Kenyans working in finance, energy sectors highest paid, agriculture least paid - ICEA Lion survey ▷ Kenya News

Kenyan employees working in the finance and energy sectors are the highest paid, a new report on formal employment trends has revealed.

The report released by ICEA Lion asset manager on Wednesday, July 10, also showed those working in agriculture and manufacturing sectors are poorly paid despite these sectors being key contributors to Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

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ICEA Lion’s Head of Management and Research Judd Murigi presenting the report on Wednesday, July 10, at Serena Hotel, Nairobi. Photo: CapitalFM.
Source: Twitter

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ICEA Lion’s head of management and research, Judd Murigi, indicated analysis of employment trends in Kenya between 2014-2018 showed workers in the agriculture sector had an average annual earnings per employee being below KSh 500,000, the lowest compared to other sectors.

As of 2018, agriculture held majority share of the GDP at 34.2%, but contributed only 12% of all the formal jobs according to the ICEA Lion report.

Murigi attributed the meagre contribution of agriculture to Kenya's formal sector employment to a number of factors, among them lack of access of markets and intermediaries, lack of value addition and lack of competitiveness in the sector.

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The report showed the agriculture sector, often described as the backbone of Kenya's economy, has been grappling with myriad challenges over the years and these challenges have not been addressed.

“The government needs to do a couple of things, such as engage in public-private sector partnerships and address the structural challenges such as lack of value addition, the high cost of energy, lack of access to markets and up-scaling workforce in the sector,” Murigi recommended.

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When it comes to the Kenyan manufacturers who have a very close working relationship with the agricultural producers, ICEA Lion noted the cost of production remained their biggest headache.

High cost of electricity, the report indicated, rendered Kenyan goods noncompetitive in comparison to its peers in the Eastern African region.

The poor performance of the sector in turn affected employees who were forced to work for extremely lower wages compared to their counterparts in the other markets.

“We need to have the right tax incentives and improve infrastructure access to markets. These are some of the issues that need to be addressed,” Murigi said.

In overall, the private sector accounted for about 70% of all formal employments in the country according to the ICEA Lion report.

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