Most people opening a clinic in Kenya start with a list borrowed from someone else and discover the gaps in their first week of trading. This guide works the other way round: it starts from what actually happens in a consulting room, and builds the equipment list from there. Prices are our current 2026 prices, so you can use it as a working budget rather than an idea of one.
Start with the room, not the catalogue
Before buying anything, decide what your clinic will actually do in its first year. A general outpatient clinic seeing coughs, fevers and blood pressure checks needs a very different list from one offering minor surgery, and both differ from a clinic with its own laboratory. Buying for the clinic you hope to be in three years is the most reliable way to run out of working capital in month four.
Write down the ten commonest things you expect to do. Equip completely for those. Everything else can wait until the revenue exists to justify it.
The consulting room: KSh 37,000
This is the irreducible core. Without these items you cannot examine a patient properly.
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Examination Couch | KSh 10,000 |
| Examination Light | KSh 10,000 |
| Dressing Trolley | KSh 9,500 |
| Yuwell Digital BP Machine | KSh 3,000 |
| Littmann Classic II Stethoscope | KSh 2,500 |
| Medical Pen Torch | KSh 1,000 |
| Patella Hammer | KSh 1,000 |
A word on the stethoscope. It is the one item where the cheap option genuinely costs you clinically. A dual-head stethoscope at KSh 2,000 is serviceable, but the acoustic difference on a quiet murmur or early basal crackles is real. If you are the only clinician, buy the Littmann.
Procedures and sterilisation: KSh 29,500
The moment you suture a laceration or dress a wound, you have created a sterilisation obligation. Do not open with instruments and no autoclave.
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Autoclave 18 Litres | KSh 18,000 |
| Suture / Stitching Set | KSh 5,000 |
| Dressing Set | KSh 4,500 |
| Instrument Tray | KSh 2,000 |
Buy two of each instrument set rather than one, if you can. Cycle time on an 18 litre autoclave is 30 to 45 minutes, and a single set means turning away the second patient who needs suturing that morning. Duplicating a KSh 5,000 set is much cheaper than buying a bigger autoclave. Our autoclave price guide explains sizing in detail.
Point-of-care diagnostics: from KSh 8,650
Rapid tests are what turn a consultation into a diagnosis on the same visit, and they are the highest-return purchase on this whole page. Start with the four that cover the bulk of Kenyan outpatient presentations.
| Test | Price |
|---|---|
| Malaria Rapid Test | KSh 1,000 |
| Widal Test Kit | KSh 850 |
| Pregnancy Test Strips | KSh 300 |
| HIV Test Strips | KSh 6,500 |
For HIV testing, check your product against the current national testing algorithm before you standardise. More options and guidance on antigen versus antibody testing are in our rapid test kit price guide.
Measurement, staff and safety: about KSh 13,000
Growth monitoring and triage need measuring equipment, and a clinic needs its staff dressed and its premises covered.
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Baby Height Board | KSh 9,500 |
| First Aid Kit – Medium | KSh 3,600 |
| MUAC Tape | KSh 300 |
| Measuring Tape | KSh 300 |
| Lab Coat | KSh 900 |
See the workwear and medical textiles and PPE ranges for scrubs, gloves, masks and aprons.
What a realistic opening budget looks like
Adding the four sections above, a single-consulting-room clinic equipped to work properly from day one comes to roughly KSh 90,000 in equipment. That figure surprises people in both directions: it is far less than the numbers quoted in casual conversation, and far more than the KSh 30,000 some first-time owners budget.
Then decide about emergency capability. An emergency trolley or crash cart at KSh 70,000 is not optional if you administer injections, perform procedures under local anaesthetic, or see acutely unwell patients. Anaphylaxis is rare and unforgiving. Budgeting KSh 160,000 to KSh 200,000 for a clinic that can safely handle an emergency is more honest than opening at KSh 90,000 and hoping.
Note what is not on this list: rent, fit-out, signage, licensing, medicines, and three months of working capital. Equipment is usually the smaller half of the total cost of opening.
Sequencing your purchases
If cash is tight, buy in this order. First the consulting room, because you cannot trade without it. Second the rapid tests, because they generate revenue on the same visit and cost very little. Third sterilisation and instruments, at the point you start offering procedures. Fourth the crash cart, before you administer your first injectable. Fifth the laboratory, once your test volumes justify an analyser rather than referral.
Resist buying a second couch, a second BP machine or a bigger autoclave until the first ones are genuinely the bottleneck. Idle equipment is the commonest reason new clinics in Kenya run short of working capital.
Questions we are asked most often
How much does it cost to equip a clinic in Kenya?
Roughly KSh 90,000 for a properly equipped single consulting room, and KSh 160,000 to KSh 200,000 once emergency and procedure capability is included. A clinic with its own laboratory should budget from KSh 400,000 upwards depending on the test menu.
What licences do I need?
Registration and inspection requirements in Kenya are handled through the relevant professional regulator for your cadre and the county health department, and laboratory and radiography services carry additional requirements. Confirm the current position directly with the regulator before you sign a lease, because premises requirements can affect which property is viable.
Can you quote the whole list at once?
Yes. Send us your service list and we will return a single itemised quotation, and tell you where we think you are over-buying. We would rather sell you the right KSh 90,000 of equipment than the wrong KSh 300,000.
Do you deliver outside Nairobi?
Yes, to all 47 counties, and we install and commission the equipment that needs it.
Ready-made equipment lists
We have packaged the lists above as starter packs by setting, including the clinic pack, laboratory pack, dental pack, maternity pack and pharmacy pack. Each is a checklist as much as an order form, so use them to sanity-check whatever list you have already drawn up.