Chapter 5: Conclusion
In this report, we posed a simple question: How can Kenyans assess the value of their country’s partnership with the United States?
In Chapter 2, we documented that U.S. government-driven assistance delivers tangible benefits for the Kenyan people to the tune of USD 1.68 billion annually. The U.S. channels much of its assistance via bilateral official development assistance—including grants, concessional lending, and technical advice. In addition, the U.S. government has been a leading supporter of multilateral organizations (e.g., UN agencies, development banks) and multi-donor funds operating in Kenya. Finally, we also attempted to quantify how favorable U.S. trade, immigration, and investment policies are helping Kenya transform itself to become a rapidly modernizing middle-income economy by 2030.
In Chapter 3, we uncovered an additional USD 1.36 billion annually in value generated by growing people-to-people ties between companies, organizations, and individuals that are advancing Kenya’s growth and prosperity. U.S. companies provide job opportunities, invest capital, and buy goods and services that support the Kenyan economy. U.S. philanthropic organizations crowd-in private sector funds to complement government expenditures to invest in Kenya’s people and institutions, while U.S.-based NGOs deliver projects that directly improve livelihoods. Moreover, our increasingly globalized world has facilitated individual U.S. donations and microloans via crowd-funding sites, revenues from visiting American tourists, and remittances from Kenyans working in the United States.
Taken together, we estimate that the United States-Kenya partnership generates a total of approximately USD 3.05 billion each year to support Kenya’s growth and prosperity. In Chapter 4, we examined how U.S. assistance may help Kenya advance discrete economic, social, and governance goals in line with its Vision 2030 agenda. We also learned that the majority of Kenyan leaders surveyed viewed the United States as actively engaged and making a substantial contribution to their country’s development progress, though citizens were substantially more inclined than leaders to view the United States as the best model of development for their country to aspire.
Given the difficulties of quantifying non-official investments and financial flows, the numbers in this report are conservative estimates, and the total contribution of the United States to Kenya’s growth and development may, in fact, be far greater. Nonetheless, we hope that this report has provided a helpful baseline for Kenyan citizens and leaders to assess for themselves the value they derive from their country’s partnership with the United States.