Kenyan president orders crackdown on foreigners operating small businesses

ByWycliffe Muia Reporting fromNairobi.

Key points

• Administration figures show that Kenya had concerning 857, 000 registered refugees and asylum seekers by the end of June, with almost 14% living in urban areas.
• Did a goat herder's lucky $200 nugget spark a gold rush in western Kenya?
• Kenya's President William Ruto has ordered a crackdown on foreigners operating small-scale businesses, saying local traders and hawkers need to be protected.
• In July, a video of a Kenyan man confronting a Burundian trader in Nairobi and accusing him of taking opportunities from locals sparked widespread criticism.
• The clash additionally prompted Fred Ngoga, an expert on regional conflict prevention from Burundi, to appeal for the protection of his country's citizens.

His announcement comes against the backdrop of growing debate concerning the increasing number of African migrants involved in Kenya's vast informal economy.

"From next week, all traders doing those small businesses should close them, " he remarked, additionally promising to fast-track proposed legislation to preclude foreigners from certain areas of trade.

Ruto remarked Kenya remained open to foreign investment, but argued that investors – including Chinese traders – should create jobs and expand production rather than compete with Kenyans in small businesses.

"It cannot be that a person comes from China or elsewhere to be a hawker or open a small shop, " he remarked in an address to small-scale traders who had come to meet the president at State House in the capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday afternoon.

"We have made efforts to improve the economy, we have not improved investor confidence for hawkers to come to Kenya, " remarked Ruto, who aims to seek a second term in election next year.

It is unclear how plenty of foreign nationals are involved in small-scale trading or how numerous would be affected by the new crackdown.

Kenya hosts a sizeable refugee population, some of whom live and work outside the country's refugee camps.

Although they are required to obtain the appropriate documentation, kenyan law recognises the right of refugees to work and operate businesses. Refugees wishing to work or engage in a trade or business can apply for a special permit.

As well as selling clothes, food and household goods, in Nairobi and other major towns, migrants from the region can be discovered working in barber shops and salons, construction, operating motorbike taxis and street vending.

While others have moved to Kenya in search of better opportunities under the relatively free movement of individuals allowed within the East African Community, a regional bloc produced up of eight countries, some have fled conflicts or economic hardship at home.

Meanwhile, the growing presence of foreigners has at times caused tensions with local traders and workers who accuse them of competing for scarce jobs and business opportunities.

Meanwhile, the clash additionally prompted Fred Ngoga, an expert on regional conflict prevention from Burundi, to appeal for the protection of his country's citizens.

"The majority of Kenyans are decent and good people who welcome their brothers and sisters from Burundi, " he remarked at the time, adding that most Kenyans had rejected the hostility directed at the trader.

Kenya's foreign ministry additionally sought to reassure Burundians and other East Africans living in the country after the incident.

While Ruto's latest move is projected to prove controversial given Kenya's status as regional economic hub, it additionally comes against the backdrop of wider worries regarding xenophobia elsewhere in Africa.

This year South Africa has seen a wave of protests regarding undocumented migrants – and tens of thousands of Africans there have opted to be repatriated voluntarily, some saying they have been the targets of intimidation and attacks. You may additionally be interested in.

Did a goat herder's lucky $200 nugget spark a gold rush in western Kenya? Women secretly filmed, then ridiculed and abused online. One ant for $220: The new frontier of wildlife trafficking.

Go to BBCAfrica.com, external for more news from the African continent.

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