Category: Business Daily

Sameer Africa’s shift to the rental business has borne fruit, with the firm posting an extended profit run, marking a major contrast to the perennial losses it suffered when tyre manufacturing and dealership were its mainstay trades.

The shift is paying off, with the firm posting its sixth straight year of profit since exiting the tyre business, which had suffered from cheap imports from the Chinese market.

The cheap imports forced the firm to shut its tyre manufacturing unit and switch to imports before quitting the business entirely and making gradual impairments of investments it had made in six units spread out in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi.

Sameer’s bet on the real estate business, where it lets out investment properties including leasehold land, residential houses, and commercial properties, is paying off.

The firm’s six-year profit runs has helped cut the accumulated loss in its books of account to just Sh206.72 million at the end of December 2025, from Sh1.1 billion in 2020.

Sameer Africa’s net profit grew 5.5 percent to Sh274.28 million in the financial year ended December 2025 on increased revenue and reduced operating expenses.

Its results published on Wednesday showed net profit rose from Sh259.89 million posted in the previous year. During the review period, revenue rose to Sh432.74 million from Sh389.47 million.

This is the first full year where Sameer’s entire revenue has come from rental income on investment properties. A year earlier, some Sh873,000 revenue had come from the sale of imported goods, including tyres, tubes, and flaps.

Between 2014 and 2019, Sameer was in losses, with the highlight coming in 2019 when it posted a record loss of Sh1.09 billion. The firm then decided to shift its focus to real estate.

The latest performance signals success in their new strategy. The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm was for 50 years synonymous with taglines such as ‘Africa rides on Yana tyres,’ which referenced one of its popular products-Yana tyres.

However, the firm shifted from manufacturing to an importer of tyres in 2016. Then, in April 2020, Sameer dropped a shocker by stopping the tyre import business.

Established in Kenya in 1969 as Firestone East Africa Limited, the company switched its principal business from tyre manufacturing to seek revival in real estate. It now describes its principal activity as letting of investment properties.

Sameer chairman Erastus Mwongera said in 2021, the board considered ‘all available options’ and saw it fit to settle on property portfolio development and management.

‘The board on 20 April 2020 took the weighty decision to cease operations of the tyre business and focus on the group’s real estate portfolio,’ said Mr Mwongera.

The latest net profit is the highest since the Sh401.19 million of 2013, which was the last time it paid a dividend, coming in at Sh0.13 per share.

The latest earnings have helped Sameer cut its accumulated losses to Sh206.72 million from Sh481 million, taking total equity to Sh1.01 billion from Sh735.57 million.

Accounts showed the firm has narrowed its negative working capital-the difference between current assets and current liabilities- to Sh257.63 million compared with negative Sh428.4 million in the prior year.

Over the past year in this column, I have written about strategy, mental health, liability, legacy, education, relationships, drought, burnout and the desert between survival and creation.

Each time, the spiritual pillar of the African Founders Operating System (AFOS) was present. Each time, it was the thread I touched but never held.

I have never placed it at the centre. That avoidance is itself a confession.

When I wrote about founders losing their lives to mental health struggles, I named spiritual practice as non-negotiable but did not stay with it. When I mapped the AFOS framework and its arc of purpose, founders asked: Why continue? What does this mean beyond me? I moved to the next arc. When drought threatened supply chains and I called purpose fuel, I did not ask: where does the fuel come from?

When I wrote about burnout, I admitted prayer can feel mechanical under pressure.

When I examined the liability trap, I named the spiritual erosion of carrying institutional weight. When I explored boardroom and bedroom, spiritual alignment determined whether success felt empty or grounded. When I sat with creative founders in their first ascent, scarcity tested whether they believed their gift had meaning beyond comfort.

Every column carried this thread. None centred it.

The pattern mirrors the ecosystem. We speak freely about cash flow, markets, black tax and governance. But when the conversation turns to faith, to prayer, to ancestors, to the unseen forces many founders quietly rely on, the room changes. Voices lower. Precision gives way to vagueness. As if naming what holds us together might weaken its grip.

I am guilty of this. In my own journey, I have made decisions that strategy alone cannot explain. Moments where the numbers said retreat, the advisors said pause and something quieter said move. Not recklessness. Not ego. Something older.

