The Thriving Economy Inside Kakuma That Few People Talk About

Ask someone to picture Kakuma Refugee Camp and they'll probably describe humanitarian aid, rows of shelters and families displaced by conflict. 

These images are real, but they only tell part of the story.

Spend time walking through Kakuma and you'll discover something many people never expect to find: a vibrant local economy. 

The streets are lined with shops selling everything from groceries and household goods to electronics and clothing. Restaurants serve food from across East and Central Africa. Furniture workshops, tailoring businesses, beauty salons, pharmacies, mobile money agents and construction suppliers all form part of the camp's commercial life. 

Every day, thousands of people buy, sell, negotiate and build businesses just as they do in towns and cities across Kenya. This side of Kakuma rarely receives the same attention as the humanitarian response. 

Discussions about refugee camps often focus on food assistance, healthcare and shelter, while overlooking the businesses that refugees have built and the local economy they sustain. 

Yet entrepreneurship has become an important part of life in Kakuma, creating jobs, providing essential goods and services, and supporting both refugee and host communities.

Looking at Kakuma through an economic lens changes how we understand the camp. It is not simply a place where assistance is delivered. It is also a place where people invest, compete, innovate and adapt despite extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

But understanding that Kakuma has a thriving economy raises an important question. If thousands of businesses are already operating in the camp, why do so many entrepreneurs still struggle to grow?

The answer isn't that Kakuma lacks entrepreneurial spirit. 

In many ways, it has an abundance of it. The challenge lies somewhere else, and understanding it begins with taking a closer look at the economy that refugees have built.

The Hidden Engines of Kakuma's Economy: A Marketplace That Looks More Like a Town Than a Camp

Kakuma's economy is far more sophisticated than many people imagine.

While small kiosks and market stalls are a familiar sight, they represent only one part of a much larger commercial ecosystem.

Behind the small kiosks and market stalls are wholesalers importing goods from Nairobi, Eldoret and Uganda, transporters moving stock across long distances, suppliers distributing products throughout the camp and business owners competing for customers in much the same way they would anywhere else in Kenya.

Retail remains one of the largest sectors of the local economy. Walk through Kakuma's markets and you'll find supermarkets, clothing stores, hardware shops, electronics dealers and pharmacies serving both refugee and host communities.

Restaurants offering South Sudanese, Ethiopian, Congolese and Somali cuisine sit alongside cafés, bakeries and food vendors, reflecting the diversity of the camp itself. The economy has evolved to meet the needs of a population that has lived, worked and raised families there for decades.

More Than Small Businesses

Perhaps the biggest surprise is the number of businesses providing specialised services.

Internet providers connect homes and businesses. Mobile money agents process thousands of transactions. Construction suppliers provide materials for homes and commercial buildings. Furniture workshops manufacture beds, tables and cupboards. Tailors produce school uniforms and custom clothing. Mechanics repair motorcycles and vehicles that keep people and goods moving across the region.

These are not temporary activities built around humanitarian aid. They are businesses responding to genuine market demand, solving everyday problems and serving a growing customer base.

A Market the Private Sector Has Started to Notice

The private sector has taken notice.

Over the years, companies have invested in internet connectivity, renewable energy, financial services and other commercial ventures, recognising that Kakuma is not simply a humanitarian operation but also a sizeable and active marketplace.

That shift in perspective is huge! It reflects a growing recognition that refugee communities are not only recipients of assistance but also consumers, entrepreneurs and contributors to economic growth.

Taken together, these businesses tell a different story about Kakuma.

They reveal a community that is resilient, resourceful and deeply entrepreneurial. Refugees have not waited for opportunities to appear. They have built businesses, created jobs and established a functioning local economy despite enormous constraints.

Yet this raises another important question.

If Kakuma already has thriving markets, experienced entrepreneurs and a diverse business community, what is preventing more businesses from growing beyond survival and into long-term prosperity?

The Challenge They Can't Solve Alone

By almost any measure, Kakuma has all the ingredients of a healthy local economy.

It has entrepreneurs willing to take risks, customers with everyday needs, businesses competing for market share and a steady flow of goods and services. On the surface, it looks like the kind of economic activity that should continue growing over time.

Yet many businesses eventually run into the same challenge.

Their market has limits.

Unlike most towns and cities, where businesses can expand by reaching new neighbourhoods, attracting tourists or selling to customers across the country, most businesses in Kakuma serve the same relatively small customer base.

A restaurant depends on people living nearby. A tailor relies on families in the camp. A furniture maker sells to local households and organisations. Even successful businesses are often competing for the same customers.

