Harnessing Human Capital for Growth and Development in Kenya

Date: Monday, June 30, 2025

Organizers: Yale Economic Growth Center, Yale Inclusion Economics

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Agenda: View the conference program here

The Yale Economic Growth Center (EGC) and Inclusion Economics at Yale University (YIE) convened a research and policy dialogue in Nairobi, Kenya on June 30, 2025, in which we discussed how macroeconomic transformation and growth strategies interact with gender gaps globally and in sub-Saharan Africa, how investing in early childhood development can boost human capital and women’s socioeconomic advancement in Kenya, how policies and programs can be effectively scaled - including the integration of time use data in policymaking and processes to assess fiscal investments and returns - and how the digital economy can be boosted through equal participation.

A growing body of evidence shows that sidelining women from the labor market can be costly, and that macroeconomic productivity can suffer in labor markets where women’s talents and skills are not matched to suitable opportunities. Whilst the national development strategies of East African countries including Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania, do have a strong focus on gender issues through the lenses of vulnerability, gender-based violence (GBV), family, access to services and benefits, and sometimes labor markets, they tend not to treat addressing gender gaps in labor markets as an issue that is relevant to macroeconomic policy and growth.

Yale Economic Growth Center (EGC) and Yale Inclusion Economics (YIE) hosted a dialogue that brought together macro- and microeconomic perspectives to shed light both on the relationship between gender gaps and economic transformation and pathways to understand and address underlying barriers in the modern economy. The event featured work conducted by EGC through the Gender and Growth Gaps project on gendered labor market distortions, by YIE on digital inclusion, and by a joint EGC-YIE project focused on expanding childcare by extending access to enhanced public preschools for younger children, and brought in peers to discuss policies and programs at scale, including time use data in policymaking and assessing fiscal investments and returns.

The sessions covered the following topics:

• Gender Equality, Economic Growth & Development

• Enhancing Child Development and Women’s Socioeconomic Advancement through Expanding Public Preschool: Insights from Research and Policy

• Data, Programs, Policies and Implementation - Enabling successful ideas to scale

• Engagement in the Rising Digital Economy

• Keynote Session – Universities, Government and the Private Sector: Partnerships and Pathways from Research to Impact

The event showcased a variety of partnerships between academia, government counterparts and the private sector. At the event, policymakers and practitioners engaged with evidence and discussed their work to drive human capital investments and gender equality in the region.

Confirmed speakers included Adem Esther (Senior Insights and Market Engagement Manager, Connected Women, GSMA), Aishwarya Lakshmi Ratan (Deputy Director, Yale Economic Growth Center), Alex Mwaura (Country Director - Kenya, Digital Green), Madam Anne Wang'ombe (Principal Secretary, State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action, Government of Kenya), Dr. Benson I. Wairegi (Non-Executive Director, HF Group, Chairman, Housing Finance Bancassurance Intermediary (HFBI), Former Chancellor, Kenyatta University), Brian Murithi Humphrey (Intervention Supervisor, Kenyatta University Women’s Economic Empowerment (KU-WEE) Hub), Emma Lambert-Porter (Research Lead, Africa, Yale Economic Growth Center), Deanna Ford (Senior Adviser, Yale Economic Growth Center; Managing Director, Inclusion Economics, Yale University), Dorothy Naivasha (County Executive Committee Member for Education and Vocational Training, Tharaka Nithi County), Eldah Onsumu (Ag. Executive Director, KIPPRA), Ms. Grace Wasike (Director Social Economic Empowerment, State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action, Kenya), Janette Yarwood (Director for Africa, Europe, and The Middle East, Office of International Affairs, Yale University), John Kinuthia (Deputy Executive Director, Bajeti Hub), Joy Kiiru (Senior Women Economic Empowerment Advisor for Kenya, Gates Foundation), Judith Waudo (Professor and KU-WEE - Women’s Economic Empowerment - Hub Leader, Kenyatta University), Dr. Macdonald Obudho (Director General, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics), Michelle Neuman (Research Affiliate, Yale Inclusion Economics), Hon. Naisala Lesuuda (Member of Parliament, Kenya), Nancy Nafula (Acting Deputy Director, KIPPRA), Nena Sanderson (Chief Product Officer, M-KOPA), Rohini Pande (Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic Growth Centre, Yale University), Rozina Haque (Director, Ultra-Poor Graduation and Livelihoods, BRAC International), Simon Onywere (Associate Professor, Kenyatta University), and Simone Schaner (Associate Professor of Economics, University of Southern California).