More than 200,000 Kenyans braced the rising food and energy prices in the country to lift their lives from extreme poverty, according to new data released by African Development Bank.
This has led to a drop in the number of extremely poor Kenyans to 9.03 million in 2023 compared to 9.23 million recorded in 2022.
Kenya’s performance mirrors the regional trend where there was a general drop of 0.4 percent in the number of people sinking into extreme poverty.
The report that covered East Africa region shows that a marginal increase in employment levels cushioned Kenya and EAC member states to lift their population from extreme poverty.
The report shows East Africa's the unemployment rate fell by 0.8 percent in 2022, a marginal decline margin compared to 2021 when the employment rate changed by -1.4 percent.
This survey looked into the regions income inequality also known as Gini coefficient.
Compared to its neighbours, Kenya recorded a better performance with a Gini coefficient of 38.9, the lowest in the bloc.
Kenya performed better than Uganda (42.7), South Sudan (44.1), Rwanda (43.7), Tanzania (40.5) and Burundi (40.1).
“Rising food and energy prices have worsened poverty and inequality in the region East African economies have relatively high Gini coefficients that mirror the high-income inequality and poverty in the continent,” the report reads.
AfDB attributes this to Rising energy and food prices and prolonged drought in the region, compounded by the adverse aftershocks induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The regional lender says if the region is to address inequality then these are major headwinds to reducing extreme poverty in the region.
Generally, in 2023, there are 105.70 million people in extreme poverty in East Africa representing 18.5 percent of the global population living in extreme poverty.
This is a 0.43 percent decline from 105.5 million in 2022.
Tanzania had 25.9 million people living in extreme poverty in 2022, the highest in the region.
Ethiopia registered 11.2 percent decline in the number of people living in extreme poverty from9.91 million 2022 to 8.8 in 2023, the highest in the region
In 2023, Comoros, with a Gini coefficient of 45.3, is the most unequal country in East Africa, while Seychelles, with a Gini coefficient of 32.1, is the least unequal country in the region.
The World Bank cites Slovenia with a Gini of 24.6 as one of the lowest in the world, whereas South Africa, with its Gini of 63, is considered the highest.
Seychelles is ranked 124th, while Comoros is ranked 28th in the world for inequality.
Most of the East African countries are ranked between positions 28 and 52 out of 189 countries, indicating that the income is relatively concentrated in the hands of a few while the majority are struggling to meet their basic needs, such as food, energy, health care, housing, and education.
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