Category: Business Daily

Kenya’s economy relies on informal workers: the mama fua washing clothes in people’s homes, the boda boda rider looking for fares, and the artisan who is paid in cash for yesterday’s work. Yet they are invisible to banks, insurers and lenders, who demand payslips, logbooks and predictable incomes.

Now, however, four young Kenyan women are addressing this issue with their fintech app, Jasho.

‘Jasho is a fintech tool built specifically for gig economy workers, including people with disabilities, who have been largely ignored by existing financial applications,’ says team lead Veronicah Anzimbu.

The idea for Jasho was conceived at the 2025 Absa GirlCodeHack, a pan-African hackathon with the theme of ‘Future-Proofing Africa: Innovation at the Intersection of FinTech, Cybersecurity, and AI’.

Over the course of 30 sleepless hours at Absa Towers in Nairobi, Veronicah, Faith Chemitai, Dorcas Kalaka and Mawia Katiwa developed a working prototype.

Faith trained AI models for income forecasting, credit scoring and expenditure analysis. Mawia handled the back end. Veronicah, an AI/ML associate engineer, oversaw integration. Dorcas sketched the user interface from scratch.

‘Faith spent around 10 hours training models and running different algorithms – including random forest – to see which performed best for the use case,’ recalls Veronicah.

Despite server crashes and integration errors, they presented a functioning minimum viable product (MVP) and won the Kenyan leg of the hackathon. At the Pan-African finals, however, they lost to Tanzania’s Tokiva Sisters, prompting them to resolve to turn their prototype into a product.

Currently, the team is onboarding a test cohort of between 50 and 100 users, all of whom are based in Nairobi.

‘No money is moving through the app yet – the current features don’t involve cash because we are still building user trust before enabling that functionality. Revenue is a post-launch concern. Once the app is live, we plan to generate revenue through transaction fees, insurance commissions, gig referrals, Sacco partnerships and other integrations,’ says Faith.

One behavioural pattern has already emerged during testing. ‘Users overwhelmingly prefer standing orders to voluntary contributions. Left to their own devices, they forget, but once automated, they persist,’ observes Mawia.

Beyond the wallet lies the innovation: AI models that learn from user behaviour. The app can forecast income dips, encourage savings and analyse expenditure.

For a mama fua, for example, it might issue a warning: ‘Your clients tend to travel in December. Your income may slow down. Consider setting aside more this month.’

A recent addition to the app builds on this, as Dorcas explains: “We have developed an expenditure analysis feature that provides users with a detailed breakdown of their spending habits – showing them where their money is going, how their spending patterns change over time, and what this means for their financial health. For workers who have never had visibility into their own spending, this is a big deal.’

The app also includes a community forum where gig workers can post and pick up work from each other.

‘A boda boda rider overwhelmed with deliveries can flag an available job for another rider in the network. It’s a small feature, but it demonstrates that the team understands financial inclusion is not just about saving and borrowing, but also about establishing the kinds of economic connections that informal workers are often excluded from,’ notes Veronicah.

Building a financial identity

‘But perhaps the most consequential thing Jasho is trying to do is build a financial identity for people who have never had one. In Kenya, access to formal credit is largely dependent on payslips, logbooks and consistent bank statements – documents that gig workers simply do not have. Banks do not have a model for a mama fua who earns Sh600 one day and nothing the next,’ she continues.

Jasho aims to develop this model from scratch. By tracking every transaction – money in, money out, savings patterns and chama contributions – through the app, it builds a verifiable financial record for each user. The team hopes to use this record to unlock credit through Sacco partnerships, rather than through predatory mobile lenders.

A mama fua who has consistently saved Sh10 a day for a year through an app that can vouch for her behaviour is a different kind of borrower to those that banks have traditionally been able to access.

‘We are also in early conversations with insurance companies regarding three product lines: health cover, life cover and income protection. This makes sense: an app that knows a worker’s income stability, spending patterns and savings history is exactly the kind of data an insurer needs to offer an affordable, relevant product to a population they have historically found too risky or expensive to reach,’ says Faith.

When the team mapped the existing fintech landscape in Kenya, they noticed something.

‘We looked at multiple fintech applications here in Kenya. And none of them has really incorporated people with disabilities,” Faith explains.

The team meets virtually often and in person once a week, coordinating via a WhatsApp group and meeting in Nairobi’s city centre when schedules allow.

The intellectual property has been submitted to the Kenya Industrial Property Institute and is currently under review.

‘We are also marketing within our local community, testing messaging and building early awareness.’ The response has been encouraging. People who work in the informal economy recognise the problem we are trying to solve because they experience it first-hand,’ says Dorcas.

