Kenya

Kenya is beginning a crackdown on foreign nationals operating small retail shops and engaging in hawking, after President William Ruto directed authorities to shut down such businesses from September 7.

Ruto made the announcement on September 2 while addressing micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) traders at State House in Nairobi.

He said foreigners should not compete with Kenyans in businesses such as hawking and small retail, while foreign investment was welcome in activities requiring greater capital and investment.

What is Kenya doing?

Ruto directed authorities to begin shutting down small businesses operated by foreign nationals from September 7, saying hawking and small-scale retail should be reserved for Kenyans.

He said the government would take administrative action while the Parliament of Kenya considers the proposed Local Content Bill, 2025.

He also directed National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah and Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui to accelerate the bill’s passage through Parliament.

Why is Kenya moving against foreign traders and small retailers?

Hesbon Hansen Owilla, a professor at Aga Khan University in Nairobi, said the policy would help protect Kenyan traders.

“Yes, this is the best way to protect Kenyan small businesses and traders,” he told Al Jazeera. “Kenya is trying to bring in only investors who are bringing capital that can spur economic development by creating jobs rather than allow small-time foreign traders who only stifle Kenyan small traders while enjoying the robust infrastructure that Kenya has built and social securities.”

“It’s like expatriates. A country cannot allow expatriates in for jobs locals have expertise in,” he said.

The proposed Local Content Bill, 2025, would require foreign companies to increase local sourcing and employment, among other measures.

The bill is still being considered by Parliament and has not yet been enacted into law.

What businesses and traders are affected?

The directive is aimed at foreign nationals operating small retail shops and engaging in hawking. Ruto specifically referred to hawking and small shops when announcing the crackdown.

Kenya’s broader micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) sector covers a wider range of businesses. The government has not publicly provided a comprehensive list of all businesses covered by the September 7 directive or an estimate of how many foreign nationals will be affected.

Ruto also directed Ichung’wah to engage the State Department for Immigration’s principal secretary and establish the requirements governing permits issued to foreign investors and traders. It is therefore not yet clear how the directive will apply to foreign nationals who already hold permits to conduct business in Kenya.

Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’Oei said on September 6 that foreign nationals who meet Kenya’s legal requirements, including holding the necessary work permits and licences, remain legally protected to operate businesses in the country. He said Ruto’s remarks had been taken out of context and were made in the context of the Local Content Bill, 2025.

How significant is foreign investment in Kenya?

Kenya’s 2024 Foreign Investment Survey, the latest such survey published by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), put the country’s stock of foreign direct investment at  1.458 trillion Kenyan shillings ($11.27bn) at the end of 2023, up 8.5 percent from 1.343 trillion Kenyan shillings ($10.4bn) at the end of 2022.

These figures cover foreign investment across the Kenyan economy and are not limited to the small-scale trading activities targeted by Ruto’s directive.

Surveyed foreign-invested enterprises employed 224,769 people in June 2024, including 221,267 Kenyan employees. Foreign employees accounted for 1.6 percent of the workforce in those enterprises.

What is the Tata Chemicals case?

The Tata Chemicals dispute is separate from the small-business crackdown.

Tata Chemicals Magadi operates a soda ash business at Lake Magadi in Kajiado County. On July 28, the Kenyan government suspended the company’s mining operations, citing alleged compliance issues under the country’s mining laws. The suspension also affected its soda ash exports.

On September 3, Ruto said he had ordered Tata Chemicals to leave Kenya, saying the company had not provided sufficient benefits to the local community in Kajiado County. He said the government would bring in two new companies to establish glass and chemical manufacturing facilities in the area.

Tata Chemicals said it had submitted the information requested by Kenyan authorities and was awaiting further communication. The company has said it complied with regulatory requirements and remained committed to resolving the matter through legal and regulatory channels.

The Tata dispute concerns the company’s soda ash operations at Lake Magadi. This is separate from the directive targeting foreign nationals operating small retail businesses and hawking.

What does this mean for foreign investment?

International business consultant and Sols Inclinations Ltd Managing Director Solomon Kinyanjui said the distinction was not between welcoming foreign investment and rejecting it, but between foreign capital that complements Kenyan enterprise and activity that displaces it.

“The issue is not whether foreign capital is welcome, but what role it should play in Kenya’s economy,” he told Al Jazeera. “Foreign investment should complement Kenyan enterprise, not substitute for economic activities Kenyans can competitively undertake themselves.”

He said the stronger case for foreign investment was where it brought capital, technology, skills, industrial capacity and access to export markets, but warned that the government needed to draw the boundary clearly and apply its rules predictably.

