Foreign Aid and Foreign Debt

Total aid received by Kenya:

Total foreign debt (2017): $27.59 billion

Ke    In 2001 Kenya received $134 million dollars in aid from the US, most of which went towards food aid and food security, as well as emergency response. However from 2002 on a higher percentage of aid went to HIV/AIDS than any other sector. In addition to this, the amount of aid they received began to increase. By 2009 they were receiving $770 million. The top three sectors that it went towards were HIV/AIDS, emergency response and basic health. The amount of aid reached a peak in 2014 when they received $1.1 billion dollars. This time, $122 million went towards conflicts and protecting peace in Kenya. Since 2014, their aid began to decline until it went as low as $556 million in 2019. This could be an indicator that Kenya is becoming less reliant on foreign aid for their development. Which is true, as Kenya is one of the fastest developing countries in the region.

          Kenya's foreign debt hovered around $5 billion USD from the year 2000 until around 2010 when foreign debt began to gradually rise. By 2014, their total debt had already risen to just over $10 billion. In November 2019, their debt had reached a staggering $30 billion (Kenya External Debt). Economist are concerned with this level of debt because of how low national income is in Kenya. Currently, Kenya's debt to GDP ratio is over 50%, which is well above the recommended 40% for developing countries. 

Work Cited

“U.S. Foreign Aid by Country.” USAID, U.S. Agency for International Development, explorer.usaid.gov/cd/KEN?fiscal_year=2016&measure=Obligations.

“Kenya External Debt .” CEIC, CEIC Data, www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/kenya/external-debt.