Category: Business Daily

Africa is increasingly becoming a region of catalysts for entrepreneurial excellence. This has made the region to be known as a continent that is brimming with untapped potential and brilliant minds.

And currently, the region is dedicated to empowering the next generation of African innovators and change-makers. And it can be seen in many innovative works that are emerging in the continent.

Currently, startups has been recognised to be transforming African economic ecosystems.

This has been recognised by the AU’s Startup Policy framework and Model Law, supported by Google and African Practiced where they recognised that for the sector to grow, there should be a continent-wide initiative designed to harmonise regulations and drive growth in Africa’s tech and innovation ecosystem.

And also focus on the challenges they are facing. One such area is how to promote inclusivity and provide a roadmap for member states to create policies that empower the next generation of innovators.

But despite the many opportunities that startups has been able to offer for young innovators, latest research by tech experts reveals that 90 percent of ventures normally fail within the first five years.

And with 10 percent failing in their first year and 70 percent within three years of inception, this means that only one in 10 start-ups succeed eventually. Can this scenario change? And how can we ensure that more startups succeed beyond the three-year mark period?

But despite these challenges, expert reports reveal a landmark transformation in the region. For example, across East Africa, there are founders genuinely doing important work.

One such area is in building clean energy solutions in Kibera, Kenya. The other area is in Kampala-Uganda where the youths are running employment programmes.

And in Morogoro-Tanzania, they have seen an expansion of healthcare access. But despite the success stories, many startups are still struggling to raise money and market access. And this can be linked to the fact that it cannot easily show an investor or donor that the problem they are trying to solve is real and what it is worth.

Despite the various challenges, there is already a growing body of practice among the East African social enterprises that successfully attract capital and operate with greater clarity. And what many of them share in common is a three-part framework, and the key insight is that these tools are not independent, they are sequential and each one feeds the next.

From experts’ analysis, this means that all startups in Africa should adopt the Theory of Change, for them to survive the ecosystem. And this is a foundational logic of the organisation that has been written down and testable. It asks the following questions: what problem are we solving, what are we doing about it and why do we believe our actions will lead to the change we want?

This Theory of Change which has been evaluated can help all startups to measure their impact continuously, and once they have the data, this can be translated into the raw material for Social Return on Investment (SROI).

And it translates it into financial language, assigning monetary value to social results. For example, when a founder is able to tell an investor that, “Every $1 you put in generates $4 of social value,” impact stops being a moral argument and becomes a business case.

Therefore, SROI gives impact investors the return-on-investment framing and innovators are also trained to evaluate. For most Kenyan founders, SROI is not a tool they have rejected; it is one they have simply never encounter.

By embedding SROI literacy at the formation stage, rather than expecting founders to discover it years into operations, could meaningfully increase the number of Kenyan start-ups and social enterprises entering the investment conversation ready. Finally, the Theory of Change feeds into Monitoring and Evaluation (M and E), which in turn feeds into SROI.

The use of the three tools is not merely a reporting exercise. It is how an organisation systematically builds credibility, improves internally and communicates its value to the world. And the enterprises that will define the next decade of East Africa’s social economy are not necessarily those with the most ambitious missions.

They are the ones who can consistently and clearly show that their mission is becoming a reality.

In parts of Kileleshwa, the jacaranda blossoms still fall onto clay-tiled roofs, bringing back memories of old Nairobi. Low-rise apartment blocks sit behind mature jacarandas, their design reminiscent of a time when Kileleshwa was calm and mostly residential.

But turn a corner, and that image disappears. You step into a whole new world of high-rise apartments with flat roofs, stacked floor after floor, with rooftop swimming pools and gyms, and short-stay listings advertised from nearly every entrance.

When John Maina moved into Kileleshwa in December 2001, the neighbourhood was quiet, spacious and deeply residential. He had just retired from banking and settled in Kileleshwa after his wife, who was then a civil servant, was offered the chance to buy a government house in the area. The couple acquired a one-acre property with a two-storey home for Sh3.2 million.

Today, that figure feels almost unimaginable, especially in one of Nairobi’s most expensive residential estates.’We were lucky. The government was selling some of its houses, and we seized the opportunity,’ says Mr Maina.

Back then, Kileleshwa was defined by trees, silence and space. Roads curved through large plots of land, and apartment buildings rarely rose beyond two to four storeys. Many homes belonged to government agencies, banks and senior civil servants.

University professors and middle-class families lived here to be close to the city, but away from the chaos of downtown Nairobi.

Plots measured between three-quarters and a full acre. Shopping meant driving to Westlands, Kilimani or Lavington, as Kileleshwa itself had little commercial activity.

The turning point came with a policy change. When zoning regulations were revised to allow higher plot ratios and taller residential developments, developers moved in quickly.

‘Once the zoning changed, many high-rise buildings started to appear. That is when the area began to change very quickly,’ says Maina.

Most of the old houses were demolished to make way for apartment blocks, which now stand shoulder-to-shoulder where single-family homes once stood.

‘My home hasn’t changed much, but the environment around us has deteriorated because we are now competing for scarce resources,’ says Mr Maina.

The roads, sewer systems, and water supply came under pressure. Boreholes multiplied as residents struggled with unreliable access to water.

‘The streams that used to be clean are no longer the same, and there are boreholes everywhere,’ he says.

Traffic congestion became the norm, even though connectivity to Westlands, Kilimani, Valley Arcade and the city centre improved.

‘Sometimes it takes almost an hour to drive from Museum Hill to the provincial police headquarters because of traffic,’ he says.

Despite the strain on infrastructure, young professionals continued to flock to the estate, drawn by apartment living and proximity to business districts.

Restaurants, nightlife venues, supermarkets and private kindergartens followed. However, Mr Maina notes that social amenities have not expanded at the same pace as residential developments: “We have seen a few clinics and more nursery schools, but major schools and hospitals have not really increased.”

Following the population influx, property values have soared. The one-acre home that Mr Maina bought for Sh3.2 million has attracted offers running into tens of millions.

