Poverty and inequality

Extract 1: Kenya's GDP per capita (current US$) rose from about $1080 in 2010 to about $2100 in 2022. Its HDI is 0.60, ranked 146th in the world. Around a third of Kenyans live below the international poverty line. Agriculture employs more than half of the workforce; tea, coffee, cut flowers and horticulture are major exports. Extract 2: The mobile money service M-Pesa allows people without bank accounts to send money, save and borrow by phone. Studies suggest it helped lift around 2% of Kenyan households out of poverty, especially households headed by women. Remittances from Kenyans working abroad exceed $4 billion a year. Extract 3: Kenya's government has borrowed heavily to fund infrastructure, including a Chinese-financed railway from Mombasa to Nairobi. Public debt has risen to around 70% of GDP and interest payments take a large share of tax revenue. The IMF has supported Kenya on condition of tax rises and spending cuts.