Category: Business Daily

I earn Sh100,000 net monthly income, but somehow always run out of money by the 20th. Is there a realistic budgeting method that actually works for someone who has tried and failed multiple times?

There is a particular kind of exhaustion that comes with earning what most of us would call “a decent salary” and still feeling perpetually behind. It carries a quiet shame that is hard to talk about.

You can’t exactly complain to colleagues who earn less, and your family assumes that at your income level, money is no longer a real concern. So, you carry it in silence; the spreadsheets you’ve abandoned, the budgeting apps you downloaded and deleted, the January promises that barely survived February.

A friend, a mid-level manager in Nairobi, described it this way: “I’ve tried every method. The envelope system, the 50/30/20 rule, and even writing everything down manually for a month. Each time, I do well for about two weeks. Then something comes up. A friend’s wedding, a family emergency, the car and the whole plan collapses. After a while, you stop trying because the failure feels worse than not trying at all.”

That collapse is not a character flaw, but in part, a design flaw in how most budgeting advice is written, and for whom. Most personal finance content assumes a kind of frictionless life. It imagines a person with stable, predictable expenses, a social circle that doesn’t ask for anything and family obligations that politely stay within budget.

There is the chama contribution you can’t skip without social consequences. There is a relative who needs school fees “just this once.” There is the colleague’s medical harambee, the birthday dinner you can’t get out of, the data bundles and electricity tokens that somehow always run out at the same time.

Then there is the creeping cost of everything else. Fuel. Groceries. Rent that rises without ceremony. The same Sh100,000 that felt comfortable three years ago now feels like it is doing the work of a smaller salary.

What many financial conversations miss is that budgeting is not primarily a math problem. If it were, knowing your numbers would be enough to fix them. But most of us who struggle with money know our numbers quite well. The knowledge is there. The follow-through isn’t. This is where psychology takes over from arithmetic.

So, what actually works?

Any honest conversation about managing money must first acknowledge everything that is working against you before prescribing anything.

The most useful shift, perhaps, is not finding the perfect system but realising the fact that there is none. Some of us do better at tracking every shilling. Others do better automating savings on payday and not looking. Some need weekly check-ins, whilst others need a monthly review. What works is deeply personal, occasionally inconsistent, and sometimes still breaks down.

Financial literacy, in its most useful form, is about developing a clearer relationship with what your money is actually doing and why. It starts with a question that is deceptively simple: What is my money competing with?

Not ‘where does my money go?’ Most people can answer that on a whim. But what are the pressures, obligations and social dynamics that quietly redirect your money before your plan even gets a chance? Identifying those honestly, without self-judgment, is more useful than any budget spreadsheet.

Here’s where to start.

Pay yourself on payday, not at the end of the month. Most of us save what is left over, which is usually nothing. Moving even a modest amount to an M-Shwari lock account, a money market fund, or a sacco the moment your salary arrives changes the psychology entirely. You adapt to what remains.

Name your irregular expenses. Car maintenance, school fees, and annual subscriptions these feel like surprises, but most are predictable. Giving them a rough monthly cost turns a financial ambush into a planned line item.

Build a buffer, not just a budget. Even Sh10,000 sitting untouched acts as a shock absorber when life, inevitably, does not go to plan. It protects your budget in a way that willpower alone never will.

Separate your accounts. Keeping rent money, daily spending money, and any savings in the same account makes every shilling feel available. A separate bank wallet, or a sacco standing order, creates a psychological boundary that is surprisingly effective.

Revisit your social and family obligations honestly. This is the hardest one, and it has no clean answer. But understanding the true annual cost of your social commitments, not to eliminate them, but to plan for them, removes the element of ambush.

The goal is never to be perfect with money, but to stop dreading the 20th, not through discipline alone, but through a more honest understanding of what your money is actually up against.

The banking sector is arguably the pulsating heart of any economy in the globe. When it is pumping sturdily, private credit flows, businesses thrive, and jobs are created. When it wavers, the entire economic system could suffer a cardiac arrest.

This is why the Central Bank of Kenya’s (CBK) directive instructing a 10-fold increase in core capital, from Sh1 billion to Sh10 billion by 2029, was not a mere regulatory annoyance but a very important operation.

Under the Business Laws (Amendment) Act, Kenyan banks face progressive targets under a staggered five-year plan: Sh3 billion by 2025, Sh5 billion by 2026, Sh7 billion by 2027, Sh8 billion by 2028, and Sh10 billion by 2029. Whereas most tier-1 and 2 banks are already compliant, several mid-tier lenders are still racing to meet the first threshold.

However, during the 2026/27 Budget Statement on June 11, 2026, National Treasury CS John Mbadi introduced two amendments. First, the final deadline was extended from 2029 to 2032. Second, and more consequentially, the phased annual milestones were cancelled entirely. Banks now have until December 31, 2032 to meet the Sh10 billion target with no intermediate checkpoints. Notably, this came just one day after CBK Governor Kamau Thugge had publicly declared no extensions would be granted.

I disagree with the new approach. The extension and, more specifically, the removal of the staggered approach is a temporary reprieve, not a solution. The obligation has not disappeared but has merely been deferred. What the progressive framework offered was urgency and accountability.