‘I believe that when we decide to sell our property, it could go for around Sh70 million,’ he says.

Good bargain

Wangethi Mwangi recalls an earlier Kileleshwa. In 1994, he acquired a three-bedroom bungalow on a three-quarter-acre plot that had previously been owned by Nation Printing and Publishing Limited, which is now the Nation Media Group.

“The company was disposing of some of its residential properties,” he recalls.

The bungalow, which had been occupied by an Australian editor, was sold for Sh3.5 million; the expiring lease, registered in 1902, had affected its value.

“The lease was due to expire in a few years, so that affected the value,” Mr Mwangi says.

Years later, he redeveloped the property into a high-rise apartment complex.

‘We have literally watched the neighbourhood change around us. We have seen the roads being expanded, buildings going up everywhere, and congestion building up over time,’ he says.

Today, balconies overlook concrete towers stretching from wall to wall. Petrol stations, supermarkets, and cafés now dominate the roads that were once lined with family homes.

Another resident, who requested anonymity, said that he moved to Kileleshwa in 1978, at a time when the area was dominated by large, standalone homes on expansive plots of land, most of which measured between three-quarters and one acre.

“At that time, it was mostly houses and gardens. You could drive through the estate and barely see any apartments. There wasn’t a shopping centre anywhere near here. People had to drive far for simple services.’

Seeing a gap, he developed one of the area’s earliest commercial centres in 1997, and over the years, he has developed his property to keep up with the growing population’s rising demands, which is perhaps what has kept it running in the midst of the area’s fast-paced development.

According to the businessman, Kileleshwa’s rapid transformation began around 2005, when zoning regulations changed.

“The by-laws changed and opened the area up to high-rise buildings,” he says.

He describes the growth as largely positive, citing improved road infrastructure, better lighting, enhanced security, and easier access to the city centre.

‘Kileleshwa is one of the residential areas closest to the city, and accessibility has improved significantly thanks to the roads,’ he says.

He also mentions the infrastructure upgrades, such as sewer connections and new roads, which have improved living standards compared to earlier years, when many homes relied on septic systems.

However, he acknowledges that the rapid urbanisation has also brought challenges. Like many other residents, he complains of traffic congestion, water shortages and pressure on utilities.

‘The biggest problem now is water. Many properties rely on boreholes because the supply is inconsistent,’ he says.

Rise of Airbnbs

Kileleshwa’s transformation is visible not only in concrete, but also in how people live. The suburb has become a hybrid of long-term rentals and short-stay apartments, with Airbnb-style units expanding rapidly. These fully furnished apartments are marketed as lifestyle products and feature amenities such as rooftop pools, gyms, smart locks and concierge services.

According to data from the Kenya Property Centre, the average monthly rent for an apartment in Kileleshwa in 2026 is about Sh120,000, depending on size and furnishings. One-bedroom units can range from Sh40,000 to Sh79,000, while high-end three-bedroom apartments can exceed Sh150,000.

December 2019, that was the last time we got a Star Wars movie. But Star Wars fans have been hit with a steady wave of content.

Between Visions, Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Book of Boba Fett, nobody can realistically say the fans have been starved for stories from a galaxy far, far away.

Yet, out of that entire television period, one of the best shows to come out and one of the only shows that genuinely deserved to go on the big screens was The Mandalorian. Its production value was so high that some of us, including myself, spent years wondering if we were ever going to see it on the big screens. On May 25, that dream was fulfilled.

This film serves as a direct theatrical sequel to the streaming series. When the original show debuted in 2019, it operated on a groundbreaking television budget of roughly $100 million for its first season and went on to generate billions in cultural capital, streaming subscriptions, and merchandise.

For this cinematic leap, director Jon Favreau and producers Kathleen Kennedy and Dave Filoni were handed a $165 million budget to bring the duo’s next chapter to life. Returning actors include Pedro Pascal as the voice of Din Djarin, alongside Sigourney Weaver as Colonel Ward and a stellar supporting cast.

The synopsis follows The Mandalorian and Grogu as they are officially enlisted by the New Republic.

They are sent on a high-stakes mission into the galactic underworld to rescue Rotta the Hutt, the son of Jabba the Hutt, from a ruthless new criminal warlord. It is a straightforward setup that leans heavily into the classic space-western roots of the franchise. Because the film comes from the exact same creators, the core DNA of the property hasn’t changed; instead of doing a show, they just did a movie.

Visuals

For the visual effects enthusiasts out there, The Mandalorian is renowned for popularising the use of the Volume. This is the one show that brought in and utilised this technology, which, instead of a green screen, wraps a big screen completely around the characters.

The environments are displayed within the screen, creating a realistic feel to the character being in that world instead of struggling with flat green screens. On a massive theatre screen, that technology pays off beautifully.

There is one breathtaking shot of Mando facing a giant monster where the framing, colour and contrast are so perfect that the frame of the scene could confidently be wallpaper in itself.

The director and cinematographer clearly knew they had a beautiful picture because they hold the shot so you can take it all in and marvel at what is happening.

The movie captures the exact same sense of planet-hopping adventure that made the series so engaging. It widens the scope of the Star Wars universe, making it feel like a true universe by taking you from extreme futurism to complete jungles.

It is a very well put-together adventure that lets you meet different characters and experience these environments from the Mandalorian’s perspective, which was a standout element about the show and this film. Alongside the visuals, true Mandalorian fans get to hear that recognisable and catchy soundtrack blasting through bigger speakers.

The action set pieces are equally top-tier, and this is from the opening. Even if someone walks into the theater completely blind to who these characters are, the movie doesn’t explicitly tell you who they are, but the first 20 minutes do a good job establishing exactly how much of a badass the Mandalorian is. The opening sequence picks elements from the Star Wars universe to build an action scene.

Creatures and gladiators

One of the highlights of the film is its imaginative handling of creatures. If you are into creatures in Star Wars movies, the second and third acts deliver some very interesting sequences that throw different creatures with different abilities at you.

