Given the national consensus that these are harsh economic times, it might be useful to remember that – compared to previous eras – we may not be that badly off.
While many of us previously took for granted the sugar in our tea; or the drink with friends after work; it may well be true that these are now unaffordable luxuries to many. But at least the long-term trajectory is somewhat positive.
In 'command economies', such as Kenya had up to the 1990s, the government can actually keep the cost of all staple foods exceptionally low and even make healthcare and education “free”. But only for so long.
For eventually a day of reckoning comes, and suddenly there is no more free education or healthcare; a near-total collapse of the income of the rural masses; and the price of consumer goods increasing very quickly.
In general, it is not up to the government to decide the price of consumer goods. That is best left to the market. What the government should focus on is the creation of an enabling environment, which will lead to a highly competitive economy that in turn will benefit the average Kenyan through a decrease in prices.
And, above all, government policies should focus on job creation, as this is the key requirement for an expanded tax base, hence, more government revenues for providing services.
An example here is the policies applied to foreign investment.
Recently, the government announced that it would no longer be mandatory for 30 per cent of the shareholding of new investment in the tech sector to be held by local investors. This may seem like an incidental statement, but it actually gets to the heart of the creation of that 'enabling environment'.
While it is tempting to imagine that investors are queuing to invest in Kenya (and this may even be true up to a point), it is also true that there is little that Kenya can offer investors which cannot be found elsewhere. So, we should be seeking ways of encouraging such investors to put their money in our country, rather than arbitrarily placing barriers in their path.
So why do I say that we have made progress?
Well, back in the 1970s and 1980s, a common newspaper headline was one that had a 'firebrand' politician declaring that Kenya’s tourism sector – in its entirety – was a big sham, and nothing more than a conduit for siphoning off the profits generated by the hard work of the toiling masses.
The fiery leader would then point out the fact that European tourists coming to the Kenyan coast would pay shockingly low rates for their hotel stay and associated leisure activities.
And that this was because most of the money they paid for this holiday was retained overseas by the parent company of the local tour operation. What actually got into the Kenyan economy was 'mere peanuts' while the 'cream' served to fatten the 'exploiters' in foreign capitals.
It was as if they were suggesting that for every tourist coming to Kenya, the visitor should pay for the holiday – and in foreign currency – only after landing in Kenya. And then the Kenyan authorities would decide how much of that money could legally be repatriated back to Europe.
It all sounds crazy now, and I cannot remember hearing this argument made in the past few decades since the economy opened up and exchange controls were abolished.
But I can assure you that if you were to look into the archives of any Kenyan newspaper that was published back then, you would find many accusations of 'illegal retaining of profits abroad' or maybe 'unfair repatriating of profits to Europe'.
The simple and self-evident fact that tourism was a service sector which created many jobs at all levels – from lowly groundsmen to high-flying general managers – was generally ignored. The focus was on how much money the foreign investors in that sector were making – allegedly at our expense.
In such an environment, inherently hostile to new investment, this latest official announcement that investors in the ICT sector would no longer be required to have substantive local partners, would have been proclaimed to be a total sellout to foreign interests.
