Kenya – Country Guide for Expats

Capital City- Nairobi: Nairobi is the capital and the largest city of Kenya. The City of Nairobi enjoys the status of a full administrative County. The Nairobi province differs in several ways from other Kenyan regions. The county is entirely urban. One of the Africa’s largest stock exchange Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) is in Nairobi. Nairobi is the regional headquarters of several international companies and organisations. General Electric, Young & Rubicam, Google, Coca-Cola, IBM Services, and Cisco Systems relocated their African headquarters to the city. The United Nations Office at Nairobi hosts UN Environment and UN-Habitat headquarters.

Cultural and Social Environment: Kenya is a multilingual country. Although the official languages are Swahili and English, there are a total of 62 languages spoken in the country. Kenya is not a homogeneous country ethnicity wise. Around 13% of the population are of non-African descent, i.e. Indian, Arab and European. The country has temples, church, mosques built at various locations. It has 60 national parks and game reserves for outdoor activities. 

Educational Facilities: Kenya’s education system has undergone significant changes over time and was previously influenced heavily by the British during the colonial era. There is a good range of international schools in Kenya, especially in the capital, Nairobi. Expats living in Kenya will find that because of the country’s historical links with the UK, there’s many schools that follow the British curriculum. There are also schools offering the globally recognised International Baccalaureate or the curricula of countries such as France, Germany, Sweden, America and the Netherlands

Medical Facilities: In recent years the country’s healthcare system has seen dramatic improvements, but there are still several issues to be mindful of when considering healthcare options in Kenya.

Major Industries: The industrial activities are concentrated around 3 largest urban centers of Nairobi, Mombasa & Kisumu and is dominated by food-processing industries such as grain milling, beer production, sugarcane crushing, and the fabrication of consumer goods, Cement, building material & Oil refinery.

There has been constant rise of Fintech, Micro finance and Renewable Energy companies in Kenya.

Tourism in Kenya is the second-largest source of foreign exchange revenue following agriculture.

Agriculture is the second largest contributor to Kenya’s Kenya’s GDP. Tea, coffee, sisal, pyrethrum, corn, and wheat are grown in the fertile highlands.  Coconuts, pineapples, cashew nuts, cotton, sugarcane, sisal, and corn are grown in the lower-lying areas. Kenya is 3rd largest exporter of cut flowers.

Political Environment: Kenya has made significant political, structural and economic reforms that have largely driven sustained economic growth, social development and political gains over the past decade. Kenya has the potential to be one of Africa’s success stories from its growing youthful population, a dynamic private sector, highly skilled workforce, improved infrastructure, a new constitution, and its pivotal role in East Africa.

Job Opportunities for Expats: Kenya offers ample amount of job opportunities to the expat in various. The report indicated that the highest salary bracket in the NGO sector is heavily dominated by expatriates. The average cost of living for expats in Kenya is USD 2500 per month.