How Best To Lift The Kenyan Economy From Stagnation

Kenyan influential columnist Bitange Ndemo has times without number, advocated for various economic policies that will lift the Kenyan economy out of its present quagmire.

In hindsight, most of the economic policies he has advocated for are sound, and one senses he really wishes the Kenyan economy would develop much faster.

But here’s the point. As a country, we have never really had an economic blueprint that acts as a guide to our development. The East Asian economies, most exemplified by the Asian Tigers, copied some of the economic blueprints from us and then used it to propel their countries to First World status as our economies lagged behind.

Of course, some argue that the reason the East Asian economies developed so much faster was because of large numbers of ethnic Chinese in their countries, who mainly follow the principles of Confucianism, which advocates for education as a pillar for economic growth.

However, at the time, mainland China itself hadn’t developed much, which shows it is the role of strong state directed development that was the basis for their development – of course, China was to later follow on this model and is now on the verge of overtaking the United States as the world’s largest economy.

We attempted to follow the Western model of growth, but again, this has not produced the desirable outcomes. In fact, studies by several scholars show that outside of Western Europe and the United States, democracy has been a disaster for developing countries.

In fact, some scholars suggest that for democracy to work, the average incomes of people must be at least $5,000 dollars a year. This is because democracy requires a strong middle class, an educated population, and an organised society. So, to put it plainly, democracy is still a luxury that many developing countries can ill afford.

In sub-Saharan African countries, Botswana, which has been touted as Africa’s economic star, has hardly had the kind of noise and chaos that the present Kenyan newsmakers have subjected us to.

But more fundamentally, would we rather have a strong state that ensured high growth rates, or a democracy that leaves the common person hungry but with freedom? I would rather choose the former.