Category: Business Daily

The family of Titus Muya’s combined stake in Family Bank shrunk by 9.3 percentage points following its decision to sit out the bank’s recent capital raising as it seeks to comply with regulatory requirements.

Mr Muya and members of his family previously held eight of the top 10 shareholder positions in the mid-sized lender with a combined stake of 43.3 percent.

Following the Sh8 billion private placement in December 2025, their combined ownership fell to an estimated 34 percent, with five of the related investors falling off the top 10 list.

The bank, scheduled to list on the Nairobi Securities Exchange before the end of June, sold 357.4 million new shares last year in a capital raising venture that brought on board 184 new shareholders to bring its ownership roll to 6,345 investors.

This saw current shareholders who chose not to participate in the capital raising venture diluted.

Mr Muya’s direct stake of 5.6 percent was diluted to 4.4 percent, disclosures in the bank’s annual report show.

The dilution brought down his shareholding into compliance with the Central Bank of Kenya’s regulation that caps individual ownership in a bank at five percent.

Daykio Plantations, a real estate company owned by Mr Muya, saw its shareholding shrink to 9.53 percent from 12.1 percent.

The estate of the late Rachael Njeri, also associated with the Muya family, had its stake drop to ten percent from 12.8 percent.

Persons associated with the bank’s founder such as Brian Muyah, Ann Muya, Mark Keriri and Sheila Kahaki Muya fell off the list of the top ten, meaning their 2.6 percent shareholding each had fallen below 2.07 percent.

Mr Keriri, the vice-chairman of the bank, was disclosed to have a 2.01 percent stake, down from 2.6 percent.

Kenya Tea Development Agency Holding Limited, the largest single shareholder, increased its stake to 18.9 percent from 16.2 percent, having participated in the capital raising.

Others who participated in the private placement include the bank’s chairman, Lazarus Muema, who increased his shareholding by one million shares.

Kenya Orient Life Assurance Limited debuted on the bank’s list of top owners with a 2.12 percent shareholding.

Family Bank, which has already contracted advisers to guide it in the listing process, will be listing by introduction, meaning it will not be raising new capital in the process.

‘For existing shareholders, the planned listing creates an opportunity for improved liquidity and better price discovery of the stock, including a dilution pathway (if it involves fundraising), for investors looking to comply with maximum shareholding requirements by the Central Bank of Kenya,’ said Standard Investment Bank in a note to investors.

Currently the bank’s shares are traded in the over-the-counter (OTC) market, limiting their liquidity. Listing by introduction will provide liquidity for the shares and bring onboard other investors who would otherwise not invest in the stock while in the OTC market.

Last month, hundreds of athletes converged on the Cape Town International Convention Centre for HYROX Cape Town 2026. Reggie Mboya, a Kenyan trainer, was among the 717 men who lined up for the challenge.

He finished top in the men’s open and 20th overall, completing the race in one hour and nine minutes. Not only did his performance demonstrate his physical capacity, but it also highlighted the discipline and sacrifice that had guided him to this remarkable level.

HYROX is a standardised indoor race that fuses running with functional strength training. Competitors must cover eight kilometres, which are broken into segments by eight challenging workout stations.

Each kilometre of running leads directly into a test of resilience, whether through the ski erg, sled push, burpee broad jumps, rowing, farmer’s carry, lunges or wall balls. These exercises are designed to disrupt rhythm and force athletes to draw on their reserves of strength.

‘The workout tests how you handle high pressure. You learn how to balance your body, how to cover the distance and how to complete the workout,’ explains Reggie.

HYROX has surged in popularity across Europe and North America, attracting athletes from diverse disciplines such as CrossFit, swimming and obstacle course racing. Elite competitors often finish in under 60 minutes, combining speed, stamina and strength to achieve an unrelenting standard.

