Category: Business Daily

Big houses do not always bring families closer. Many parents are realising that the more space children have, the less time they spend together. Developers are now rethinking how homes are built so that families can see each other, talk, and share daily life.

Sakina Hassanali, co-chief executive officer and creative director at Hass Consult, says one of the greatest challenges developers face today is designing homes that intentionally foster physical connections among family members.

She notes that families’ time together has been eroded by the increased use of gadgets, creating a mission among home designers to rethink spaces in ways that bring people back together. One approach has been to structure smaller bedrooms-especially for children-so that they are encouraged to spend more time in common areas rather than isolating themselves.

‘We are trying to fix this digital disconnection in society by effecting change within families through the designs we create in houses,’ Ms Hassanali explains. ‘We deliberately make children’s bedrooms smaller, even uncomfortably small, while enlarging and connecting the common areas. The kitchen, dining, and lounge flow into one another so that mum, dad, and the children can all be in one space. They may be doing different things, but there’s a sense of togetherness.’

Psychologists have praised this approach as ingenious, agreeing that intentional design can increase family interaction.

They argue that many parents have mistakenly equated giving children more private space with good parenting, when in reality it has sometimes undermined family bonds.

‘Millennial parents, in particular, are struggling with how they were raised. In trying to compensate, they give their children what they themselves lacked-including private space. But this often spoils the relationship and weakens interaction,’ says Collins Odhiambo, a parental coach and educator.

He points to house designs where children’s bedrooms are equipped with televisions and other amenities. ‘Once a

child enters the house-especially preteens and teenagers-there’s little interaction. They only come out to eat,

and, in some homes, even meals are left open-ended; you eat when you’re hungry,’ he observes.

Mr Odhiambo concurs that smaller bedrooms, which push children into shared spaces, are healthier for family life, but he stresses that parents must also take intentional steps to interact with their children. He advises placing children’s bedrooms close to the parents’ to encourage monitoring and spontaneous encounters. ‘That lack of space is actually an advantage to child development. It builds personality as siblings bump into each other, and it ensures unavoidable interaction between parents and children,’ he says.

In apartments, developers are extending this philosophy to entire communities, creating opportunities for residents to connect through activities such as running clubs, dance classes, poetry nights, health talks, and book clubs. ‘We are piloting a residence experience manager in one of our projects to organise weekly events,’ Ms Hassanali adds.

She admits the new design approach is not driven by market demand but by research and societal need. ‘Sometimes

you take feedback from the market, but other times, the market does not know what a better design looks like. This is

a proactive approach, and once buyers experience it, it quickly becomes the new standard,’ she says.

House construction, she emphasises, is capital-intensive and a source of pride, which makes it essential to balance comfort with designs that encourage family interaction. Mr Odhiambo agrees, noting that even those with large houses must be intentional about family time. Rules around shared meals and gadget use, he says, can go a long way in strengthening bonds.

Kenya suffered widespread transport and business disruptions on Monday after public service vehicle operators withdrew services over soaring fuel prices and mounting operating costs.

Thousands of commuters in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret and towns were left stranded as matatu operators, truckers, boda boda riders and taxi associations joined the nationwide protests, triggering long walks and severe traffic disruption.

The protests were triggered by sharp increases in pump prices, which pushed petrol in Nairobi above Sh214 per litre, while diesel, critical for transport and logistics, surged past Sh242.

The latest price increases have deepened pressure on businesses and households already struggling with elevated taxes, rising electricity costs and stubbornly high prices of essential commodities.

Gridlock pain

On Monday, major roads leading into Nairobi city centre were barricaded with bonfires and stones, forcing private motorists to turn back while businesses delayed opening due to low customer and employee turnout.

Roads such as Thika Road, Mombasa Road, Jogoo Road and Waiyaki Way experienced intermittent disruption as protesters blocked sections of carriageways, forcing many to abandon travel plans altogether amid fears of escalating unrest.

Businesses operating in Nairobi’s central business district reported lower customer traffic and reduced operations as transport challenges disrupted supply chains and employee movement.

Several schools and colleges also experienced disruption after parents struggled to secure transport for learners, forcing some institutions to temporarily shut down.

Inflation risk

The demonstrations followed last week’s fuel price review by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, which raised petrol prices by Sh16.65 per litre and diesel by Sh46.29 per litre.

Diesel prices have now risen by over Sh80 a litre in the past two review cycles, significantly increasing costs for transport operators, manufacturers, retailers and logistics firms heavily dependent on road transport networks.

Higher transport costs are expected to feed directly into inflation through increased prices of food, manufactured products, farm inputs and retail goods over the coming weeks.

