World Bank urges Kenya to curb graft, raises 2026 growth forecast
The World Bank has urged Kenya to address corruption to improve economic growth, while simultaneously raising the country's 2026 growth forecast to 4.6%. The report highlights that governance issues and debt management remain significant risks to the nation's fiscal health.
Why it matters
The report underscores the tension between Kenya's economic potential and the structural governance challenges that hinder long-term development.
NAIROBI - Kenya's government should tackle corruption to boost economic growth and raise incomes, the World Bank said on Wednesday, as it raised its growth forecast for this year after a stronger-than-expected first half.
The East African nation became a lower-middle-income country in 2014 under the Washington-based lender's classification, but has lagged its peers on widely used measures of governance.
"Governance challenges are increasingly limiting Kenya's prospects for faster and more broadly shared growth, with corruption as the key binding constraint," the lender said in the latest edition of its biannual Kenya Economic Update report.
Corruption and collusion cost the country an estimated 2% of GDP a year through higher fiscal deficits, the World Bank said.
"This translates into substantial additional borrowing needs accumulating over time," it said in the report.
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