Category: Business Daily

The Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) returned to profitability in the year to June 2025, helped by the recognition of a long-standing Huduma Kenya debt of Sh1.54 billion as revenue, amid growing confidence that the amount will be recovered.

Audited financial report shows PCK posted Sh488 million net profit during the review period, up from a net loss of Sh1.08 billion in the previous year.

The Sh488 million net profit, which is the highest in over 14 years, was boosted by the Sh1.54 billion rent arrears from Huduma Kenya the operator of Huduma centres. The rent had accumulated between 2013 and 2015 but PCK could not book it as revenue because Huduma was disputing it.

However, Huduma, which occupies PCK premises across the country, recognised the debt last year following interventions from the State Department of Public Service and the Executive Office of the President, leading to the recognition of the amount as revenue in PCK books.

‘Huduma Kenya has been occupying PCK premises from the year 2013 to date. The amount recognised relates to the arbitrated agreed amount that has been signed by both parties. Revenue is measured based on the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in a contract with a customer,’ said PCK.

The Sh1.54 billion-equivalent to 44 percent of the Sh3.72 billion revenue booked by PCK in the year ended June 2025-was booked as extra-ordinary income. The exceptional item saw PCK’s revenue grow 86 percent from Sh2 billion the prior year.

During the review period, revenue from mail business rose to Sh1.18 billion from Sh1.07 billion while that from courier services increased to Sh762.6 million from Sh648.9 million. Rental income hit Sh201.05 million from Sh200.95 million.

Audit report on PCK shows a letter was sent from the State Department for Public Service and Human Capital Development to the State Department of Broadcasting and Telecommunications in August 2025 confirming that Huduma Kenya Secretariat owed PCK the Sh1.54 billion.

‘Following this, Executive Office of the President vide letter Ref: OP.CAB 1/3 dated 9 September, 2025 based on the report of the Joint Mediation Committee relating to the matter, it was agreed an amount of Sh1.54 billion be paid to PCK as rent and utilities owed to them by Huduma Kenya,’ states the audit.

The Treasury then issued a circular on October 24, 2025 directing all accounting officers to prioritise payment of debts owed to PCK.

PCK and Huduma Kenya have since entered into a lease agreement for registration at the Ministry of Lands, with the Treasury committing to provide an annual budget of Sh194.3 million as rent to be paid to PCK every year.

Operating expenses for the year rose to Sh3.23 billion from Sh3.08 billion, attributed on one-off impairment loss of two software solutions that had remained under work in progress for over 10 years until they became obsolete.

The corporation closed June 2025 with 2,062 employees, down from 2,342. However, the audit showed that 2,062 is still higher than the approved size of 1,652, resulting in an excess of 408 employees.

The National Assembly Finance Committee deleted a five percent tax on Mitumba imports from a draft Finance Bill that had the backing of the Treasury and State House amid pressure to reinstate the duty.

The final Finance Bill published by the committee did not have the tax for the second hand shoes and clothed despite the draft from the Treasury containing the five percent duty.

Addressing multiple taxes levied on second-hand clothes, popularly known as mitumba, at the point of entry are among the reasons the National Treasury proposed the introduction of payment of one off payment of taxes in the Finance Bill, 2026.

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said the move was also informed by a request from representatives of mitumba traders who complained for a complicated payment of taxes anytime their mitumba consignment lands in the country.

Treasury reckons that State House had backed the introduction of the tax.

‘It was their request, and as an office, and as a government that listens to Kenyans, we believe that it was the right way to go. That is the proposal we took to the National Assembly, but unfortunately, it has been dropped,’ said Mr Mbadi.

The draft from the Treasury is regarded as an informal document, which the Finance committee can make minimal changes before publication of the final Bill, which is subject to public participation.

The National Treasury now wants the proposal reinstated, insisting that it does not harm the country’s thriving mitumba trade that supports over two million jobs.

The current taxation regime sees mitumba traders pay four duties and levies including a 35 percent import duty based on the custom value of imports, charged per kilogram and a 16 percent value added tax (VAT) on imported customs values.

Mitumba importers must also pay levies including the railway development levy (RDL) and the import declaration fee (IDF).

The mitumba traders came up with the proposed harmonized taxation rate for imports as they lamented the current regime which also sees them pay for the duties and levies in US dollars.