Transport operators have accused the government of overburdening businesses and consumers through taxes and levies embedded in fuel prices despite worsening economic conditions and stagnant household incomes.

Political heat

The heightened pressure on the government comes as Kenya pursues aggressive revenue mobilisation targets aimed at narrowing fiscal deficits and supporting ballooning debt repayment obligations.

The unrest also comes as Kenya prepares for another politically sensitive budget cycle, rekindling memories of the 2024 anti-Finance Bill demonstrations, where economic grievances escalated into a broader national debate around taxation and governance.

Treasury officials have defended the latest fuel pricing adjustments, arguing that the government has already cushioned consumers from more severe international oil market volatility and currency pressures.

The latest wave of demonstrations comes at a delicate moment for President William Ruto’s administration, which continues to face scrutiny over taxation policies and the broader management of the economy.

The High Court in Nairobi has stopped the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) in its efforts to widen taxation of cross-border consultancy and management fees paid by multinational firms operating in Kenya.

The setback follows a court decision blocking the collection of Sh179.9 million in withholding tax from global advisory firm McKinsey over payments made to its South African affiliate.

In a ruling with potential implications for multinational companies operating in Kenya, the court upheld a 2021 Tax Appeals Tribunal decision that exempted the payments from withholding tax under the Kenya-South Africa Double Tax Agreement (DTA).

The court ruled that the consultancy fees paid by McKinsey’s Kenyan branch to a related South African entity constituted ‘business profits’ under the treaty.

It said the fees could only be taxed in Kenya if the South African company had a permanent establishment in the country.

The court found that the South African entity had no permanent establishment in Kenya, effectively shielding the payments from local taxation.

‘The Commissioner’s approach in the interpretation of the DTA is overly formalistic and ignores principles of international tax law,’ the court said, dismissing the KRA’s appeal.

According to the court, Kenya could not impose taxes that were not expressly provided for in the Kenya-South Africa Double Tax Agreement, stressing that the government was bound by the terms it negotiated and signed with South Africa.

The Kenya-South Africa Double Tax Agreement was signed in November 2010 and became effective from January 1, 2016. This was after years of negotiations aimed at eliminating double taxation and reducing tax barriers for companies and investors operating between the two countries.

The treaty allocates taxing rights between Kenya and South Africa on income earned through cross-border trade, investment and professional services, such as business profits, dividends, royalties and management fees, while also seeking to prevent fiscal evasion and provide certainty for cross-border trade and investment.

The dispute pitted the KRA’s Commissioner of Legal Services and Board Coordination against McKinsey and Company Inc Africa Proprietary Limited, the African arm of the global consulting giant.

KRA had demanded Sh179,956,998 in withholding tax arising from payments made in 2016 and 2017 for professional and management services rendered by McKinsey South Africa.

The tax authority argued that the fees did not qualify as business profits under Article 7 of the treaty and instead fell under the treaty’s ‘other income’ provisions, making them taxable in Kenya.

KRA also argued that the Tribunal had failed to distinguish between ‘income’ and ‘business profits’ and wrongly relied on the bilateral treaty to invalidate the tax demand.

But the court rejected those arguments and affirmed the Tribunal’s findings in full.

‘The Tribunal correctly applied the primary rule under Article 7 instead of the default residual rule of Article 22,’ the judge ruled.

The court said professional and management fees generated through business activity fall within the meaning of business profits under the treaty.

It further held that Kenya could not seek taxing rights that were not expressly negotiated into the treaty.

‘The court cannot rewrite the treaty to give Kenya a right it bargained away,’ the judge said, adding that Kenya deliberately omitted provisions allowing taxation of management and technical service fees when negotiating the Kenya-South Africa tax treaty.

The court noted that while Kenya has included clauses allowing taxation of management and technical service fees in some other tax treaties, it failed to secure similar provisions in this agreement.

Hence, it could not later ask the courts to expand its taxing powers beyond the treaty’s wording.

McKinsey and Company is among the world’s largest management consulting firms, advising governments, banks, telecoms firms, manufacturers and multinational corporations on strategy, digital transformation, operations and public-sector reforms.

In its defence, the company cited the treaty and said the payments constituted business profits under the Kenya-South Africa Double Tax Agreement and were therefore not taxable in Kenya because the South African service provider had no permanent establishment locally.

McKinsey also argued that Kenya deliberately excluded provisions allowing taxation of management and technical service fees when negotiating the treaty and could not later seek rights outside the agreement.

The firm established its Nairobi office more than a decade ago and has expanded its East African advisory business across sectors including financial services, energy, agriculture, healthcare and infrastructure.

Court records showed that the Kenyan branch involved in the dispute was part of a South African holding structure.