Reggie’s journey to HYROX began in Nairobi after finishing high school, when he looked for ways to raise money for his university education. Having played a bit of rugby in high school, he started looking for jobs in the fitness industry. ‘Although I also earned money playing rugby for clubs, I decided to stop and focus on fitness.’

Preparing for HYROX required him to reshape his body and lifestyle. He lost seven kilograms, trained twice daily and committed to a gruelling schedule that included 21-kilometre runs on Saturdays, 10 kilometres every morning and strength training every evening.

‘You really have to be mentally prepared for it,’ he says.

‘I had to change my sleeping schedule to ensure I got eight hours of sleep a day. Running for three hours each evening meant that I had no social life and couldn’t go out.’

His primary focus was lower body strength, involving squats at 100 kilograms, lunges with 25-kilogram dumbbells, sled pushes and yoga for mobility. His diet was equally strict, consisting of carb-loading with chapatti and sweet potatoes in the morning, protein shakes during the day, and protein-heavy dinners.

‘I avoided junk food and focused on natural foods.’

Reggie also talks about the challenges of training for a global sport in a developing fitness ecosystem. Access to proper Hyrox-standard facilities is still limited in Kenya.

“Currently, Kenya doesn’t have an arena big enough for us. International HYROX requires a running track that is about one kilometre long and 150 metres wide, as well as a mat for sled pushes and pulls. I had to improvise a lot while preparing for the competition.’

Reggie, who was participating in the sport for the first time, noted the need for Kenya to invest in HYROX competitions.

One of the sport’s strengths is its accessibility, with categories ranging from Open to Pro, Doubles and Youth divisions, which allow younger athletes to safely experience the sport while developing their fitness.

‘HYROX is open to anybody, even children,’ says Reggie.

After winning the Men’s Open, Reggie is now going to try to win the Pro Division. In this division, the weights are heavier, the qualifying times are faster, and the competitors are stronger from all over the world.

‘I want to challenge myself to reach an elite level. The elite level is on the pro stage, and it really requires a lot. I now have to decide how to balance working eight-hour days with training.’

Sustainability reporting provides a medium for organisations to communicate their value-creation and impact stories to stakeholders. At a time when stakeholder demands for sustainability reporting are increasing, organisations should be mindful of the information needs that are driving this demand.

One of these requirements is for stakeholders to understand how an organisation creates value and the impact it has on society.

Sustainability reporting can help provide this understanding by offering readers a holistic picture of an organisation’s combined value.

Stakeholders can get a full picture of the organisation’s value beyond the traditional balance sheet. A perspective that extends to broader societal impact and to the value created for shareholders and other stakeholders.

Sustainability reporting provides stakeholders with forward-looking information about an organisation’s value creation and impact, addressing limitations of financial reporting and speaking to the financial viability of an organisation beyond the immediate financial performance.

Another important insight from sustainability reporting is the ability to provide stakeholders with a clear understanding of an organisation’s value chain.

A view of the dependencies and impact outside the organisation’s traditional boundary of reporting. For example, an organisation can highlight the number of indirect jobs it provides across its value chain within a community, indicating the value it creates and the impact it has on the community beyond profits.

Through sustainability reporting, organisations can report on their material sustainability topics, providing stakeholders with an opportunity to understand the enablers of the organisation’s business growth strategy that create value over time and deliver impact.

An organisation’s material sustainability risks and opportunities are the non-financial catalysts and capabilities that enable it to maintain its competitive advantage over time. Sustainability reporting can also provide a balanced view of an organisation’s performance, helping its stakeholders understand the trade-offs considered to achieve value creation.

Understanding these trade-offs is so important today, as stakeholders are keen to ensure that a business-minded approach to sustainability is applied, one that balances business and sustainability to create value and impact for society. Lastly, with sustainability reporting, stakeholders obtain decision-useful information.

Investors are keen to obtain financial and non-financial information when weighing investment decisions because credible sustainability information enables them to evaluate investment opportunities more comprehensively.

