Kenya’s economic growth increased in the third quarter, led by expansion in the construction industry.
Gross domestic product in the three months through September rose 4.4 percent on an annual basis, compared with 4.3 percent in the previous quarter, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said today in an e-mailed statement from Nairobi, the capital.
Agriculture, which accounts for a fifth of GDP, grew by 3.4 percent in the third quarter from 5 percent in the second quarter, while construction surged 13.3 percent from 6.7 percent. The leisure industry, including restaurants and hotels, expanded 1.3 percent from 11.4 percent after terrorism threats and a slowdown in the economies of the U.S. and Europe curbed arrivals.
Kenya, the world’s biggest black-tea exporter, is investing in the construction of ports, railways and power-generation projects. The deadliest attack by Islamist militants in 15 years in Kenya hurt tourism, the nation’s second-biggest source of foreign income. The four-day raid by militants linked to al-Qaeda at an upmarket shopping complex in the Nairobi left at least 67 civilians and security personnel dead.
“We are in the midst of a construction boom and that is going to gather more steam with the proviso we don’t have another terrorist attack,” Aly-Khan Satchu, chief executive officer of Nairobi-based Rich Management Ltd., an adviser to companies and wealthy individuals, said by phone yesterday.
The government forecasts the economy will grow 5.5 percent to 6 percent this year from 4.6 percent in 2012. Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich said the forecast for 2013 growth is unchanged even after the ordeal at the Westgate shopping mall.
