The Kenyan economy performed comparatively well in 2015, even in the face of global economic headwinds. According to the World Bank, GDP growth is expected to reach 5.4% for the year, aided in large part by sustained public sector capital spending. The country has a strong private sector and received encouraging signs of new oil, gas and water reserves, which if harnessed appropriately bode well for future growth. The country’s medium- to long-term economic outlook is robust. With over 40% of the population under the age of 15, Kenya stands to benefit from a significant demographic dividend, provided that sufficient jobs can be found when this population enters the workforce. The country has a reasonably sized industrial base, competitive infrastructure and a large agricultural sector, all of which offer opportunities for capital-intensive investment.

The human rights records of more than ninety countries and territories are put into perspective in Human Rights Watch's signature yearly report. Reflecting extensive investigative work undertaken in 2016 by Human Rights Watch staff, in close partnership with domestic human rights activists, the annual World Report is an invaluable resource for journalists, diplomats, and citizens, and is a must-read for anyone interested in the fight to protect human rights in every corner of the globe.

In Kenya, cultural and natural heritage has a particular value. Its pre-historic heritage not only tells the story of man's origin and evolution but has also contributed to the understanding of the earth's history: fossils and artefacts spanning over 27 million years have been discovered and conserved by the National Museums of Kenya (NMK). Alongside this, the steady rise in the market value of African art has also affected Kenya. Demand for African tribal art has surpassed that for antiquities of Roman, Byzantine, and Egyptian origin, and in African countries currently experiencing conflicts, this activity invariably attracts looters, traffickers and criminal networks. This book brings together essays by heritage experts from different backgrounds, including conservation, heritage management, museum studies, archaeology, environment and social sciences, architecture and landscape, geography, philosophy and economics to explore three key themes: the underlying ethics, practices and legal issues of heritage conservation; the exploration of architectural and urban heritage of Nairobi; and the natural heritage, landscapes and sacred sites in relation to local Kenyan communities and tourism. It thus provides an overview of conservation practices in Kenya from 2000 to 2015 and highlights the role of natural and cultural heritage as a key factor of social-economic development, and as a potential instrument for conflict resolution

This report is part of a series of country level analyses prepared by the FAO Resilience Team Eastern Africa (RTEA) and the Resilience Analysis and Policies (RAP) team. The series aims at providing programming and policy guidance to policy makers, practitioners, UN agencies, NGO and other stakeholders by identifying the key factors that contribute to the resilience of households in food insecure countries and regions.The analysis is largely based on the use of the FAO Resilience Index Measurement and Analysis II (RIMA-II) tool. Latent variable models and regression analysis have been adopted. Findings are integrated with geo-spatial variables.

As the largest economy in the EAC and COMESA in terms of GDP, Kenya has positioned itself as a major economic power in sub-Saharan Africa. Traditionally a largely agrarian economy, Kenya has quickly entrenched its position as a manufacturing, logistics and technology hub in the region, and this diversification forms a solid platform from which the government can generate economic growth over the coming years. The resolution of the electoral process, improving business confidence and strong private consumption are likely to support GDP expansion over 2018 and into 2019. In April 2018 the IMF estimated the economy would expand by 5.5% in 2018 and 6% in 2019, compared to 4.8% in 2017.

An analysis of land and natural resource conflict as a source of political violence, focusing on election violence in Kenya.