Kenya’s Data Protection Act 2019 sets a clear standard in this area, and the team has been deliberate about its data policy: users consent to the terms and conditions when they sign up; data is neither sold nor shared; and if a user leaves the platform, their data is deleted.

Any data shared with the government or NGOs for policy purposes is anonymised before leaving the app.

Much of the conversations around the future of technology is shaped by what we can see – the apps we use, the platforms we engage with and the innovations redefining how we live and work. AI, fintech and immersive digital experiences dominate headlines and capture our imagination.

But the true story of technological progress lies beneath the surface. It is defined by the infrastructure that enable innovation long before it reaches the end user. Resilient networks, intelligent platforms, scalable compute and interoperable systems.

These are the rails upon which digital innovation runs, and across Africa, we are seeing a shift from consuming technology to building it.

This transformation is visible across Africa. From hyperscale and carrier neutral data centres in Nairobi, Lagos and Cape Town to the sub-sea cable investments along its coasts. African nations are building the physical backbone ready for its intelligent future.

These investments are bringing computing power closer to users, reducing latency and unlocking opportunities in cloud-native services and AI driven platforms.

We are also seeing the convergence of digital infrastructure and sustainable energy. Africa has an opportunity to leapfrog traditional models by powering its data infrastructure with renewables such as geothermal in Kenya, solar across the Sahel and wind in North and Southern Africa. This creates a pathway for growth that is both scalable and sustainable.

In parallel, Africa’s digital rails are expanding beyond borders.

Cross-border fibre, satellite connectivity, regional internet exchange points and pan-African payment systems are knitting together a more integrated digital economy. These corridors are enabling data flows, entrepreneurship and the creative economy.

Infrastructure is evolving. It is intelligent, adaptive and intuitive. Networks are now self-optimising, predictive, and responsive in real time. We are truly in the age of intelligence.

AI, and increasingly agentic AI, is embedding itself across connectivity, enterprise platforms and financial systems. Networks are no longer just fast – they are smart, capable of predictive maintenance, automated scaling and self-healing operations.

This philosophy has guided Safaricom’s 25-year journey of purpose-driven innovation. From building one of the region’s most resilient mobile networks to evolving M-Pesa into a globally recognised fintech platform, our focus has consistently been on enabling others to build.

Platforms such as Daraja have become critical digital rails empowering over a hundred thousand developers and tens of thousands of integrations reaching millions of customers daily. Our Fintech 2.0 journey embeds intelligence into our financial services enabling fraud detection, personalized and secure experiences.

However, infrastructure alone is not enough. Africa’s digital future will depend on human capacity.

Engineers, developers and creators that can build these foundations. Initiatives like Decode are helping nurture this ecosystem bringing together talent, ideas and collaboration opportunities.

This calls for a mindset shift.

We must move from being consumers of technology to builders of it. From users of platforms to architects of ecosystems. From participants in the digital economy to the leaders shaping it.

With a youthful population, an innovative and resilient people, Africa is at the edge of its digital renaissance. Access to infrastructure and skills presents an opportunity to solve local challenges, create globally relevant solutions and participate meaningfully in the global economy.

As we look ahead, Africa stands at an inflection point.

The future will belong to those who recognize that innovation depends on strong, intelligent and inclusive rails. Building these rails requires investment, collaboration and shared vision across industry, government and academia.

Because ultimately, the future of technology in Africa will not just depend on what we create, but on the infrastructure we build.

And the rails we lay today will carry the ambitions of an entire generation.

KCB Group net profit rose 10.7 percent to Sh17.81 billion in the first three months of the year on the back of increased interest and non-interest income.

The net profit for the quarter ended March 2026 was a rise from Sh16.09 billion posted in the preceding similar period last year when the group still had National Bank of Kenya (NBK) as a subsidiary. KCB sold NBK in May last year to Nigeria’s Access Bank Group.

KCB said net interest income grew 8.6 percent to Sh36.61 billion from Sh33.72 billion as it expanded its loan book to Sh1.208 trillion from Sh1.018 trillion.

The lender said the growth in interest earnings was despite a drop in asset yield across its markets due to sustained rate cuts by regulators in the region.

Over the same period, non-interest income rose 8.3 percent to Sh17.03 billion from Sh15.72 billion, raising the operating income to Sh53.64 billion from Sh49.44 billion.

KCB attributed the growth in non-interest income on growth in digital loans disbursed during the period and a rise in foreign exchange income.

‘Despite the challenging operating environment, we delivered solid growth driven by disciplined execution, continued investment in digital innovation, and our unwavering commitment to providing financing which catalyses economic transformation across the region,’ said Paul Russo, chief executive at KCB Group.