It even throws in an element of Gladiator early in the second act, involving a specific primary character Mando is supposed to get. It offers a cool contrast to what we expect from that particular species and keeps you totally hooked with some very creative creature fights.

These moments also do a good job of reminding you just how dangerous nature and these planets can be outside of the typical Star Wars good vs bad tropes.

The film is a two-hour ride, but you do not feel the long runtime because they feed you a constant stream of great action and beautiful visuals. While the first two acts focus squarely on the Mandalorian, Grogu surprisingly gets a moment during the third act.

The filmmakers do something unexpected with him that elevates his character and completely justifies Grogu being in the title of the film.

But what I truly appreciated about that scene is that there is very little dialogue, letting you watch Grogu do his thing without speaking, which is very good visual storytelling. The film also introduces an extra villain who, despite having basic motivations that aren’t deeply explored, has cool poses and moves like a ninja, basically. I remember thinking that he was such a cool villain.

Gripes

The film isn’t perfect, and my biggest gripe is just how much the story is oversimplified. Characters constantly tell you what they are going to do, where they are coming from, and where they are going. Instead of letting the audience piece things together, certain aspects of the plot are repeated too many times that it feels like the film is working extra hard to make sure you understand what is happening.

This was frustrating because it felt like it was clearly made for kids and didn’t really respect your intelligence as an audience. While it makes sense to keep things approachable for people who have never seen the show, the first two acts are weighed down by unnecessary exposition.

Additionally, while the use of puppets and animatronics has always been a core part of The Mandalorian, there are moments where they look a bit janky and wonky, making me wish they had used CGI for some particular scenes.

For parents bringing kids, be aware that there is a particular scene in a villain’s lair featuring a small creature and a dog-like beast that has a tense, disturbing atmosphere. It is not so gruesome that it will give kids nightmares, but the framing and composition might make a very young audience uncomfortable.

If you have watched the series, you probably remember the blue Macaron. Well, they are back again, and they are shamelessly given a healthy amount of screen time.

Just a good time

The story from A to Z is simplified enough to be understandable and approachable for those who have never watched a Star Wars story. However, a person who has followed the Star Wars universe and watched the Mandalorian series will have a much greater time.

Recognising the Easter eggs, pulling characters from other properties, and understanding the history behind the armour and why they keep their helmets on make the movie very satisfying to go through.

As a longtime fan of the show, I still believe it is one of the best Star Wars properties out there.

The oversimplification was a problem for me, but just as a cinematic experience, this was a good time in the theatre. It respects The Mandalorian’s reputation, and I absolutely enjoyed the visuals and action set pieces.

You do not strictly need to have seen the show to enjoy this film; in fact, if you were to step away from the Star Wars elements and approach purely as a space adventure with weird creatures, you will have a great time in the theatre.

Kenya prides itself on being a pioneer and pacesetter with regard to advanced financial markets in Africa and is a leader in eastern and central Africa. This strong performance is characterised by the existence of structures that support a market-driven financial market.

The country is well endowed with strong financial institutions, from banks to insurance companies to investment funds that allow the flow of money within the formal economy. These are not static pillars.

Kenyan players have been pushing beyond borders, exporting not only services but a model of financial inclusivity that has redefined access across the region. Platforms such as the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) have evolved into more than venues for trade. They are engines of growth, enabling businesses to scale and inviting citizens into the fold of ownership.

A more interesting story is currently unfolding in the markets. New systems targeting agriculture, such as commodities exchanges and warehouse receipting frameworks, are attempting to formalise and de-risk sectors long left to uncertainty.

Add to this the surge in money market funds and the steady sophistication of financial instruments, and a picture emerges of a country not only participating in finance but actively reimagining it.

However, there is a tendency to narrow the performance of Kenya’s capital markets through annual returns and index performance. The NSE is not only a scoreboard for investors, but it is a barometer of our nation’s economic pulse, capturing its resilience and its aspirations all at once.

Over time, the NSE has demonstrated remarkable strength, agility and resilience, evolving into an engine that fuels growth across sectors, with manufacturing standing out as a cornerstone.

This has been driven through innovative programs which have supported the manufacturing sector, from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to large companies, through the provision of innovative platforms for long-term and competitive financing, raising capital, enhancing good corporate governance, as well as promoting sustainability. The real story is not in the annual numbers, but in NSE’s role as one of Kenya’s most critical market pillars.

Today, we have approximately 14 manufacturing companies under the NSE, although our desire to have more listed, and their influence goes far beyond this number.

These companies are strong pillars of the exchange, through steady revenue, predictable performance and their deep ties to Kenya’s economy.

This strong presence, attributed to stability, attracts investors. Without them, we witness economic instability and unpredictability, rather than a strong foundation for businesses to thrive. Manufacturers post consistent earnings, which in turn boosts market capitalisation, strengthening liquidity and shaping markets. Investor confidence is built on these companies with a strong reputation for producing tangible value.

Investor behaviour at the NSE tells the same story. Pension funds, insurers, and asset managers, who are custodians of long-term capital, naturally lean towards firms with stable cash flow. Undoubtedly, manufacturing companies fit that profile.

When manufacturing companies are listed, the NSE evolves from a venue of financial transactions to a platform for national development and a bridge between capital and productive enterprise.

An often-overlooked strength at the stock exchange is sector diversity, which reduces systemic risk from over-reliance on a few sectors. A good example can be seen in the gross domestic product (GDP) patterns of Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.

Kenya has historically benefited from a diversified economy, with agriculture, manufacturing, services, and technology all contributing to growth. In contrast, Nigeria relies heavily on oil exports, making its GDP and financial markets highly sensitive to fluctuations in global oil prices. Similarly, South Africa, while somewhat diversified, is still significantly dependent on mining and commodities, which exposes it to global demand swings.

Kenya has long benefited from a relatively balanced economy, where agriculture, manufacturing, services, and technology each play an active role.

