Kenya’s Government To Cub Population Growth In New Framework

Kenya’s Government To Cub Population Growth In New Framework

Kenya launched a framework on Thursday to guide the implementation of population programs in order to achieve long-term development goals.

During the launch in Nairobi, Njuguna Ndung’u, cabinet secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning, stated that the policy would provide the East African nation with a responsive and coordinated approach to addressing population growth in relation to economic growth.

“Population growth must be in tandem with available resources and development goals. Rapid population growth is problematic for any country; if the population grows faster than the economy, challenges like increased dependency emerge,” he said.

He noted that the framework, titled “Kenya National Population Policy for Sustainable Development,” would help the country address population growth in accordance with its economic blueprint Vision 2030, Africa’s Agenda 2063, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

“Kenya’s population growth between 1999 and 2009 was about 3 percent per year; this fell to 2 percent between 2009 and 2019. This means Kenya is on the right path because the growth of population should never be higher than the growth of the real economy,” he added.

Kenya’s population is currently around 50 million people and is expected to grow to 57.8 million by 2030, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

According to Ndung’u, the youth account for 29 percent of the population, with their numbers increasing dramatically from 3.2 million in 1989 to 13 million in 2019 and expected to reach 19 million by 2035.

According to James Muhati, principal secretary for Economic Planning, the framework will help to harness the population’s potential and implement forward-thinking planning.

Kenya’s economy expanded by 5.6 percent in 2023, up from 4.9 percent in 2022, according to the World Bank. It is expected to grow by 5% in 2024.

Kenya’s Government To Cub Population Growth In New Framework