Probably they are not, worse comapring yourselves with other African countries save for Egypt and South Africa is a joke.

I think they're doing very well considering the many hurdles they have to overcome from expensive unreliable electricity, kanjo, thugs, licenses, high taxation, poor transport network, expensive fuel, bad laws and law makers, zero justice system, inefficient insurance providers, counterfeits, disgruntled police force... just to name a few.

How competitive are Kenyan businesses?

I would venture to say most businesses I see around are only as competitive as the next door or next stall business. Most of our businesses are only competitive at a local level, by local i mean in the immediate surrounding. I do not agree that we posses better entrepreneurship skills compared to citizens of most African countries.

I also think we have a terrible approach to starting our businesses. We suffer from what I call "make quick money syndrome" we want to invest right now and tomorrow come out with 200+% return on investments even without really knowing what the business is all about.

Another big problem is we never make sound business plans and sometimes completely lack a business plan. we do not have a clear vision, we never conduct feasibility studies, we do not understand our markets, we are plagued with financial and poor management issues.

we also lack realistic projections. e.g you want to lease a 30x10 foot stall, put down a huge X amount of goodwill money to start a business just because others are doing it without critically assessing what you are doing. The plan here is maybe run to Dubai and get goods to sell. Then as soon as you go bust, you wonder what really happened or blame someone else for your business running into the ground. I think we can be more competitive if we start thinking critically from a business perspective.

Business competitiveness is relative. Kenyan businesses, methinks are as competitive as any challenge that comes their way. Without doubt, compared to UG, TZ RWN, BUR et al, Kenyan businesses are the most competive.

When faced with an bigger challenge, Kenyan businesses have shown capacity to surmount as well. Look at kenol Kobil against multinationals, Equity against big banks, Serena against the Big names (Kingdom hotels, Intercon etc),

In construction, textiles and manufacturing however, Kenyan business have fallen short of competition. see kina Kirinyaga against Chinese constructors, our local sugar is more expensive than imported, despite duties and the same for imported cement and fetilizer

There is the perenial excuse by local manufacurers that energy cost is the problem, that am not sure about

I agree Kenyan businesses/Kenyans are more competitive than most African businesses/Africans.
The reason for our businesses not expanding throughout Africa goes down to one element of production,Capital. Look at all those companies which foray in to our local market and compare their balance sheets with our local establishment. I also think Moi's era didn't do good for ourselves and our businesses.It's much easier to expand now than it was some years back. those who are disputing Kenyans'[or their businesses'] competence, go to any part of the world and find out the Africans doing real business. Kenyans will be second only to Nigerians in spite of the population difference.

I was thinking awhile before weighing in. If the measure is competitiveness, my view is Kenyans and their businesses can carry their weight at any stage.

However when considering why Kenyan businesses seem to be dominant only in East Africa or COMESA, I looked at Nigeria. If you pick particular industries music, entertainment, banking etc it's clear that Nigeria has become a force in the continent north of SA.

My conclusion is that major limitation is size of Kenyan market. To really conquer, you need a good company in a large market making larger profits that spills over in the domination of smaller markets. South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt are doing it.

Hence it'll always be easier for Kenyan businesses to tackle EA markets as opposed to South Africa or West Africa for example.