It is not in any foreign governments interest to build the Kenyan economy, National psyche or cultural uniqueness Life nay existence is all about competition. The western donors/ Foreign Direct Investors are in it for the development of their cultures. World bank and other 'Development patners' advocate for free trade policies yet they didn't follow the same route. The US,UK,France e.t.c protect their industries/companies interests with military force.

they all operate some sort of closed economy Every single one of these mega corporations are very closely tied to their governments. Therefore depending on the whims of a foreign government to fund your own development has turned out disastrous for the continent for the past 4 decades.

I think China is the only sovereign state that is very proud/able to stick a middle finger to anyone who attempts to give them instructions on how to conduct their personal business and we should learn a thing or two from them.

On Mon, Jun 27, 2011 at 6:32 PM, Phares Kariuki <pkariuki@gmail.com> wrote:

My question though is, we have lower pay rates than the chinese... Why are they cheaper in construction etc? If you figure that out you kinda figure out why Kenya is not competitive as a manufacturing destination...

On Mon, Jun 27, 2011 at 6:30 PM, Peter Osotsi <peter.osotsi@gmail.com> wrote:

I will differ with Joram, Areba and Mark in this regard;

Most companies have already closed down or are in the process of closing down. Even ones that process our staple - maize, have closed down recently. Just unpack your shopping and tally how many of the items in your tray are MADE IN KENYA. Everyone item thats made elsewhere represents a loss of jobs and income to you and the people of Kenya. When you look at it that way, you understand the impact of your statements.

I don't blame anyone but you, the chap reading this and typing forth an angry response. Every 5 years (5 years without failure) we keep on electing the same imbeciles, then turn and with a yawn, then another yawn, then we start complaining again. Look at the death in Westlands of a young promising lady, our people are being lured into drugs, prostitution, cheap labour and other societal ills. We should champion a new era by developing business/social applications and programmes that will foster the development of a new set of thinking. 5 people (Mutunga and the 6 Judges) will not carry the burden of 40 million Kenyans, we have to help them.

Kenya has an almost 70% unemployment rate, Tanzania is doing better at close to 60%. And we are at 16 on the list of FAILED STATES, our GDP is coming close at number 20 (from the rock bottom!) on the GDP states list. Again, Tanzania is rapidly catching up.

We should consider this and many other factors before declaring we do not need FDI, maybe this FDI could have eased the pressure on the KES through dollar inflows to balance the dollar bleeding happening now.

Guys, lets think with an open mind, this stuff we are going through is interconnected in an intricate web, only the keenest will notice the weak links. God help Kenya.

Osotsi

PSS
As for the expanding multinationals, look closely at their interests: -

TOYOTA: Cheap white toyota's all over town bought with loans from - eeh - Stanchart and other banks

STANCHAT: Multinationals and the UN, yes, the UN and non governmental bodies (all international banks fall in this category).

GOOGLE: Digitization of .KE records, yea, .KE! (remember governments everywhere are the largest source of procurement, and Mr Googs knows that!), GE, HP etc fall in this category.

Blah blah blah!

Don't blame me for what I wrote, think for yourself what you can do to make the situation better.

On Mon, Jun 27, 2011 at 1:54 PM, [ Brainiac ] <arebacollins@gmail.com> wrote:

Joram echoes what is indeed true. A wise skunker would listen to what he says... :-)

On Mon, Jun 27, 2011 at 1:51 PM, Joram Mwinamo <joram.mwinamo@gmail.com> wrote:

I was happy for that assessment for one reason, it will keep foreigners away for a bit longer so that I can get entrenched.

The only reason kenya scored badly is the ICC cases and repeated intervention from UN et al. But since post election

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