I do not know how to name that force with the confidence I name a balance sheet. But I know it has been in the room for every significant decision I have made. It was there when I founded Seven Seas at 25. It was there through crises that should have ended the journey. It was there in hospital rooms and boardrooms and in the silence between. It is the co-founder no one credits in the pitch deck.

In African contexts, this runs deeper than personal devotion. We inherit spiritual architecture. Our grandparents prayed before planting.

Our parents consulted elders before naming children. Decisions were weighed not only against logic but against something ancestral, a sense of alignment with forces larger than any individual ambition.

Modern entrepreneurship quietly severed that connection. We adopted frameworks built where spirituality was privatised, where faith was kept separate from strategy, where the rational and the sacred occupied different rooms. In adopting those frameworks, we lost permission to speak about what many of us still practise.

The result is a strange silence. A founder prays before a board meeting but frames the outcome as strategic foresight. Another consults a spiritual mentor before a major hire but calls it instinct. Yet another carries ancestral weight, the obligation to honour a lineage of sacrifice, but codes it as ambition.

I have written more than once that purpose is fuel. But fuel has a source. For many African founders, that source is not a business book. It is the quiet prayer at dawn. It is the ancestral voice that says you were not built for comfort but for contribution. It is the moment in crisis when every rational pathway has closed and something within whispers: hold.

This is not mysticism dressed as strategy. It is honest accounting of how decisions actually get made.

When I described founders collapsing not from business failure but from hollowness, the company growing while the person empties, I was describing spiritual erosion. When I wrote that survival thinking contracts imagination, I was naming what happens when purpose drains.

When I argued that legacy is what we plant in people, not what we leave in stone, I was circling this same truth: the invisible architecture outlasts everything visible.

The spiritual pillar of the AFOS was never meant to prescribe a tradition. It was meant to name a reality. That founders operate with invisible anchors. That meaning and conviction are not decorative. They are structural. When they erode, no amount of strategy or capital fills the void.

I do not write this as theology. I write it as a founder who has been held by forces I cannot fully articulate, and who has admitted, at least to himself, that the most important co-founder in his journey has no name on the cap table.

Every founder carries an invisible architecture: Faith, ancestry, spiritual practice, or simply the stubborn sense that the work means something beyond the quarterly report.

Whatever form it takes, it deserves to be named. Because what we refuse to acknowledge still shapes us. And what shapes us in silence often determines whether we endure.

The invisible co-founder asks for nothing except honesty. That may be the hardest currency a founder ever has to spend.

As professionals and business leaders, we obsess over quarterly growth and property yields, often under the quiet delusion that tomorrow will inevitably mirror today. We safeguard our balance sheets, yet too often overlook the most volatile variable, human fragility.

Uncertainty and risk are not abstract entries in a ledger, they are the sudden silence of a ringing phone, the diagnosis that pauses a thriving career, or the unexpected accident that can change a family’s path in an instant.

For today’s Kenyan professional, the question is not whether risk exists, but how well we are prepared because our level of preparedness determines the futures we can protect.

In Kenya, insurance is still often seen as something we only pay for because we have to. For example, we take motor insurance because it is required by law, or because a bank requires insurance on a property.

However, while we insure our cars and buildings, we often fail to protect our most important asset, our ability to earn an income. This gap in thinking weakens financial security for individuals and families. As a result, many people still rely on informal solutions such as family harambees when unexpected events happen, instead of having proper insurance protection in place.

While our culture of communal support is a powerful reflection of who we are, it is not a sustainable way to manage financial shocks.

When families rely only on the goodwill of friends and relatives during times of crisis, it can place a heavy burden on everyone involved.

Responding to emergencies in this reactive way is often costly.

It can quickly drain the savings of family and social networks and, in many cases, forces households to sell hard-earned assets just to manage expenses during periods of illness, loss, or unexpected hardship. A more sustainable approach is to plan ahead and have financial protection in place before such challenges arise.

We need to change the way we think about Life Insurance. It should not be seen simply as a death benefit, but as a form of disciplined financial planning. Life insurance is a tool designed to protect the living.

It ensures that a child’s education can continue without interruption, even if the family’s main breadwinner is no longer there. It also provides financial support during times of critical illness, giving families the resources they need to focus on recovery and specialised treatment, rather than facing the added stress of mounting medical bills.

