Kenya suffers huge job losses as Covid pummels economy

Kenya’s economy shrank for the first time in three decades last year as the country was battered by the coronavirus pandemic, and almost 740,000 people were thrown out of work, a new government survey said.

Gross domestic product in the East African powerhouse dropped by 0.3 percent -- the first contraction since 1992 -- after expanding five percent in 2019, according to the report issued Thursday.

However, Treasury Secretary Ukur Yatani said that the economy was set for a “significant rebound” in 2021, with forecast growth of around six percent.

Overall GDP fell to 10.75 trillion Kenyan shillings ($98bn/83bn euros) last year.