The Kenya President William Ruto has ordered the shutdown of small retail shops owned by foreigners in the east African country, arguing that the government had made efforts to improve the economy; and has not improved investor confidence for hawkers to come to Kenya
Penpushing reports that Ruto, directed the Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry on Wednesday to begin enforcement action against foreigners engaged in local trading and hawking next Monday.
The president emphasized that the directive was based on the need to protect local Kenyan traders and ensure that businesses reserved for citizens are not affected by unfair competition.
Penpushing further reports that there’s a bill before the Kenyan parliament that targets foreign participation in certain small-scale businesses, while the Local Content Bill introduced in 2025 seeks to increase Kenyans’ participation in economic activities and provide greater opportunities for local businesses and citizens.
The bill equally proposed sourcing at least 60 per cent of goods, services, and supplies locally where they meet the required standards, however, the president said the government would not wait for the parliament to pass proposed legislation before taking administrative measures to address the issue.
” All those traders and hawkers doing these small businesses should close down. From next week, all traders doing those small businesses should close them’, Ruto declared
Penpushing also reports that the President said the country’s goal is to attract large-scale foreign investments and protect small business owners, especially those at the bottom of the economic pyramid.
“We have made efforts to improve the economy; we have not improved investor confidence for hawkers to come to Kenya. We have not built investor confidence so that hawkers can come to Kenya’ Ruto stressed
“The investor confidence we have built is for investors to come to Kenya, not hawkers and traders. People should not confuse us,” he added.
Penpushing reports that Kenya now joins the growing list of African countries restricting foreign nationals from operating small-scale businesses reserved for citizens, and these include Tanzania, Botswana, and Ghana.
The restrictions target low-capital businesses such as petty retail, mobile money services, salons, and small-sector manufacturing, while the restrictions covered most wholesale and retail trade, mobile money services, electronics repair, salons, small-scale mining, tour guiding, real-estate brokerage, clearing and forwarding, crop purchasing, and some micro and small industries.
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