‘We continued to optimise our regional footprint and scale to best serve our customers and create sustainable shareholder value.’

The lender said its subsidiaries excluding KCB Bank Kenya contributed 29.5 percent of the group’s Sh24.4 billion pre-tax earnings and 31.5 percent of the Sh2.254 trillion balance sheet.

The three non-banking subsidiaries -KCB Bancassurance Intermediary, KCB Investment Bank and KCB Asset Management-returned pre-tax profit of Sh209 million, Sh274 million and Sh64 million, respectively.

During the review period, group operating expenses increased by 3.3 percent to Sh29.21 billion, with the muted rise helped by a 12.4 percent cut in provisions against potential loan losses to Sh4.91 billion from Sh5.6 billion. staff costs fell marginally to Sh10.54 billion from Sh10.54 billion, reflecting the absence of NBK.

KCB said it posted improved asset quality across all subsidiaries, with the non-performing loans (NPL) ratio closing the quarter at 16.6 percent from 19.3 percent. The review period saw the stock of NPL fall to Sh217.8 billion from Sh233.3 billion.

At Sh17.81 billion net profit, KCB’s net earnings trails those of Equity Group which announced a 23.8 percent rise in net profit to Sh18.3 billion over the same quarter.

Looking forward, Mr Russo said the bank continues to monitor the evolving impact of the US-Israel conflict with Iran.

‘While economic activity in East Africa remained resilient, we continued to see the impact of the Middle East conflict on economies, with a likely ripple effect of depressed credit demand, increased credit risk and lower remittance receipts, and on deposits,’ he said.

‘The group’s strong start to the year is a clear affirmation of the effectiveness of our long-term strategy, the resilience of our regional businesses, and the discipline with which we continue to execute our priorities,’ said Joseph Kinyua, group chairman at KCB.

For many parents today, raising a child increasingly comes with the pressing reality of affording quality education. What was once seen as a straightforward pathway to opportunity, has evolved into a high-stakes financial commitment, one that can shape not only a child’s future, but also a family’s long-term stability.

In the 19th century, American education reformer Horace Mann described learning as the ‘balancing wheel of social machinery,’ a force meant to level society. Today, that promise is under strain. While learning remains one of the most powerful tools for upward mobility, access to quality schooling is steadily becoming a divider rather than an equalizer.

Across the world, and particularly in emerging economies, education continues to shape the trajectory of individuals, communities, and nations alike.

The 2024 Education Finance Watch (EFW) report by the World Bank and UNESCO indicates that total spending on education by governments, households, and donors has steadily increased over the past decade. This reflects a growing recognition of learning as a shared societal investment, with stronger participation from both public and private stakeholders.

However, the report also highlights a critical gap: despite increased investment, there are limited gains at the learner level, especially in countries with rapidly growing populations where budgets are often stretched thin. As a result, spending stagnates, creating challenges in supporting foundational literacy and numeracy.

To truly drive impact, stakeholders must become more deliberate in prioritising what works, adopting solutions tailored to local realities and ensuring that every shilling spent delivers measurable, lasting outcomes.

The conversation on funding must also evolve beyond access to include sustainability, particularly how families can consistently support a child’s learning journey without compromising overall well-being.

At a household level, this is where parenting and financial planning intersect. Yet, the reality is complex. Many Kenyan households grapple with school fee-related challenges, with annual back-to-school periods often marked by financial strain.

Millions of students’ risk missing out due to costs associated with fees, uniforms, and transport. Rising inflation, a high cost of living, and a Sh76.9 billion funding gap in secondary education have made these expenses increasingly difficult to manage.

It is within this context that innovative financial solutions supporting a culture of saving become critical.

One such solution is Jubilee Life’s Faida Elimu Insurance plan, designed to combine long-term savings, investment growth, and financial protection. At its core, it ensures that a child’s learning journey remains uninterrupted, even in the face of life’s uncertainties.

What sets the plan apart is its dual approach. It encourages financial discipline through consistent, long-term savings toward a defined goal, while also providing a safety net through life cover.

This protection helps cushion families against income shocks, one of the leading causes of disrupted schooling. In doing so, it shifts education financing from a reactive, term-by-term burden to a proactive and structured plan.

Additionally, the plan reflects the realities of the modern Kenyan household by offering flexible premium payment options, lowering the barrier for families who may feel excluded from formal financial planning tools. Being investment-linked, it also enables parents to grow their contributions over time, helping them keep pace with rising education costs.

Beyond individual households, solutions like Faida Elimu play a broader developmental role. They help ensure more children stay in school consistently and transition smoothly across learning levels.

This supports national goals of building human capital and strengthening economic resilience, ultimately restoring education to its rightful place as an equalizer, where opportunity is not defined by immediate financial circumstances.

