The country is in the grips of a drought that has seen food prices soar to an all-time high, as the conflict in Ukraine pushed an increase in fuel prices by 4% leading to an increase in commodity prices for a country that is still a net importer of majority of its consumer goods.
“Business is very slow, people are suffering, I was up at 4 am, I came here but still there’s no business,” she says, without stopping to look at us. The huge economic growth witnessed last year is however likely to be short-lived according to Finance Cabinet Secretary Ukuru Yattani, who blames it on factors beyond the Kenyan government’s control. He cites the Ukraine-Russia conflict as likely to push up fuel and food costs.
As her customers’ purchasing power fell and her earnings were squeezed, 36-year-old Gertrude Amise – a mother of five – turned to a different line. From a vegetable vendor, she now pulls a handcart, more work, less money but she is assured of taking home something to put on the table. “I think we have a very big importation culture and when you have a lot of importation, it means you are always subject to global events, I think we need to start on domestic production because it tends to be more resilient. Number two, our taxation system is largely on consumption taxes, your VAT, your excise tax and that is really making it difficult, because when a soda company has additional taxes, it passes it on to the people,” he explains.