Colonial Structures and Ethnic Rivalries: The Economic Dominance of Indians and African Exclusion in Kenya The economic ascendancy of Indian immigrants in Kenya during the colonial era (late 19th century to 1960s) and the marginalization of native Africans created a volatile ethnic and economic divide that shaped Kenya’s post-independence trajectory. Indians, primarily from Gujarat and Punjab, transformed from railway laborers to dominant merchants, controlling commerce and urban real estate. By 1960, they owned 75–80% of Kenya’s retail businesses, despite being only 2% of the population (176,000 out of 8.6 million). “Indians were the commercial linchpin of colonial Kenya, but their prosperity sowed discord,” writes historian Robert Gregory (Gregory, 1993, p. 23). Africans, restricted to agriculture and denied education, faced systemic exclusion. The British racial hierarchy exacerbated tensions, positioning Indians as intermediaries. Post-independence Africanization policies a...