Why do endless AI prompts, knowledge and frameworks freely available, not really make one smarter, cleverer? Is there a difference between knowing and wisdom? Does the quality of your thoughts about business make any difference? To be on the forward cutting edge, does it make sense to look back?

Hermann Hesse wrote Siddhartha over a century ago – helping him win a Nobel Prize for literature. ‘It radiates more genuine wisdom than just about any novel ever published’ said novelist Tom Robbins.

A global cult classic among the youthful minded, it’s required reading for a perceptive manager, tired of AI prompts and stale recycled business doctrine, who wants to break out of the cage of convention.

The story follows Siddhartha, a young Brahmin who has everything. He has the looks, intelligence, and a clear path to success, but feels empty inside.

Eventually, he leaves home, becomes an ascetic Samana, wandering with no worldly possessions, then a lover of Kamala, then an affluent, successful businessman. Finally, he nearly dies by a river, before understanding what he’d been searching for all along.

It’s a simple story. But the lessons inside it cut through centuries of noise – and paradoxically apply to Kenyan managers today, aiming to be on the thinking cutting edge. Several lessons standout.

Business wisdom cannot be taught – it must be lived

Skills, knowledge and mindset are all we have, yet knowledge is the booby prize. Young job searching graduates know this. They may have the book learning, the theory, but it does not seem to make a difference. In the age of AI, intelligence – knowledge is just about free.

Knowledge and wisdom are very different. Business wisdom only comes from having had the experience. ‘Been there, done that.’ Having to make a tough decision, when things are confusing, constantly shifting, when neither choice seems attractive.

One of the central messages in Siddhartha is the value of lived experience, both good and bad.

In the novel, Siddhartha meets the Buddha himself, who is the enlightened one, and still walks away. Siddhartha realises that no teaching, no matter how perfect, can give him what he’s looking for. Experience is the only real teacher.

You can read every book, prompt AI to share all its secrets, follow every business guru, and apply every framework and memorise every business principle. But until you’ve actually lived through something, made the mistakes, felt the consequences, you don’t truly know it. Words are signposts. But you have to walk the path, nobody can do it for you.

External success won’t fix internal emptiness

‘Siddhartha has everything going for him at the start. He’s loved. He’s admired. He’s on track for a prestigious life as a Brahmin priest. And he’s still miserable. This is a trap so many fall into. They think the next achievement, the next milestone, the next level of success will finally make them feel whole. But it doesn’t work that way. External validation can’t fill an internal void’ advises Alex Mathers.

Silicon Valley value of three age old skills

When faced with a difficult situation, it helps to return to the moment in the book when Siddhartha is asked what skills he possesses. His answer is simply: ‘I can think, I can wait, I can fast.’ Is this really practical advice, in our hyper modern ‘always on’ world? One AI wizard thinks so.

‘For the first part ‘I can think’ as the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelus said; ‘The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your thoughts’. For the second part ‘I can wait’ patience and waiting often is indeed the optimal decision when facing a problem. Time does bring clarity and depth of understanding. For the third part ‘I can fast’. When needed being able to live and flourish with less, is a prerequisite of being free when the mind the body and society all are trying to put you in cages’ says MIT computer scientist Lex Fridman.

Siddhartha had the advantage of the experience of being a wandering aesthetic Samana, with nothing but the robe on his back. While passing through the stage of being a prosperous merchant he saw things like money, petty pleasures, petty honours really had little real value.

‘He saw people scold and insult one another, saw them wailing over aches and pains that would just make a Samana smile, suffering on account of deprivations a Samana would not notice’ writes Hesse.

While in his time in business, Siddhartha sees ‘Whose minds are like those of little children. Most people are like a falling leaf as it twists and turns its way through the air, lurches and tumbles to the ground. Others, though-a very few-are like stars set on a fixed course; no wind can reach them, and they carry their law and their path within them.’

Thanks to his lived experience, Siddhartha had the ability to remain detached, slightly apart, just observing, when working with his business partner Kamaswami.

Hesse writes ‘He seems only to be playing at doing business. Never do the transactions have any real effect on him; never are they his master; never does he fear failure or worry over a loss.’ Think, pause and notice cravings.

Government spending on day-to-day operations such as office supplies, fuel, travel and utilities has surged by more than 50 percent to cross the Sh1 trillion mark, a year after President William Ruto’s administration imposed austerity measures in response to the Gen Z-led anti-tax protests.

Fresh Treasury data shows recurrent expenditure on operations and maintenance (O and M), which excludes salaries and wages, hit Sh1.05 trillion in the nine months to March 2026, compared to Sh699.30 billion spent in the same period of the previous financial year.