However, the consulting services were provided by a separate South African entity that the court found had no taxable presence in Kenya.

The court noted that McKinsey had previously paid withholding tax for the 2014 and 2015 financial years before the Kenya-South Africa treaty took effect.

The dispute only arose after the treaty became operational. The court said the absence of specific treaty clauses allowing Kenya to tax management fees reflected a deliberate policy choice during treaty negotiations.

It observed that Kenya had included such provisions in some other double taxation agreements but failed to do so in the South African treaty.

The court also faulted KRA for attempting to rely on broad interpretations that could undermine the purpose of bilateral tax agreements.

‘Before taxing such income, the Commissioner should not be asking whether there is a specific Article for professional or management fees but rather whether that income is from a business activity,’ the court said.

Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)-listed banks wrote off Sh75.06 billion in loans last year, highlighting the strain on households and businesses amid a softer economy that grew at the slowest pace in five years.

The write-offs, down from Sh87.87 billion in the previous year, signal a modest improvement in asset quality even as borrowers continued to grapple with high living costs and subdued demand for goods and services.

Banks typically write off loans once the likelihood of recovery through conventional channels such as asset auctions or restructuring is deemed minimal. The lenders make 100 percent loan loss provisions on written off loans.

Equity Group topped with write-offs rising to Sh27.44 billion last year from Sh22.29 billion in the previous year, followed by KCB Group whose write-offs fell to Sh14.22 billion from Sh25.52 billion. Their position as the largest lenders leaves them most exposed to shifts in asset quality.

Households have faced shrinking disposable incomes due to inflationary pressures and new or enhanced compulsory deductions towards social healthcare, affordable housing and retirement savings.

At the same time, businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, have been squeezed by weakening consumer demand and rising operating costs, including higher energy, financing and input prices.

The write-offs came in the period the Kenyan economy expanded at a slower rate of 4.6 percent in 2025, down from 4.7 percent the previous year, as growth in key sectors, including agriculture and manufacturing, moderated.

Last year’s economic growth was the slowest pace since 2020 when there was a 0.3 percent contraction due to Covid-19 disruptions.

The agriculture sector, which remains the largest segment of the economy, grew at a slower pace of 2.8 percent, down from 4.3 percent, driven by weaker output amid disrupted rainfall patterns. The manufacturing sector also slowed, expanding by 2.1 percent compared with 3.2 percent in 2024.

Equity Group notes that loan write-offs occur after ‘all practical recovery efforts’ have been exhausted and recovery is deemed unlikely. The lender says key warning signs include a sharp weakening in the borrower’s financial position and a decline in collateral value below the loan exposure.

‘The group writes off a loan balance when the credit department determines that the loans are uncollectible,’ states Equity in its latest annual report.

‘This determination is reached after considering information such as the occurrence of significant changes in the borrower’s financial position such that the borrower can no longer pay the obligation or that proceeds from collateral have failed to cover the entire facility outstanding.’

KCB says it writes off loans when it determines that the borrower does not have assets or sources of income that could generate sufficient cash flows to repay the amounts subject to the write off.

Last year saw NCBA Group write off Sh11.81 billion loans, up from Sh11.61 billion in 2024 while that of Absa Bank Kenya rose to Sh10.79 billion from Sh9.35 billion. lenders do not give up on written off loans but instead pursue them, mostly through third parties, and booked as impairment gains.

‘Although the group may write-off financial assets that are still subject to enforcement activity, it still seeks to recover amounts it is legally owed in full, but which have been partially written off due to no reasonable expectation of recovering in full,’ NCBA states in its annual report.

Another tier I lender, DTB Group, wrote off Sh4.09 billion, marking an improvement from Sh9.71 billion in the previous year, while Stanbic Holdings more than halved its write-offs to Sh2.53 billion from Sh5.51 billion.

Over the same period, Co-operative Bank of Kenya write-offs rose to Sh2.48 billion from Sh2.29 billion as that of Standard Chartered Bank Kenya increased to Sh1.65 billion from Sh1.58 billion. HF Group’s write-offs more than doubled to Sh49.28 million from Sh17.7 million.

The softer economic environment and elevated loan defaults prompted lenders to adopt a more cautious approach to credit growth, with a shift towards lower-risk segments and increased scrutiny of borrowers’ repayment capacity.

In addition, many banks have intensified collection efforts to cut slippage of loans into write-offs and restructured other loans to cushion distressed customers.

Lenders, through their lobby, Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), are pushing for a five percent reduction in Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) across all income bands as a targeted measure to boost households’ purchasing power and stimulate economic growth.

The lenders argue that real incomes in Kenya have declined by between 10.7 percent and 12 percent over the past five years, squeezed by rising living costs and an expanding burden of statutory deductions.

