exists even as millions of Kenyans continue to face economic hardship, which gets worse by the day, according to the report.
In terms of extreme poverty, Kenya ranks 15th globally, with 46 per cent of the population unable to meet basic needs.
The situation appears to have gotten worse over the past decade, as since 2015, seven million people have fallen into extreme poverty amid rising living costs.
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Food prices were also found to be 50 per cent higher than they were in 2020. Despite this, the average worker is 11 per cent poorer in real terms.
Low-income Nairobi residents have been the hardest hit, experiencing inflation rates 27 per cent higher than wealthier households over the past four years.
To curb the widening divide, the report called for structural reforms, including stronger progressive taxation, which essentially entails subjecting higher-income individuals to higher taxes than their lower-income counterparts.
The report also called for increased investment in universal public services such as education and healthcare, noting that Kenya’s crisis is not rooted in a lack of economic growth but in the absence of effective redistribution policies.
“Although the government has implemented various reforms over time, such as free education, social protection schemes, and tried universal health coverage, their impact would have been greater had they been accompanied by adequate spending and proper implementation,” the report stated.
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