Annual milestones forced banks’ executives and boards to confront capital shortfalls year after year. Without those targets, there is a real risk that banks will procrastinate, and by 2032 Kenya will face the same structural weaknesses compounded by years of inaction. A problem deferred is a problem magnified.

Larger, better-capitalised banks are more resilient, more capable of absorbing shocks, and better positioned to support economic growth. The panacea is not to slow down capitalisation but to accelerate consolidation through more mergers and acquisitions. The staggered approach was the most effective regulatory mechanism to push banks in that direction. I dare argue that its removal is a missed opportunity.

Some critics call this guidance an overkill that will force smaller banks to fold or consolidate. But the reality is harsh: capital adequacy is one of the most critical parameters for financial stability. Under the CAMELS framework, the ‘C’ is incontrovertible.

Capital acts as the loss absorption buffer, protects depositors, reduces contagion, and allows banks to lend through economic cycles. By raising the minimum capital, the CBK is eliminating the weakest links, as was experienced in the 2008 global financial crisis.

This effort is not unique to Kenya. Nigeria recently concluded a 24-month recapitalisation process, raising its minimum capital base for international banks to 500 billion naira.

South Africa maintains strict Basel III requirements with a CET1 ratio of 12.5 percent, far above the global minimum. Ghana raised its capital requirement to GHS 400 million in 2017, causing consolidation of several indigenous banks. The lesson is universal: you cannot hedge a robust economy on a wobbly banking footing.

CBK’s threshold of Sh10 billion is actually more conservative than Basel III requirements. CBK has insisted on an absolute number to ensure even banks with smaller balance sheets that could technically be compliant but remain operationally fragile are addressed.

The call to action is that banks ought to be enthusiastic. For smaller banks, this means seeking strategic investors, merging, or accepting acquisition. For larger banks, this is an opportunity to acquire solid branches and customer bases.

The alternative which could be a bank run, receivership, or a KDIC payout is expensive for everyone. A well-capitalised banking sector is a competitive advantage. It tells foreign investors that Kenya is safe. It tells depositors that their savings are secure.

Kenya has emerged as Africa’s most active sports betting market, with 64 percent of respondents reporting they placed a football ante in the past 12 months.

According to GeoPoll data, this places the country ahead of regional peers and underscores how deeply wagering has become embedded in football consumption habits.

‘High level of sports betting engagement: 52 percent of respondents have placed a football bet in the past 12 months, rising to 64 percent in Kenya, 60 percent in Ghana, and 58 percent in South Africa, but dropping to 25 percent in Egypt,’ said GeoPoll.

The surge is most visible during major tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup, when betting typically spikes alongside global interest in the sport and is attributed to the high mobile and internet penetration.

The 2026 World Cup, which kicked off on June 11, is an expanded 48-team tournament taking place across the US, Canada and Mexico. It will span 104 matches over 39 days, compared with 64 games in the previous edition four years ago. Cabo Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan are making their World Cup debuts.

The data also shows that Kenya is not just betting more often, but engaging more intensely with football.

GeoPoll findings indicate that 67 percent of respondents in Kenya watch three or more matches per week, the highest heavy viewer segment across all markets surveyed. The survey also shows that the number of Kenyans who expressed interest in watching the World Cup grew from 86 percent in 2022 to 94 percent in 2026.

This sustained exposure to European leagues, Champions League fixtures and international tournaments has helped normalise betting as part of the matchday experience.

At halftime, that integration becomes more visible. About 27 percent of Kenyan respondents say they place or review bets during the interval, higher than most regional peers, alongside widespread mobile engagement through score checking, social media discussion and live updates.

This reflects a broader shift in viewing behaviour where the 15-minute break is no longer downtime, but an extension of the betting and second-screen ecosystem that now defines how many Kenyans experience football during global tournaments like the World Cup.

‘One in five respondents (19 percent) report placing or reviewing bets during the interval, rising to 27 percent in Kenya and 19 percent in South Africa, where in-play and half-time betting markets are more actively integrated into the viewing ecosystem,’ said GeoPoll.

‘This reinforces the growing convergence between football consumption and sports betting, where watching and wagering increasingly operate as part of a single, continuous experience.’

Regulators and public health advocates have increasingly raised concerns about the rapid expansion, warning that aggressive marketing and easy digital access could be accelerating problem gambling, particularly among younger users.

The government is pushing to emulate developed economies like the United Kingdom, Malta, and Singapore by having tighter betting rules.

This includes compelling key personnel at betting firms to have licences.

Betting companies face higher operating costs following plans to introduce a licence fee of up to Sh300,000 for key employees.

GeoPoll surveyed 3,274 people across Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Cameroon, and Egypt in June 2026 to capture how the continent is experiencing the World Cup, from viewing habits and team loyalties to betting behaviour and broadcast awareness.

Private property developers are redirecting investments towards commercial buildings as the government ramps up spending on affordable housing, reshaping Nairobi’s construction landscape and altering the traditional dominance of residential developments.

Commercial projects target business activities such as warehouses, offices, and retail outlets.