The statutory deductions include PAYE, the 1.5 percent Affordable Housing Levy, a 2.75 percent contribution to the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), and higher National Social Security Fund (NSSF) contributions, which now top Sh6,480 per month for higher earners.

‘The banking industry believes that targeted measures to strengthen household purchasing power are essential for driving economic recovery, supporting businesses, creating jobs, and improving long-term fiscal sustainability,’ said KBA last Thursday.

Investors have demonstrated a strong appetite for Kenya’s corporate bonds, expanding a funding option for firms seeking new cash for their existing and new projects.

I and M Bank Limited is the latest to successfully raise debt from the capital market, receiving bids that were multiple times what it was seeking.

The lender was in the market for Sh10 billion through a 5.5-year bond paying 12.2 percent per annum. The company however took Sh13 billion after receiving bids of Sh23.2 billion, underlining the high appetite for corporate bonds.

The corporate debt market -which was jolted by defaults and scandals engulfing issuers between 2015 and 2018- started picking up from last year.

East African Breweries Plc (EABL) and Safaricom last year raised Sh16.7 billion and Sh19.9 billion respectively, with the transactions encouraging more debt sales.

Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC) last week raised Sh3 billion from an 8-year bond paying an interest of 12.2 percent per annum and whose principal will be repaid over time.

KMRC received bids of Sh9.3 billion or more than thrice its target. Investors are rushing for the corporate bonds despite the instruments offering a little premium to government bonds.

The attractiveness of the corporate bonds has been aided by lower interest rates on bank deposits and treasury bills besides a dearth of new auctions of medium-term bonds by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) in recent months.

Returns of short-term fixed income instruments are in the single digits while the CBK has preferred to sell longer term bonds maturing in more than 10 years.

These conditions, coupled with the weeding out of shakier firms, have seen a revival in corporate bond sales.

Real People, Chase Bank, Imperial Bank, ARM Cement and Nakumatt Holdings were among the companies that defaulted on more than Sh10 billion worth of corporate bonds and commercial paper between 2015 and 2018.

In the wake of the defaults, most of the remaining corporate bonds were repaid and few borrowers returned to the market for refinancing.

Those that settled their bonds on maturity included HF Group and CIC Insurance Group, leaving a shrunken debt market that started recovering last year.

In the interim, most companies relied heavily on a mix of retained earnings, loans from foreign lenders and equity sales to fund their growth.

Raising debt in the local market at current fixed rates is seen as attractive, with one major advantage being the avoidance of currency risk.

Loans denominated in hard currencies such as the US dollar and euro have floating rates and can saddle borrowers with a heavy repayment burden when the shilling weakens substantially.

I and M Bank, for instance, has said it will use part of the proceeds from its recent bond sale to retire dollar denominated debt to the tune of $50 million (Sh6.5 billion).

‘We’ve got about $50 million of Tier II debt that we have on our books with varying dates of maturity, some being as early as 2027 and we felt that we needed to be able to replace that,” I and M Holdings regional CEO Kihara Maina told the Business Daily.

“This was the right time to go to market because it allows us to front-load our planned local currency debt raise as well as anticipate the maturities that are coming as well as build up a lending pipeline.’

Besides holding the veto to hire and fire of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) chief executive officer, Uganda secured further concessions in operations of the company, including approval of tariff increases, dividend policy, employee restructuring and rights issues.

KPC shareholder rights or Articles of Association were amended after Uganda bought a Sh20 billion stake in the firm following its initial public offering (IPO), which ran from January 19 to February 24.

Under the revised Articles, Kenya gave Uganda concessions, including two board seats in the firm, after the neighbouring country threatened to walk away from the IPO because of a lack of authority in the running of the firm.

While on the board, Uganda will have to approve the hiring and firing of the CEO, KPC fuel transport tariffs, part of the board changes and changes to the firm’s dividend policy ‘So long as the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary and the government of Uganda are eligible to nominate directors, the following matters shall require the approval of a National Treasury and a Government of Uganda Director…the periodic review of the pipeline transportation and secondary storage tariff for purposes of submission for relevant regulatory approvals,’ reads part of KPC’s amended Articles of association, seen by the Business Daily.

‘…any employee restructuring of a redundancy programme implemented within three years following the initial public offering.’

Uganda also got a say on other reserved matters, including the issue of new shares in the company, an alteration of Articles, and the removal of Kenyan or Ugandan government directors from the company’s board.

KPC’s revenues are significantly influenced by tariffs, periodically set by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra), mostly covering three-year cycles. Epra’s last review approved a tariff of Sh5.44 per cubic meter per kilometre, while the regulator currently sits on a proposal to increase the tariff by 2.4 percent for the upcoming three-year period from July 2025 to June 2028.

