Research Papers

This review paper examines the evolution of the telecommunications ecosystem through one decade namely 2009-2019. The choice of 2009 as a starting point is a signifier of the momentous shift of international connectivity with the introduction of fibre and thus a massive amount of data and subdued contribution of satellite. Inadequate, expensive, and high latency bandwidth was heralded as a block in Kenya’s growth and thus the entry of fibre was intended to unleash latent energy and shepherd Kenya to prosperity in a digitally connected society. 

The paper unbundles the key drivers of the telecommunications industry in a way to empower stakeholders engage in an informed debate on the opportunities and threats in the ecosystem and position the industry as foundational to the realisation of a digital economy, 4IR and regional competitiveness.
 

The virus, COVID-19 is burdening an already strained healthcare system in Kenya. Under the 2010 Constitution and after the 2013 election, healthcare is one of the 14 functions that has been devolved to the newly formed 47 counties. County governments are now at the frontline of delivering services to address the COVID-19 pandemic. However, healthcare capacity in the 47 counties is varied. Historical inequalities across regions, and in the health sector, date back to colonial times and despite seven years of devolution (2013-2020), convergence towards a uniform healthcare system across counties is far from a reality. This report offers some empirical evidence on which of the 47 counties in Kenya are best and least-well situated to deal with the Covid-19 virus. The purpose here is to assist policy makers in determining where limited resources, financial, human, and medical, can best be employed and where additional support may be provided by the national government to augment local resources.

The report presents data on two critical dimensions of countries specific circumstances: their healthcare capacity to respond to the virus and the risk to their population of contracting the disease. The data are presented in the form of two indices, specifically a healthcare capacity index and a population risk index. As the objective is cross-county comparisons, these are both relative measures. Another measure on county population size is also provided since the absolute size of a county’s population may be a factor in how resources need to be deployed.

This paper traces the institutions and processes that govern the use of public resources within the public sector in order to identify whether the broad goals of the public procurement policy are being achieved. Following this detailed review and selected case studies, the study contends that while the quest to use public procurement to advance economic development is a legitimate policy goal, government procurement in Kenya unequivocally fails to do so. And this failure is regular and consistent throughout most state departments, ministries and agencies, suggesting that the incentives for a clean, transparent and effective public procurement in Kenya will remain a long-term challenge in Kenya’s development path.

Our report in collaboration with Observer Research Foundation provides an account of Africa’s battle against COVID-19, maps a profile of the continent’s vulnerabilities that render it susceptible to systemic collapse, and analyses ways in which it can build resilience in the face of future crises. The report takes a systemic perspective, and provides analyses oriented around four axes: Health, Economic, Socio-political and Technological systems; and three key elements: Risk, Response and Resilience.

The Kenya Government’s commitment to provision of quality and affordable health care for all Kenyans from a constitutional, policy and even global perspective is not in doubt. As a critical component of economic development, Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is identified as one of the planks of the government’s “Big Four” Agenda.

Despite obvious successes in health outcomes, in part driven by Devolution, challenges especially of inadequate medical personnel, low specialized health infrastructure to deal with a rise in non- communicable diseases and cases of injuries remain. This has engendered increasing demand for health services, piling pressure on the government budget.

The leasing of medical equipment (Managed Equipment Services-MES) project was initiated in 2015 as an alternative health care financing option to scale up health infrastructure for provision of specialized medical care. The question of whether this was the most cost-effective intervention, especially as a public private partnership (PPP) project, is what this publication sought to investigate. Which then begs the question: four years down the line, is the public getting value for money from implementation of the project?