Data from Nairobi City County, published by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), shows the value of approved non-residential building plans rose 44.4 percent to Sh21.37 billion in the first three months of 2026 from Sh14.8 billion a year earlier.

The jump in commercial projects helped offset a slowdown in residential developments, whose approved value fell 10.3 percent to Sh41.06 billion from Sh45.77 billion during the same period last year.

During the review period, the total value of building plans approved in the capital increased by 3.1 percent to Sh62.44 billion, making it the highest figure since the opening quarter of 2023, when the value of the building pipeline was Sh63.78 billion.

The numbers point to a growing shift among private developers towards offices, warehouses, retail centres and industrial facilities at a time when the State is rapidly expanding its footprint in the residential housing market through President William Ruto’s Affordable Housing Programme.

Commercial projects accounted for 34.2 percent of the total value of approvals in the first quarter of 2026, up from 24.4 percent a year earlier and nearly four times the 9.3 percent share recorded in the first quarter of 2023.

While private developers appear to be shifting their focus towards commercial real estate, the government is accelerating investment in residential housing through the affordable housing programme.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said the government had intensified implementation of the programme to address the country’s housing deficit while creating jobs and stimulating economic activity.

‘Decent housing underpins social stability and economic productivity. Our Affordable Housing Programme not only provides safe and affordable homes to Kenyans, but also generates jobs directly in construction and indirectly across building materials and services sectors,’ Mr Mbadi said in his Budget Speech on June 11.

The programme targets low- and middle-income earners through tenant-purchase schemes and affordable mortgages under the Boma Yangu initiative.

Mr Mbadi said 277,281 housing units were either under implementation nationwide or had been completed by May this year, underscoring the scale of government involvement in the residential construction sector.

The programme has also attracted more than one million registrations on the Boma Yangu platform, reflecting strong demand for home ownership and growing public confidence in the initiative, according to the Treasury.

Government spending data shows the affordable housing drive has become one of the fastest-growing areas of public expenditure since the introduction of the housing levy in July 2023.

The 2026 Economic Survey shows actual spending on housing nearly tripled to Sh79.03 billion in the financial year ended June 2025 from Sh25.49 billion a year earlier. The expenditure was almost nine times higher than the Sh9.13 billion spent in the 2022/23 financial year before the levy came into force.

At the same time, absorption of housing funds improved significantly, reaching 96.3 percent of the Sh79.03 billion allocation in the year ended June 2025, compared with 32.6 percent of Sh78.18 billion in the previous year.

‘During the review period, expenditure on housing increased significantly, reflecting improved absorption of allocated funds and scaling up of affordable housing projects,’ KNBS said in the Economic Survey.

The aggressive public-sector push into housing coincides with growing caution among private residential developers facing elevated construction costs, expensive financing and concerns over household purchasing power.

While residential projects still account for the largest share of Nairobi’s construction pipeline, the fastest growth is now coming from commercial developments, signalling a gradual rebalancing of investment away from privately financed housing and towards income-generating business properties.

Kenyans living abroad are sending home about Sh280 billion annually in unrecorded remittances through informal channels and non-monetary items, indicating that they are playing a bigger role in funding households than was previously thought.

A new official survey of diaspora remittances shows that total inflows stood at Sh931.8 billion in the 12 months to May 2025, inclusive of in-kind items and cash that was brought into Kenya outside of formal channels like banks and remittance service providers.

This amount is Sh280.6 billion higher than the Sh651.2 billion inflows that were recorded by the CBK through formal channels like banks, mobile money and remittance service providers in the period.

Remittance inflows in cash stood at Sh848.4 billion, while the in-kind flows totalled Sh83.5 billion.

‘The report has revealed the invisible 40 percent of remittances that we did not see, that was in the informal channels. This is the money that is quietly pressed into the palm of a cousin you meet when you go back home, or the phone that somebody carries in their luggage for you,’ said FSD Kenya chief executive officer Rashmi Pillai.

Some of the channels preferred by those sending money home informally include in-person delivery through self or relatives who are visiting home, Hawala systems or through cryptocurrencies. The main motivation for using these channels was to cut the cost of transmission, speed, and ease of access.

For the in-kind delivery of goods to relatives, 30 percent of Kenyans living abroad either deliver the items themselves when visiting, or hand them to other travellers to deliver to recipients. This way, senders avoid high courier charges, reduce the risk of loss or damage, ensure timely delivery to intended recipients, and bypass complex customs procedures.

For those living in neighbouring countries – particularly along the Uganda and Tanzania corridors- 26.8 percent reported using road transporters including buses, matatus, motorcycles, and bicycles to ferry goods to their relatives in Kenya.

Dense social networks, frequent cross-border mobility, and short travel distances make road transport convenient and affordable for small consignments from neighbouring countries, the survey found.

This higher-than-expected volume of cash and items being sent home from abroad has also highlighted the growing importance of the transfers to households, especially in a time when budgets have become constrained by rising cost of living and stagnant wages in the formal sector.

Critical buffer

In the survey, 73.1 percent of recipient households said that they use a significant part of their cash to purchase food and other basic consumer goods, making the continued support from relatives abroad a critical buffer against economic vulnerability.