KPC counts its tariff as a regulatory risk and highlights the implications of delays or restrictions in securing tariff revisions.

‘Delays or restrictions in securing tariff adjustments, whether due to public opposition or political pressure, could limit KPC’s ability to recover rising costs or fund infrastructure investments,’ KPC said in its IPO information memorandum.

‘Historical resistance from stakeholders such as oil marketing companies and consumer groups to significant tariff increases underscores the risk that tariffs may not fully reflect inflationary pressures or currency depreciation, potentially compressing margins and reducing earnings.’

KPC booked revenues of Sh38.5 billion in the financial year ended June 2025 against Sh14.7 billion costs of services. The mid-stream company in the oil and gas sector saw its net profit for the period rise slightly to Sh7.49 billion from a flat Sh7.4 billion previously.

As of December 2025, KPC and the Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited (KPRL), a subsidiary of the pipeline company, had a total workforce of 1,549 employees, 87.2 percent or 1,351 of whom are permanent.

KPC highlighted previously that it had made significant progress in achieving key human resources strategic objectives, including alignment to strategy execution, performance and integrity.

The employees of KPC bought shares worth Sh99.1 million in the concluded IPO despite having a greater share allocation worth Sh5.3 billion. The government of Uganda (GOU) swooped in to anchor the IPO by buying shares worth Sh34.7 billion, beating their initial allocation of Sh21.1 billion worth of shares.

Uganda leveraged its acquired 20 percent ownership in KPC to get a guarantee of two board seats in the company and the right over the future hiring and firing of the chief executive officer.

KPC’s IPO successfully met its target of raising Sh106.3 billion from the government’s 65 percent stake in the company, even as the offer was largely dominated by local and regional institutional investors, as individuals, foreigners and oil marketing companies (OMCs) largely kept off.

An estimated 465 local institutional investors led by the National Social Security Fund, the Public Service Superannuation Fund and Uganda’s State-owned oil company, the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), snapped up shares that

other investor categories had left on the table.

Without the strong showing from the institutions, Uganda and other high-net-worth investors, the IPO would have collapsed and hurt the government’s drive to diversify its sources of revenues from taxes and public debt. The IPO needed to raise at least Sh53.1 billion from more than 250 investors for it to proceed.

Uganda was handed a chance to determine the next KPC chief executive after the resignation of Joe Sang, who quit last month amid a fuel scandal that saw three senior public officers step down.

KPC’s board cannot hire or fire the chief executive officer without concurrence from Uganda directors, which effectively gives Kampala some sway over who will steer the petroleum logistics firm post-IPO.

The board said it was looking for a highly experienced person who would guide the company through the ‘post listing phase, including heightened governance, disclosure, investor relations, and regulatory obligations.

Cracks have emerged in the boardroom of KPC over whether the firm should have initiated the recruitment of a new managing director without a fully reconstituted board that includes Uganda’s representatives, as required under the newly listed company’s charter.

The candidate must have 15 years of experience, with at least 10 years in senior management.

‘The Kenya Pipeline Company Plc seeks applications from suitable and highly qualified professionals to fill the position of managing director.

This position serves as the company’s chief executive officer, accountable to the board of directors,’ read a vacancy announcement published earlier in May.

Despite its certainty like childbirth, retirement appears to always arrive too early, hitting most employees unawares like the arrival of a pre-term baby.

Retirement parties often sound and feel like commiseration sessions for the retiree who supposedly needs reassurance that despite the clock having ticked 60, they are still useful and can ‘retyre’ and do other amazing things for the remainder of their lives.

The prospect of retirement has been known to cause serious mental health issues to some employees upon receipt of the dreaded letter from the employer bearing the unwelcome tidings.

In response to this phenomenon, sophisticated employers have developed well structured programmes to prepare their employees for retirement.

The curriculum, usually delivered by experts, covers a wide range of topics such as psychosocial preparedness, estate planning and succession, investment advice and what to expect out there in the wider world after retirement including how to avoid being conned and, in the case of men, the temptation of marrying an additional wife using the retirement package which at the time appears inexhaustible.

For ladies, the common temptation is to travel and overstay abroad under the pretext of visiting the grandchildren, while the real purpose is to engage in binge shopping and spend quality time in massage parlours in the name of ‘kujirudishia

asante’ or ‘kuambia mwili pole’ for a lifetime of toil and travail.

Retirement candidates are also advised on the risks of starting businesses that they have never done before or investing in brick and mortar in the village shopping centre without any idea of the cost involved or the expected returns.