‘We recommend that all income duty be paid at the port of entry, upon arrival of goods. All levies and duties should be settled at the port of entry to enhance compliance and accountability,’ the Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya (MCAK) told the National Treasury in a memorandum seen by this publication.

The consortium has had several engagements with both the National Treasury and State House over the last seven months.

According to a highly placed source at the National Treasury, President William Ruto enquired why the five percent tax rate was being considered and asked for a meeting with both the exchequer and the mitumba traders to understand the taxation dynamics on second-hand clothing articles.

President Ruto agreed to the proposal afterwards and the provision was carried in the draft Finance Bill, 2026.

The source presented this publication with photos, representing receipts of the months’ long engagement between the exchequer and the mitumba traders including MCAK Chairperson Teresia Njenga.

Kenya is standing at a defining moment for national development, and the stakes could not be higher.

While the conversation often centers on job creation, a recent report from World Data Lab reveals a far more sobering reality: only 8.6 percent of working Kenyan youth hold formal jobs, and even more alarming is the fact that 35 per cent of young workers, despite being classified as employed, remain trapped in extreme poverty.

This means the country is not only facing a shortage of jobs, but a deeper crisis of job quality and productivity. As we move further into 2026, the question is no longer whether our youth want to work, but whether we are bold enough to build a system that makes their work meaningful, dignified, and globally competitive.

The urgency of this challenge was brought into sharp focus earlier this year by the KUCCPS TVET application cycle for the May 2026 intake. Kenya was confronted with a staggering figure: 722,511 candidates from the 2025 KCSE class did not qualify for university.

For nearly three-quarters of a million young Kenyans, TVET is not a fall-back option but the primary bridge to a professional future.

Government investments in infrastructure, such as the Kenya-China Phase III Project upgrading 70 institutions, represent a significant opportunity. However, hardware without the right software risks becoming a stranded asset. Continuing to graduate students into a vacuum that is disconnected from the pulse of industry does not create opportunity; it merely delays the problem.

This disconnect is visible across counties. In high-growth sectors such as construction, water and sanitation, and the emerging oil and gas industry, investment is faster than workforce capacity.

When training systems fail to anticipate labour demand, industries are forced to import external talent. The result is a loss of local economic benefit, rising social tension, and missed opportunities for communities next to major projects. Building the talent pipeline must happen before the shovel hits the ground.

However, there is evidence of what works. The PropelA Dual Apprenticeship Programme, driven by over 60 industry partners in collaboration with the National Industrial Training Authority, has shifted the conversation from theory to proven impact.

By restructuring training so that 90 percent of learning is workplace-based and competency-driven, the programme has delivered transformative results. Young people are securing stable, high-quality career pathways and entering the workforce with real confidence.

Women are increasingly breaking into technical trades that have traditionally excluded them. At the same time, businesses are realizing a 30 percent return on their training investment, discovering that developing local talent boosts productivity and solves hiring challenges from within rather than relying on costly external recruitment.

These insights were echoed at the recent Youth Skills Development Forum, where government, industry, and development leaders agreed that the era of fragmented pilot projects must come to an end.

To compete regionally and globally, Kenya must move toward a unified system that embeds dual apprenticeship at the core of TVET policy, creates strong incentives for employers to co-invest in training local talent, and uses robust labor market intelligence to ensure curricula evolve at the pace of the private sector.

Kenya’s economic future depends on shifting from a nation of job seekers to a nation of masters.

With courageous leadership and a relentless focus on excellence, the country can do more than unlock the potential of its youth. It can offer Africa a powerful blueprint for skills-driven development anchored in dignity, productivity, and shared prosperity.

Regulatory constraints in Ethiopia pushed Safaricom’s subsidiary in that market to take a $134.0 Million (Sh17.3 billion) worth of hard currency debt from external sources in the year ended March 2026, even as the telco keeps a keen eye on the risk of rising foreign exchange pressures triggered by the war on Iran.

Safaricom says that whereas it would have loved to tap into Ethiopia Birr denominated debt to allow it to match its borrowings with sales, which are in local currency, two key hurdles that Ethiopian banks are facing made that route impossible and therefore created need for US dollar denominated funding.

The telco indicates that single borrower limit regulations in Ethiopia created a challenge in the subsidiary’s ability to get local currency funding in the financial year that ended March 2026.