The costs accounted for nearly a third (32.27 percent) of Sh3.26 trillion total government expenditure in the review period compared with a quarter (25.9 percent) in the prior year.

The spending exceeded the Treasury’s target of Sh784.17 billion by Sh267.90 billion, representing a deviation of 34.16 percent and underscoring the rapid rebound in government consumption expenditure after last financial year’s cuts.

The jump marks the first time operational expenditure has crossed the trillion-shilling threshold within nine months, highlighting the rising cost of running government despite repeated pledges to rein in spending.

Operations and maintenance expenditure covers the day-to-day running of government, including fuel, utilities, travel, office administration, hospitality, training, maintenance, consumables and other routine operational costs incurred by ministries, departments and agencies.

The latest surge came just a year after recurrent O and M expenditure had fallen for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, dropping by 11.8 percent in the period that ended March 2025 as the government implemented emergency spending cuts following the collapse of the Finance Bill 2024.

The withdrawn Bill had sought to raise Sh344.3 billion in new taxes but was abandoned after widespread Gen Z-led protests against higher taxation and the rising cost of living.

The demonstrations triggered one of the biggest fiscal crises facing President Ruto’s administration, forcing the government to slash spending after losing a key source of additional revenue for the 2024/25 budget.

At the time, Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo acknowledged that the State had been pushed into an unfamiliar austerity regime, after ministries and agencies failed to receive the allocations they had sought.

‘What we ended up with was more like a 50-50 [situation] where we had to take more debt and reduce expenditure by almost Sh170 billion. This is a space where most government institutions had never been because… they did not get what they wanted,’ Dr Kiptoo said last year while explaining the budget cuts that largely targeted operations expenditure.

The austerity measures announced at the height of the anti-government protests included the removal of budgets for refurbishment and partitioning of government offices, suspension of the purchase of new vehicles except for security agencies, and a 50 percent cut in expenditure on renovations, travel and hospitality.

The government also halted the acquisition of new vehicles – some of which can cost more than Sh30 million each – for the first six months of the financial year, ordered ministries to halve the number of advisers and directed enforcement of mandatory retirement for public servants upon attainment of the age of 60 years.

President Ruto further scrapped budgets for the offices of the First Lady and Second Lady and removed confidential allocations for State House and other public offices as part of efforts to contain expenditure following the collapse of the tax plan.

The protest-driven austerity measures came on top of earlier directives targeting non-essential spending such as printing, advertising, communication supplies, training, hospitality, furniture purchases, refurbishment works, research studies and feasibility assessments.

The cuts had temporarily slowed the growth of recurrent expenditure, offering brief relief to taxpayers who had complained about rising taxes amid stagnant earnings and a high cost of living.

However, the latest Treasury figures now suggest the restraint may have been short-lived as operational expenditure has accelerated sharply in the current financial year.

The Sh1.052 trillion spent by March this year is higher than the full-year operational expenditure recorded three years ago at Sh927.09 billion for the period ended June 2023. It is also close, or about 94 percent of Sh1.12 trillion operational spending for the entire last fiscal year ended June 2025, highlighting the speed at which the cost of government is rising.

Treasury data shows recurrent O and M expenditure for the review period stood at Sh457.67 billion in 2019/20 before falling to Sh439.83 billion in 2020/21 (Covid period) and then rising to Sh566.54 billion in 2021/22.

The spending climbed to Sh654.06 billion in 2022/23 and Sh793.07 billion in 2023/24 before falling to Sh699.30 billion in the period ended March 2025 amid the austerity drive.

The latest increase means recurrent operational spending has more than doubled in six years, growing by about 130 percent since 2019/20.

The rebound is likely to reignite concerns about Kenya’s fiscal discipline at a time when the country faces mounting debt-servicing obligations, rising interest costs and pressure from lenders such as the International Monetary Fund to narrow budget deficits.

Critics have repeatedly argued that recurrent expenditure is consuming an increasingly larger share of tax revenues, leaving less room for development projects and productive investments that could stimulate economic growth.

The spending surge is also expected to raise fresh questions over whether the government has managed to sustain expenditure reforms announced during the height of the deadly youth-led protests.

While the Treasury has previously defended higher recurrent expenditure as necessary to maintain delivery of public services and security operations, the latest figures could complicate the government’s attempts to convince investors and lenders that it remains committed to fiscal consolidation.

With three months remaining before the end of the financial year in June, the latest data points to the possibility of a record annual operations bill, potentially deepening scrutiny over the cost of running government in a period of high taxation and economic strain.

Electric bus assembler BasiGo has started local production of electric vans with a unit retailing at Sh5.8 million, as the firm taps into a growing demand from public service transport (PSV) firms and learning institutions.