Education and medical expenses also featured prominently among the key uses of remittances at 31.4 percent and 23.9 percent respectively, followed by purchase of clothes at 19.8 percent, payment of rent at 9.3 percent and ceremonies such as funerals and weddings at 8.8 percent.

‘A substantial share of remittances was directed towards basic consumption, particularly food, household goods and services, underscoring their importance in sustaining livelihoods,’ reads the report in part.

‘Beyond consumption, the survey revealed that remittances also make a significant contribution to human capital development through spending on education and healthcare.’

Among households surveyed, 42.3 percent reported remittances as a supplementary source of income, 36.4 percent as additional income, and 22.3 percent as their main source of livelihood.

The findings also affirmed that the US remains the largest source of remittance into Kenya at Sh405.4 billion, equivalent to 43.5 percent of total flows. The world’s largest economy accounted for Sh388.1 billion in cash remittances, and Sh17.3 billion in in-kind items such as clothing, footwear and electronics.

Under the usual monthly remittance reporting by the CBK, which excludes the informal flows, the US has been enjoying a share above 50 percent of total flows, while the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia have been sitting in second and third spots.

This new data has now unearthed previously undetected flows from major economies such as Germany and Australia, which have recently taken in a growing number of Kenyan labour and education migrants.

These countries have also tended to attract a higher number of white-collar migrant workers compared to those in the Middle East, hence their higher flows.

A lobby wants the court to halt several provisions of the Finance Bill 2026, arguing that Parliament is poised to approve measures that could raise consumer costs, expand tax enforcement powers and expose sensitive financial data without adequate constitutional safeguards.

The Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek) has moved to the High Court seeking to halt several provisions of the Bill, arguing that some of the proposed measures could increase household expenses, weaken taxpayer protections and expose citizens’ financial information without adequate safeguards.

The petition, filed before the Constitutional and Human Rights Division, asks judges to suspend implementation of the contested provisions if Parliament passes them into law.

It says the cost of everyday purchases to digital transaction charges and taxes paid by informal traders could sharply rise if the tax proposals in the Bill are assented to law.

Cofek’s case is the argument that the proposed changes extend beyond technical tax amendments and could directly affect how Kenyans earn, spend and save money.

One of the federation’s biggest concerns is the proposed removal of VAT exemptions and zero-rated treatment on selected goods and services. Zero-rated supplies will be converted to 16 percent VAT.

According to the lobby, removing those protections could raise production and distribution costs for businesses, which would eventually be passed on to consumers through higher prices.

The affected goods include basic foodstuffs, health products, agricultural inputs, and educational materials. Cofek says consumers could immediately face higher prices.

“The Finance Bill does not disclose any compensatory mechanism, transitional framework or consumer protection measures intended to mitigate the impact of the proposed amendments,” the organisation said in court papers.

It says Parliament is removing existing VAT protections without adequately disclosing which essential goods will become more expensive or assessing the impact on consumers.

For households already grappling with the rising cost of living, the lobby argues that the proposals could make everyday goods and services more expensive.

The lobby is asking the court to require greater transparency before the Bill becomes law and has proposed a 12-month transition period together with the restoration of zero-rating for deleted categories involving basic foods, health products, agricultural inputs and educational materials.

The petition also highlights a proposal to impose a 1.5 percent withholding tax on gross proceeds from scrap metal transactions.

While the measure appears targeted at a specific sector, Cofek says it disproportionately affects low-income Kenyans who survive on collecting and selling scrap metal.

The federation notes that the trade is dominated by youth groups, waste pickers, small-scale dealers and informal workers whose businesses operate on thin profit margins.

“Taxation imposed upon gross transaction values without regard to actual income or profitability raises substantial constitutional questions concerning fairness, proportionality and equitable sharing of the tax burden,” the organisation says.

Another area of concern involves digital payments. The petition challenges provisions expanding the definitions of royalty and management fees to cover elements of digital financial infrastructure, including payment processing systems and card schemes.

The lobby argues that the practical effect could be higher operating costs for payment processors and financial institutions.

Those costs, it says, may ultimately be transferred to consumers through increased transaction fees, merchant charges and other costs associated with digital payments.

“The practical effect of the proposed amendment is likely to increase the operational costs borne by financial institutions, payment processors and service providers operating within Kenya’s digital financial ecosystem,” the federation said.

Nearly four years after Kenya bought out private equity investor Helios from Telkom Kenya, the transaction continues to generate legal fallout, with businessman John Ngumi seeking court protection from anti-graft investigators despite prosecutors twice declining to pursue charges.

The latest petition has revived scrutiny of one of Kenya’s biggest and most politically sensitive corporate transactions, exposing how a deal intended to secure State control of a strategic telecommunications asset evolved into a web of investigations, arbitration proceedings and competing institutional decisions that still cast a shadow over the company.

For investors, the Telkom saga offers an unusual case study of the uncertainties that can arise when governments serve simultaneously as commercial counterparties, regulators and investigators.

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration initiated the sale of 60 percent of the shares to Helios in September 2022, but his successor William Ruto’s government rescinded that decision in October of the same year, just a month after taking office.

