Kenya: Facing the Challenges of an Open Economy

This chapter first provides a background of the telecommunications industry of Kenya, and describes the main policy concerns involved in this sector during the 1990s using a broader perspective of developmental procedures. Included in this discussion is the dimensions of the encounter with communication technology as seen in Kenya, which might be comparable to other nations with similar economic structures that promote and employ market-based strategies. These procedures are devised so as to address the problems inherent to Kenya and other similar countries. The consequences of high population growth rates, migration, social distress, and massive unemployment are considered. Here, the basic claim is that economic necessities will only be fulfilled in the presence of network expansion, service quality and components improvement, and enhancement in operational production and efficiency. Studies conducted recently about the economic importance of telecommunications provision, regulation, and investment are also re-examined.