Single borrower limit refers to the regulatory cap prescribed by the central bank restricting the total credit exposure a bank can have to a single borrower or a group of related borrowers. The limits are designed to mitigate risk.

‘It was not a natural choice of going for foreign currency debt; that was certainly not our first preference. We ended up taking foreign currency debt simply because of the liquidity issue in Ethiopia. Most of the banks in Ethiopia are hitting their single borrower limit and our needs are much higher and that creates a challenge. Secondly, the National Bank of Ethiopia has a cap on how much a bank’s credit can grow on a year-on-year basis,’ Safaricom Plc CFO, Dilip Pal, told the Business Daily.

In the just concluded financial year, Safaricom Ethiopia trimmed its loss position to Sh21.2 billion compared to a loss of Sh36.0 billion reported in the previous year with the subsidiary’s service revenue having grown 58.3 percent to Sh14.1 billion.

Safaricom says that part of the reason why the Ethiopia subsidiary raised debt in the just concluded financial year was to ensure that it has an optimal capital structure given that a lot of its funding so far has been met through equity.

‘Funding for Ethiopia has been mostly driven by equity and we have spoken in the past about the need to ensure that we have a proper capital structure for that business. Last year we took a decision to ensure that we leverage Safaricom Ethiopia’s balance sheet to get more funding and set the Equity-to-Debt ratio on a more sustainable path,’ Dilip says.

With Ethiopia having launched its Securities Exchange in early 2025, Safaricom now says it is keenly watching the market to tap into any opportunity for raising local currency debt through the exchange.

‘This is one area where we are watching out very closely. We have always been looking for that opportunity and I think this will be subject to the maturity of the capital markets and how that evolves. If we can borrow money by raising a bond, we will be very happy to do that but we have to watch how the market develops,’ Dilip says.

In the full year ended March 2026, Safaricom Plc reported Sh73.7 billion in profit after tax with the group’s total service revenue having grown to close the year at Sh414.1 billion.

A recent article published by Business Daily, titled Healthcare Commercialisation Erodes Professional Integrity (April 22), argues that the growing commercialisation of healthcare is undermining professional ethics and transforming medicine from a moral calling into a profit-driven industry.

These concerns are understandable. Across the world, healthcare systems are grappling with rising costs, unequal access, aggressive billing practices and growing public distrust. In Kenya, where many households still struggle to afford treatment and a single hospital admission can be financially devastating, these anxieties are especially real.

However, while the article correctly identifies genuine risks within modern healthcare systems, it draws a flawed conclusion by suggesting that commercialisation itself is the primary problem.

Healthcare commercialisation is not the enemy. The real challenges lie in weak regulation, poor governance, underfunded public systems, policy inconsistency, corruption and the failure to build sustainable healthcare ecosystems that balance ethics with economic reality.

Framing healthcare as a moral battle between ethics and profit risks oversimplifying a complex system.

There is often a romanticised view of an earlier era when medicine was perceived as purely service-driven. Yet modern healthcare is among the most technologically advanced and capital-intensive sectors of the global economy.

A contemporary hospital is not just a building with doctors and nurses. It is a complex ecosystem requiring imaging equipment, laboratories, digital health systems, cybersecurity infrastructure, intensive care units, emergency response systems, pharmaceuticals, oxygen plants and highly specialised personnel. All of this demands continuous and substantial investment.

For instance, an MRI machine can cost hundreds of millions of shillings when installation, maintenance, staffing and upgrades are included. Intensive care units require ventilators, monitoring systems and highly trained staff.

Hospitals also face rising energy costs, import taxes on medical equipment, insurance delays, currency fluctuations and strict regulatory requirements.

These realities cannot be sustained through goodwill alone. Hospitals must pay staff, maintain infrastructure and continuously invest in improved care. Without financial sustainability, healthcare systems collapse. Without reinvestment, there is no innovation or improvement in patient outcomes.

In Kenya, private investment has played a major role in expanding access to healthcare. Over the past two decades, much of the growth in diagnostics, dialysis, oncology, fertility services, specialist care and digital health infrastructure has come from the private sector. In many regions, private hospitals have filled critical gaps left by overstretched public facilities.