Many end up converting the entire retirement package into incomplete concrete structures which become eternal monuments of their folly and regret and only serve to hasten their steps to the grave.

With declining birth rates and increasing life expectancy in most parts of the world, a new demographic is emerging where the work place is dominated by an ageing population. People are also attaining retirement age while still in perfect health

of body and mind and at the peak of their professional prowess.

While the retirement age in the Kenyan public service is 60, there is no prescribed retirement age in the private sector.

This is left to each employer to determine, should they wish to do so, either by policy or contractual terms of employment. In practice, however, employers have tended to adopt the public sector benchmark of 60 years.

For certain cadres of employees such as professionals, researchers and academics who spend a considerably longer period pursuing education and acquiring complex skills, retiring them at the age of 60 robs the economy of a much-needed resource.

No wonder judges and university professors retire at 70 which, based on international best practice, is still

considered too young for retirement given the depth of knowledge and expertise they possess.

Until recently, judges used to retire at the age of 74. Kenyan employers are increasingly finding it undesirable to let go

of productive, highly experienced managers with clean discipline records and persons who add substantial value to the organisation, purely on account of age.

The most common method of addressing this issue is to allow such employees to retire as per the policy, then rehire them immediately on fixed term contracts for such duration as the parties may agree.

This approach serves the useful purpose of ensuring consistency in policy application and avoiding claims of discrimination. The post-retirement contract is considered a separate engagement on different terms rather than a continuation of the previous employment contract.

Having a predetermined retirement age is good practice for various reasons. There will always be deadwood whom the employer wishes to get rid of but due to legal constraints, is unable to. In such cases, the policy provides a perfect solution.

A retirement policy also fosters certainty and enables prudent employees to prepare early enough for the inevitability of retirement through savings and investment.

Employers may also adopt a hybrid model where the highly skilled cadres retire at a more advanced age than

their junior counterparts performing commoditised tasks who are easier to replace owing to the abundance

of their skills in the market.

The argument that raising the retirement age denies young people employment opportunities is fallacious

and not evidence-based. Jobs that require grey hair cannot be performed by persons who have not earned the

stripes in the battlefield.

While AI is gobbling up entry level jobs with the appetite of a famished wolf, it poses no significant risk to

the jobs held by eligible retirees. Besides, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the number

of Kenyans aged 60 and above is no more than 6 percent of the total population.

As Kenya’s last cohort of the baby boomer generation enters the retirement age-bracket, employers should rethink whether it is economically beneficial to lose productive managers purely on account of age.

Africa’s pay-TV industry is at a crossroads. Traditional growth engines including household subscriptions, linear programming, and fixed monthly bundles are under pressure from shifting consumer behaviour, economic realities, and rapid digital adoption. Yet disruption is not decline; it is reinvention.

While attending the inaugural StreamTV Europe 2026 in Lisbon from April 13 to 15, I observed global media executives grappling with these challenges.

A dominant theme was the fragmentation of the media ecosystem, with telcos increasingly positioning themselves as super-aggregators to simplify user experience and counter piracy; driven less by price and more by consumer demand for convenience.

What stood out to me is that this reinvention is not theoretical. It is already happening-at scale-in Kenya.

Kenya is no longer simply participating in Africa’s pay-TV evolution; it is helping define it.

The country has emerged as one of the continent’s most dynamic innovation hubs for the live testbed sector where new operating models, technologies, and audience strategies are being validated in real time.

This leadership stems from a rare convergence: robust infrastructure, youthful demographics, progressive regulation, and deep digital adoption. Mobile penetration exceeds 130 percent, broadband access continues to expand, and over 96 percent of adults use mobile money. Kenya is, effectively, one of the most digitally integrated consumer markets globally.

For pay-TV operators, this matters enormously.

As highlighted at StreamTV Europe, the critical challenge is closing the ‘simplicity gap’ in an increasingly fragmented content landscape.

Kenyan consumers are already setting this standard. They expect seamless, intuitive experiences, transacting digitally, consuming content across multiple devices, and shifting fluidly between live TV, streaming platforms, and mobile-first formats.

Today, over 60 percent of internet users in Kenya watch video on their mobile phones, signalilng a decisive shift away from single-screen viewing.

This creates a powerful advantage: innovation cycles that are faster, and immediate feedback loops.

Flexible access models, mobile-led consumption, data-driven discovery, and hybrid subscription structures are not just concepts-they are being tested and refined in Kenya before scaling to other markets.

Crucially, the industry is moving away from passive, one-size-fits-all broadcasting toward personalised, on-demand experiences. Audiences now expect relevance, choice, and control.

