JAMLIC: Towards a prosperous Kenya: Emulating Singapore’s economic success story

Jamlic Munyasya, an economist and business consultant

When President William Ruto recently said he will do all in his power to ensure that Kenya catches up with Singapore, his words echoed both ambition and urgency. The contrast is stunning: During the 1960s, Singapore was a struggling city state plagued by poverty, unemployment and natural resource deficiencies, the same as in Kenya.

However, today Singapore is an economic giant, a financial centre, a technological centre and a logistical hub of the world. The key takeaway from the lesson is that Kenya's economic trajectory needs to be refocused under a programme of technocratic leadership, visionary industrial policy and deliberate investment in innovation.

While Kenya relied heavily on agriculture as an economic pillar, Singapore instead chose to bet on industrialisation and technology. Its leaders knew that agriculture could not support global competitiveness. They had aggressively pursued manufacturing, courted MNCs and established world-class port facilities that placed Singapore into global supply chains.

Kenya must take this cue. As much as agriculture remains important for rural livelihoods and food security, for an economic transformation, the country cannot rely on rural industries. Instead, Kenya should invest in high-value sectors comparable to electronics, pharmaceuticals, green energy and energy technologies, which can create employment, increase exports and put the country on the world map.

 At the heart of Singapore’s success lies technocratic leadership. This resulted in the city state having an empire of technology professionals, economists, engineers and industrial planners that could develop and carry out economic policy without meddling from political reasons. Decisions were evidence-based, sustained over time and closely linked to national development priorities.

Kenya could follow this example and improve institutions that could effectively play vital roles, such as the National Treasury, the Kenya Investment Authority and the Ministry of Industrialisation, with skillful personnel and their mandate insulated from short-term politicking. The leadership role of the political executive should be to set vision and provide support, but the delivery has to be left to a professional bureaucracy.

Kenya also needs to deliberately cultivate a conducive environment for technology driven investment. These include the expansion of intellectual property rights, the extension of digital infrastructure from the Nairobi metropolis to rural counties and the provision of incentives for research and development in both the universities and private companies.

Singapore's transformation was accelerated by strategic government-invested science parks and centres for innovation to tempt globally situated companies and encourage local entrepreneurs. Kenya should expand the likes of Konza Technopolis and connect and link them to regional and global value chains.

Another important lesson from Singapore relates to effective governments and the effective provision of public services. Kenya cannot become an internationally competitive nation if investors are retarded by inefficiency, bureaucracy, corruption and an unpredictable business environment. Singapore's efficient, transparent and performance-oriented civil service was at the heart of its ascent. Reforms to reduce red tape, streamline investor approvals and ensure accountability in public spending must be developed in Kenya.

Finally, the government will have to establish Kenya as a regional logistics and financial centre. Our location offers a natural advantage: with modernised ports, efficient rail networks and integrated trade corridors, Kenya can become the gateway to Africa, just as Singapore became the gateway to Asia. This requires not only massive investment in infrastructure, but also policy stability that will ensure domestic and foreign investors have confidence in.

Singapore’s journey from aid recipient to first-world economy offers a sobering reminder that economic destiny is not tied to history but to deliberate choices. Kenya once stood on higher ground than Singapore, even offering it aid. Today, we look up to Singapore as a role model.

The solution to catch up requires us to break away from expecting land to fix itself through agriculture, invest wisely in technology and industry, and empower technocrats to lead the way. Only then can Kenya chart a path of sustainable, inclusive and globally competitive growth.

Economist and a business consultant. [email protected]