In the latest Human Capital Index report Kenya was ranked 94 with a Human Capital Index (HCI) score of 0.52. Globally World Bank ranked Kenya behind Seychelles, Mauritius and Algeria. Except for Seychelles, Mauritius and Algeria, Kenya ranked position one when compared among the large economies in sub-Saharan Africa. The index ranked 157 countries.
The Human Development Index (HDI) is the statistical indicator of estimating human development in each nation. It is the combination of “Life Expectancy index”, “Education index ” and “Income Index “. … Human capital is measured by health, education and quality of standard of living.
The 0.52 score means that a child born in Kenya today is 52 per cent of who s/he could be with complete education and full health. The index ranges between 0 and 1
The ranking shows that more Kenyans are healthier and get a good education. “This means the expected productivity, as a future worker, of a child born today in Kenya, provided all indicators stay at the current level 52 per cent of what it could be with the complete education and full health,” Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich said in a statement. Mr Rotich said the State will continue to invest in health, education and support the vulnerable to give Kenya an HCI score of one.
This would raise the expected productivity of a future worker, he said. The 18th edition of the World Bank’s Kenya Economic Update showed that Kenya’s spending on education accounts for 20.3 per cent of the total expenditure in financial year 2015/16. The report noted that spending on health accounted for 6.4 per cent of total expenditure. Another report by the World Bank showed that Kenya is suffering from mis-allocation of talent with highly skilled people stuck in the unproductive informal sector or subsistence farming.
Treasury CS Henry Rotich cited the continuous investment in health, education, and support to the vulnerable as contributors to the improved index.He added that Kenya’s ranking in the HCI is a clear testimony that government’s investment for the past few years is paying off.
Rotich participated in the Ministerial Round-table meeting of the Early Adopters for the Human Capital Development by the World Bank.
“Further the priorities on the BIG Four plan, especially on the universal health coverage, food security and nutrition, will continue to push Kenya high up the global ranking.”
In the meeting, the CS also expounded on government’s milestones in the free primary and secondary school programmes.
The Human Capital Index unveiled in Indonesia on October 11 puts Kenya at position 94 globally with a score of 0.52.
Seychelles was ranked 43rd globally with a score of 0.65 while Mauritius was rated 52nd with a score of 0.60.
Algeria was ranked 93rd with a tie score of 0.52 like in the Kenyan case.