Kenya reflects this shift vividly. Consumers engage actively; through viewing behaviour, social interaction, and churn patterns thus creating real-time data signals.

For operators, this enables continuous optimisation of content and pricing strategies, moving from instinct-led decisions to data-led execution.

Technology is not replacing storytelling; it is amplifying it. Platforms that deliver the right content to the right audience at the right moment will define the next phase of growth. Personalisation is no longer a differentiator. It is the baseline.

Demographics reinforce this momentum. With over 70 percent of the population under 35, Kenya has one of the youngest media markets globally. This generation values authenticity, local relevance, and seamless access.

Regulation, often perceived as a constraint, has been a key enabler. Kenya’s relatively mature media and ICT frameworks provide stability in a rapidly evolving landscape.

The proposed 2026 Copyright and Related Rights Bill aims to modernise intellectual property protection, strengthen creator rights, and tighten enforcement against digital piracy while directly addressing concerns echoed by global industry players.

This is reinforced by recognition from the International Telecommunication Union, which recently ranked Kenya among Africa’s leading countries in ICT regulation. Such credibility enhances investor confidence and supports innovation.

The conclusion is clear: the future of African pay-TV will not be defined by a single platform or model. It will be shaped by markets that move faster, listen better, and balance innovation with affordability and trust.

Kenya has enacted a Technopolis Act, allowing counties to build their own Konza-style smart cities to create new hubs for startups, research institutions, and foreign investors beyond the capital, Nairobi.

The law establishes a new Technopolis Development Authority (TDA), replacing the Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA), and gives counties legal backing to develop gazetted technology zones focused on innovation, research, and tech-driven business.

It is Kenya’s most ambitious attempt yet to decentralise the ‘Silicon Savannah’, the popular moniker for the country’s tech ecosystem centred around Nairobi, while positioning counties as potential magnets for venture capital, manufacturing, cloud infrastructure, and artificial intelligence (AI) investments.

Technopolises are typically planned urban areas or special economic zones concentrated with technology companies, research institutions, and innovation hubs.

They are designed to foster research, commercialisation, and tech development. Examples include America’s Silicon Valley, China’s Zhongguancun, and France’s Sophia Antipolis. Governments globally are increasingly using tech cities to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), jobs, and research funding.

Under Kenya’s new law, the ICT Cabinet Secretary can declare new technopolises across counties, creating opportunities for regional specialisation in areas such as agri-tech, renewable energy, logistics, health-tech, and financial technology (fintech).

Incentives boost

The law allows early-stage startups to receive exemptions from licensing requirements, potentially easing one of the biggest challenges among founders – high compliance costs before achieving scale.

It also allows the authority to grant exemptions from fees, levies, and charges, while government-backed incentives could include tax holidays, reduced customs duties, and subsidised infrastructure access.

For technology startups, which often face high upfront costs in hardware, cloud services, and specialised talent, the incentives could improve survival rates in the critical early years. Dedicated small-enterprise support centres will also be established within technopolises to provide mentorship, technical support, and business development services.

Analysts say the institutional support could help address the so-called ‘valley of death’ period, where many startups fail due to weak operational structures, limited financing, and a lack of market access.

Strong collaboration

The clustering of startups within innovation hubs, science parks, and research institutions is also seen to create stronger collaboration among entrepreneurs, universities, investors, and established firms.

For foreign investors, the law provides multiple new entry points into Kenya outside Nairobi. Kenya is one of Africa’s top venture capital destinations by deal value and volume, and Nairobi is home to the majority of these businesses.

By allowing counties to establish technopolises based on local economic strengths, analysts say investors could target specialised sectors in different regions – from logistics and maritime technology at the Coast to agritech in food-producing counties and renewable energy innovation in northern Kenya.

The Act also seeks to attract investment into cloud computing facilities, AI systems, and data centres by mandating the hosting of government infrastructure powered by these emerging technologies. It could create opportunities for global cloud providers and AI companies looking for regional expansion bases in East Africa.

Foreign investors are also expected to benefit from tax incentives and streamlined approvals through a proposed ‘one-stop-shop’ system aimed at reducing bureaucratic delays often associated with setting up businesses in Kenya.

Currently, Konza Technopolis remains Kenya’s only operational technopolis and serves as the blueprint for the county-based smart city model.

Started in 2009 during former President Mwai Kibaki’s administration, the 5,000-acre development along Mombasa Road was envisioned as a futuristic science city driving Kenya’s transition into a knowledge economy.

Construction is still ongoing, albeit slowly, and the government has invested more than Sh90 billion in Konza, focusing on foundational infrastructure, flagship buildings, digital hubs, and a tier-3 data centre serving more than 170 public and private clients.

