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🇵🇾 Paraguay /Elections & Politics

Kenya clarifies order to close foreign-owned small businesses after backlash

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Official statement Ongoing story
  • Kenya’s government said visa-free entry does not give foreign nationals the right to work, seeking to clarify President William Ruto’s order targeting foreign-run small businesses and street vendors.
  • The government said foreigners who violate visa and work-permit rules could have their visas revoked, while insisting Kenya remains open to lawful investors and businesses.
  • Ruto linked the directive to proposed local-content legislation, but civil society groups and Burundi’s embassy criticized the measure’s potential effects.

Kenya’s government has sought to soften and clarify President William Ruto’s order that foreign nationals close small retail businesses and stop street vending. The Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry said visa exemptions do not authorize people to work in Kenya.

The ministry said some visitors had deliberately misused visa applications, allowing people who entered as investors or tourists to carry out activities prohibited by their visa status. It said the government needed to regulate foreign participation in retail and local trade and enforce work-permit rules. Those who violate the applicable visa provisions, it added, could have their visas revoked under the law.

At the same time, the ministry stressed that “Kenya remains an open and welcoming country for investors and legitimate businesses operating within the law and contributing to economic growth, job creation and development.”

Kenya remains an open and welcoming country for investors and legitimate businesses operating within the law and contributing to economic growth, job creation and development.

· Kenya’s Ministry of Investment, Trade and IndustryThe ministry’s effort to distinguish lawful investors from foreigners violating visa and work-permit rules.

The statement followed remarks by Ruto at a meeting with micro, small and medium-sized traders. He said foreign nationals should not compete with Kenyans in street vending or small-scale retail and set Sept. 7 as the deadline for foreigners running such businesses to close them. “We have not improved investor confidence for (...) someone to come from China or anywhere else to be a street vendor or open a small shop,” he said.

Ruto linked the directive to the Local Content Bill of 2025, which is before Parliament. The bill would create a regulatory framework restricting some commercial activities to Kenyan citizens and requiring at least 60% of supplies and services to come from local sources. A day later, Ruto also said he had ordered Indian multinational Tata Chemicals to leave Kenya, accusing it of failing to generate economic development. Civil society organizations said the small-business order could violate constitutional rights and fuel discrimination against foreigners. Burundi’s embassy in Kenya also reacted to the measure.

We have not improved investor confidence for (...) someone to come from China or anywhere else to be a street vendor or open a small shop.

· William RutoRuto’s explanation of his opposition to foreign participation in street vending and small retail.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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