Big Four rake in millions through government contracts in Kenya

As Kenya’s economy becomes a hub of growth and investment, one sector that appears to be reaping most of the benefits is that of accounting and advisory services. The Big Four accounting and advisory firms have reportedly reeled in fees in excess of Sh 180 million from government contracts this year. 

Kenya is among the largest economies in Africa. The country has rapidly emerged as a lucrative market for investment, not only due to overall economic growth levels and political stability, but also due to the fact that its relatively diversified economy is immune to fluctuations in oil and commodity prices.

Although under a mountain of public debt, the government in Kenya has been working actively to ensure that this potential is realised. Alongside the overall managing of public accounts, the government has also had to shift its focus to the risks that come with a rapidly digitalising economy.

As a result, government agencies have increasingly sought support from accounting and advisory firms this year, particularly the Big Four of Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC. These four firms completed government contracts amounting to a cumulative value of Sh180 billion over the last year alone.

Of these firms, KPMG appeared to have performed particularly well, having secured contracts worth more than Sh 93 million. This includes a number of projects completed for the National Treasury, such as the services offered to help improve internal auditing mechanisms for public companies, specifically at a local government level.

This contract alone is worth nearly Sh 70 million, and continues till July next year. The rest of Sh 20 million in fees was secured through a project with the Office of the Auditor-General, which involved training the staff in the domain of data analytics, as well as through a contract with the Kenya Water Towers Agency.

Deloitte and PwC also secured contracts with the National treasury, the former to develop internal auditing capacities at a national level – worth nearly Sh 47 million – and the latter to support public sector entities with the management of assets and liabilities in a contract worth nearly Sh 35 million. EY’s biggest contract came from the Kenya Trade Network Agency for support with audits in the ICT domain.