Kenya: Policies for Prosperity

This is the first volume in a new series Africa: Policies for Prosperity. For the first time in more than a generation, sustained economic growth has been achieved across the continent - despite the downturn in global economic fortunes since 2008 - and in many countries these gains have been realized through policy reforms driven by the decisive leadership of a new generation of economic policymakers. The process of reform is continuous, however, and the challenge currently facing this new generation is how to harness these favourable gains in macroeconomic stability and turn them into a coherent strategy for sustainable growth and poverty reduction over the coming decades. These challenges are substantial and encompass the broad remit of economic policy. Each volume in this series brings leading scholars into the policy arena to examine these challenges and to lay out, in a rigorous but accessible manner, key challenges and policy options facing policymakers on the continent. Kenya has experienced a period of high and sustained growth since the mid 1990s, growth that has involved economic transformation away from a heavy reliance on traditional economic activities towards an emerging manufacturing economy. But this process, and the economic and social stability that had come to characterize Kenya, have been severely tested by the post-election violence of 2008. Restoring equitable growth and sustaining the structural transformation of the economy is essential if Kenya is to leave this period behind. The chapters in this volume address the key issues that will face economic policy makers in the coming years. They cover the conventional but central questions of finance and macroeconomic management, but also much deeper structural issues of trade, employment generation and education; of land policy, migration and urbanization; and the fiscal challenges facing an ageing but increasingly urbanized, and increasingly affluent, society. Contributors to this volume - Christopher Adam, CSAE, University of Oxford Daniel Amanja, Central Bank of Kenya, Kenya Rosemary Atieno, University of Nairobi, Kenya Dulacha Barako, Central Bank of Kenya, Kenya Thorsten Beck, Tilburg University, The Netherlands Arne Bigsten, University of Gothenborg, Sweden Crispin Bokea, Central Bank of Kenya, Kenya Tessa Bold, CSAE, University of Oxford Paul Collier, CSAE, University of Oxford Stephen O' Connell, Swarthmore College, USA Robert Cull, The World Bank, Washington DC, USA Michael Fuchs, The World Bank, Washington DC, USA Leonardo Garrido Peter Gatere, Central Bank of Kenya, Kenya Jared Getenga, Central Bank of Kenya, Kenya Peter S. Heller, Washington DC, USA Joseph Karugia, ILRI, Kenya Joseph Kieya, Pennsylvania State University, USA Mwangi Kimenyi, Brookings Institution, USA Peter Kimuyu, University of Nairobi, Kenya Jane Kirangai, The World Bank, Kenya Praveen Kumar, The World Bank, Washington DC, USA Isaya Maana, Central Bank of Kenya, Kenya Benjamin Maturu, Central Bank of Kenya, Kenya Patricia Kameri-Mbote, International Environmental Law Research Centre, Kenya Chris Milner, University of Nottingham Germano Mwabu, University of Nairobi, Kenya Francis Mwega, University of Nairobi, Kenya Lydia Ndirangu, Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis, Kenya Njuguna Ndung'u, Central Bank of Kenya, Kenya Rose Ngugi, University of Nairobi, Kenya Herzon Nyangito Raphael Owino, MEFMI, Kenya John Randa, Central Bank of Kenya, Kenya Roxana Gutierrez-Romero, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford, UK Justin Sandefur, CSAE, University of Oxford Moses Sichei, Central Bank of Kenya, Kenya Mans Soderbom, University of Gothenborg, Sweden Tavneet Suri, MIT, USA Kamau Thugge, Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Kenya, Kenya Mircea Trandafir, Universite de Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada Anthony Wambugu, University of Nairobi, Kenya Maureen Were, Central Bank of Kenya, Kenya