Jobs for Bachelor of Economics Graduates

Where economists work in Kenya

An economics degree trains you to work with data, models and policy questions. In Kenya the classic employers are the Central Bank of Kenya, the National Treasury, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, KIPPRA, county planning departments, commercial banks, research institutes and the large development organisations based in Nairobi. Fewer job adverts say "economist" than you might hope, so graduates who do well usually present themselves as analysts: research, data, credit, market or policy.

Roles to search for

• Research assistant or research officer in think tanks, universities and survey firms
• Data analyst or monitoring and evaluation officer in NGOs and donor-funded projects
• Credit analyst, risk analyst or economic research associate in banks
• Planning or economist cadre positions advertised by the Public Service Commission and county public service boards

Entry requirements

Most universities place economics students through KUCCPS and expect a KCSE mean grade of C+ with a strong grade in Mathematics; some programmes such as Economics and Statistics or Economics and Mathematics set a higher Mathematics requirement. If you are choosing between options, the more quantitative combinations tend to be more employable.

Skills that get you hired

Kenyan employers repeatedly ask for Excel at an advanced level, a statistical package (Stata, R, SPSS or Python), and the ability to write a clear two-page brief. Fieldwork experience with household surveys is valuable, and KNBS and research firms often recruit enumerators and field supervisors for short contracts, which is a realistic first step. There is no licensing body for economists, so your portfolio of analysis and writing does the work a practising certificate would do in other professions.

Career path

Graduates often start on contracts in research or projects, move into analyst roles after two or three years, and many take a master's degree before economist or senior policy posts. Following the economy closely matters: interviewers expect you to discuss inflation, interest rates and the budget. BusinessRadar covers Kenyan markets and money in plain language, which is useful preparation.