Ruto Orders Crackdown on Foreigners in Small-Scale Trade and Hawking Effective Monday

President William Ruto has directed government agencies to launch a nationwide crackdown on foreign nationals running small businesses and hawking across Kenya, with operations set to begin on Monday, September 7, 2026.

Speaking to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) traders at State House, Nairobi, President Ruto emphasized that micro-trade and small-scale retail must be reserved exclusively for local citizens.

“From next week, all traders doing those small businesses should close them,” Ruto instructed. “We have made efforts to improve the economy… We have not improved investor confidence for hawkers to come to Kenya. It cannot be that a person comes from China or elsewhere to be a hawker or open a small shop.”

Fast-Tracking the Local Content Bill, 2025

To legally solidify these restrictions, the President ordered National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah and Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui to accelerate the passage of the Local Content Bill, 2025.

The proposed legislation aims to protect local enterprises by legally designating specific commercial sectors exclusively for Kenyan citizens while establishing strict operating requirements for larger foreign firms operating in the country.

Key provisions of the Local Content Bill, 2025 include:

• Reserved Business Categories: Formal legal restriction preventing foreign nationals from participating in hawking, small retail, and specified micro-enterprises.
• Workforce Mandates: Foreign enterprises must ensure that at least 80% of their total workforce—including senior executives and C-suite roles such as Chief Executive Officers—are Kenyan citizens.
• Local Procurement Thresholds: Foreign companies must procure at least 60% of their goods and services from Kenyan vendors. This rule applies across major sectors, including financial services, insurance, construction, transport, warehousing, logistics, and security.
• Agricultural Sourcing Rules: Manufacturing firms involved in agro-processing and agriculture-related industries will be required to source 100% of their raw produce from local farmers.