For the entrepreneur and the SME owner, life insurance acts as a structural foundation for business continuity. We often speak of ‘key person’ risk in corporate governance, yet few small businesses are prepared for the shock of losing a founder or a technical lead.

Life insurance provides the immediate liquidity that determines whether a business survives such a transition or collapses under the sudden weight of instability, unpaid creditors, and lost confidence.

Life will happen, sometimes gently, sometimes without warning. Our responsibility is clear: it is to anticipate the risks, plan deliberately, and make sure that when life strikes, those who rely on us are never left to bear a burden they cannot shoulder.

As Kenyans live longer, thanks to improvements in healthcare, a new risk emerges: outliving our savings. This ‘longevity risk’ is real. Without careful financial planning, even the most promising futures can be derailed, not because of a lack of ambition, but because we fail to prepare for the reality of a long retirement.

For my fellow business leaders, protection is also a critical governance and talent-retention issue. Providing robust group life benefits or protecting key human capital is not an optional “perk” to be cut during lean years, it is a marker of responsible leadership.

It sends a powerful message to your workforce that their long-term security is as vital to the company as their daily productivity. A secure employee is a focused employee.

Despite our strides in financial inclusion through mobile money and banking, insurance penetration in Kenya remains low, hovering around 2-3 percent, relative to the risks our households face. This gap represents millions of families who are exactly one “bad day” away from an avoidable financial shock.

True wealth is not measured solely by what we accumulate, but by what we can guarantee. It is reflected in a family’s ability to withstand adversity without losing its economic momentum.

Preparation is not an admission of fear, it is an act of responding in a world that offers no guarantees, and preparedness is the most profitable investment any of us can make.

Commercial banks are holding Sh2.6 trillion in excess cash, indicating that workers and businesses are preferring passive income over investing in enterprises that would generate jobs.

New data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) shows that banks’ liquidity ratio rose to a new all-time high of 61.7 percent in February 2026 or Sh3.85 trillion, from 58.3 percent in February 2025 and 52.1 percent at the beginning of 2024.

Banks are required by law to hold at least 20 percent of their deposit liabilities in cash or near-cash assets, which allows them to meet short-term demands, including customer withdrawals, without distress.

This minimum statutory cash holding translates to Sh1.25 trillion at the current deposit levels, leaving lenders with excess cash of Sh2.6 trillion.

This comes amid struggles to grow lending to the private sector in the wake of flat demand for new loans that would allow businesses to expand the factory floor and hire more.

The shift to passive investing has seen the volume of cash stashed in unit trusts rise to a record high of Sh756.2 billion as at December 2025, from Sh104 billion five years earlier.

Ideally, such capital would generate thousands of jobs if invested in labour-intensive sectors such as agriculture, trade or manufacturing. The small share of moneyed accounts offers a sneak peek into Kenya’s growing income inequality, where wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small segment of the population.

Kenya’s economy has grown on average by 5.0 percent annually over the past decade, but the benefits have not been equally distributed, and the gap between the rich and the poor is rising, analysts say.

The number of super-rich in Kenya is among the fastest-growing in Africa, yet the economic benefits have not trickled down to the majority of the citizens quick enough.

The liquidity ratio captures the amount of cash or near-cash assets held by banks in comparison to their short-term deposits, and it is a good indicator of how efficiently a bank is deploying customer deposits to make loans.

A bank’s liquid assets include Treasury bills and short-term bonds, cash in tills, deposits with other local and foreign banks and repurchase agreement facilities. While their pile of cash rose to a record high, growth in banks’ lending to the private sector remained in the single digits-at 8.1 percent in the 12 months to Sh4.46 trillion March – despite the recent fall in interest rates.

The CBK considers credit growth of between 12 and 15 percent to be ideal for optimum growth of the economy and business expansion for jobs creation. Lenders told the CBK in a periodic survey that a majority of economic sectors had not recorded an increase in demand of credit in the last quarter of 2025 amid stringent borrowing conditions in the wake of a surge in bad loans.

Non-performing loans ratio rose to 15.6 percent in March from 15.4 percent in December 2025.

‘In the fourth quarter of 2025, the perceived demand for credit remained unchanged in nine economic sectors, (including) mining and quarrying, agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, restaurant and hotels, transport and energy. It increased in trade, and personal and household sectors,’ said the CBK.