The exit

The government completed the acquisition of Helios’ 60 percent stake in Telkom Kenya in the 2022/23 financial year at a cost of about Sh6 billion. The buyout followed Helios’ decision to exit its investment through Jamhuri Holdings Limited, its investment vehicle in Telkom.

Since the approximately Sh6 billion needed for the acquisition had not been appropriated in the annual budget, the Treasury invoked Article 223 of the Constitution, which allows the national government to spend money not planned for under limited circumstances.

The Controller of Budget approved the withdrawals, and Parliament was later notified. Questions emerged over whether the expenditure had been lawful, whether all approvals had been obtained, and whether the process had benefited insiders.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) opened investigations and submitted files to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Official records reviewed by the Business Daily show that the exit process began years earlier.

According to documents later examined by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), Helios communicated its intention to exit in July 2021 through a contractual “put option” contained in shareholder agreements.

The approval

The National Treasury engaged the investor and sought additional details on the proposed terms of exit.

The matter subsequently moved through the highest levels of government.

The National Security Council endorsed the proposal. Cabinet later approved the exit plan, authorised the government to acquire Helios’ shareholding and approved a budgetary provision of Sh5.9 billion to facilitate the transaction, according to the ODPP’s review of the evidence.

The transaction, however, immediately attracted controversy. Questions emerged over whether all the necessary approvals had been obtained, whether the payments complied with public finance laws and whether senior officials and advisers involved in the transaction had benefited improperly.

After President Ruto took power in 2022, the EACC opened investigations and submitted files to the ODPP for consideration of possible criminal charges. Among those targeted was former National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani.

The prosecutors’ conclusions, however, differed sharply from the suspicions surrounding the deal.

In October 2023, President Ruto’s administration announced that Cabinet had revoked the earlier nationalisation arrangement, citing governance concerns. Instead, Treasury said Infrastructure Corporation of Africa, a United Arab Emirates-based entity, had been selected through a competitive process to acquire the 60 percent stake previously held by Helios.

Yet nearly three years later, questions remain over implementation of that transition and the precise status of Telkom’s ownership structure.

In an April 7, 2025 letter to EACC, the ODPP directed that the inquiry file be closed, finding that the evidence gathered was insufficient to sustain proposed charges relating to conflict of interest and corruption in the acquisition.

The closure

After EACC sought reconsideration, the ODPP revisited the matter and, in a second letter dated July 4, 2025, reaffirmed its earlier decision.

“Based on the above analysis, we reiterate our initial direction communicated to your office … directing closure of the inquiry file for lack of sufficient evidence to support the proposed charges,” the ODPP, through Prosecutor Joseph Riungu, wrote.

The prosecutors found that the government had sought and obtained relevant approvals during the acquisition process and that the use of Article 223 of the Constitution to finance the expenditure had been regularised.

Article 223 permits the national government to spend money not appropriated by Parliament where existing appropriations are insufficient or urgent expenditure arises, subject to subsequent parliamentary approval.

The ODPP concluded that the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury had constitutional authority to invoke the provision and that the Controller of Budget had sanctioned the withdrawals.

It also found that Parliament had later been notified of the expenditure.

The prosecutors further reviewed a Management Incentive Plan established by Telkom Kenya in 2017 and found that the programme had been approved by the company’s board and implemented through corporate resolutions.

The ODPP concluded that payments made under the scheme could not support criminal charges against beneficiaries identified by investigators.

Among those examined was Mr Ngumi, the former Kenya Commercial Bank chief executive and investment banker who advised Jamhuri Holdings on the Helios exit.

According to the ODPP’s findings, Mr Ngumi acted under a separate advisory arrangement, declared taxes on his fees and was not a party to the government’s share purchase agreement.

Yet the legal fallout did not end with the prosecutors’ directions.

Mr Ngumi has now petitioned the High Court seeking orders against EACC, arguing that the anti-graft agency has continued pursuing investigations despite the ODPP’s closure directives, thereby violating his constitutional rights and exposing him to prolonged uncertainty.

The court declined to certify the application as urgent and directed that it proceed through the ordinary hearing process.

The petition has reopened questions about whether State institutions are acting consistently in high-profile commercial investigations and how prolonged inquiries affect individuals and businesses linked to strategic transactions.

At the same time, the Telkom dispute has expanded beyond Kenya’s borders.

Court documents in separate procurement proceedings reveal that Kenya is defending itself in arbitration proceedings in London involving Jamhuri Holdings under the London Court of International Arbitration rules.

The litigation arose from a dispute over the National Treasury’s procurement of legal services at Sh358 million to represent Kenya in the arbitration.

The court declined the challenge and noted that counsel had already appeared before the arbitral tribunal and warned that disruption of representation could prejudice the State’s position in proceedings involving potentially substantial financial exposure.

“It is also not lost on the court that a binding legal contract has already been executed to represent the country, and proceedings pursuant to that contract are underway,” the judge said, adding that withdrawing from the contract could prejudice Kenya’s representation and expose it to “potential liability and reputational harm in the ongoing arbitration proceedings.”