The firm started assembling 23 such units last month at the Associated Vehicle Assemblers (AVA) plant in Mombasa. BasiGo had earlier targeted to assemble at least 120 such units by the end of this year.

Moses Nderitu, the CEO of BasiGo said that the vans are more common among the public transport and offer more user options as compared to buses. The capacity of each van is 18 seats.

‘We started local assembling of the vans at our AVA plant in Mombasa. The current order that we are finalising is mainly for schools and PSVs. We are also importing another order of about 23 units,’ Mr Nderitu, told this publication on Wednesday.

‘We did a pilot with two electric vehicles last year and the results showed that this is a path that we can take. Electric vans are a viable option for us in addition to the buses.’

Vans are also widely used by learning institutions, corporates and government entities.

BasiGo pioneered electric buses in Kenya in 2022 and is caught in a two-horse race with Roam for the local market. Entry into the electric vans market offers the firm a chance to diversify its business in the local market.

Popularity of electric vehicles is on steady rise in Kenya amid a global push to reduce fossil fuel pollution from the transport sector.

Soaring prices of petrol and diesel due to the US-Israel war on Iran are driving the uptake of the units in the quest to reduce operational costs.

Buses and minibuses are the dominant vehicle models that PSVs use locally, offering BasiGo a vast market for the electric units. BasiGo has partnered with Chinese automobile manufacturer, Golden Dragon to deliver the electric vans, as it diversifies from its stronghold of buses.

Start of the local assembling following successful piloting of two electric vans last year where BasiGo deployed one on the Nairobi-Thika route where the van did an estimated 435 kilometres (km) daily and the other on the Nyeri-Nyahururu route, completing about 330km a day.

Uptake of electric vehicles in Kenya is anticipated to remain on the rise in the coming years as users embrace the clean transport push and reduce the environmental pollution from diesel and petrol engines.

Data from industry lobby, Electric Mobility Association of Kenya (EMAK) shows that there were a total of 9,144 new registrations of vehicles, motorcycles, bikes and three-wheelers in 2024. This was more than double the 4,048 registered the previous year.

Steep prices of diesel and petrol in the wake of the US-Israel war are set to further push the uptake of EVs as consumers seek to avoid a surge in fuel bills.

Cost savings on fuel are a major reason behind the growing popularity of EVs especially amongst PSVs and ride-hailing operators like Uber and Bolt.

Consumers pay Sh16 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to charge their EVs during peak hours and Sh8 per kWh in off-peak hours. BasiGo has already set up eight charging depots in Nairobi and a further eight charging sites outside the capital underscoring the efforts to scale up uptake of EVs across the country.

Kenya is often celebrated as the global blueprint for digital payments. And rightly so. Few markets can match the depth and everyday relevance of mobile money in Kenya.

Today, over 47 million Kenyans actively use mobile money, representing penetration of more than 90 percent of the adult population. This ecosystem is so embedded in daily life that it processes transaction values equivalent to 61 percent of Kenya’s GDP annually.

This is a tremendous growth story, often told through the lens of financial inclusion, with mobile money now a behavioral default across income levels, geographies and use cases, and digital transactions routine countrywide. But this ubiquity has begun to expose underlying gaps, the most significant one being fragmentation.

Digital payments in Kenya have expanded beyond peer-to-peer transfers into commerce, lending, insurance and enterprise workflows, an expansion that has exposed the limitations of a single-rail system.

Many businesses today operate across multiple payment channels spanning mobile money, bank transfers, card networks and real-time systems.

This diversity introduces a layer of friction that is increasingly hard to ignore. For consumers, the system works remarkably well because payments are fast, familiar and widely accepted, but for businesses, the experience is far less seamless.

A typical SME in Kenya collects payments through Till and Paybill numbers, bank transfers, cash and sometimes informal methods layered on top.

Each of these channels comes with its own reporting structure, settlement timeline and operational process. As such, what appears to be single stream of revenue to be a complex system comprising multiple fragmented flows that must be tracked and reconciled separately.

Such fragmentation creates a hidden cost with finance teams spending disproportionate amounts of time matching transactions and resolving discrepancies. In high-volume environments such as retail and marketplaces, this complexity compounds quickly leaving the underlying experience disjointed.

Also, competition within the payments space is intensifying, as platforms challenge each other for market share through pricing strategies and targeted innovation. Consumers are also increasingly comfortable using multiple platforms depending on context, a shift that signals a more dynamic and competitive market.

But more options do not necessarily translate into simplicity. For businesses, each additional payment rail introduces another layer of reconciliation and other operational processes to manage. This complexity brings to the fore the need for a unifying layer that brings together collections, payouts, fund management and reconciliation into a single, coherent flow.