For many Kenyans today, private healthcare is not a luxury but often the only route to timely diagnostics, specialist consultations and emergency care. It is therefore misleading to portray all commercial healthcare as exploitative.

This does not mean the private sector is beyond scrutiny. Concerns around overbilling, unnecessary procedures and unethical practices are valid and must be addressed through stronger regulation, transparent pricing, clinical governance and ethical leadership. However, it is both simplistic and misleading to assume that all financial activity in healthcare is inherently immoral.

Financial sustainability and patient welfare are not opposing forces. They are interdependent. One weakness in the anti-commercialisation argument is that it ignores the economic fragility of healthcare systems globally. Hospitals operate under severe pressure from underfunding, delayed insurance reimbursements and rising healthcare inflation.

In Kenya, these pressures are even more pronounced due to high taxation on imported medical equipment, costly energy, delayed payments from insurers and public schemes, rapid population growth and heavy reliance on out-of-pocket payments by households. Even commonly cited examples such as rising Caesarean section rates are more complex than often presented.

While unnecessary procedures must be discouraged, global increases in C-sections are also driven by higher-risk pregnancies, maternal age, litigation fears, patient preferences and improved medical monitoring. Reducing this to profit motives alone is misleading.

The real policy question is not whether healthcare should involve finance, but how systems can align incentives with patient outcomes, ethical standards and transparency. This is where regulation becomes critical.

Successful healthcare systems do not eliminate commercial activity; they regulate it effectively through strong oversight, transparent pricing, universal coverage frameworks and quality monitoring.

The debate should not be framed as public versus private or profit versus morality, but as system design.

Healthcare cannot function as purely charitable in a complex, modern medical environment. But neither should it become an unregulated marketplace devoid of ethics. The solution lies in balance.

Kenya’s Social Health Authority (SHA) reforms should also be viewed in this context. Predictable healthcare financing is not unethical; it is necessary for stability. Hospitals cannot plan, retain staff or expand infrastructure without reliable reimbursement systems.

If well implemented, SHA could improve access, reduce catastrophic household spending, enhance continuity of care and strengthen healthcare data systems. The challenge lies in ensuring strong accountability and safeguards against abuse.

Kenya does not need hostility towards healthcare commercialisation. It needs smarter governance, stronger institutions and better regulatory frameworks. At the same time, it should continue encouraging responsible private investment in infrastructure, training, research and innovation.

Medicine must remain grounded in dignity, compassion and integrity, while also being financially sustainable. Commercialisation itself does not erode ethics; weak governance, corruption and misaligned incentives do.

That is the real challenge facing Kenya and global healthcare today.

Commercial banks are set to report improved cash positions following instruction to include regulatory reserves in their reporting figures.

Banks had been accounting for cash set aside to meet regulatory requirements differently, forcing the accounting body to issue guidance in consultations with the Central Bank of Kenya.

Banks are required by CBK to hold a mandatory Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) which is currently 3.25 percent of their deposits.

The restatement would see banks reporting higher cash positions reflecting more liquidity even though they can’t access the funds.

Improved liquidity could be crucial to banks, especially those not meeting the statutory minimum requirement. Besides the CRR, banks are also required to hold a minimum liquidity requirement set as 20 percent of their deposit base.

‘Previously, the reserves were excluded from the cash and cash equivalents. Following a reassessment of International Accounting Standard (IAS 7), banks are now required to include CRR as part of cash and cash equivalents; as they are demand deposits accessible on demand, with restrictions relating to use rather than access,’ said KCB Group.

KCB restated its cash position for the year 2024 by Sh29.9 billion.

Other banks that have restated their figures include HF Group and Family Bank.

‘The group reassessed this presentation in light of the requirements of IAS 7, as well as recent industry guidance issued by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) to enhance consistency in practice within the banking sector ,’ said HF Group.

The restatement boosted HF’s cash position by Sh1.4 billion.

Sources within ICPAK said most banks used to treat the reserves as receivables.

Kenyan banks have, however, been holding lots of cash in their vaults with workers and businesses preferring passive income over investing in enterprises.

The institutions’ liquidity ratio stood at an all-time high of 61.7 percent in February 2026 or Sh3.85 trillion from 58.3 percent in February 2025.

Liquidity ratio requires banks to hold at a minimum 20 percent of their deposit liabilities in cash or near cash assets which allow them to meet short term demands including customer withdrawals without distress.