In the absence of matching growth in lending to offtake their growing deposits pile, banks have been forced to park their excess liquidity in government securities, which also represent a low-risk investment option at a time of elevated risk of non-performing loans.

They held Sh2.57 trillion worth of government securities at the end of March, making them the biggest domestic lender to the State ahead of pension funds (Sh978.7 billion), insurance firms (Sh950.7 billion), government agencies (Sh489 billion) and households (Sh440.4 billion).

To prevent the excess liquidity in the banking sector from affecting the shilling’s exchange rate, the CBK has been mopping up an average of Sh60 billion every day from the market this year. The CBK utilises several open market operation tools to regulate the liquidity in the market, including the repos and reverse repos, and term auction deposits (TADS).

Repos entail a sale of government securities held by the CBK to banks, which effectively reduces the level of deposits the lenders hold with the regulator, thus cutting their ability to lend new loans onto the economy. The CBK then repurchases the securities after three to seven days.

Reverse repos work the other way, injecting liquidity into the banking system by allowing banks to borrow from the CBK using their holdings of bonds as collateral. Term auction deposits work in the same way as repos, but without the use of a collateral.

The liquid money market has also seen higher volumes offered in recent Treasury bill auctions, a segment dominated by banks.

Fund managers have also contributed to the growing deposits as they place part of their Sh756 billion assets under management (AUM) in fixed deposit accounts.

The unit trusts are required by law to invest their money market funds in short-term government securities and deposit accounts. Their bank deposits and government paper holdings amounted to Sh588 billion in the period, equivalent to 86 percent of the total AUM.

Shilling liquidity was further enhanced over the past year by the CBK’s dollar buying activity, which effectively amounted to an injection of shillings into the banking sector, necessitating the heightened mop-ups to keep the market in balance.

Remittances sent to Kenya from the United States posted a rare double-digit fall in January, dropping to their lowest level in five years as the impact of tax on outbound transfers by President Donald Trump’s administration began to bite.

Latest official data shows that the inflows declined to $194.1 million (Sh25.1 billion) in January 2026, marking a 14.7 percent contraction from $227.5 million (Sh29.4 billion) in the same month last year.

The decline coincided with the enforcement of a one percent excise tax on money sent abroad from the US, which took effect on January 1, 2026, raising the cost of remitting funds for millions of Kenyans living and working in America, which is by far Kenya’s largest source of diaspora inflows.

Data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) shows that January’s performance figure was not only a steep year-on-year drop but also the weakest since 2021, when inflows stood at $169.8 million at the height of Covid pandemic-era disruptions.

In the intervening years, January remittances had climbed consistently, hitting $204.3 million (Sh26.4 billion) in 2023, $221 million (Sh28.6 billion) in 2024, and peaking at $227.5 million (Sh29.4 billion) in 2025.

The latest figures, which capture flows through formal channels, also reveal a shift in the dominance of the US as a source market.

The share of remittances from the US in total inflows dropped to 47.0 percent of the $412.7 million (Sh53.4 billion) sent home in January 2026-marking the first time in five years that America’s contribution has fallen below the halfway mark. The last time this happened was in January 2020, when the share stood at 45.10 percent.

A sustained reversal will be a concern to the Treasury and the CBK, given the outsized role diaspora remittances play in supporting Kenya’s external position.

Remittances are the country’s top sources of foreign exchange-ahead of earnings from tourism and tea exports-and have become a critical buffer for the shilling.

Analysts say the January figures offer the first concrete evidence that the new US levy is influencing remittance flows, either by reducing the amounts sent or prompting migrants to delay transfers as they adjust to higher costs.

In an interview prior to the tax taking effect, Shem Ochuodho, global chairman of the Kenya Diaspora Alliance and president of the Africa Diaspora Alliance, had warned that the measure runs counter to global efforts aimed at lowering the cost of sending money home.

‘This may push the Kenyan diaspora in the US to alternative channels. Remember, tax evasion is illegal, but tax avoidance isn’t. So some people will likely move to cryptocurrencies-and the world is moving toward that direction,’ he said.

A sustained slowdown could also translate into tighter budgets for Kenyan households. Diaspora inflows are widely used to cover essentials such as school fees, rent, healthcare, and small business financing.

