NAIROBI, Kenya — Kiharu Member of Parliament Ndindi Nyoro has challenged President William Ruto’s vision of modelling Kenya’s economic transformation on Singapore, arguing that South Korea offers a more realistic and relevant blueprint for the country’s development.
Speaking on Wednesday, January 14, Nyoro said Kenya’s economic structure, population size, and development aspirations align far more closely with South Korea than with the city-state of Singapore.
“The economy actually that is very close to what Kenya should be if we actually mean to emulate it is South Korea,” Nyoro said. “If you look at the size of Singapore and compare it to Kenya, it is totally off — even a county in Kenya is bigger in terms of geographical size and population.”
He noted that Kenya and South Korea both have populations of about 50 million people and pursue similar economic philosophies focused on private-sector-driven growth.
“Our population is in the 50 million range, same as South Korea. Our aspiration is to promote private sector-driven capitalism. If you look at South Korea, that is what it advanced,” he said.
Nyoro argued that Singapore’s economic model, while successful, operates under conditions that Kenya cannot realistically replicate. He pointed to the vast gap in income levels between the two countries.
“Singapore’s GDP per capita is about $90,000 while Kenya’s is about $3,000,” Nyoro said. “In economics, if you are a banana farmer, you can’t compare how well you’re doing with another banana farmer by using oranges or pears.”
He also highlighted the heavy role of the state in Singapore’s economy, particularly through sovereign investment vehicles such as Temasek Holdings, which owns significant stakes in major corporations.
“If you check the Singaporean stock market, you take the top ten companies, you realise Temasek is very dominant in ownership,” Nyoro said. “Singapore, as it promoted the private side of the economy, also relied heavily on state capitalism.”
President Ruto has repeatedly cited Singapore, alongside Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia, as models for Kenya’s long-term transformation into a first-world economy.
In his State of the Nation address on November 20, 2025, Ruto unveiled a ten-year development strategy anchored on massive infrastructure expansion and industrialisation.
The President outlined plans that could cost more than Sh5 trillion, including building over 2,500 kilometres of dual carriageways, tarmacking 28,000 kilometres of roads, extending the Standard Gauge Railway to Malaba, and constructing at least 50 mega dams and hundreds of smaller ones to bring 2.5 million acres under irrigation.
Ruto said the programme would be financed through new vehicles such as a National Infrastructure Fund and a Sovereign Wealth Fund, drawing seed capital from natural resource revenues and the privatisation of selected state assets.
