A poll by the Central Bank of Kenya has shown that firms and organizations in that country believe that business activities will increase rapidly after the August general elections. The survey conducted by the Monetary Policy Committee sampled 230 CEOs in the private sector who are optimistic that the economy will continue its rebound post-election.
The poll done between March 1 and 14 2022, reported economic environment concerns at 15% while reduced consumer demand and cost of doing business were listed by 11% of respondents. Previously, concerns of political uncertainties stood at 23% in January 2022 and dropped to 20%. Compared to Q2 in 2021, Kenyan firms are optimistic about growth prospects mainly in the agriculture and services sectors, boosted by continued government sendings, low COVID19 infections and expected favourable weather conditions.
Political stability, a stable economic environment and taxation issues were identified as top external factors across all sectors that businesses anticipate could strengthen their company outlook over the next 12 months.
The Central Bank poll also states that demand orders, production volumes, and the number of full-time employees are expected to remain at the same level for the majority of firms. However, the CEOs surveyed also forecasted an increase in prices of goods and services sold as supply chain bottlenecks and high input costs persist.
To mitigate the factors constraining growth/expansion, the firms surveyed proposed various solutions: management of costs and risks, diversification as well as digitization. Other important mitigating factors for respective sectors were increased sales and marketing (services sector), lobbying with relevant stakeholders (manufacturing sector), and increased sales and marketing.