Kenyan president orders crackdown on foreigners operating small businesses

Kenyan President William Ruto has directed a crackdown on foreigners who run small‑scale businesses, asserting that local traders and hawkers deserve protection. The directive follows growing concern over the rising number of African migrants participating in Kenya’s vast informal economy. “From adjacent week, each [foreign] traders doing those tiny businesses should adjacent them,” Ruto said, adding that his administration will fast‑track proposed legislation to bar foreigners from certain trade sectors. He emphasized that Kenya remains open to foreign investment, but argued that investors—including Chinese traders—should create jobs and expand production rather than compete with Kenyans in modest enterprises. “It cannot beryllium that a idiosyncratic comes from China oregon elsewhere to beryllium a hawker oregon unfastened a tiny shop,” Ruto told a gathering of small‑scale traders at State House in Nairobi on Wednesday afternoon. “We person made efforts to amended the economy, we person not improved capitalist assurance for hawkers to travel to Kenya,” he said, noting his intention to deliver a second address next year. The exact number of foreign nationals engaged in petty trading remains unclear, as does the potential impact of the new measures. Kenya shelters a substantial refugee population, many of whom reside and work outside official camps. Government data show that by the end of June the country hosted approximately 857,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers, with roughly 14 % living in urban areas. Kenyan law recognizes refugees’ right to work and operate businesses, provided they obtain the required permits. In Nairobi and other major towns, migrants from the region can be found working in barber shops, salons, construction, motorcycle taxis, street vending, and the sale of clothing, food and household items. Some have fled conflict or economic hardship at home, while others have moved to Kenya seeking better opportunities under the relatively free movement regime of the East African Community, an eight‑member bloc. The increasing presence of foreigners has at times sparked tension with local traders and workers, who accuse them of competing for scarce jobs and business chances. In July, a video circulated showing a Kenyan man confronting a Burundian trader in Nairobi and accusing him of depriving locals of opportunities, drawing widespread criticism. The incident prompted Fred Ngoga, a Burundian expert on migration conflict prevention, to appeal for the protection of his compatriots. “The bulk of Kenyans are decent and bully radical who invited their brothers and sisters from Burundi,” Ngoga said at the time, adding that most Kenyans had rejected the hostility aimed at the trader. Kenya’s foreign ministry also sought to reassure Burundians and other East Africans living in the country after the episode. While Ruto’s latest order is likely to provoke debate given Kenya’s status as a regional economic hub, it coincides with broader worries about xenophobia elsewhere on the continent. This year South Africa has experienced a wave of protests against undocumented migrants, leading tens of thousands of Africans to opt for voluntary repatriation, some citing intimidation and attacks.