A bank’s liquid assets include Treasury bills and short-term bonds, cash in vaults, deposits with other local and foreign banks and repurchase agreement facilities.

The banks’ high liquidity has been attributed to slow credit growth in the wake of flat demand for new loans that would allow businesses to generate new jobs.

Credit growth has been in the single digits for more than 18 months forcing the Central Bank to be aggressive on lowering of interest rates to stir borrowing.

The CBK considers credit growth of between 12 and 15 percent to be ideal for optimal economic growth and business expansion. The credit growth stood at 8.1 percent in the 12 months to March.

The Port of Lamu has made another milestone after a mega ship docked at the facility as the country looks to open a new transport corridor linking its vast northern region and neighbouring nations to the sea.

MV Baltimore Express, measuring 369 metres in length, left Nhava Sheva Port in India for the Port of Salalah in Oman before arriving at the Lamu Port on Monday.

Its final destination is the Port of Tangier Med, the largest container port in Morocco.

The vessel operated by German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd, had to pass through the Port of Lamu to shift risky cargo safely, by repositioning the containers aboard the vessel in compliance with the International Maritime Organization.

This call follows the earlier record set by a sister vessel MV Nagoya Express, a 335 metre container ship which docked at the Port of Lamu in August 2025.

Lamu Port General Manager Abdulaziz Mzee said the docking signifies the facility’s ability to handle ultra-large vessels.

‘This call lifts Lamu’s profile on the global maritime map,’ said Mr Mzee.

Lamu Port is unique compared to other regional ports owing to its naturally deep harbour.

For instance, the Lamu Port’s first three operationalised berths have deeper and larger depths and length compared to ports like Mombasa.

The Port of Lamu berths feature a depth of 17.5m and 400m quay lengths accommodating massive, modern Panamax vessels. On the other hand, Mombasa Port’s berths are 15m deep and 300m in length per each.

Lamu Port is, therefore, designed for larger vessels of up to 12,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEUs) while Mombasa Port handles smaller ships of up to 10,000 TEUs.

‘Many other African ports require constant dredging to deepen seabeds enough to accommodate mega ships and stay competitive. That’s a plus for us,’ said Mr Mzee.

Kenyan officials are betting on the Lamu Port to attract cargo destined for neighbouring landlocked nations Ethiopia and South Sudan, and hope to offer transhipment services where large vessels bring in cargo for onward distribution by smaller ships.

Mr Mzee reckons that the natural advantage enables Lamu to rival the world’s most modern ports, positioning it not only as a transshipment gateway but also as a strategic hub capable of handling very high cargo volumes.

The Sh310 billion Lamu Port was operationalised on May 20, 2021 with only 12 vessels recorded within that particular year.

The year 2022, however, seems to be the worst for Lamu Port as it recorded a significant drop in vessel call-ins with only four (4) received.

In 2023, a total of 36 vessels docked at the port while 20 were recorded in the following year 2024.

Despite an initial low response in terms of vessel call-ins, there has been an increase in recent years.

A total of 155 vessels docked at Lamu Port in 2025 while 125 vessels have so far docked at the same facility as of May 11,2026.

With the scarcity of presidential suites, Nairobi’s luxury hotels have been forced to improvise as they scramble to cash in on the wave of VIPs and VVIPs arriving for the Africa-France Summit.

At least 30 presidents were expected in the country for the two-day summit that began on Monday and concludes today.

By yesterday, 10 heads of state and their entourages had already landed in Nairobi, among them leaders from Congo Brazzaville, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Botswana, Egypt, and Somalia, alongside Ethiopia’s Prime Minister and France’s President, with more dignitaries expected to jet in today.

Hotels with presidential suites are charging anywhere between $5,000 (Sh640,000) and $10,000 (Sh1.3 million) a night.

To meet the surge in demand, several high-end and boutique hotels have refurbished their properties, transforming executive rooms and deluxe spaces for the visiting VIPs.

‘While we do not have a dedicated presidential suite, we have executive suites and apartments that accommodate high-level delegations,’ an official from one of the properties said.

So just how many presidential suites does Nairobi actually have?

