The Republic of Kenya, as the country is officially called, lies across the equator on the East coast of Africa. It border Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania and the Indian Ocean. It has over 41 million inhabitants of which almost 3.5 million live in Nairobi, the capital city.
The country has at least 40 different ethnic groups, also called tribes. The biggest ones are Kikuyu (22%), Luhya(14%), Luo(13%), Kalenjin(12)% and Kamba(11%). Next to that it is a multilingual country were approximately 62 languages are spoken. The most wide-spread ones are Swahili and English.
The majority of Kenyan are Christian (66%) and 15% is Muslim. However almost everyone also believe strongly in the ancestor world where the dead have powers over the living. Thus western belief systems did not rule out the traditional belief system.
National Institutions and Innovation
Kenya is prospering, nevertheless the country still faces many burdens. Officially property rights are enforced and “anyone” can set up a business. However, many important property rights remain to only benefit certain elites, so in practice they remain extractive. The biggest example here would be wildlife reserves that create immense income through the safari business. Thus as Huggins argues: “Kenya’s wildlife institutions are extractive. They are dominated by urban-based economic and centralized political elites that leverage the support of international conservation organizations. While these groups are influential in forming wildlife policies, they do not bear the costs of living with wildlife are able to force these cost onto local communities.” ( Huggins 2013, 32) On top of that, the country remains to invest too little into innovation and entrepreneurial activities; universities have limited financial assets and receiving a loan from a bank is close to impossible.
Huggins, Laura E. 2013. Enviornmental Entrepreneuship: Markets Meet the Enviornment in unexpected places. Edited by Edward Elgar. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing limited.