Organisations must move beyond compliance and utilise their sustainability reports to provide stakeholders with an understanding of their value creation and impact on society.

Kenyan consumers are likely to dig deeper into their pockets to buy locally assembled smartphones as a global scramble for artificial intelligence (AI) chips sends the price of critical memory components soaring and squeezes manufacturers targeting low-income buyers.

The price of memory chips, largely sourced from China and used in smartphones, laptops and other electronics, has increased up to fourfold in the past year as technology giants such as OpenAI, Google and Meta ramp up investment in AI infrastructure and data centres.

The AI boom has tightened global supplies of memory chips used in consumer electronics, piling pressure on Kenya’s smartphone assembly industry and threatening the affordability model that has helped expand smartphone access among low-income households.

The price of Random Access Memory (RAM), once among the cheapest components in electronics manufacturing, has more than doubled since October 2025 and is expected to rise further this year, hitting local assemblers such as M-Kopa, East Africa Device Assembly Kenya Limited, and Sun King hard.

For now, most manufacturers say they are absorbing part of the increased costs by trimming expenses elsewhere in the production chain to protect their low-cost, pay-as-you-go business models. They have, however, not ruled out raising handset prices if chip costs remain elevated.

‘Demand for AI memory is very high, which means manufacturers are dedicating the majority of their capacity to AI. That has pushed up the cost of memory for us significantly,’ says Ismael Abisai, head of manufacturing at M-Kopa.

‘The cost for memory has gone up three to four times. A memory type that you used to buy for $19 (Sh2,454) is now $65 (Sh8,394),’ he adds.

RAM is a critical smartphone component used to temporarily store data, run operating systems such as Android and manage active applications. As AI-powered features become more common in devices, demand for high-performance memory chips has intensified.

Most smartphones rely on dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and NAND flash memory chips. However, AI data centres require more advanced (and profitable) variants such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), prompting manufacturers to prioritise supply to major cloud service providers over consumer electronics firms.

This shift has seen leading chipmakers including Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron Technology channel production capacity toward AI-focused clients such as Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAI and Google, tightening global supplies for smartphone manufacturers.

Nairobi-based M-Kopa assembles about 7,500 smartphones daily using parts sourced from Chinese original design manufacturers before installing Android software licensed by Google.

The company targets low-income consumers through hire-purchase arrangements, allowing customers to pay deposits before settling balances through daily, weekly or monthly instalments.

Industry analysts now warn that rising memory prices threaten the economics underpinning low-cost smartphones globally. Market research firm TrendForce estimates that DRAM prices rose between 90 percent and 95 percent in the first quarter of 2026, while NAND flash prices increased by up to 60 percent due to surging AI demand.

According to Counterpoint Research, some low-end smartphones could disappear from the market altogether as shrinking margins force manufacturers to either reduce device specifications or shift focus to higher-end products.

Meanwhile, International Data Corporation forecasts that the average global smartphone price will rise 14 percent this year to a record $523 (Sh67,597), while devices priced below $100 (Sh12,925) may disappear entirely. Global smartphone shipments are also projected to fall to their lowest level in more than a decade.

Although leading memory producers have pledged billions of dollars in investment to expand output, industry experts warn that new semiconductor production lines can take at least a year to become operational. The sector’s challenges have also been compounded by logistical disruptions linked to the conflict in the Middle East, which has affected shipping routes and air freight capacity.

Since fighting escalated in late February, air cargo operations through major hubs such as Dubai and Doha have faced restrictions, with airspace closures across the Gulf forcing airlines onto longer and more expensive routes.

‘Shipping timings have changed,’ says Martin Kingori, M-Kopa Kenya General Manager. ‘Flights through Dubai are hard. We are not able to fly anything in because costs are going up and space is limited.’

Manufacturers have increasingly shifted to sea freight, extending delivery timelines from roughly two weeks to as long as a month.

‘For us who source our components from China, freight costs have gone up by about 10 percent,’ Mr Kingori adds.

