The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has partnered with Kenya Investment Authority (KenIvest) and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) in conducting the Foreign Investment Survey (FIS) 2024 from November 11 to February 2025.
The survey aims to gather invaluable data on the economic footprint of foreign investments, providing insights to guide strategic and effective economic planning and policy formulation aimed at attracting and retaining investment within the country.
Director of Statistical Coordination and Methods at KNBS, Benjamin Avusevwa, said the survey will be looking at companies that deal in foreign assets and liabilities.
Avusevwa said they have contracted and trained about 48 survey personnel to interview Chief Finance Officers, Finance Directors, and Chief Accountants of about 1150 companies across a spectrum of industries countrywide.
Speaking in Kisumu County during the closing ceremony of a 10-day training of research assistants, Avusevwa said the survey is vital because KNBS needs to know the flows and stocks of foreign assets and liabilities in terms of equities and shares. The event was presided over by KNBS Director General Dr. Macdonald Obudho.
“This survey is very important because from the data collected we compile Balance of Payments (BOP) and International Investment Position (IIP) statistics and other related statistics,” Avusevwa remarked.
The BOP and IIP, he explained, indicate the levels of debt and foreign direct investment in the country. These aggregates also offer the opportunity to establish the kind of foreign transactions that come into the country for foreign exchange stability.
FIS 2024, he added, is the eighth edition of the survey series and targets to collect data on foreign private capital for the periods 2022 and 2023 and investor perceptions on the business environment.
According to the FIS 2023, Kenya’s stock foreign liabilities between the years 2020 and 2022 increased from Sh1.75 trillion to Sh2.06 trillion, which accounted for 17.9 per cent. Stock foreign liabilities are the total amount of financial obligations a country has to foreign entities at a specific point in time.
The rise was attributed to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which increased by 11.6 per cent from Sh1.079 trillion at the end of 2020 to Sh.1.19 trillion at the end of 2022.
Consequently, the stock of foreign assets had risen by 13.7 per cent from Sh452.9 billion in 2021 to Sh514.9 billion in 2022.
The report further shows that Europe and Asia are leading in terms of investments, which include non-equity items such as debts and trade credits in Kenya.
“Europe accounted for the largest share of foreign liabilities at 38.8, 35.5, and 37.1 per cent at the end of 2020, 2021, and 2022, respectively. Investment from Asia grew by 17.6 per cent from Sh225.9 billion in 2020 to Sh265.7 billion in 2022,” it stated.
By Robert Ojwang’ and Joseph Ouma