That creates a very different kind of economy.

Instead of new money constantly flowing in, much of the money simply circulates within the camp. A family buys food from a shop. The shop owner pays a supplier. The supplier pays a transporter. The transporter spends money at another local business. The economy keeps moving, but it is largely driven by the same pool of purchasing power.

This becomes especially clear now that humanitarian assistance has been reduced.

Many households have less money to spend, not because businesses have failed, but because disposable income across the entire local economy has fallen. Shops receive fewer customers. Restaurants become quieter. Orders slow down. The effects ripple through the marketplace because businesses are connected to one another through the same local demand.

None of this diminishes the remarkable businesses that refugees have built. It simply highlights a challenge that entrepreneurship alone cannot solve.

For businesses to continue growing, they need access to something every successful economy depends on: new markets and new customers.

Growth Happens When Markets Expand

History shows that no economy grows by selling only to itself.

Farmers look for buyers beyond their village. Manufacturers sell to customers in other towns. Kenyan tea, coffee and flowers are exported around the world because larger markets create more opportunities for businesses to grow.

The same principle applies in Kakuma.

The businesses that already exist inside the camp are essential. They provide food, transport, construction materials, financial services and countless other goods that people rely on every day. They should continue to grow and thrive.

But long-term economic growth also depends on something else: bringing new customers and new income into the local economy.

For Kakuma, that can happen in different ways. It could mean attracting more private investment, expanding trade with surrounding communities or creating businesses that sell products beyond the camp. Increasingly, it also means connecting people to the digital economy, where work is no longer limited by geography.

A 3D modeller in Kakuma can work for an architect in Germany. A graphic designer can create marketing materials for a business in Denmark. A software developer can build applications for a client in Canada. In each case, the work is completed in Kakuma, but the customer is somewhere else.

That changes the economics completely.

Instead of relying on the same limited pool of spending within the camp, skilled professionals can bring new income into Kakuma. That income doesn't stop with the individual who earned it. It is spent on rent, groceries, transport, school fees and local businesses, supporting the wider economy in the process.

This is why access to external markets matters so much. It doesn't replace the businesses already operating in Kakuma. It strengthens them by introducing new sources of income into an economy that has, for too long, been constrained by the size of its local market.

This is the thinking behind The Creative Gateway.

Our starting point was not that Kakuma lacked talent. Anyone who has spent time in the camp knows that isn't true. Nor did we believe the answer was simply to encourage more entrepreneurship. As Kakuma's markets demonstrate, entrepreneurial spirit is already abundant.

The question we asked was different:

How can young people in Kakuma access opportunities beyond the camp?

Our answer has been to focus on the digital economy. Through seven cohorts of 3D modelling training, we have equipped refugee youth with skills that are in demand internationally while also helping bridge the gap between training and employment.

That bridge matters.

Learning a digital skill is valuable, but it is only the beginning. Graduates also need portfolios, professional experience and, most importantly, access to clients. That's why The Creative Gateway works with partners to connect graduates with commercial projects from Europe, allowing them to earn an income without leaving Kakuma.

Every project completed for an international client brings more than income to one young person. It represents new money flowing into the local economy - money that is spent with local businesses, supports families and demonstrates that refugees can participate in global markets despite the barriers of displacement.

The goal has never been to replace Kakuma's local economy.

It is to help expand it.

Rethinking What Economic Inclusion Looks Like

Kakuma's economy challenges many of the assumptions people hold about refugee camps.

It shows that refugees are not waiting for opportunity to arrive. They are already running businesses, creating jobs and contributing to the local economy under circumstances that would test even the most experienced entrepreneurs.

But Kakuma also reminds us that entrepreneurship has its limits when businesses are largely selling to the same local market. No matter how resourceful people are, long-term growth depends on being able to reach new customers, attract new investment and connect with larger markets.

That is why conversations about refugee livelihoods need to go beyond creating more businesses. We also need to ask how those businesses can grow, who they can sell to and what it takes to connect refugee entrepreneurs and skilled professionals to opportunities beyond the camp.

The digital economy is one answer. Not because it replaces Kakuma's existing businesses, but because it expands what is possible. It enables refugee youth to sell their skills globally while continuing to live, work and contribute to their local communities.

Perhaps that is the biggest lesson from Kakuma.

The camp is not short of ideas.

It is not short of ambition.

It is not short of entrepreneurs.

What it needs is greater access to markets that are not limited by its geography.

Because when that happens, the story is no longer just about surviving displacement. It becomes a story about building an economy that can continue to grow.