World Bank: Corruption costs Kenyans 20% of their daily earnings
Corruption is costing informal workers in Kenya up to 20 per cent of their daily earnings through bribes demanded by traffic police and municipal inspectors, while increasing the cost of doing business and worsening the country’s debt burden, a new World Bank report has revealed. In its November 2026 Kenya Economic Update, the World Bank […]
A new World Bank report warns that corruption in Kenya is costing informal workers up to 20% of their daily wages through bribes from traffic police and municipal inspectors. The country's governance weaknesses are also increasing the cost of doing business and worsening its debt burden, the report adds. Informal workers, who make up 83.8% of Kenya's workforce, frequently face demands for bribes, resulting in significant financial losses.
The World Bank estimates that governance weaknesses add approximately two percentage points of GDP to Kenya's annual fiscal deficits. This corruption distorts tax policies, facilitates tax evasion, and reduces citizens' willingness to comply with tax obligations. The report highlights that electricity prices for Kenyan businesses are more than double those in Vietnam and nearly 50% higher than in Uganda, with some costs attributed to corruption.
Kenyan firms are increasingly concerned about corruption, with 39% of them considering it a major business constraint in 2025, up from 25% in 2013. Firms exposed to bribery are 30% less likely to introduce innovations and experience lower growth in labour productivity and sales. However, the report projects that implementing moderate anti-corruption reforms by 2035 could increase Kenya's GDP by 8.7% and support millions of Kenyans through improved employment opportunities and household incomes.
Written by urgent.news from People Daily Kenya's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