Hafsa Abdiwahab Sheikh, a journalist, said the policy could have both benefits and costs depending on how it is implemented.

“The policy could create more jobs for Kenyans and encourage skills transfer, while helping protect local employment,” she told Al Jazeera.

“However, if implemented unpredictably, it may discourage foreign investment and increase business costs, leading to higher prices. It could also affect relations with foreign communities if foreigners are blamed for unemployment.”

Aug. 31 (UPI) — Flight issues continued Monday at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, and other Kenyan airports, in which a workers’ strike has left hundreds of people stranded or delayed.

Kenya’s aviation workers started a “go-slow” strike Sunday, saying the government failed to honor the terms of a memorandum of understanding with the union.

“They have never committed to the negotiations and have failed to cooperate and show effort in resolving our grievances,” said Moss Ndiema, Kenya Aviation Workers Union secretary-general.

This has led to flight delays and cancelations, Kenya Airways said. It advised customers to travel to the airport only if they have been advised to do so or if their flight has been confirmed as operating.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this situation has caused to travel plans,” the airline said in a statement. “The safety of our customers and crew remains our highest priority. Our teams are working with the relevant aviation stakeholders to ensure safe operations and minimize the inconvenience and disruption to our customers’ travels.”

At times, the airline reported delays of more than 6 hours.

Talks between aviation worker unions and the airport were expected to continue Monday after they ended without resolution Sunday.

Meanwhile, Kenya Railways announced it is adding special Nairobi-Mombasa trains Monday and Tuesday to cope with “increased passenger demand.”

“Passengers are encouraged to make their bookings early and take advantage of the additional train services,” it said in a notice.

Naivasha, Kenya – For communities living around Naivasha, water is not an abstract resource. It sustains families, livestock, farms and schools.

That reality has taken on new significance after plans for a major Microsoft-G42 data centre in Olkaria, near Lake Naivasha, stalled in May 2026 over concerns about available power capacity.

Microsoft and United Arab Emirates-based artificial intelligence company G42 announced the project in 2024 as part of a $1bn digital investment package for Kenya. The proposed facility was to run on geothermal energy and eventually scale to as much as 1 gigawatt of capacity.

The uncertainty has also prompted questions about what another major industrial user could mean for water in a region where residents already report shortages.

Microsoft and G42 said the proposed data centre campus would run entirely on renewable geothermal energy and incorporate water conservation technology. The companies did not disclose a project-specific water consumption figure in their 2024 announcement.

Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) communications director Frank David Ochieng told Al Jazeera that the data centre remains at the design stage and that he could not comment further until the project is ready to proceed.

For residents like Musa Olorkedienye, who spoke to Al Jazeera, water scarcity is already a daily concern. He says communities around Olkaria have seen changes in access to water, including the loss of reliable piped supplies that residents previously received from KenGen.

“Currently, we are relying on water vendors to get water, our animals are walking for kilometres, and we fear things could get worse as demand for water rises,” Olorkedienye says.

Pastoralist Isaac Leshishi, who also spoke to Al Jazeera, says increasingly harsh weather is adding to the pressure.

Why Olkaria?

The choice of Olkaria was closely tied to energy. The area is home to Kenya’s major geothermal operations, making it an attractive location for a power-intensive facility.

KenGen operates the Olkaria geothermal complex, while Microsoft and G42 planned to power the proposed data centre entirely with geothermal energy.

A lake under pressure

Naivasha is a freshwater lake in Kenya’s Rift Valley whose catchment supports agriculture, tourism, livestock and domestic water use. Its basin also hosts geothermal development and other economic activity.

Grace Kimani, a patrol leader with Lake Naivasha and Oloiden, told Al Jazeera that the reservoir is under growing pressure from population growth, agriculture, water abstraction, climate variability, pollution and ecosystem degradation.

“The planned Microsoft-G42 data centre in Olkaria could bring jobs and investment, but its water demand raises concerns about adding pressure to already competing needs, particularly during dry periods,” she said.

Kimani said there is limited public information about the project’s expected water demand, source and cooling technology. She said transparency and an assessment of its cumulative impact on water resources would be important.

She also called for water-efficient or water-free cooling, water recycling and the use of treated wastewater, as well as sustainable abstraction limits and community involvement in monitoring.

Silas Wanjala of the Lake Naivasha Riparian Association, who spoke to Al Jazeera, said the region is heavily dependent on groundwater and that declining water flows are adding to the pressure.

“These industries, especially EcoCloud, which deal with data, will consume a lot of water at a time when rivers are drying, and demand for water is on the rise,” Wanjala said.