The ongoing arbitration attempt demonstrates that the Helios exit, which the government intended to resolve through the buyout, continues to generate legal and financial consequences years after the transaction closed.

The sequence of events has been striking. Helios expressed its intention to exit. The government negotiated terms and obtained approvals. Public funds were deployed to complete the acquisition. Anti-corruption investigations followed. Prosecutors twice directed closure of the inquiry.

A constitutional petition was filed by one of the transaction’s advisers. International arbitration proceedings then emerged.

Throughout that period, Telkom Kenya itself has remained caught in the middle.

The telecommunications operator occupies a strategically important position in Kenya’s digital economy. It competes in a market dominated by larger rivals while requiring continued investment to modernise infrastructure and expand services.

The risk

The prolonged legal and institutional disputes surrounding its ownership have unfolded against the backdrop of government’s efforts to position Nairobi as East Africa’s leading destination for foreign investment and technology capital.

For investors assessing political and regulatory risk, the Telkom saga illustrates how even transactions involving formal approvals and state participation can continue generating uncertainty long after implementation.

The uncertainty has coincided with broader challenges facing the telecommunications operator. Telkom’s market position has weakened over time amid intense competition from larger rivals.

Reports have indicated that employees have expressed frustration over delays in securing a strategic investor and concerns over the company’s future direction.

The episode also highlights the costs of unresolved disputes for governments seeking to reassure investors about policy consistency and predictability.

Whether the remaining legal battles eventually bring closure may determine how the Telkom transaction is remembered.

What began as a government-backed effort to secure control of a strategic asset has evolved into a cautionary account of how difficult it can be to conclude major State-linked deals.

Nearly four years after Helios sought the exit, the Telkom story remains unfinished.

At least half of Kenya’s 14 microfinance banks face pressure to raise an estimated Sh2.9 billion to meet newly proposed minimum core capital requirements by the Central Bank of Kenya(CBK), signalling a fresh wave of mergers and acquisition deals in the lending sub-sector.

The new Microfinance Bill 2026 proposes to raise the core capital floor for micro lenders to Sh250 million, up from Sh60 million. The micro-banks are expected to comply with the new capital requirements within five years after the government-sponsored Bill is passed in Parliament.

‘The objective of this bill is to repeal and replace the Microfinance Act 2006, to address the evolving business of banking as well as the institutions offering microfinance banking services,’ reads the memorandum accompanying the Microfinance Bill of 2026.

Capital push

The higher capital threshold is expected to trigger a new wave of acquisition deals, especially by social-impact investors.

‘Acquisitions are one of the methodologies to not only increase core capital but also improve the performance of micro-finance institutions,’ Carol Karanja, the chief executive officer of the Association of Microfinance Institutions (AMFI), told Business Daily.

The sector has been the subject of mergers and acquisitions recently, with the transactions being set to remain prominent as players chase the new core capital threshold, with the deadline likely to be set at the end of 2031.

Salaam African Bank (SAB) from Djibouti acquired the entire stake held in Uwezo Microfinance Bank in March 2021, triggering a wave of acquisitions for the sector.

Since then, UK-based Wakanda Network Limited acquired an 85 percent stake in Choice Microfinance Bank Limited (October 2021) while Branch International Limited acquired an 84.89 percent shareholding in Century Microfinance Bank Limited in February 2022.

LOLC Mauritius Holdings Limited also closed its acquisition of a 73 percent stake in Key Microfinance Bank in February 2022.

In July 2022, US-based fintech company UMBA Inc. announced the acquisition of a 66.06 percent shareholding in Daraja Microfinance Bank, while in May of 2023, Cactus Cantina Investments Limited acquired a 55.8 percent stake in Maisha Microfinance Bank.

US-based Hope Advancement Inc. rounded off 2023 by taking a 51 percent shareholding in SMEP Microfinance Bank Plc.

The merger and acquisition trend in the sector has emerged again with Nigerian fintech company Moniepoint recently taking a 78 percent stake in Sumac Microfinance Bank.

CBK expected the acquisitions to strengthen the micro banks through injection of additional capital to fund business expansion, upgrade information technology infrastructure and bolster governance.

The industry has welcomed the higher capital push, acknowledging the need for stronger funding buffers even as they highlight other reforms to improve the operations of MFBs and boost profitability.

‘Members have endorsed the higher core capital requirement and have no issues scaling it,’ Ms Karanja said.

AMFI notes 11 reforms could help boost the operations of microbanks and their profitability, including increasing single borrower limits and cutting the number of management executives in boards.

Other remedies proposed include revising MFBs’ cash-reserve ratio downwards from the current 4.25 percent and reviewing the period for classification of non-performing loans (NPLs) from 30 to at least 60 days.

Funding gaps

Records show that as of December 31, 2024, the number of licensed microfinance banks held steady at 14, but the overall financial position weakened from 2023 with notable decreases in net advances and borrowings.

The Kenya Women Microfinance Bank faced the highest funding gap as of December 2024, based on its negative working capital of Sh1.5 billion, followed by Maisha Microfinance Bank (now renamed On It Microfinance Bank), which had a negative Sh179 million core capital in the same period.

The pair would require Sh1.7 billion and Sh429 million to meet the new minimum core capital rules.

Daraja Microfinance Bank also had a negative core capital of Sh132 million during the same period.

In Kenya, we have long been known as a hotbed of entrepreneurship. We piloted the explosion of business incubators and accelerators around the world for almost 20 years.

In so doing, we became an epicentre for fintech, NGO delivery innovation, low-cost quality healthcare, creative education, among many other sectors.

However, simultaneously, we are facing a growing waste management challenge nationally as we generate an estimated eight million tonnes of waste annually, which puts pressure on our natural resources and eco systems that threaten our quality of life and our precious value chains necessary for continued entrepreneurship.

Interestingly, as a result of striving to solve the waste issue, Kenya is now building a reputation as a leader in a whole new type of entrepreneurship for the developing world. The concept of circular economy is gaining measurable steam across East Africa led right here in Kenya.

Circular economy refers to business approaches that improve environmental sustainability and performance by adopting circular solutions, developing sustainable and circular businesses, expanding green business models, and creating green jobs through more sustainable consumption and production practices.

While several European countries like Denmark make great strides in large systemic cross-industry circular economy, here in Kenya we are progressing as a leader in green entrepreneurship and circular economy small business startups and scaling up ventures.

Recently, the European Union and a consortium led by HIVOS launched the SWITCH Kenya Green project that aims to develop sustainable and circular businesses through fostering access to finance and improving businesses sustainability and performance leading to sustainment and creation of green jobs.

Programme manager Ndinda Maithya hopes it will help support Kenyan micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMES) which are central to our economy but still face significant barriers in transitioning to circular economy models.

Some of these challenges include limited access to finance, technical capacity gaps, weak market systems, and policy implementation constraints.

The European Union also supports other initiatives around the green and circular economy in Kenya as implemented through the German GIZ. Additionally, the Swedish International Development Agency launched a new programme with the African Enterprise Challenge Fund to invest in and scale up green business ventures. Further, the Embassy of Finland in Kenya is focusing greater attention toward the circular economy.

Why do donors and investors choose Kenyan businesses to boost circular economy initiatives?

Jeremy Kaburu with Sustainability in Business highlights how Kenya holds a strong policy framework to support the circular economy and interested entrepreneurs. Many new startups across the country are piloting innovative solutions to plastics, organic waste, and textiles waste.

Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura recently reconfirmed the national government’s commitment to fostering such innovative circular economy entrepreneurship. Further, counties such as Mombasa, Kilifi, Nairobi, and Makueni are taking leadership roles in prioritising green entrepreneurship.

Jackson Koimbori with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa) emphasises that even the private sector and member organisations are keen to support circular economy entrepreneurs. Kepsa and Sustainability in Business run circular economy initiatives across the country.

Even Kenya’s largest bank, KCB and its KCB Foundation, have begun heavily supporting circular economy entrepreneurs with loans, training, and investor linkages.

Circular economy researcher Peter Kariithi showcases how even university incubators, like the one at USIU-Africa and others, as well as leading East African accelerators like Somo Africa are pivoting toward sustainable, social, and circular entrepreneurship.

The education commitment in Kenya even goes much deeper to the policy and government involvement. Anne Kamonjo, the Director of Greening with the State Department of TVETs highlights how vocational training across the country is now infusing green entrepreneurship and circular economy principles into institutions and curriculum.

Kenya is taking a lead. Entrepreneurs would do well to sit up and take notice. Investors, incubators, accelerators, banks, counties, and the national government are beginning to champion green entrepreneurship and the sustainable environment principles of a circular economy approach.

Let us be proud of Kenya’s global leadership role in this important emerging and growing field of entrepreneurship. Interested entrepreneurs and circular economy businesses should feel free to reach out to the above organisations for support and linkages to help turn Kenya ever and ever greener.

A piece of paper that looked more like a crumpled receipt made its way onto X not too long ago. On it, a Gen Z employee had written his resignation letter. It read: ‘I have chosen this type of paper for my resignation as a symbol of how this company has treated me. I quit.’ No signature. No notice period. In the Gen Z lingo, just vibes and an exit.

On TikTok, an employer went on record questioning why a new hire had simply stopped showing up two weeks into the job. No letter, no phone call, nothing.

The younger employees have become a headache in offices; they take unofficial leaves without asking, skip job interviews they had already confirmed, and in some cases, quit after three months of work. This, after a company has spent hours training them. They come to workplaces, only to earn money, just enough to buy an iPhone. After that, back to zero. No shame. No second thoughts.

Rewriting the rulebook

The big question employers and parents are asking is, are these young people tearing up the workplace rulebook, or are they just rewriting their own rules?

Chris Sakwa is an HR practitioner, a co-founder and co-director of HRD Ingenuity, and a lecturer at the College of Human Resource Management. He has seen it from every angle, as a consultant, a trainer, and as someone who has had to sit has seen it from every angle, as a consultant, a trainer, and as someone who has had to sit across the table from both frustrated managers and unbothered younger employees.

His first point is that this is not a simple problem with a simple answer.

‘Trying to choose one side would be an injustice,’ he says. ‘The young ones have a different approach to life, and they are challenging the status quo. And yes, the older generation is struggling with it.’

He sees it as two realities sitting side by side, not one cancelling the other out.

‘What makes Gen Z workers different from every generation that came before them is the speed at which they expect things to happen. They want results now. They are not interested in waiting for a promotion that might come in five years. They are not interested in loyalty to a company that has not yet proven it is loyal to them. When something is not working, they leave. Not next month. Now,’ says Chris.

Need to explain the ‘why’

Every office has rules, so what about the rules?

Gen Z tends to treat them as suggestions. Chris says this comes down to two things. The first is that employers have not done enough to explain why the rules exist.

‘When you do not explain the why behind a rule, they take it lightly,’ he says. ‘A policy document dropped on someone’s desk without context will feel random to someone who has grown up questioning everything. Gen Z wants to understand the reasoning. Without it, they see no reason to comply.’

The second explanation is harder for managers to hear.

Chris says the older generation has not always walked the talk. The young ones will do what they see being done. If you preach integrity but do not live it, they are watching.

‘When a manager bends the rules for themselves but enforces them on everyone else, Gen Z clocks it. They say nothing. But they remember. And eventually they stop taking the rules seriously because the people making the rules clearly do not.’

The parenting factor

Then comes the question of where all this behaviour really starts. Chris does not hesitate. He points to the parents.

‘We are talking about Gen Zs as if they fell from some other planet. Yet the truth is, they are our monsters. We created them. Many Gen Z employees grew up in homes where parents worked hard to make sure their children never went without. Struggle was something that happened to other people. The word ‘no’ was almost never said.

‘They were taught to go after what they want and cut off anything that did not serve them. So, when they arrive at a job and are told the pay is lower than expected, or that they have to sit at a desk for eight hours even after finishing all their work, it does not make sense to them. It has never made sense in their world before.’

‘They do not know that no, full stop, is a complete and acceptable sentence,’ Chris says. So when they hear it at work, they do not adjust. They walk.

Productivity vs presence

There is also the Gen Z view of time and presence. The old model was clear: come in at eight, leave at five, be seen, be loyal, wait your turn. Gen Zs have thrown that model out. Their argument is straightforward. If the work is done, why does it matter when or where it was done? Chris sums up their logic.

‘You want something done? Tell me what it is. I will finish it in two hours and leave. Did I deliver? Yes. Was the work good? Yes. So what is the problem?’

He admits it is hard to argue with that.

Covid-19 gave them their biggest proof yet. When the pandemic sent everyone home, the world did not stop. Work got done. In many places, it got done better. That handed Gen Zs a very strong card to play. Remote work, flexible hours, and hybrid setups are no longer strange requests.

Many organisations have already agreed to them, partly because Gen Zs pushed and partly because the pandemic showed it was possible.

‘If they push away the older generation, they are missing the mark,’ he says. ‘The older generation carries institutional memory and experience that cannot be downloaded overnight. Ignoring that is not boldness. It is a gap.’

From boardroom suits to crocs

Now, once the bigger rules conversation has been had, there is another one waiting quietly in the corner. The dress code.

Gen Z employees are walking into offices in sneakers, hoodies, crocs, ripped jeans, and braids styled in ways no 1990s boardroom would have recognised. Some managers take one look and see disrespect. But Chris slows that conversation down quickly.

‘When boomers were young, they had bell-bottoms, high-heeled shoes for men, too, and big afros. Their parents had issues with them. When Gen Xers came in, there were strange hairstyles. Locs, boxes and slopes. When millennials arrived, people said the same things.’

His point is direct. Every generation in their youth has clashed with the one before it over how they look. Gen Z is not an alien species. They are just next in line.

The solution, he says, is not a ban. It is a conversation. Explain to them why clients from a different generation might interpret certain looks differently. Give them room where it is possible, a dress-down Friday, a casual day at the end of the month. Let them come in with the crocs and the hoodies when there are no client meetings. And be clear about where the line is and why it exists.

‘Do not just say this is how it is done. Explain the why. When you get them to understand the why, they will probably treat it as a rule,’ Chris says.

Why companies must act

On whether managers should even bother hiring someone who might walk out after a month, Chris says yes, but with a clear head.

‘I would have both the loyalist and the rebellious Gen Z. The loyalist gives me stability and institutional memory. Gen Z gives me fast results. The question is how I manage each one.’

He believes in mentorship that goes both ways. Managers learning from Gen Zs. Gen Zs learning from managers. Not one side doing all the teaching.

What he is pushing for, at the end of all of it, is for organisations to stop pretending the old playbook still works and to update their HR policies to match the workforce that is actually showing up.

Gen Z is growing as a share of that workforce every year. They are not going anywhere. And the Alphas, the generation coming right after them, are already close behind.

‘Work ethic is being challenged,’ Chris says. ‘It is no longer about being present and being seen. It is about delivering value. We need to reconsider what we have termed work ethic, because the world is moving.’

Nobody has figured out what the Alphas will bring. But if the Gen Z conversation has taught us anything, it is that the next one will arrive whether we are ready or not.