This, as Nairobi readies to host the Global Trust Summit scheduled for October 21–23 Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing'Oei during a past event/FILE A growing trust deficit between governments, institutions, businesses and citizens is emerging as a threat to trade, investment and job creation across Kenya and the wider African region, experts now say.
This, as Nairobi readies to host the Global Trust Summit scheduled for October 21–23, with the forum expected to examine how weak confidence in government, institutions and international agreements affects economic cooperation. A study by Edelman Trust Barometer, a globally deployed online survey measuring public trust in four core societal institutions: business, government, media, and NGO, indicates that in Kenya, 72 per cer cent to 76 per cent of citizens trust the private sector (business).
Only 38 per cent to 47 per cent trust the government. This is mainly as a result of rampant corruption and misuse of funds, [M1] economic strain and cost of living, broken promises and disconnection, politicisation of public institutions and concerns over the rule of law and security.
Speaking during a briefing in Nairobi ahead of the Summit, Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei said the challenge was not a shortage of agreements but the gap between commitments and implementation. “The shortfall is rarely a shortage of agreements.
Africa and its partners have signed no small number of those. The shortfall is the distance between what gets signed and what actually gets delivered,” he said. For businesses, that gap can translate into higher costs, delays at borders and uncertainty over market access, making it harder for companies to commit capital and expand operations.
Sing’oei cited the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as evidence that implementation can deliver results. He pointed to Kenya's first shipment under the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative in October 2022, when car batteries and tea were shipped from Nairobi to Accra.