Goli Innocent 
The economic growth in Kenya accelerated more than expected in the third quarter of 2023, massively supported by a rebound in agricultural output after years of drought and a buoyant tourism sector.
Gross domestic product expanded 5.9% in the three months through September from a year earlier, compared with a revised 5.5% in the previous quarter and 4.3% a year earlier, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. That was ahead of the central bank’s forecast of 5.6%.
The economy’s main growth engine agriculture, forestry and fishing, which accounts for about a quarter of Kenya’s total output, accelerated by 6.7%, after contracting in the same period a year ago.
Fruit exports jumped 84% year-on-year, while vegetable and tea shipments were up 35% and 28% respectively.
“The improved performance was attributed to favorable weather conditions that characterized the first three quarters,” the agency said.
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Accommodation and food services which reflects the performance of the tourism industry and is one of the country’s largest foreign exchange earners jumped 26% versus 16.9% a year ago.
The central bank sees the pace of growth quickening to 5.9% next year, from an estimated 5.5% in 2023 and 4.8% expansion in 2022.
Headwinds include the government’s austerity measures and tight monetary policy that are necessary to correct imbalances, and the local currency’s slide against the dollar, according to Capital Economics.
The shilling has weakened 27% this year and the central bank’s monetary policy committee has responded with two rate increases since June to support it and to temper inflation.
The MPC noted earlier this month that “exchange-rate depreciation continues to exert upward pressure on domestic prices, thereby increasing the cost of living and reducing purchasing power.”
It judged that currency weakness had contributed about 3 percentage points or almost half of November’s rise in prices.