The global supply crunch comes at a sensitive moment for Kenya’s emerging smartphone assembly industry, which has expanded rapidly since 2023 following government incentives aimed at localising production. In June 2022, Kenya introduced a 10 percent excise duty on imported phones in addition to an existing 25 percent import duty.

Since entering the assembly business in January 2023, M-Kopa says it has produced more than 3.2 million devices and refurbished over 300,000 others.

‘The good thing with having a factory is that you can optimise different parts of the operation,’ Mr Abisai says, adding that some components had been secured earlier at lower prices through long-term supplier agreements.

Other firms have also entered the market. Sun King last year established a manufacturing facility in Tatu City, with its first locally assembled smartphone launched in February.

Meanwhile, East Africa Device Assembly Kenya Limited, a joint venture involving Safaricom, Jamii Telecommunications and Chinese firm Shenzhen TeleOne Technology, has been producing low-cost 4G smartphones from its Athi River plant. The company reported producing 360,000 devices in its first year of operation in 2024.

Kenya’s local smartphone assembly industry has largely been built on the promise of affordable devices financed through instalment plans to reach first-time users. Some locally assembled smartphones are sold with deposits as low as Sh2,600 and daily payments from Sh55.

But as AI-driven demand reshapes the global semiconductor market, manufacturers are increasingly being forced to choose between absorbing higher production costs and passing them on to consumers.

‘That’s why financing becomes a solution for us,’ Mr Abisai says, referring to the pay-as-you-go model that spreads costs over time.

Global electronics brands, including Dell, Asus, Acer and Xiaomi, have already warned of possible price increases, while Sony has temporarily halted sales of some memory card products because of chip shortages.

A Nairobi court has allowed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to detain a man accused of defrauding investors of millions of shillings through a fake online investment portal listed on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

By the time Dickson Ndege Nyakango was arrested on May 4, investigators said Sh33.6 million had been deposited into one of the bank accounts linked to the scheme.

Evidence presented in court alleged that Mr Nyakango developed two apps – KCLNL, which has since been removed, and GSIWEA, which remains active – claiming to offer an AI-powered investment fund.

The apps were allegedly designed to appear professional and credible, mimicking legitimate investment platforms and falsely suggesting partnerships with licensed stockbroker Kestrel Capital (EA) Ltd and Nathaniel Capital Partners Ltd (NATL).

The scheme promised unusually high returns, including automated trading with daily profits of up to seven percent, a rate that raised immediate concerns among financial authorities.

According to investigating officer Achilles Omondi of the DCI’s Capital Markets Fraud Investigations Unit, the apps directed potential investors to a WhatsApp group named Kestrel and NATL Quantitative Trading Lab.

Members of the group were instructed to deposit money into designated bank accounts through Paybill numbers or Pesalink, giving the operation an appearance of legitimacy.

Between April 8 and April 29, 2026, the accounts reportedly received Sh33.6 million from unsuspecting investors.

Wider network

Investigators said the scheme appeared to extend beyond the two apps.

On April 22, the unit received a complaint from Genghis Capital Ltd over a suspicious entity named Genghis Strategy, which allegedly impersonated the licensed broker.

The same bank account used in Mr Nyakango’s alleged scheme was listed as a beneficiary, suggesting an attempt to mislead investors and move funds across multiple channels.

Mr Omondi told the Milimani magistrate’s court that Kestrel Capital had publicly dissociated itself from NATL, saying it had no official partnership with the firm.

He said releasing Mr Nyakango on bond could allow him access to other bank accounts that had not yet been frozen, potentially exposing more investors.

‘Due to the complexity of the matter, the large number of victims, and multiple accounts involved, I need more time to investigate and trace accomplices,’ Mr Omondi told the court.

Preliminary investigations indicated that several bank accounts, including one that has since been frozen, directly benefited from the alleged fraud.

Authorities are still recording statements from complainants while working with the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) to investigate the apps and identify possible additional suspects.

