Kenya orders crackdown on foreign hawkers, small retailers amid xenophobia concerns

Kenyan President William Ruto on Wednesday ordered authorities to begin shutting down small businesses operated by foreign nationals from Monday, Sept. 7, saying hawking and small-scale retail should be reserved for Kenyans.

Speaking to micro, small and medium enterprise traders at State House in Nairobi, Ruto said Kenya welcomes foreign investment but argued that foreigners should not compete with citizens in businesses requiring little capital.

"From next week, all traders doing those small businesses should close them," Ruto said.

"We have made efforts to improve the economy, we have not improved investor confidence for hawkers to come to Kenya," he added.

Ruto said the government would push ahead with legislation aimed at defining areas of economic activity that should prioritize Kenyan citizens.

"We have a bill in Parliament on Trade. In that bill, Local Content Bill, 2025, we have proposed that there should be businesses that foreigners should not do here in Kenya, by law," he said.

"It cannot be that a person comes from China or elsewhere to be a hawker or open a small shop," Ruto added.

The Local Content Bill, currently before Parliament, proposes that foreign companies employ Kenyans as at least 80% of their workforce and source at least 60% of specified goods and services locally. Companies using agricultural produce for manufacturing would be required to source it entirely from Kenyan farmers.

Ruto directed National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah and Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui to accelerate the legislation.

The announcement comes amid wider concern about anti-foreigner sentiment in parts of Africa, particularly South Africa, where xenophobic campaigns have targeted migrants and foreign-owned businesses.

In South Africa, anti-immigration groups have this year targeted foreign traders and migrants, including through campaigns to close foreign-owned businesses and restrict access to some public services, prompting concerns from authorities and rights groups about xenophobia.

Kenya has not experienced anti-migrant violence on the scale seen in South Africa, but tensions surfaced recently after a Burundian street vendor was confronted in Nairobi and accused of taking business opportunities from Kenyans.