Business
Kenya: A country on track to becoming a middle income state
Kenya continues to invest in modern infrastructure. PHOTO/File
Kenya could reach middle income status in the next four years if its current growth rates are sustained, a new study has shown.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) forecasts that the country’s annual gross national product (GNP) per person will be US$1,030 in 2016 against the threshold of US$1,000 per capita used to categorise economies as middle income.
The study makes the country’s Vision 2030 growth blueprint of making Kenya a middle income economy closer to reality.
A key assumption of the study is that a growth rate of at least 4.5 percent, the projected rate for this year, will be maintained for the next four years.
In 2011, Kenya’s real Gross Domestic Product per capita was US$830.5, having risen from US$526 in 2005.