A sustained dip would therefore ripple through consumption patterns, particularly in households that rely heavily on overseas support.

The data underscores how policy decisions taken thousands of miles away can have immediate and measurable effects on Kenya’s economy.

With the US accounting for the largest share of diaspora remittances, even small changes in transaction costs can reverberate across households, financial markets, and government planning.

A new mobile payments application, which connects bank cards to local mobile money platforms like M-Pesa and Airtel Money, has been launched, enabling visitors to Kenya to cut reliance on cash or local intermediaries when paying for goods and services.

The app is dubbed TouristTap and has been developed by financial technology firm Craft Silicon. It enables visitors to make payments even to small businesses that typically do not accept foreign currency or card payments through PDQ (Process Data Quickly) machines.

Users can link their debit or credit cards to the app and make payments directly from their smartphones using near-field communication (NFC), a wireless short-range technology that enables a linked devices to share data securely.

Travellers can input a merchant’s till or paybill number, or send money directly to a mobile wallet, and complete the transaction with a tap and PIN, with payments processed in Kenyan shillings.

‘Tourists have had to get a local SIM card to get a mobile money account, use local cash, and rely on a local person to pay for them,’ Craft Silicon founder Kamal Budhabhatti, told the Business Daily.

TouristTap is developed in partnership with KCB Bank as the payments partner and the global payments processor Visa. It also supports other payment providers such as MasterCard.

‘Essentially, we are converting the traditional card currency into mobile money, regardless of the currency the tourist has in their account. We are converting it to Kenyan shillings for M-Pesa payment,’ KCB’s Head of Digital Channels, Johnson Ondincho, said.

‘Currently, payments in Kenya are very fragmented, and cards do not work with M-Pesa a lot. We see this as a bridge between these two closed-loop ecosystems.’

The move is expected to broaden participation in Kenya’s tourism value chain by enabling small and informal businesses to accept digital payments from international visitors.

Kenya’s tourism sector generated approximately Sh500 billion in revenue in 2025, according to the Tourism ministry data.

‘We are supporting only the Kenyan shilling for now, but plan to expand it to enable merchants to receive payments in foreign currencies like the US dollar,’ said Mr Budhabhatti.

‘Established hotels and airlines are benefiting from Kenya’s growing tourism sector, but now small sellers of handcrafted goods, street food vendors, and local guides will also be able to reap from it,’ he said.

, with visitor arrivals rising sharply following the introduction of a visa-free policy at the start of the year.

Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that arrivals through the country’s two main airports and other borders grew by 48.1 percent to 1.8 million in the first nine months, reflecting renewed momentum in the sector.

Tourism Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano said lack of accessible payment systems has historically led to missed economic opportunities, particularly for small enterprises.

‘The ability to move from airport to lounge, from safari vehicle to souvenir stores, from a tour vehicle to a vibanda, without the friction of cash-based systems, is now a baseline requirement,’ she said.

TouristTap is positioning itself as a critical link between international spending and Kenya’s largely mobile money-driven marketplace. Latest Communications Authority (CA) data shows that Kenya added 9 million mobile subscriptions in the year to December 2025, bringing the total to 51.36 million.

Safaricom’s M-Pesa commands 89 percent of subscriptions, while Airtel Money has an 11 percent share.

Craft Silicon has indicated plans to expand the tourist payment platform across East Africa, which would see it support transactions for users of MTN’s Momo in Uganda and Tigo Pesa in Tanzania.

Kenya has reduced malaria prevalence by a third over the past decade as it presses towards its goal of cutting cases and deaths by 90 percent by 2030.

The latest annual report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that malaria prevalence fell from eight percent in 2015 to 5.6 percent in 2025 – a 2.4 percentage point drop, representing the most significant shift in the country’s malaria burden in a generation.

Much of this progress is attributed to the decision to switch to a cheaper and more effective malaria vaccine. In addition to showing 75 percent efficacy against malaria, the newer option is significantly more affordable for the country.

‘Kenya has made significant progress towards the Global Technical Strategy’s goal of reducing malaria cases and deaths by 90 percent by 2030. Malaria prevalence has decreased from eight percent in 2015 to 5.6 percent today,’ the report stated.