Analysis of documents collected so far indicates that multiple bank accounts and M-Pesa numbers were used to redistribute funds, pointing to what investigators believe was a sophisticated effort to obscure the money trail.

Mr Nyakango was arrested on May 4 at I and M Bank’s Kenyatta Avenue branch while allegedly attempting to withdraw funds from one of the accounts linked to the scheme.

Although the DCI had sought 14 days to complete investigations, the Milimani magistrate’s court granted seven days.

Kenya Reinsurance Corporation (Kenya Re) has been flagged for continuing to pay managing director Hillary Wachinga his full salary during a suspension period, in what the Auditor-General says breached public service rules.

Dr Wachinga was suspended for two months – from September 2 to November 2, 2025 – alongside human resource manager Sally Waigumo to pave the way for what the board termed as ‘review of internal matters.’ Both were later reinstated.

Now, the Auditor-General’s report on the State-controlled reinsurer shows the two continued to receive full salaries during the suspension period, contrary to public service regulations.

The issue formed part of several breaches flagged in the audit, including payment of staff bonuses without approval from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).

‘Review of the corporation’s payroll for the year revealed that two senior officers who were on suspension from September 2, 2025 to November 2, 2025 continued to earn full salaries during the period of suspension,’ the audit says.

‘(This is) contrary (to) the requirements of part K.7 (2) of the Public Service Commission (PSC) Human Resource Policies and Procedure Manual which requires that where an officer is suspended from the exercise of the functions of his public office, he shall be entitled to full house allowance, medical benefits and no basic salary. In the circumstances, management was in breach of the law.’

However, the same manual provides that a suspended officer whose case ends in reinstatement rather than dismissal or punishment is entitled to recover withheld salary.

‘Where disciplinary or criminal proceedings have been taken or instituted against an officer under suspension and such an officer is neither dismissed nor otherwise punished under these regulations, the whole or any salary withheld shall be restored to him upon the termination of such proceedings with effect from the date the salary was stopped,’ the PSC manual states.

Dr Wachinga’s reinstatement came barely a month after he withdrew a case in which he had sued the Kenya Re board for unprocedural suspension and invitation for a disciplinary hearing.

Court filings showed Dr Wachinga had been suspended over what the board described as ‘not complying with instructions’ in the handling of a disciplinary matter involving two of the reinsurer’s staff.

The spat began in April 2025 after a report by Dr Wachinga triggered disciplinary proceedings.

The board then instructed the managing director to conduct investigations and report back within 72 hours, a deadline that was allegedly missed twice.

He later dismissed the two employees, prompting his suspension after the board said it had not been involved in the terminations.

Kenya Re’s annual report shows Dr Wachinga’s pay fell to Sh29.57 million in the year ended December 2025 from Sh30.09 million a year earlier.

Bonus payments

The audit also shows the reinsurer paid bonuses of Sh102.27 million to staff and Sh3.45 million to board directors without seeking SRC approval.

‘This was contrary to Article 230 of the Constitution, which establishes the SRC to set, review, and advise on remuneration and benefits for public officers to ensure fiscal sustainability, fairness, and equity,’ the audit says.

Kenya Re maintained a Sh839.94 million dividend despite net profit falling 11.6 percent to Sh3.92 billion in the year ended December 2025.

The reinsurer attributed the drop in profitability to underperformance in its international treaty business and operations in Zambia and Côte d’Ivoire.

The exuberance of Kenya becoming a newly industrialised middle-income country as envisaged in the Vision 2030 has been gradually dimming.

Retrospectively, the dwindling marginal contribution of manufacturing sector to the economic growth has aborted Kenya’s vision of becoming an industrial hub.

However, a recent collaborative economic transformation assessment between Kippra and Africa Centre for Economic Transformation offer a prognosis.

