Kenya is currently in the research phase, according to a press release from the Central Bank of Kenya. The press release said, “[The] implementation of a CBDC in Kenya may not be a compelling priority in the short to medium term[, but the Central Bank of Kenya] will continue to monitor developments in CBDCs to inform future assessments of the need for CBDC in Kenya.” The Central Bank of Kenya said that responses from the public and the fading allure of CBDCs on the global stage helped it come to this conclusion.

Kenya earned a 52 out of 100 in Freedom House’s 2023 Freedom in the World report. Although there are many concerns in Kenya, the concerns most relevant to the issuance and use of a CBDC are widespread corruption and the oppression of dissenting voices. A CBDC could worsen these issues.

“Corruption continues to plague national and county governments in Kenya, and state institutions tasked with combating corruption have been ineffective,” according to Freedom House. Like many other countries suffering from corruption, part of the problem appears due to weak and even absent anticorruption efforts. The existence of pervasive corruption is a major concern with CBDCs because it calls into question any promises that might be made by the government to limit surveillance, control, or other risks of CBDCs. Furthermore, the existence of corruption calls into question whether CBDC policies might be designed to exert political favoritism through subsidies, price controls, or other targeted restrictions.

Freedom House also reported that “Kenya has an active civil society, but nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have faced growing obstacles in recent years, including repeated government attempts to deregister hundreds of NGOs for alleged financial violations.” Unfortunately, a CBDC could be used as another tool in this effort. Across the world, governments have often turned to freezing and seizing the money of activists, political rivals, and protestors to undermine the opposition. A CBDC would make such initiatives easier by allowing governments to take direct control of each citizen’s finances.

For additional information on concerns regarding violations of human rights and civil liberties, see the following reports by Amnesty International, Financial Tyranny Index, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Privacy International, and the U.S. Department of State. For additional information on concerns regarding the risks of CBDCs, see the following webpage and report by the Cato Institute: The Risks of CBDCs and Central Bank Digital Currency: Assessing the Risks and Dispelling the Myths.

For additional information regarding metrics, the methodology page explains each of the data points and provides their respective sources.