A strong and visible manufacturing sector on the exchange reinforces this diversity and cushions the economy from external shocks, case in point, during the Covid-19 pandemic and even now as we grapple with the effects of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as a consequence of the Iran war.

This is why it is critical for Kenya to encourage manufacturers’ participation in the NSE. Manufacturers often underpin the credibility of the entire market. Their consistent performance supports indices, sustains investor trust, and keeps both local and international capital engaged.

The ripple effects of little or no participation would translate to fewer anchor stocks, weaker liquidity, and a diminished appeal for long-term investors.

Global markets offer a useful parallel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average derives much of its stature from industrial and consumer giants across the world. Kenya can emulate this and work towards expanding the pool of manufacturers at the NSE.

Encouraging more industrial firms to list would signal a maturing capital market, deepen economic diversification, and broaden wealth creation. It would also align the exchange more closely with Kenya’s long-term development ambitions.

A country’s structural transformation depends on manufacturing due to industrial growth, job creation, and exports, making the NSE into a platform for investing in national development. We should, therefore, be deliberately pushing for more manufacturing firms to list on the exchange and link their business processes with other financial market tools such as the commodity exchange and derivatives.

Imagine what that would translate to with thousands of farmers, hundreds of aggregators and tens of brokers all being part of a formal, well-regulated market.

That shift would signal not just a deeper, more mature capital market, but also a stronger industrial backbone, inclusive economic growth and a real growth in per capita or household earnings. Ultimately, it would point to a more diversified economy. One that creates jobs at scale and distributes wealth more broadly.

Consolidated Bank of Kenya is set for a boost after a National Treasury circular directed State agencies, including parastatals, to channel more business to the lender in a bid to strengthen its role in financing development projects.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, in a circular dated April 20, 2026, urged ministries, counties, departments and agencies, as well as State corporations and government-owned enterprises, to ‘actively collaborate with and support’ the lender by utilising its banking, financial and insurance services.

‘Such support will go a long way in strengthening this important national institution and promoting a more resilient and inclusive financial ecosystem in the country,’ said Mr Mbadi in the circular.

The circular was copied to key government officials, including the Head of Public Service and the bank’s acting chief executive Dominic Murage, signalling high-level backing for the initiative. Dr Murage is a financial scholar who was tapped from the University of Nairobi to lead the bank.

The directive effectively places the State-owned lender at the centre of public sector transactions, potentially boosting its deposit base, transaction volumes and lending capacity at a time when the government is seeking to strengthen local financing channels for development.

Consolidated Bank is majority-owned by the government, with a 93.4 percent stake held by the Treasury and the remainder by other State institutions. The State is lining up a Sh1.125 billion capital injection into the lender.

Capital pressure

The bank ended December with core capital of negative Sh546.07 million, leaving a funding gap of at least Sh3.54 billion to meet the current minimum of Sh3 billion under new capital rules.

The threshold is set to rise progressively to Sh5 billion by year-end, Sh6 billion in 2027, Sh8 billion in 2028 and Sh10 billion by 2029.

Mr Mbadi’s directive offers a lift to Mr Murage after the lender posted a net profit of Sh198.18 million at the end of 2025, reversing a net loss of Sh155.22 million the previous year.

The latest profit marks the bank’s first in 11 years, with the previous net profit recorded in 2014 at Sh44.42 million.

Mr Murage recently said the lender is prioritising efficiency and deeper collaboration with small businesses and the public sector to drive growth.

‘Small and medium enterprises remain central to our business model and portfolio, and we intend to deepen our support for them. We aim to strengthen our collaboration with government agencies, parastatals, universities and ministries to position Consolidated Bank as the preferred banking partner for the public sector,’ said Mr Murage.

Growth strategy

Treasury’s push to have State entities route more business through the bank appears set to guarantee the lender a steady pipeline of deposits and transactions, improving liquidity and supporting credit extension, particularly for government-linked projects.

The bank’s deposits crossed the Sh10 billion mark in 2020 and have continued to rise, closing last year at Sh12.29 billion from Sh11.71 billion in 2024.

However, the loan book has remained largely stagnant over the same period, closing last year at Sh8.55 billion from Sh8.51 billion in the previous year and Sh8.54 billion in 2020.

Mr Mbadi said the government is working with the lender’s board and management to position it as a ‘key partner in national development’ and that support from State entities would improve its prospects.

‘The board and management of Consolidated Bank, with the support of the government, have undertaken deliberate measures and strategic initiatives to strengthen the bank’s growth, enhance operational efficiency, and position it as a key partner in national development,’ the circular reads.

The High Court has reinstated a Sh3 billion tax demand against spirits manufacturer London Distillers (K) Limited (LDK), overturning a decision by the Tax Appeals Tribunal that had quashed the assessment issued by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

The disputed assessment, issued in April 2021, comprised corporation tax, excise duty and value-added tax (VAT) for the period between 2015 and 2019.

The Tax Appeals Tribunal had earlier faulted the Commissioner of Domestic Taxes for relying mainly on an input-output analysis based on bottles purchased by the company while excluding other factors.

The tribunal said it could not verify the accuracy of the number of bottles used by KRA in arriving at the assessment and consequently quashed the tax demand.

However, the High Court ruled that the tribunal failed to appreciate that the assessment was based on unexplained variances uncovered during investigations.

The court noted that although tax assessments should not be based on assumptions of income, and not all money deposited in business accounts relates directly to product sales, the taxpayer bore the burden of disproving the assessment once discrepancies had been identified.

‘I am also aware of the argument that insistence that all purchased bottles ended up in production and the market would be dangerous proposition. I agree. But, again, the basis for the assessment in question was unexplained variances and it was the onus of the respondent (LDK) to prove the assessment was excessive or the tax decision was incorrect on that basis,’ the court said.

The judge further held that the tribunal erred in finding that the distiller had sufficiently explained the discrepancies relating to bottles purchased and wastage of excise stamps above one percent.

‘I further find that the Tribunal erred by making findings on the production records, flow meter readings, data from accounting system and resident’s officer’s involvement which were not grounds in the objection. Section 56 (3) of TPA,’ the court said.

Method dispute

The Commissioner said it established unexplained production variances after reviewing the company’s tax returns, bank statements, invoices, receipts and purchase ledgers. Bank deposits were also found to be higher than the turnover declared for tax purposes.

KRA argued that the tribunal failed to recognise that the bottle method was the most accurate and reliable means of estimating production volumes. The tax authority maintained that different analytical methods could be used interchangeably where justified.

London Distillers, however, argued that it had provided adequate explanations regarding bottle purchases and wastage. The company also maintained that KRA failed to physically verify the bottles and wastage at its premises before issuing the objection decision.

The tribunal had found that the assessment was primarily based on an input-output analysis of bottles to estimate production.

But KRA maintained that the assessment stemmed from an analysis of activations and deliveries under the Excise Goods Management System (EGMS), which revealed variances in ready-to-drink products.

KRA said the discrepancies pointed to unaccounted production. The findings were further supported by banking analysis, which showed turnover inconsistent with declared sales, leading to the conclusion that revenue had been understated.

The Commissioner then used the bottle method to estimate actual production volumes under Section 12 of the Excise Duty Act.

Numbers trail

Court records show that after reconciling excise stamps for the period between 2016 and 2018, KRA found that the company activated 1.61 million excise stamps equivalent to 527,250 litres of finished product after stock adjustments.

However, the distiller declared and paid taxes on 359,162 litres, leaving a variance of 168,088 litres that triggered additional excise duty and VAT assessments.

An input-output analysis based on bottles purchased also revealed significant variances amounting to 9.97 million litres. KRA obtained bottle supply data from suppliers Vivek Investments Ltd and Milly Glass Works Ltd.

Further banking analysis showed the company received more than Sh23 billion in sales revenue during the review period. KRA compared the turnover declared in annual returns with estimated sales based on bottle usage, resulting in an initial principal tax liability of Sh2.68 billion.

KRA later adjusted the assessment after considering explanations from the company, including reconciliations involving several banks and excise stamp records. It also factored in breakages of more than 11 million bottles.

The taxman ultimately concluded that the company had failed to satisfactorily account for more than 21.3 million second-hand bottles and assessed tax amounting to Sh2.05 billion after determining that sales exceeded Sh25 billion during the review period.

In its objection, London Distillers argued that not all money deposited in business accounts represented sales income and that KRA’s assumption that all purchased bottles ended up in the market was flawed. The company also claimed that the analysis wrongly classified caps and labels as bottles and confused second-hand bottles with new ones.

However, the Commissioner maintained that the company failed to provide sufficient supporting documents and did not adequately explain the production variances identified during the investigations. In its last assessment, the taxman demanded Sh3.02 billion.

The transporters lobby, emboldened by a government that increasingly looks cornered and desperate, has escalated to the highest demands. They want a Sh46 reduction in the price of diesel, scrapping of the market regulator Epra, and dismantling of the government to government (G-to-G) oil purchase deal.

To back these demands, they have issued an ultimatum: cut fuel taxes or face mayhem and paralysis in the capital city. This is the new normal. Any form of public protest today carries the credible threat of shutting down Nairobi, destroying private property, and costing lives. The government is being held hostage.

Yet in the noise of these negotiations, neither side is paying serious attention to what is happening in the international oil market – and that is a dangerous oversight. The global oil crisis will not resolve itself quickly, even if the Strait of Hormuz reopened tomorrow.

The dominant driver of high international prices right now is not a shortage of crude, but a shortage of refining capacity.

At least eight significant Gulf refineries are fully or partially out of action, and repairing them will take many months. This crisis is not winding down – it is just beginning. We are debating short-term concessions against a problem that is structural and long-term.

On the domestic fiscal side, the hard truth is that Kenya has little room to absorb a global commodity shock through subsidies or tax cuts. The budget deficit already exceeds Sh1.1 trillion. Debt service consistently consumes roughly 70 percent of revenue, according to the National Treasury’s own monthly outturns.

There is simply no fiscal space. We cannot borrow our way out of a global supply crisis. Consider the fuel maintenance levy, which at 25 percent is the single-largest impost on the pump price.

How much of it is actually available to fund subsidies? Very little – nearly 50 percent of its receivables are already pledged to bondholders under the securitisation programme. What remains is the primary funding source for road maintenance. Cut it deeply, and we revert to the potholes and degraded highways of a decade ago.

The arithmetic is brutal and unambiguous. Excise duty, at 21 percent, is the second largest impost. The conversation within the policy elite right now is apparently to reduce excise duty on diesel and close the gap by raising petrol prices by the same margin – a politically risky proposition.

VAT has already been half-consumed by the first round of subsidies. The stabilisation fund has been depleted.

The loudest demand, however, is the clamour to dismantle the G-to-G arrangement. This is reckless. To understand why, one must recall the economic abyss Kenya stood over in late 2022. The country was in the grip of a severe dollar liquidity crisis. The domestic interbank market had effectively seized up.

Because Kenya imports 100 percent of its petroleum, local oil marketing companies were scrambling collectively for nearly $500 million every month to settle invoices within a rigid five-day window upon cargo arrival.

That relentless, concentrated demand for hard currency broke the back of the Kenyan shilling, sent the exchange rate into freefall, and brought the economy to the brink of product stock-outs and an outright shutdown.

The G-to-G framework – negotiated with Saudi Aramco, ADNOC, and ENOC – was an emergency structural intervention.

Its most consequential feature was not price, but time: a 180-day deferred payment credit facility that redistributed that compressed $500 million monthly demand across six months, taking acute pressure off the forex market.

Dismantling the arrangement today would instantly reconcentrate that demand, dumping it back onto a fragile currency market already under pressure from a weak current account and declining export performance. The result would not be cheaper fuel – it would be a catastrophic devaluation of the shilling overnight.

Critics also conveniently ignore the G2G deal’s role as a hedge against supply chain volatility. The arrangement locks in fixed rates for freight and premium components.