Olkaria EcoCloud Data Centre is a local partner in the G42-led development. In 2024, the Kenya News Agency reported that G42, Microsoft and EcoCloud signed a letter of intent for the wider data-centre initiative, with EcoCloud described as a local partner that had previously signed a memorandum of understanding with G42.

Wanjala points to past fluctuations in Lake Naivasha as a warning.

“This lake in 2010 nearly dried up due to over-abstraction, and this could be repeated due to high demand for water by these investors in Olkaria,” he says.

His concern comes against a wider backdrop of water scarcity in Kenya. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations says Kenya has about 527 cubic metres (527,000 litres) of freshwater available per person, below the 1,000-cubic-metre threshold for water scarcity, and estimates availability could fall to about 475 cubic metres per person by 2030.

The figures do not show what effect the proposed data centre would have on Lake Naivasha. They provide context, however, for why the prospect of another major water user is drawing scrutiny in a region where demand is already high.

How much water would it use?

The amount of water the proposed Microsoft-G42 facility itself would require remains unclear.

The project announcement provides no projected consumption figure.

Existing industrial use offers some context.

A KenGen environmental and social impact assessment records that 195,165 cubic metres of water were abstracted from Lake Naivasha in July 2023 for domestic and commercial uses at Olkaria and for operations and domestic use at Eburru.

Of that total, 153,918 cubic metres were used for commercial operations at Olkaria. The assessment records the abstraction as within Water Resources Authority (WRA) permitted levels.

Those figures relate to existing KenGen operations, not the proposed data centre.

For farmer Eskimos Kobia, who spoke to Al Jazeera, the potential competition extends beyond households and livestock. He says farmers, pastoralists, schools and investors will all face greater pressure as demand increases.

Kimani said climate variability has also led to fluctuations in lake levels, with periods of flooding followed by prolonged dry conditions.

“Water quality is affected by agricultural run-off, untreated wastewater in some areas and invasive species,” she says.

Investment versus local concerns

Not everyone in Naivasha opposes the investment.

Absolom Mukhuusi of the Naivasha Professional Association, who spoke to Al Jazeera, says the technology sector could bring jobs, infrastructure and new businesses to the area. But he says economic benefits should not come at the expense of local communities.

“Even as we welcome the investors, our biggest fear is what happens to our water bodies and communities as water is diverted to Olkaria for the heavy users,” he says.

Could technology help?

Geologist Kenyatta Otieno, who spoke to Al Jazeera, sees another potential benefit.

He recalls the pressure large flower farms once placed on the lake’s ecosystem, saying many have since left or scaled back their operations.

Otieno says the proposed centre would have included a resource centre to monitor lake levels and weather patterns. Such monitoring, he says, could help identify the highest water level over time and guide riparian land zoning.

“The centre being built with water conservation in mind would be futuristic as Naivasha is generally a water-scarce area. It would be a model for future development,” Otieno said.

Kenya already has regulators responsible for managing competing demands. The WRA regulates water abstraction and issues water-use permits, while the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) oversees environmental impact assessments under the country’s environmental regulatory framework.

Attempts by Al Jazeera to obtain comments from WRA and NEMA officials were unsuccessful. Efforts to reach Microsoft-G42 officials and Kenyan government officials for comment on the project’s status and water requirements were also unsuccessful.

For now, the project’s eventual scale, design and water requirements remain unclear, according to KenGen.

“We are now competing with the multibillion [-dollar] companies for water, and we fear that we shall be the losers in the long run,” Leshishi said.

Aug. 19 (UPI) — A helicopter pilot and six passengers are dead after a crash at Mount Ololokwe in central Kenya, officials reported.

The passengers were tourists, but the Aircraft Accident Investigation Department said the nationalities of the pilot and passengers are not yet confirmed.

The accident happened in Samburu county at 9:13 a.m. local time. The helicopter was a Eurocopter EC130 B4, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority said.

The scenic flight was from a wildlife conservancy in Loisaba to Ewaso Ng’iro, a river that flows along several national reserves.

The Kenya Red Cross said the site of the crash isn’t yet accessible but drones have assessed the scene, the BBC reported.

“Search and recovery efforts are ongoing, hampered by difficult terrain access and an active fire at the crash site,” the Kenya Red Cross said on X. “An additional team has been dispatched from Isiolo to reinforce the operation.”

Kenya has a history of multiple helicopter crashes.

In March 2024, Kenya’s Chief of Defense Gen. Francis Omondi Ogolla and nine others were killed in a helicopter crash in the country. Two people survived.

In 2019, four Americans and a pilot were killed in a helicopter crash in Kenya.

In 2012, three people were killed and six were injured in a crash on takeoff at the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya.