Kenya - Services

Accounting for approximately 56 percent of GDP, the service, or tertiary sector, is the most valuable area of economic activity in the domestic economy. The service sector consists mainly of 2 major areas: tourism and financial activities. Retail , which includes a significant number of restaurants in the urban centers, is dominated by small-scale street vendors, many of whom form part of the informal sector . In total, 144,300 Kenyans were involved in retail in 1996, not counting those that were engaged in the informal sector. The informal sector itself, known in Kenya as "jua kali," employs approximately 64 percent of all Kenyan urban workers. It is also the most dynamic sector in the economy in terms of job creation, accounting for about 90 percent of new jobs outside the smallholder farm sector. Informal sector activities, such as carpentry, motor vehicle repair, tailoring, hawking , and selling various fruits, vegetables, and other commodities, are largely service-based. Though the government recognizes the value of the informal sector, the U.S. Department of State Country Commercial Guide 2000 argues that it could do more to develop needed infrastructure.