Globally, maritime freight costs and war-risk insurance premiums have hit historic highs. Because Kenya’s costs are contractually anchored under the G2G framework, our landed cost of product is materially lower than what a fragmented, spot-market system could secure today.

To dismantle G-to-G in the name of short-sighted populism would not reduce the price of fuel by a single cent. It would simply ensure that we pay for our fuel with a broken currency and a bankrupted economy.

The most likely outcome is that the government, out of political expedience, will bite the bullet and cut fuel taxes. Perhaps the more useful conversation to be having is around soft regulation of commuter fares.

Some transport operators appear to be exploiting the crisis to hike prices well beyond what the actual margins of fuel cost increases justify, extracting unfair premiums from stranded citizens. That is a problem a government with backbone could address.

For decades, the word mabati (corrugated iron) carried a specific social weight in Kenya, almost exclusively associated with low-income, rural housing or temporary structures.

However, if you drive through Kenya’s burgeoning high-end estates today, you’ll see vibrant and architecturally stunning roofs that are a far cry from the rusted sheets of the past.

By leveraging emerging technologies, local manufacturers are today delivering high-quality, aesthetically pleasing roofing materials that remain affordable for all income levels. The latest generation of iron sheets largely features aluminium and zinc coating that eliminates traditional problems such as rusting and fading, ensuring that water harvesting remains safe for consumption.

Indeed, a series of targeted State and industry interventions have successfully boosted domestic production of quality roofing mabati. Yet, despite these clear gains, deep-seated structural issues continue to limit the sector’s overall productivity and economic impact.

The biggest challenge is competition from traders selling counterfeit, substandard imports at absurdly low costs.

These flashier, cheaper alternatives deceive unsuspecting homeowners, who soon find themselves dealing with issues such as rust and leaks.

Compounding this is the global geopolitical climate; conflicts such as the war in Iran have sent shipping costs skyrocketing, an expense that eventually hits the consumers.

To protect the ‘Made-in-Kenya’ brand and the safety of our homes, regulatory bodies such as the Kenya Bureau of Standards must move beyond policy and into aggressive enforcement, rooting out corruption that allows substandard materials to bypass inspections.

Second, we need to look beyond just rolling the steel locally and start processing the raw materials locally as well, since these resources are available in large quantities in our country.

While a few companies are engaged in local production of raw materials, the high cost of these products suggests we need more players to break existing monopolies.

Finally, we need to champion the use of homegrown building materials in our public and private developments. Buying locally is a patriotic act that drives real economic progress.

This would likely reduce the final price of raw materials for producers, who can then be able to pass on the cost benefit to the consumer, thus making housing more affordable.

Third, we need to provide more tax incentives for local manufactures, so as to reduce their operating costs and make them more competitive against imported products. These incentives could take the form of reducing the cost of fuel products such as diesel, used widely in our factories.

Not only does it sustain thousands of jobs, but it also strengthens our tax base and uplifts the livelihoods of our own people.

At Spring Valley Coffee café, an enamoured waitress, not an hour older than 20, approaches our table with a menu held close to her chest like a hymn book. “I love your outfit. You look so good!” The compliment isn’t directed towards me but towards Wandia Gichuru, founder and CEO of Vivo Fashion Group. She is wearing a loose, dark green satin blouse with the softest of sheen, large olive-green tassel earrings, delicate gold chains layered at different lengths with a pearl accent and on her fingers several minimalist rings in gold and silver.

If this was a novel she would be the character described as ‘sweeping through a room in a gale of green’. But this is life. And she explains that she has two major events after this; a panel at the Retail Trade Association of Kenya summit and later that evening a gathering around Graça Machel who is visiting.

At 15, Vivo Fashion Group is East Africa’s largest homegrown women’s fashion brand – 30 stores across Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, and hundreds of employees. Wandia co-founded it in 2011 with a friend, out of her living room, with savings and no plan, after leaving a career that had taken her through Citibank, the World Bank, JP Morgan in London and the UN in New York.

She is, at her core, an economist who found her argument in a fitting room. The argument is now 15 years in the making: Africa is dressed by everyone but itself. Almost everything East Africans wear belongs to somebody else. The clothes in global fashion chains are not made in Europe, they are stitched here, exported, marked up, then sold back, or they arrive as mitumba. “So who is dressing us,” she asks, with a hard unwavering stare, “and who is making the money?”

For her, Vivo is a proof of concept. That locally made clothing can be affordable. That fashion manufacturing, still too complex for robots, still requiring human hands, is one of the most viable job-creation engines on the continent. “Every generation carries its own responsibility,” she says, borrowing from Graça Machel. “Our generation’s responsibility is making sure Africa is no longer left behind.”

Do you get this a lot; people walking up to you paying you compliments for your sense of fashion?

[Laughs] Not so often, I’m not a fashionista. There is a difference between being a fashionista and running a fashion brand. I mean, you could be either, you could be both, you could be neither. I’m much more interested in the business of fashion than I being a fashionista.

How do you feel when you see people wearing your style? We saw someone walk by in one of her outfits. Do you feel validated?

[Pause] Gratitude. Gratitude is the predominant feeling. But I also know it’s not a favour, and people are willing to pay for it. If you could turn around, you see that lovely basket that lady is carrying? It is exactly an African style but I guarantee you it’s imported.

The business of fashion is the economic aspect of it. And I feel like Africa doesn’t have its act together yet. We have to understand the opportunity. Of course, there’s pride and identity and all that, but there’s also manufacturing, exporting our own brands instead of just producing for other people.

We celebrate setting up mostly American brands here, and yes, that creates jobs, but mostly at the lowest level. You go into those EPZ factories and ask: where has that institutional knowledge spilled over into the rest of the country? Nowhere. It’s all walled off. People aren’t trained into management positions, so they remain workers.

And that’s still better than no jobs, of course. But we don’t own the brand. We’re still operating at the lower end of the value chain. That’s what I mean by the business of fashion. Look around. Ninety five percent of the brands East Africans wear belong to somebody else. So who is dressing us? And who is making the money?