Today, most systems are designed to solve for one part of the lifecycle by either enabling payments in or facilitating payments out. Very few address the full journey of money within a business.

As a result, funds collected through different channels often remain siloed, making reconciliation a massive challenge. Businesses are left stitching together multiple tools and processes to achieve what should ideally be a seamless operation.

Globally, this is being addressed through the rise of embedded finance, where payments are integrated directly into platforms and user journeys. In Kenya, early signs of this shift are emerging, as businesses increasingly seek programmable payments and real-time financial visibility.

This signals a broader transition in how payment service providers are expected to create value, with the focus shifting from enabling transactions to enabling financial operations.

In this context, three priorities are beginning to define the future of the PSP landscape. The first is integration because the market has payment methods but lacks cohesion between them.

The second is visibility. As transaction volumes continue to grow into the hundreds of billions of shillings each month, the ability to track and understand flows in real time becomes critical.

Finally, automation is a defining demand, replacing the manual reconciliation and fragmented processes that are no longer sustainable at scale.

Against this backdrop, players like PayKit who join existing payment rails will drive the next wave of digital payments innovation by quietly reducing friction across the entire lifecycle of money.

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will get powers to demand tax on 60 percent of unexplained retained earnings in the race to curb tax avoidance from non-payment of dividends.

The fresh powers to seek a piece of the retained earnings follow amendments to the Finance Bill, which has introduced a minimum share of 60 percent of unexplained retained earnings that the KRA can tap for withholding taxes.

The KRA will tax portions of the retained profits that companies cannot explain why they were not being distributed to shareholders as dividends.

Profits not distributed as dividends are recorded as retained earnings that can be used for expansion, acquisition and buffers against shocks. Locals pay a withholding tax of 10 percent on dividends while foreigners pay 15 percent.

Should the KRA commissioner, for instance, assess Sh1 billion as unexplained retained earnings or distributable income, the taxman can levy tax on a minimum of Sh600 million.

It will take Sh60 million as tax for a local company and Sh90 million for the unexplained retained earnings in foreign firms.

Tax experts worry that the adoption of the proposal would expose firms to additional taxes and could force some to declare shareholder dividends, even when they have compelling needs such as capital preservation for expansion.

The declaration of dividends is usually a reserve of the company’s board of directors.

Undistributed profits

Currently, the KRA commissioner can demand tax after an assessment on undistributed profits, but the law does not provide a minimum threshold.

‘This change is likely to have a significant impact on businesses with high retained earnings, particularly where profits are not distributed despite adequate liquidity,’ tax analysts at KPMG state.

‘By setting a minimum deemed-dividend threshold, the amendment reduces the scope of differing tax through profit retention and increases the likelihood of additional tax exposure. With this development, businesses that wish to grow organically by re-investing undistributed income will be required to provide sufficient supporting documentation to demonstrate that such retention is driven by genuine commercial needs.’

Kenyan property, rental and investment company Githima Limited was caught up in a dispute on undistributed earnings when the KRA demanded Sh3.7 million in income tax after an assessment covering the period between 2017 and 2019.

The taxman demanded the tax from a deemed dividend distribution of Sh271.2 million it flagged the non-distribution of dividends as a tax avoidance scheme.

The real estate firm won the suit after proving that the dividend retention was necessary to service a Sh2 million loan from Equity Bank.

The KRA was faulted for failing to properly apply the law on deemed dividends.

The taxman flags deemed dividends when their audits raise red flags on huge, retained earnings in the wake of the lack of dividend distributions.

Previously, the KRA would deem that only a smaller portion of the retained earnings was liable to income tax.

The KRA commissioner currently has the liberty to set the portion of retained earnings deemed undistributed dividends.

The new proposal has faced criticism for assuming that all firms have a flat dividend policy distribution, with a 60 percent requirement.

Most companies have dividend policies that set the distribution rate at between 30 and 50 percent of net income, but banks like Standard Chartered set their distribution to as high as 80 percent of net income, signalling a lower rate of capital retention to fund growth and expansion for the conservative lender.

‘A company would still be allowed to provide grounds for why they have not distributed dividends, but the proposal to set a minimum floor on this assessment at 60 percent might lead to a more aggressive KRA commissioner,’ said Robert Maina, a tax director at Ernst and Young (E and Y).

The KRA wants to weed out tax evaders and boost revenue by billions of shillings, as part of measures put in place to repair its coffers.

The drive to increase collections has seen the KRA increasingly use tech and third-party data to catch those who do not pay tax on their incomes.