The assessment embodies an appraisal of Kenya’s economic transformation as chronicled in the Kenya County Economic Development Outlook (Ceto). Kenya Ceto applies a growth analytical framework to evaluate diversification among other indicators. Diversification measures the relative size of the manufacturing and services sectors and the range of exports using four indicators.

The assessment reveals worsening diversification attributable to first, the declining agriculture sub-sector contribution and stagnation of the manufacturing sub-sector.

Second, the assessment unveils geographical disparity based on industrial production with over 80 percent of Kenya’s manufacturing gross value added is generated by just 10 of the 47 counties.

Third, the assessment inferred the dominance of resource-based industries associated with low technology, lower profit margin and lower labour earnings.

Fourth, the findings show that for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), production diversification is influenced by enterprises size and the gender of majority owners and firm managers. Fifth, business environment remains a major barrier to diversification.

To address the product and geographical disparities, Kenya Ceto proposes industrial diversification clustering based on comparative advantage of each county. In this, the MSMEs can expand the product offerings and tap into new customer needs.

In conclusion, it is imperative to recalibrate the diversification of Kenya’s economy to mitigate external shocks but more important to rekindle the dream of becoming an industrial hub. Geography and gender present complementary enablers of economic diversification by promoting inclusivity and specialisation of county economies. This much we must do.

Kenya CETO findings reveal that while women are active in entrepreneurship, their concentration in low-productivity, necessity-driven enterprises limits their contribution to economic diversification.

County based competitive advantage can be drawn from the unique geographical, cultural, natural, and institutional endowments of the county and enterprises.

The enactment and implementation of the current Geographical Indicators Bill provides an opportunity to protect and unlock more value of the major commodities exports.

Geographical indicators are designed to link products to their origin, quality, and reputation, allowing counties to leverage differentiated, value-added products such as tea, coffee, honey, traditional crops, minerals, cultural and ecological assets amongst others.

Adoption of a deliberate strategy to nurture high-potential enterprises, especially women-led businesses, to scale regionally and globally is another approach at promoting diversity.

Stanbic Bank Kenya has reported a 5.5 percent growth in net profit for the first quarter ended March when the benefits of lower costs and provisions for bad debts were eroded by a heavier tax bill.

The bank’s profit before tax had jumped 20.5 percent but a faster growth in its tax bill saw its net earnings rise by 5.5 percent to Sh3.5 billion for the three months ended March compared to Sh3.3 billion a year earlier.

The subsidiary of Stanbic Holdings Plc had tax deductions of Sh1.4 billion, nearly double the Sh751 million billed a year earlier.

The lender’s operating costs declined 7.8 percent to Sh5.02 billion owing largely to provisions for bad debts declining to Sh350.1 million from Sh855.5 million. The bank’s gross non-performing loans remained unchanged in the first three months of the year at Sh23.3 billion.

Other operating expenses of the bank shrunk 13.7 percent to Sh1.85 billion signalling to growing benefits of digital banking.

‘The growth is not big but it is a good performance considering the low interest rate environment compared to last year,’ said Shadrack Manyinsa, research analyst at Pergamon Investment Bank.

Interest rates have declined following the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) deliberate moves to ease monetary policy through reduction of its indicative base rate.

The Central Bank Rate (CBR) is lower at 8.75 percent this year compared to 10.75 percent in the first three months of last year.

The bank’s interest income was Sh11.5 billion up from Sh11 billion despite the lower interest regime, with earnings from lending to government and other banks padding their performance.

Stanbic’s investment in government securities rose to Sh137.2 billion from Sh80.8 billion a year earlier. It lent out Sh31.7 billion to other banks resulting in interest from peers more than doubling to Sh1.85 billion.

Stanbic’s loan book expanded to Sh258.1 billion in March from Sh244 billion a year earlier but had shrunk from Sh270 billion in December.

Customer savings with the bank rose by 21.7 percent to Sh411 billion with the low interest regime allowing it to pay lower returns despite the growth in funds. The bank paid out Sh3 billion as interest for the customer deposits down from Sh3.19 billion the previous period.