I interviewed you 10 years ago. Vivo was only five years old. Now you are celebrating your 15th birthday. Are you surprised at your trajectory?

I had no plan for the brand when we met. Really, no plan at all. And I was drowning at that point. Six stores, 60 employees, no board. I knew I needed help. Then a friend forwarded me a WhatsApp about Stanford Seed, a programme for business owners, and I applied. That was the turning point.

The plan that came out of it was ambitious: a billion shillings in revenue, 30 stores, two or three other countries. Then Covid hit and gave us a real slump. But we recovered. By 2024 we had hit 20 stores, slightly behind schedule, but many of the bigger goals we either achieved or came very close to.

What did you find to be the greatest tension in growth?

Systems. And mindset. I can’t naturally sit here and think, we’ll hit ten million shillings this year and a hundred million in a few years. I grew up with a civil servant father and a schoolteacher mother.

I wasn’t surrounded by wealthy, successful business people, so even imagining you could build something massive, that you could be capable of that, doesn’t come naturally. And as a woman, you don’t see it modelled that much either.

I sometimes think men either fake the confidence better, or genuinely have more of it. [Laughs] My thinking is still quite linear. We opened two stores last year, maybe we can open three next year. That kind of thinking.

Has it got easier now that your brand is more established than it ever was?

I honestly don’t think so. New players enter the market every day. You can’t afford to get comfortable. Geopolitics shifts your costs and pricing. I recently discovered that half my design team were all moonlighting for the same competitor. I take nothing for granted. Clothing isn’t like food. If tomorrow everyone decided not to buy clothes for six months, they’d survive.

If you were to live to 90, what else would you want to put in this basket of life, apart from being an entrepreneur? Or are you also just happy you did this and you did it to your best knowledge?

I think about this a lot. I think life is really just an accumulation of many good days. Not a checklist of things to accomplish. Were most of my days good days? Did I laugh? Did I connect with someone I love? Did I learn something? Did I contribute something? Was I present for the people who matter most? Because I grew up with a father who gave all his energy to the outside world and came home grumpy. Then when he died, everyone said how funny he was, how much they’d miss him. And I remember thinking, who is this person you people knew? I lost my mum not long ago…

Oh, I’m sorry.

I hadn’t seen her for a year. She was in Canada. That year I went to the US four times but never crossed over. She kept saying: ‘You’re coming again and you’re still not coming to see me?’ and I kept saying, next trip. My Canadian visa had expired and in my mind that was always the excuse. I finally got it. The visa arrived on a Friday. She died the next day. All the things I was chasing in the US, all that work, it’s gone now. [Closure of US store]. But I didn’t see my mother.

So when I think about 90, the first thing is; will I have children and grandchildren who actually want to spend time with me? I want to be the kind of old person people gather around. And I still want to wake up with goals. I never want to feel like my life is done.

What do you remember about your childhood?

I have three brothers, and I remember always wanting to be with my friends because I wasn’t a tomboy. Whatever my brothers were doing, I wasn’t interested. I wanted to do girly things.

I remember my mother being very stressed, probably depressed in hindsight, because life was hard and my dad wasn’t contributing much, so she was carrying everything.

Looking back now, I can see it was pretty dysfunctional, but at the time it didn’t feel that way. It just felt normal because that’s all you know as a child. There were very few rules in the house because my mum was busy all the time. She was teaching during the day and doing counselling at night, and my dad was mostly in bars.

So we were basically free-range children. That’s actually how my daughter describes my childhood. Like free-range chickens. [Chuckles] There was very little supervision. If we ate dinner, we ate. If we didn’t, we didn’t. If we showered, brushed our teeth…it was all kind of up to us.

What was the impact of that in you as an adult?

I think it made me very responsible. Nobody was checking whether I’d done my homework or telling me what to do. If I got in trouble at school, that was on me. So I think I developed a very free mind and a strong sense that my actions are my responsibility. But the downside is probably the same thing.

I don’t do well with being confined or controlled. Structure is fine if it’s my structure. But when something feels imposed on me, I resist it almost instinctively because I didn’t grow up like that. I don’t have great emotional education.

What does that mean?

I don’t know how to self-manage when I get upset.

You fly off the handle?

Not in a crazy way. I watched Trevor Noah’s latest Netflix special where he talks about how it has taken him several relationships to realise it’s not always in his best interest to say whatever is on his mind. I completely related to that. Being upset, feeling something strongly, but knowing this is not the right moment, waiting, I don’t do that very well.

What therapy helped me understand is that self-regulation is actually taught to you as you grow up. A parent helps you regulate until you learn to do it yourself. I don’t think we really got that. Sometimes I’ll say something in therapy and my therapist will look at me and say, ‘You know other people don’t do that, right?’ And I’m like, really? [Laughs].

Is there anything new you’ve discovered about yourself during therapy that really surprised you?

I haven’t gone to therapy consistently, but I have gone at different times for different reasons. It helps one understand their personality, change, learn new habits, rewire their thinking.

For me, understanding my attachment style and seeing how it plays out helps me recognise when I’m the one causing certain patterns, because it’s so easy to blame the other person.

If I know I’m entering relationships with certain tendencies, then I can catch them. For instance, I’m hyper-vigilant to any sign of abandonment. I’ll sniff it out from two miles away. Sometimes I’ll even imagine it when it’s not there at all. Then I’m gone. [Chuckles]

Does that come from your experience with your dad?

That comes from watching my dad, watching my parents, and subconsciously forming certain beliefs about men and relationships without even realising it.

Which part of leadership, because you’ve been doing this for a while now, do you feel still needs work?

Patience. I can be very [makes cutting gestures to mean regimentary]. I’m always like let’s do this, what are we waiting for. I wish I could lead from behind. [Pause] Yeah. I also don’t praise as much as I should. They say ‘criticise for every five praises.’ I’m doing so badly on that front. [Laughs]. I just…I just notice problems. I’m very observant. So I will walk into a store and immediately see problems.