Deemed dividends

Robert Waruiru, a managing partner and head of tax at Ichiban Tax and Business Advisory LLP, said the adoption of the floor on deemed dividends on undistributed profits could force some firms to make distributions even when having pressing needs for the cash.

‘As a company, you are really being forced to distribute dividends. If you don’t and are assessed to have avoided a tax liability, you will have to pay the dividends tax,’ Mr Waruiru said.

‘Forcing shareholder payouts will be a disadvantage to companies that would have benefited from redeploying retained earnings for use beyond payouts and could force firms to take out loans for growth as an alternative.’

A court battle has erupted over the government’s decision to relax fuel sulphur standards, amid warnings that the move could expose millions of people and motorists to dangerous air pollution and serious health risks.

In a constitutional petition filed by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), the State is accused of secretly allowing the importation of higher sulphur fuel without public participation, scientific disclosure or environmental safeguards, despite the far-reaching public health consequences.

The case stems from an April 30, 2026 government announcement temporarily waiving sulphur limits to allow fuel containing up to 50 milligrams per kilogramme of sulphur for six months.

Though the government said the move was necessary to cushion the country from fuel supply disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict and volatility in global oil markets, LSK argues that alleged economic pressures cannot override constitutional environmental protections.

LSK says the waiver was introduced without disclosing the technical assessment supporting the decision, environmental impact data, public participation records or health mitigation measures.

‘The temporary adjustment of fuel standards raises serious health and environmental concerns under Articles 42 and 69 of the Constitution,’ the LSK states in court papers.

It argues that the decision threatens the constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment and exposes consumers to potentially harmful emissions without adequate accountability.

Through lawyer Wilkins Ochoki, the society says the government failed to demonstrate why the fuel standards had to be lowered or explain the long-term consequences of introducing higher sulphur fuel into the local market.

Court documents show the State justified the waiver by citing disruptions in petroleum supply chains linked to tensions in the Middle East.

Emergency questions

The petition says a March 9, 2026 communication from the National Security Council Committee (NSCC) had already warned of possible fuel supply instability and directed State agencies to develop a National Energy Security and Resilience Plan.

LSK now wants the court to compel the government to disclose the status of that plan and explain why emergency preparedness measures allegedly failed despite the earlier warning.

‘The respondents failed to show what emergency, contingency or resilience measures had been implemented despite the earlier NSCC directive on energy security and diversification,’ LSK chief executive Florence Muturi states in the petition.

The lawyers further accuse the State of making critical public health and environmental decisions through opaque administrative processes insulated from public scrutiny.

‘The respondents have treated a matter of direct constitutional significance as an opaque administrative exercise,’ the petition says.

The petition targets the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra), the National Treasury, the Energy Ministry, the Trade Ministry, the Attorney-General, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) and the National Standards Council.

Disclosure fight

LSK wants the court to suspend or quash the sulphur standards waiver unless the government undertakes and publicly discloses technical, environmental and health assessments supporting the decision.

The society is also seeking orders compelling the Trade Ministry, Kebs and the National Standards Council to file in court all documents underpinning the waiver.

These include technical studies, environmental assessments, consultation records and evidence of public participation.

The petition argues that sulphur standards directly affect air quality and public health because higher sulphur fuel emissions contribute to respiratory illnesses and environmental degradation.

LSK says the State cannot lawfully relax fuel quality standards affecting millions of Kenyans without robust scientific justification and public accountability.

‘The temporary relaxation of fuel quality standards touching on air quality and public health cannot lawfully be sustained without robust disclosure, accountability and environmental justification,’ the petition states.

The suit was filed alongside a broader challenge against the latest fuel price increases announced by Epra on May 14, 2026.

The regulator increased petrol prices by Sh16.65 per litre and diesel by Sh46.29 despite a reduced VAT rate of eight percent and a Sh5 billion subsidy from the Petroleum Development Levy Fund.

LSK argues that the fuel pricing decisions and the sulphur waiver form part of a wider pattern of opaque governance in the energy sector.

The petition claims the State failed to provide a complete breakdown of fuel pricing formulas, subsidy allocations and the use of public funds meant to cushion consumers.

The lawyers further allege that supply chain failures, port delays and market distortions had already triggered severe fuel shortages before the waiver was announced.

The society says the cumulative effect of the disputed decisions has worsened the cost-of-living crisis and heightened public anger across the country.

Ms Muturi says in her supporting affidavit that the government’s actions had triggered protests, fare hikes and economic disruption.

‘The actions of the respondents constitute breach of the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution, more particularly the right to public participation and consumer protection,’ she states.

The case, expected to test the extent of the government’s powers to alter fuel standards during emergencies, is set for mention on May 28, 2026. The respondents have yet to file their responses to the suit.