Digital technologies are spreading rapidly, but digital dividends--the broader benefits of faster growth, more jobs, and better services--are not. If more than 40 percent of adults in East Africa pay their utility bills using a mobile phone, why can’t others around the world do the same? If 8 million entrepreneurs in China--one third of them women--can use an e-commerce platform to export goods to 120 countries, why can’t entrepreneurs elsewhere achieve the same global reach? And if India can provide unique digital identification to 1 billion people in five years, and thereby reduce corruption by billions of dollars, why can’t other countries replicate its success? Indeed, what’s holding back countries from realizing the profound and transformational effects that digital technologies are supposed to deliver? Two main reasons. First, nearly 60 percent of the world’s population are still offline and can’t participate in the digital economy in any meaningful way. Second, and more important, the benefits of digital technologies can be offset by growing risks. Startups can disrupt incumbents, but not when vested interests and regulatory uncertainty obstruct competition and the entry of new firms. Employment opportunities may be greater, but not when the labor market is polarized. The internet can be a platform for universal empowerment, but not when it becomes a tool for state control and elite capture. The World Development Report 2016 shows that while the digital revolution has forged ahead, its 'analog complements'--the regulations that promote entry and competition, the skills that enable workers to access and then leverage the new economy, and the institutions that are accountable to citizens--have not kept pace. And when these analog complements to digital investments are absent, the development impact can be disappointing. What, then, should countries do? They should formulate digital development strategies that are much broader than current information and communication technology (ICT) strategies. They should create a policy and institutional environment for technology that fosters the greatest benefits. In short, they need to build a strong analog foundation to deliver digital dividends to everyone, everywhere.

From the upheavals of recent national elections to the success of the #MyDressMyChoice feminist movement, digital platforms have already had a dramatic impact on political life in Kenya – one of the most electronically advanced countries in Africa. While the impact of the Digital Age on Western politics has been extensively debated, there is still little appreciation of how it has been felt in developing countries such as Kenya, where Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and other online platforms are increasingly a part of everyday life. Written by a respected Kenyan activist and researcher at the forefront of political online struggles, this book presents a unique contribution to the debate on digital democracy. For traditionally marginalised groups, particularly women and people with disabilities, digital spaces have allowed Kenyans to build new communities which transcend old ethnic and gender divisions. But the picture is far from wholly positive. Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics explores the drastic efforts being made by elites to contain online activism, as well as how 'fake news', a failed digital vote-counting system and the incumbent president's recruitment of Cambridge Analytica contributed to tensions around the 2017 elections. Reframing digital democracy from the African perspective, Nyabola's ground-breaking work opens up new ways of understanding our current global online era.

Before the rise of the Al-Shabaab, Eastern Africa was home to different organizational nodes of the Al-Qaeda network. Al-Qaeda was responsible for many threats, of which include the August 7, 1998, bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. As terrorism threats have evolved over the years, countermeasures have continued to do the same. Countering Violent Extremism in Kenya: Community, State, and Security Perspectives by John Mwangi Githigaro explores Kenya’s historical experiences with terrorism in the pre- and post 9/11 periods as a lens to situate how different stakeholders present the threats of extremism and the associated countermeasures they consider as valuable. The stakeholders presented throughout this book include: security actors, society organizations, academics, and community members. Through extended ethnographic research and fieldwork collected from focus groups within Nairobi and Mombasa between 2016 and 2022, Githigaro offers an opportunity to observe the evolution of counterterrorism interventions in Kenya and the dilemmas this has created around primarily state-society relations, an exploration of how different stakeholders perceive the efficacy of counterterrorism measures, and the appraisal of counterterrorism initiative (CT) interventions that render ongoing CVE interventions less effective.

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. Presenting rigorous and original research, this volume offers key insights into the historical, cultural, social, economic and political forces at play in the creation of world-class ICT innovations in Kenya. Following the arrival of fiber-optic cables in 2009, Digital Kenya examines why the initial entrepreneurial spirit and digital revolution has begun to falter despite support from motivated entrepreneurs, international investors, policy experts and others. Written by engaged scholars and professionals in the field, the book offers 15 eye-opening chapters and 14 one-on-one conversations with entrepreneurs and investors to ask why establishing ICT start-ups on a continental and global scale remains a challenge on the “Silicon Savannah”. The authors present evidence-based recommendations to help Kenya to continue producing globally impactful ICT innovations that improve the lives of those still waiting on the side-lines, and to inspire other nations to do the same.