Why are these hangers not straight, why…you know…if you are wise you greet people first, ask how they are doing. Don’t start with criticism. Truth is people, people get tired. I’m working on it but not succeeding as quickly as I want to.

What’s the one thing you’re working towards achieving this year?

This year I made a commitment to get physically stronger by the end of year. I’d read Atomic Habits and it gave me a framework for understanding habits. One of the things the book says is that if you keep saying you want to do something but you’re not doing it, you need to understand what’s creating the friction. Driving to the gym was a friction. So I hired a trainer who comes to the house.

Now the friction is gone because she’s there at 6:30am whether I feel like it or not. I’m also trying to apply that thinking elsewhere too, with my finances, with being more intentional, more conscious.

Putting systems around budgeting and planning because those aren’t things I naturally had. And then lastly with my children and my partner. Because they don’t live here, I’m trying to be intentional about scheduling time with them so I don’t repeat what happened with my mother, where I prioritised everything else.

KMRC is back in the market with the second tranche of its medimum-term note programme. Help us understand the latest issuance fits within the broader strategy of mortgage refinancing in Kenya?

This second tranche advances KMRC’s mandate to promote sustainable home ownership by expanding access to affordable housing finance. The proceeds from the issuance will be blended with KMRC’s existing pool of concessional funding and deployed to provide long-term, single-digit, fixed-rate liquidity to primary lenders (PMLs).

This blended financing approach enables KMRC to enhance affordability for end-borrowers while maintaining financial sustainability. As of April 2026, KMRC had refinanced Sh29.99 billion, supporting 5,811 end-borrowers across 39 counties.

Notably, 48 percent of loans have been extended to women and women-led households, underscoring KMRC’s commitment to promoting inclusive access to housing finance and addressing gender disparities within the housing sector.

The Sh3 billion second tranche issuance builds on the strong foundation established by the inaugural Sh1.4 billion tranche issued in 2022. The second tranche is structured as a sustainability note, with proceeds explicitly earmarked for eligible green and social home loans.

Give us more insight into the timing and pricing of the latest issuance. On the timing, some would argue it is a little inauspicious given that yields seem to have bottomed out, how do you respond to that?

On timing, we believe the current market window is favourable, indeed, more supportive than at any point in the past few years. Following 2022, the macro-economic environment became increasingly challenging for corporate issuers, characterised by elevated inflation and a tightening of monetary policy.

These conditions effectively crowded out private sector issuance, resulting in subdued corporate bond activity through 2023 and into early 2025.

However, the environment has since improved materially.

On pricing, we consider the 12.20 percent coupon on an 8-year amortising note, with a weighted average life of 5.10 years, to be competitive and reflective of the improved macroeconomic backdrop. By comparison, our 2022 issuance was a 7-year amortising bond, and this transaction represents a deliberate and gradual extension of tenor. This strategy aligns more closely with the maturity profile of the home loans we refinance, thereby enhancing asset-liability matching

Just like in the tranche issuance, the latest issuance has what appears to be a relatively aggressive amortisation schedule. Help us understand the thinking behind it.

The amortisation structure is consistent with our 2022 issuance. Coupon payments are made semi-annually, while a portion of the principal is repaid annually. This structure results in a weighted average life of approximately 5.1 years.

Importantly, this repayment profile closely mirrors the underlying cash flow characteristics of the home loans we refinance, where both principal and interest are amortised over the tenor of the loans.

This alignment enhances asset-liability matching and supports the overall risk management framework of the programme.

What does your pipeline of green housing look like from a quantum perspective?

We are seeing a growing pipeline of green housing projects, and through this issuance, we aim to actively influence the market towards the development and ownership of more energy- and water-efficient homes.

Such homes not only reduce the cost of living for homeowners through lower utility expenses but also contribute meaningfully to broader sustainability objectives. In parallel, KMRC is working closely with primary mortgage lenders (PMLs) and developers to help shape market practices in this direction.

Through these collaborations, we are encouraging the adoption of sustainable building standards and promoting increased supply and uptake of environmentally efficient housing solutions within the market.

What lessons have you learnt from the tranche I issuance that are helping shape the latest issuance?

First, structure and timing are critical. We have been deliberate in aligning the tenor of our issuances with the evolving maturity profile of the home loans we refinance. In this regard, the average tenor of refinanced home loans has increased significantly-from 8.3 years in 2021 to 13 years in 2025.

Our funding strategy is being progressively recalibrated to reflect this shift, with a clear move towards issuing longer-dated instruments that better support effective asset-liability matching.

Second, as an institution with a strong commitment to sustainability, we are equally intentional about catalysing broader market development. Beyond meeting our own funding needs, we aim to shape market practice and deepen the sustainable finance ecosystem.

It is within this context that KMRC is issuing a sustainability note-marking the first instrument of its kind in Kenya and setting an important precedent for future sustainable issuances in the domestic capital markets.

How far is KMRC with the risk sharing arrangement? What impact is that having in terms of mortgage disbursement?

The risk sharing facility (RSF) was capitalised in 2025 and is now fully operational. Primary mortgage lenders are currently in the process of reviewing and executing the Master Mortgage Guarantee Agreements, while also originating loan portfolios that meet the eligibility criteria for coverage under the facility.

As the RSF moves into its implementation phase, we expect it to play a meaningful role in de-risking mortgage lending and expanding access to housing finance. We will continue to provide updates on its deployment and the impact it is expected to generate across the housing market.

Give us a sense of where the concessional funding pool is?

Our funding strategy is centered on blending concessional financing with capital markets funding, enabling us to diversify our funding sources while preserving affordability for end-borrowers.

This approach allows KMRC to balance cost efficiency with scalability in meeting its mandate. Currently, we have two concessional funding lines-from the World Bank and the African Development Bank-which have been instrumental in supporting our liquidity provision to primary mortgage lenders. In parallel, we are actively exploring additional sources of concessional funding to further strengthen and diversify our funding base.