Stanbic Bank is the first listed lender to release its first quarter results with analysts expecting its peers to record growth in earnings.

‘We expect the same trend of growth –of between seven percent to 12 percent– supported by a larger loan book as indicated by the growth in private sector lending and low cost of funding,’ Mr Manyinsa said of banks’ expected performance.

A smaller loss in Ethiopia and M-Pesa’s double-digit growth helped Safaricom report a 36.9 percent jump in profits, making the Kenyan unit the first to cross the Sh100 billion mark in earnings.

The telecoms operator’s net profit grew to Sh95.6 billion from Sh69.79billion the previous year, allowing it to increase its total dividend payout to Sh80 billion.

The Kenya business continued to be the main profit driver, powered by M-Pesa, the firm’s largest unit, which is on course to generate half of the profits.

The profit for the Kenyan unit alone stood at Sh118.3 billion, while its revenues also crossed the Sh400 billion mark for the first time.

Safaricom reported loss in Ethiopia dropped by 35 percent compared to the previous financial year, which was heavily impacted by a depreciation of the birr currency.

The loss in Ethiopia that is attributed to Safaricom dropped to Sh21.2 billion from Sh36 billion in the same period a year earlier, translating to a gain of Sh14.8 billion.

The telecoms operator launched in Ethiopia in 2022 as the government there opened up the tightly controlled economy to foreign competition and is hoping its presence in Africa’s second most populous country will power future growth.

The higher profitability helped the telecoms operator raise its total dividend payout to Sh2 per share, adding a final Sh1.15 dividend to an interim payment of Sh0.85 earlier in 2026.

Shareholders will receive a combined payout of Sh80 billion, representing more than three-quarters of the telco’s earnings and the highest dividend payout by a Nairobi bourse-listed firm.

Safaricom’s share price rose 6.8 percent to Sh32.1 a piece, having gained 13.2 percent since the start of the year. Its diversification from the saturated voice and SMS business is paying off, with M-Pesa, mobile data and fixed internet emerging as sales drivers.

Safaricom’s revenue rose to Sh414.1 billion in the year to March, from Sh371.4 billion in the same period a year earlier, reflecting a 11.5 percent growth.

Revenue from mobile financial service M-Pesa rose 13.4 percent from Sh182.7 billion, accounting for 45.6 percent of Safaricom’s sales.

‘Monetisation of the M-Pesa ecosystem remains healthy with chargeable transactions growing by 11.5 percent year on year to 42.3 transactions per customer per month,’ said Dilip Pal, the Safaricom Plc chief finance officer.

The volume of zero-rated transactions, which include person-to-person payments below Sh100 and merchant payments under tills, fell slightly to 57.8 percent from 58.6 percent, even as the total transaction volumes rose by 25 percent.

The value of chargeable transactions was Sh30.5 trillion or 73.3 percent of Sh41.7 trillion in M-Pesa transactions in the 12 months.

This implies that Safaricom is now able to generate more revenue from its M-Pesa transactions.

‘Kadogo transactions accounted for 39 percent of consumer payments and 56.8 percent of business payments and grew 40 and 30 percent, respectively. This is how we align our business to our purpose by driving inclusion through affordability,’ said Mr Pal.

Safaricom is also ramping up its data business to offset stagnating mobile calls on increased investments in 4G and 5G networks, as voice saw a small revenue fall due to saturation and rivals like WhatsApp.

The voice business recorded a 1.3 percent gain in revenues to Sh81.8 billion, marking a big shift as mobile data for the first time overtook full-year sales from calls. The telco has in the past five years raced to convert millions of 2G and 3G users to 4G and some to 5G.

This has come through partnerships like the one with Google, where they are offering affordable smartphones, with customers paying as little as Sh20 a day for nine months.