Some of the companies operating in the technopolis include Kenya’s largest telco, Safaricom, and the Chinese tech giant Huawei.

Still, some analysts say a strong centralisation of authority in Nairobi could limit county governments’ autonomy in managing local technopolises, potentially undermining the decentralisation agenda.

Others caution that incentives could disproportionately favour large multinational investors at the expense of local entrepreneurs and small businesses if safeguards are not put in place.

There are concerns that the promised efficiency gains could still be slowed by bureaucratic approvals and regulatory bottlenecks, particularly if multiple government agencies retain overlapping oversight roles.

Over the next few weeks, I want to explore the creation of dynasties. No, not the ‘Hustler-turned-tenderpreneur-turned-Runda rich but legacy poor’ types of dynasties.

I want to explore the real family dynasty that emerges when hard-working individuals put their backs into it, start businesses that have both legitimate employees and customers and which businesses generate dividends that form the backbone of wealth, passed on from generation to generation.

In transitioning that wealth successfully, the founder’s family gains prominence for their role in business and, quite often, philanthropy. Philanthropy in this case means meaningfully helping societies rather than handing out crumpled banknotes on the sidelines of political rallies.

A key cog in the success of wealth transition is the role of the family office. Family offices are specialised entities designed to manage, preserve and grow the wealth of ultra high net worth families, often emerging from successful family businesses.

They serve as the backbone of dynastic wealth management, ensuring that fortunes built over generations are not only sustained but strategically deployed. Their evolution reflects centuries of financial innovation, from Renaissance banking dynasties to today’s tech billionaires.

The concept of the family office dates back to the Medici family, which was a powerful banking dynasty that rose to prominence in Renaissance Florence, Italy, starting in the early 15th century.

They built one of Europe’s largest banks, which helped them gain immense wealth and political influence. The Medicis became de facto rulers of Florence, patrons of the arts and key figures in European politics, producing several popes and monarchs. However, their original line ended in the 18th century, and their vast wealth and power gradually faded.

Today, while the Medici family no longer holds the immense wealth or influence they once had, their legacy lives on through their contributions to art, culture, and history, especially in Florence. This model of centralised wealth management laid the foundation for future family offices.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Rothschild family expanded the idea globally, creating one of the first cross border family offices. Their ability to coordinate investments across Europe made them a financial powerhouse.

Originally from Frankfurt, Germany, the family’s founder, Mayer Rothschild (1710-1812), originally started as a financial advisor to various European princes, eventually founding a banking business in Frankfurt. He had five sons, each of whom established banking houses in major European cities: Frankfurt, London, Paris, Vienna, and Naples. The sons helped create a banking network that facilitated massive financial transactions across Europe.

This network played a significant role in funding various national endeavours, including wars and infrastructure projects. Today, the Rothschild family is involved in diversified activities, including investment banking, asset management, and more, with businesses spanning industries such as agriculture, wine, and finance and estimated to run into the billions of dollars.

The modern family office structure emerged in the United States (US) in 1882, when John D. Rockefeller established an office to manage his fortune. This institution became the template for wealth preservation, philanthropy, and investment diversification. John D. Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York, in 1839.

At age 16, he began working as a bookkeeper in Cleveland, Ohio, developing meticulous financial habits. In 1863, he entered the oil business with partners, building a refinery in Cleveland. By 1870, he co-founded Standard Oil with his brother William and several associates, capitalising on the oil boom.

Through aggressive acquisitions, favourable railroad deals and vertical integration, Standard Oil controlled about 90 percent of US refineries and pipelines. The Standard Oil Trust (1882) consolidated Rockefeller’s empire, creating one of the first major US business trusts.

By the early 20th century, Rockefeller had amassed unprecedented wealth, becoming the world’s first billionaire in 1916. His fortune and philanthropy (funding universities, medical research, and public health) cemented the family’s influence. The Rockefellers transitioned from industrialists to philanthropists and political leaders, ensuring their legacy across multiple fields.

A critical distinction in the family office model is the separation between the underlying businesses that generate wealth and the management of dividends and investment returns. The family business, whether it is Walmart, Microsoft, or Amazon, focuses on operations, growth and profitability.

The family office, by contrast, manages the dividends, distributions and capital generated by those businesses. This separation ensures that wealth management decisions are not conflated with business operations, allowing for diversification, risk management and long term planning independent of the family enterprise’s performance.

For example, the Walton family continues to oversee Walmart through corporate governance, but their family office manages the dividends, investing in philanthropy, real estate and other ventures.

Similarly, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos use their family offices to channel wealth from their companies into diversified investments and social initiatives.

Next week, we’ll take a deeper dive into how these family offices are structured to ensure that wealth transition across generations endures.