UCLG Africa supports a local economic development project in Kisumu

Since 2021, Kisumu County has mobilized partners such as UN-Habitat and UCLG Africa to support the development and implementation of a Local Economic Development strategy. Within this framework, UCLG Africa carried out on-site work sessions from 04 to 05 September 2023 to support the finalization of the report on Kisumu’s economic accounts. The local economic development process began with an assessment of the local economy of Kisumu County. This task has been entrusted to the Kenya Institute of Public Policy and Research Analysis (KIPPRA), which is working on the local economic accounts and social accounting matrix, as well as the economic development outlook for Kisumu.

It was in this context that Mr. François Paul Yatta, Director of Programs for UCLG Africa, spent two days discussing the progress of the work with the KIPPRA Institute. The Institute’s team comprised Dr. Humphrey Jeogu, Head of Mission, Dr. John Karanja, Senior Policy Analyst, Mr. Shadrak Mwati from the Macroeconomics Department, Mr. Gideo Nyakundy and Mr. Samuel Kaounde from the Statistics Department.

The Consultant team was made up of Mr. Jim Oduor, Mr. Kelvin Matubu and Dr. Anacletus Ndambuki. UN-Habitat was represented by Mr. Jeremiah Ogou, National Project Officer. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Aloice Ager, representative of the Governor of Kisumu County.

An important part of the session was devoted to explaining the method used to draw up local economic accounts and the associated matrix. Experts were briefed on the particularities of local economic accounts compilation, namely the closure of the social accounting matrix through external accounts, the inclusion of gross operating surplus of economic units in income for the informal sector, and finally, the inclusion of exchanges between the main city, secondary urban centers and the rural areas.