‘There are about 15. Sarova Stanley, Sankara, Villa Rosa Kempinski and Tribe each have one, then Emara Ole Sereni , Serena , Radisson Blu , Boma and Hemingway each have two. We are one of the largest in sub-Saharan Africa. Dar es Salaam, Uganda, Rwanda, they don’t come close. As a matter of fact, we are now competing with Johannesburg in Africa,’ Mohammed Hersi Pollman Tours, Director of Operations told BDLife.

Although that number of presidential suites is nowhere near enough for a summit of this scale, Mr Hersi, who is also a former Kenya Tourism Federation chairman, says Nairobi, is well placed to host as many as 50 presidents at any given moment.

‘A presidential suite is just a name. A president does not necessarily have to stay in a presidential suite. What matters is that you have three rooms together, a living room, a bedroom, and at no point should the bedroom be visible to anyone accessing the living room,’ he explains. According to Mr Hersi, the most important aspect that determines where a president stays is always the security features.

For the most security-conscious leaders, an entire floor would be reserved, and elevators are reprogrammed.

‘When a president is considered highly sensitive, they may even take a whole floor. That could mean a dozen rooms, including rooms for security, catering teams, and personal aides. Access to that floor is completely disabled for everybody else. If your card allowed you to go to the 10th floor, it will not now. It’s only given to these guys until they leave,’ explains Mr Hersi.

Long before any president lands, rooms are secured as early as six months in advance, often without names attached as to which high-level delegate will be staying in the suite.

‘They’ll just say, ‘we want this room secured.’ Then the hotel removes those suites from inventory, and they will no longer be available online or offline for booking. You may not even know which president you’re hosting, but you might start guessing when you notice which embassy is showing the most interest in your hotel,’ explains Mr Hersi.

For instance, Radisson Blu Hotel Nairobi Upper Hill had its presidential suite booked in January.

‘Requests for our presidential suite and other top-tier accommodations began coming in shortly after the Africa-France Summit was confirmed earlier this year. This level of demand is consistent with what we typically see during high-level international engagements in Nairobi, where premium suites are often the first to be secured. The hotel is currently operating at full occupancy,’ Clinton Thom, the general manager of Radisson Blu Hotel Nairobi Upper Hill, told BDLife.

Once the VIP checks in, the experience is meticulously choreographed and bespoke-tailored to the requirements and needs of the guest, which also informs the premium rates a hotel will charge.

‘Rates for our presidential suite and other premium accommodations are tailored based on the specific requirements of each stay, including length of stay, level of personalisation, and any additional security or service needs,” he said.

In most the hotels, the presidential suite sit at the very top of room categories, reflecting the level of space, privacy, and dedicated service it offers.

When a foreign president jets in, the high-level dignitary personnel detail takes over, with the hotel staff offering support when needed. A personal butler manages all in-room dining, with the food first handled by the president’s own trusted aide.

‘They will have tested what they’re going to eat and drink. Dietary requirements are shared only on a need-to-know basis by the president’s handler,’ adds Mr Hersi.

To some extent, hotels get unusual requests from guest presidents.

‘I know a president in East Africa who, the first thing they do is to order flowers to be removed from the rooms. Most presidents don’t trust flowers. A flower can contain something, you know,’ Mr Hersi adds.

Some leaders arrive with their own soaps, lotions, and amenities.

‘A head of state cannot just apply anything they find in a room. Just the way they’re careful about what they eat, they’re also careful about what they apply to their skin. Some even fly in with their own bedsheets and pillow cases,’ adds Mr Hersi.

The architecture of the suites themselves also matters. Modern presidential suites are designed almost like mini bunkers wrapped in luxury.

The windows are double-glazed and often fitted with bomb-resistant glass, while doors are fireproof. These are among the requirements for a presidential suite.

‘One of the rules is that there must be an exit route away from the main door. At Emara Ole-Sereni, for example, the suite is duplex-style. A president can enter on one floor and exit from another if there is an emergency,’ Mr -Hersi explains.

Ironically, Hersi says presidential suites are not always the biggest money-makers for hotels.

‘You sacrifice several rooms to create one presidential suite, which will only be occupied on occasions like this. So you’re not really making a business from it most of the year. But it gives you bragging rights. It gives you a five-star status.’

But for moments such as the Africa-France Summit, it changes everything, with financial ripple effects that go far beyond hotel bills.