The number of 4G and 5G devices on the network rose by 31.8 percent to 30.8 million from 23.4 million at the end of March 2025 while the average data usage per customer rose by 16.6 percent to 4.9GB per month.

Besides M-Pesa, data is one of Safaricom’s fastest-growing revenue lines, and it hopes that increased smartphone usage will boost it further.

Revenue from mobile data, where Safaricom has been aggressively fighting for market share, rose 14.4 percent to Sh83.3 billion, while fixed internet to homes and offices rose 12.2 percent to Sh20.2 billion. Revenues from SMS dropped 11.8 percent to Sh11 billion as messaging apps like WhatsApp continue to munch its market share.

The shifts in earnings reflect Safaricom’s alteration from a telecom firm to a technology and financial services company offering loans to insurance and unit trusts. Safaricom expects to make a profit in Ethiopia in the year ending March 2027.

‘The Ethiopia business has a clear trajectory towards break-even, supported by healthier industry dynamics,’ said Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom Plc chief executive officer.

Kenya’s digital finance story is often celebrated as a global benchmark for inclusion, and rightly so. Over the past decade, mobile money and digital financial services have brought millions into the formal financial fold.

According to the Central Bank of Kenya, over 80 percent of adults now have access to formal financial services, while data from the Communications Authority of Kenya shows mobile penetration exceeding 130 percent, with tens of millions of active mobile money accounts driving daily economic activity.

Insights from the Money March 2026 Report by Tala provide a timely reflection of the financial pressures facing Kenyan households today. While inclusion levels remain high, financial strain is intensifying.

Nearly 89 percent of consumers state that rising costs are affecting their household budgets, while 73 percent are cutting back on spending just to afford basic needs. At the same time, only 36 percent feel they are on track to meet their financial goals.

This is the gap we must now confront; the hiatus between being financially included, literate, and ultimately being financially secure. This is not a failure of the system but a signal of its next evolution.

The financial services sector should move beyond enabling transactions to enabling resilience. This means building systems that not only connect people to money but also support them in navigating economic shocks, adapting to change, and recovering with confidence.

Financial resilience is not just about access to funds in moments of need but about enabling individuals and businesses to recover, rebuild, and progress without compromising their long-term stability.

It requires solutions that go beyond short-term fixes and address the broader financial journeys of consumers. Resilience remains a defining characteristic of the Kenyan market.

Across the country, individuals and businesses continue to adapt in real time, adjusting spending patterns, diversifying income streams, and leveraging digital tools to navigate uncertainty.

One of the clearest signals of this shift is the changing role of credit. What was once a tool for growth is increasingly being used for survival. Nearly half of consumers are now borrowing to meet essential needs such as food, education, and daily living expenses. The report shows that 46 percent of consumers are supplementing their income through loans, with borrowing largely directed toward essentials such as food, education, and daily living.

This raises a critical question for the industry: Are we equipping consumers with the knowledge to use financial tools effectively or simply expanding access to them? Financial literacy can no longer be treated as a complementary initiative. It must become a core design principle of digital finance.

This means embedding education directly into financial services through transparent pricing, clear product structures, real-time usage insights, and tools that help consumers make better decisions in the moment. Encouragingly, parts of the ecosystem are already evolving in this direction.

For the ecosystem, the opportunity lies in scaling these value additions in a way that is responsible, inclusive, and aligned with the financial realities of consumers. Solutions must continue to reflect how people earn, spend, and manage money because in today’s environment, relevance is the true driver of impact.

he next chapter will not be defined by how many people are included in the system. It will be defined by how well that system helps people understand their financial choices, navigate uncertainty, and build more secure futures.

This is the shift from access, to literacy, to resilience, a shift that recognises financial inclusion not as an endpoint, but as a foundation. As industry leaders, we have a responsibility not just to connect people to financial systems, but to empower them to thrive within them.

Kenya has led before and can lead again, but the measure of success will not just be how money moves, but what that movement makes possible for individuals, businesses, and the economy.