Good day, my dear reader. It has been a minute.
And while at it, have you heard of the Singapore dream? In Europe and the Western world, the figurative country of choice is Denmark. If you hear anyone saying they are going to Denmark, it does not necessarily mean the country itself, but the improvement of human conditions to the extent that development mirrors key indicators of progress such as Denmark.
The Book of Habakkuk 2:2–3 instructs us to write the vision and make it plain.
In the run-up to the last general election, a small team came together to imagine what we wanted to achieve if President William Ruto ascended to the presidency.
That is how a 10-point agenda that I was privileged to draft was reduced to the five that eventually became the Beta Plan. Indeed, at no other time had Kenyans from many walks of life been rallied to contribute towards the making of a manifesto for a political party and movement.
Beyond the initial drafting of proposed solutions to our problems, we conducted bottom-up economic forums in each of the 47 counties, starting with Nyeri at Kabiru-ini grounds on 14 February 2022.
Thereafter, we trained other counties in Naivasha on how to conduct their forums. By the time all the 47 counties had held their forums, the original draft had been greatly improved compared with what I had first presented to a small group of leaders who had retreated to Mara Sarova on May 1, 2021 to “form government”.
Fast forward, and a new vision was born under President Ruto: turning Kenya into a First World country. In his 2025 Jamhuri Day address, the head of state stated clearly that our country needs economic freedom in order to attain First World status.
When we took over as a government, there was little to show, as the economy was in the doldrums. In fact, we were expected to default on the Eurobond, but we have since been able to repay it. We had to make some painful decisions that have translated into significant gains for our country. This progress acts as a springboard towards the Singapore dream.
It is important first to define these two concepts. The Beta Plan is a manifesto aligned to the fourth medium-term plan of the 27-year economic blueprint that is Kenya Vision 2030, aimed at moving the country to middle-income status. Four years shy of the target year, Kenya has already moved to lower middle-income status.
The Beta Plan has five pillars, namely: agriculture and food security; universal healthcare; affordable housing; micro, small, and medium enterprises; and the digital superhighway and the creative economy.
The First World vision has four key planks. These include food sufficiency by reducing the importation of basic commodities, currently costing up to Sh500 billion; increasing energy capacity from the current 3321 megawatts to at least 10,000 through a mix of renewable and non-renewable sources; and infrastructural development through the construction of 50 mega dams, 1,000 smaller dams, the dualling of 2,500km of road and the construction of 28,000 new kilometres.
The Lapsset project, estimated to cost Sh1.5trillion and the most impactful of the nine main highways of Africa under Agenda 2063, has the potential to create more than 16 million new jobs.
The fourth and most important pillar is education and human capital development, especially because we now live in a global knowledge-based economy. Africa currently accounts for 18 per cent of the world’s population. This is expected to rise to 25 per cent by 2050 and 50 per cent by 2100.
Kenya has risen to become the sixth-largest economy on the continent, up from eighth position according to the IMF and the third largest after Nigeria and South Africa. In addition, Kenya is the country that has attracted the most inflows for start-up capital, while private sector lending and growth have risen from negative two to positive three since 2022. This means the country can renew itself considerably through this initiative.
Of importance are two key funds: the National Infrastructure Fund and the Sovereign Wealth Fund. These will help mobilise capital primarily from mature assets, the securitisation of stable revenue streams, and royalties from natural resources.
The Beta Plan is therefore Kenya’s springboard to the Singapore dream, driving the country towards First World status through asset-led growth and large-scale infrastructure. The Sh5 trillion Singapore Plan will help lift more than10 million people out of poverty by reducing unemployment and prioritising agriculture, energy, transport and human capital. This is the new Kenya in the making.
The Beta pillars translate this ambition into action by building prosperity from the bottom up for every mwananchi. Agriculture lays the foundation of the Singapore dream by securing food and income.
The government is transforming two million farmers into surplus producers, organising 1,350 ward cooperatives, distributing 24 million bags of subsidised fertiliser, creating eight million jobs and cutting food imports while reducing food-poor families from two million to fewer than 200,000. This ensures pesa mfukoni and positions Kenya as an economic powerhouse.
In addition, the government has turned hustle into income by
supporting the informal economy that employs 17 million Kenyans,
disbursing Sh82
billion to 26 million
Hustler Fund borrowers, issuing 121,800 Nyota grants
to young entrepreneurs and anchoring enterprise growth through industrial parks
in all 47counties.
On affordable housing and markets, the government has cleared slums and restored dignity by constructing 239,446 affordable housing units, delivering homes from Sh3,800, building 50, 767 student housing units, creating 488,000 and paying Sh4.4billion to Jua Kali artisans.
On universal health coverage under Taifa Care, the government has protected families from medical poverty by deploying 107,000community health promoters, maintaining more than90 per cent medicine availability and delivering universal, income-based health cover, with omore than 29 million Kenyans enrolled to date.
On the digital superhighway and the creative economy, the government has connected Kenyans to opportunity by expanding fibre from 8,000km to 30,000km, rolling out 1,500 public Wi-Fi hotspots, establishing 1,450 digital hubs, tripling digital jobs from 99,000 to 297,000, and training more than two million youth.
The progress we are witnessing shows that President Ruto has a clear vision for the country. Going forward, Kenya needs such committed leadership. We have one of the rare leaders of our generation who is focused on transforming this great nation, and we must give him time to complete his agenda for the benefit of present and future generations in Kenya and across the African continent.
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