‘When they come to town, you make sure to bleed them financially. This is when you charge the premium. Because when President Emmanuel Macron comes, he doesn’t come alone. He comes with CEOs from Airbus, Renault, Peugeot, you name them. These are high-level individuals.’

For many Kenyan professionals, wealth today is no longer confined to land and bank accounts. It sits in M-Pesa wallets, sacco shares, pension schemes, side businesses and even monetised social media platforms. However, while assets are growing and becoming more complex, the planning needed to protect them has not kept pace.

The result, lawyers warn, is that even modest estates are increasingly ending up in court, locked in disputes or distributed in ways that do not reflect the owner’s wishes.

‘A complete estate plan in Kenya usually includes at least five core documents: a valid written will, a trust (where appropriate), a power of attorney, a healthcare directive, and a business succession plan. Around these, you should also maintain updated beneficiary nominations and a clear record of your assets,’ says Njuguna Muri, an estate and succession lawyer at Muri Mwaniki Thige and Kageni LLP.

Most people die intestate (without a written will), so their estates are distributed under the Law of Succession Act. In practice, this often leads to outcomes that families did not anticipate.

‘People assume the law will do the ‘right thing,’ but intestate distribution can produce results very different from what the deceased actually wanted,’ Njuguna says.

‘For example, in a marriage with children, the surviving spouse may receive only a life interest rather than outright ownership of the estate.’ He attributes the low uptake of estate planning to a mix of cultural, psychological and practical factors.

‘There is still a strong cultural discomfort around discussing death, with many people feeling that planning invites misfortune. Then there is the ‘I’m too young’ mindset, the belief that estate planning is only for the wealthy, and simple procrastination; even among professionals who know better.’

Common will mistakes

At the centre of any estate plan is the will, yet it is also where many people go wrong.

‘The most common mistake is vague drafting, people say ‘I leave my property to my children’ without specifying which property or in what shares,’ Njuguna explains. ‘Others fail to meet basic legal formalities such as proper signing and witnessing, or they never update the will after major life events like marriage, divorce or acquiring new assets.’

The consequences can be severe.

‘Kenyan courts regularly deal with disputes over wills based on lack of capacity, undue influence or improper execution, and they will not hesitate to invalidate a defective will,’ he adds.

When a trust is preferred

For individuals with more complex estates, particularly those involving multiple properties or business interests, a trust is increasingly becoming a preferred tool.

‘A living trust allows you to transfer assets to trustees during your lifetime to manage for your beneficiaries,’ Njuguna says.

‘Unlike a will, it can operate immediately, it offers privacy, and it provides continuity if you die or become incapacitated.’

He notes that family trusts are gaining traction among Kenyan professionals as a way to ring-fence wealth and create long-term structures for managing it. ‘For business owners and individuals with significant portfolios, a well-drafted trust can be the difference between a coordinated legacy and years of succession disputes.’

The power of attorney

While wills and trusts deal with what happens after death, a power of attorney addresses what happens during one’s lifetime.

‘A power of attorney allows someone you trust to act on your behalf in financial, legal or property matters,’ Njuguna explains.

‘It is particularly useful if you are travelling, unwell or otherwise unable to manage your affairs.’ However, he is quick to point out its limitations. ‘A power of attorney is a lifetime tool; it automatically ends on death and cannot replace a will or a trust.’

Healthcare directives

Healthcare directives, sometimes referred to as living wills, remain relatively uncommon in Kenya, but are slowly gaining attention.

‘A healthcare directive allows you to set out your medical treatment preferences in advance, including decisions about life support or resuscitation,’ Njuguna says.

‘The challenge in Kenya is that while the Constitution and the Health Act recognise patient autonomy, there is no detailed legal framework governing advance directives. Doctors are often more comfortable relying on decisions made in real time by a conscious patient than on a document signed years earlier, especially if family members disagree. Even so, these directives can significantly reduce conflict and emotional burden for families.’

Business succession plan

For business owners, the gap between personal estate planning and business continuity is one of the most critical and often overlooked issues.

‘A will tells you who inherits your shares, but it does not tell you how the business will be run the next day,’ Njuguna says. ‘That is why a separate business succession plan is essential.’

Without it, he warns, businesses can quickly descend into conflict. ‘You end up with disputes over control, uncertainty for employees, and in some cases, the collapse of the enterprise itself.’

Record of digital assets

Another emerging challenge is the treatment of digital assets, an area where the law is still catching up. ‘Digital assets are now a real part of people’s estates, M-Pesa balances, online accounts, cryptocurrency, even monetised social media platforms,’ Njuguna says. ‘But if you do not document how to access them, passwords, private keys, instructions, they can be lost entirely.’

He advises individuals to maintain a secure record of digital assets and ensure that executors or trustees are equipped to handle them.

‘Without clear instructions, families can find themselves locked out of valuable assets with no practical way to recover them.’

Inheritance disputes remain one of the most visible consequences of poor planning, and they are often triggered by the absence of a will or unclear instructions. ‘The most common disputes involve land, family businesses and questions about who qualifies as a dependant,’ Njuguna adds.

In more complex family setups, the tensions can be even greater.

‘Polygamous and blended families introduce additional layers of complexity, particularly where there are competing expectations or perceived inequalities. Without clear planning, these situations can lead to long-running and highly emotional disputes.’

Minding the tax

Although Kenya does not currently impose inheritance tax, there are still financial considerations that families need to keep in mind.

‘Transfers of assets to beneficiaries during succession are generally exempt from capital gains tax and stamp duty,’ Njuguna says.

‘However, if a beneficiary later sells inherited property, capital gains tax will apply, and it is important to have a clear and defensible valuation at the point of inheritance.’

Ultimately, estate planning is less about wealth level and more about preparedness.

‘Even a middle-income Kenyan with a plot, a pension, life insurance and some savings has an estate that needs structure. The key is to start early.’

Business leaders and industry experts on Monday renewed calls for a more conducive policy and environment in Africa, arguing it is the critical first step to attract investment in infrastructure, energy and money markets.

Speaking during a business forum segment of the first day of the Africa Forward Summit, Gbenga Oyebode, chairman of the Africa Legal Network (ALN) and co-founder of Aluko and Oyebode, said geopolitics is changing and African partnerships are becoming more important, hence the need for a clear strategy on how to approach them.

The session was co-chaired by President William Ruto and French President Emmanuel Macron, who are also co-hosts of the Summit.

‘The French are showing that they are committed to the continent, especially at a time when there is no foreign funding coming in. What we need is to create a conducive environment for investment,’ said Mr Oyebode.

The Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, is hosting hundreds of global leaders, including heads of state, business executives, investors and policymakers.

Mauritius Commercial Bank CEO Thierry Hebraud said Africa cannot continue to be an exporter of raw materials and importer of finished products, stressing the need to create an environment that can attract business: ‘It has been said that there are 600 million Africans who have no access to electricity. This energy crisis cripples healthcare, education and economic opportunity, leaving millions in the dark-literally and figuratively.”

‘Therefore there is a critical need for tailored solutions instead of blanket policies designed for wealthier nations,’ said Mr Hebraud.

By investing in local processing industries, Africa could maximise its share of the mineral value chain and significantly increase its gross doemstic product, eventually securing a leading role in the global shift towards sustainability,’ he said.

Ahmed El Alfi, founder and chairman of Sawari Ventures, said Africa must shift from an extractive economy to a creative one to prevent the loss of its best talent.

‘By fostering brain circulation through strategic partnerships with Europe, African entrepreneurs can gain the knowledge and capital necessary to build world-class companies at home,’ he said.

James Mwangi, managing director and Group CEO of Equity Bank, said he was inspired by the sustainable model of the Champagne region, which Kenya can learn from in value addition.

‘This project demonstrates how value addition can be demystified and unlocked by leveraging unique local heritage to create globally competitive products,’ said Dr Mwangi.

Dr James Mworia, CEO and managing director of Centum Investment Company Plc, emphasised the urgent need for Africa to transition from a continent of untapped potential to a global leader through industrialisation, digital job creation and green manufacturing.

By building integrated platforms and fostering strategic partnerships between the private sector and government, he said, Africa can reduce fragmentation and drive sustainable economic growth.

Arnaud Lagesse of IBL and Sophie Sidos of the French Trade Advisors emphasised the importance of cross-border partnerships between African and European businesses to drive regional growth and infrastructure development.

‘By fostering collaboration, leveraging shared values and focusing on sustainable practices such as decarbonisation, they aim to create long-term value for all stakeholders,’ he said.