The vaccine that changed the numbers

Kenya’s malaria vaccination programme had, for years, relied on RTS,S, the first malaria vaccine to receive WHO approval. The vaccine demonstrated meaningful protection in clinical trials and helped to reduce childhood illness and death. However, its high cost meant that not every child who needed it could access it, even with donor support.

Kenya then switched to the R21/Matrix-M vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. This vaccine matches RTS,S in terms of efficacy, providing up to 75 percent protection in clinical trials, but costs roughly one-third as much per dose.

For Kenya’s programme, this price difference has been transformative, enabling coverage to expand to 12 additional sub-counties in western Kenya.

‘When we moved to R21, we weren’t just changing a vaccine; we were freeing up resources that had previously been tied up in the cost of the previous one,’ said the Ministry of Health. ‘That freed budget went straight back into nets, drugs, and community.’

The country’s progress has also been supported by stronger bed nets, preventive drugs, expanded treatment, and a new national strategy – all of which have contributed to a response that has measurably shifted the numbers for the first time in years.

Stronger nets to counter resistance

Even as the vaccine transition took hold, Kenya was quietly confronting a threat to one of its most relied-upon tools. Across several high-burden counties, mosquitoes had developed resistance to pyrethroids – the insecticide used in standard bed nets – gradually reducing their effectiveness.

Kenya’s response was to switch to dual-active insecticidal nets, which combine two different active ingredients. A mosquito resistant to one ingredient encounters the second, restoring the protection that resistance had eroded.

The enhanced nets are expected to cover seven million people, with pregnant women and children under five prioritised for distribution.

In total, Kenya has distributed 15.7 million insecticide-treated nets through mass campaigns, making it one of the largest such efforts in the country’s public health history.

‘Over this period, the country distributed 15.7 million insecticide-treated nets through mass campaigns and provided antimalarial treatments to over four million people, demonstrating a strong commitment to the goal of eliminating malaria,’ said the report.

Preventive drugs for the most vulnerable

Kenya has also expanded access to preventive antimalarial drugs, targeting groups most at risk of severe illness or death. Seasonal malaria chemoprevention involves giving young children preventive doses during peak transmission periods.

Similarly, pregnant women receive preventive treatment during routine antenatal visits, integrating malaria prevention into existing healthcare services rather than requiring additional visits.

Both measures target groups that account for the largest share of serious illness and death. They also reduce the number of cases requiring hospital care, easing pressure on a health system already under strain in the eight highest-burden counties.

More than four million people received malaria treatment using artemisinin combination therapy, the WHO-recommended standard of care. This reflects both the remaining disease burden and an expansion of Kenya’s capacity to diagnose and treat cases before they become fatal.

Meanwhile, case management remains a critical part of the response, particularly in areas where prevention coverage is incomplete.

The strategy behind the targeting

The Malaria Policy 2024 and the National Malaria Strategy 2023-2027 replaced a framework that had been in place since 2010, bringing these interventions under a modernised approach.

The most consequential shift lies in resource allocation. Rather than spreading support across all 47 counties, the new strategy directs it to the eight counties bearing the heaviest burden – Siaya, Busia, Homa Bay, Turkana, Migori, Kakamega, Vihiga and Kisumu. These counties account for a disproportionate share of Kenya’s 4.2 million annual malaria cases.

‘These strategic documents will guide Kenya’s malaria response over the next five years, enabling the country to implement updated WHO recommendations, including the deployment of malaria vaccines and other evidence-based interventions,’ the report said.

The ministry has described the shift in targeting as a turning point. ‘We had to be honest about where the disease is prevalent,’ the ministry said at the launch of the new strategy. ‘Resources that chase geography rather than burden do not save lives. We changed that.’

Nationally, 57.3 million people are considered at risk, with pregnant women, children under five, individuals with no prior exposure to malaria and refugees among the most vulnerable.

Despite this progress, Kenya still records 4.2 million malaria cases and 11,000 malaria-related deaths each year. The national target, in line with the WHO Global Technical Strategy, is to reduce cases and deaths by 90 percent by 2030.

The value of bonds traded in the secondary market rose by 49.1 percent in the first three months of this year, compared to a similar period last year to cross the Sh1 trillion mark, as investors hunted for older government paper with higher returns.

Data from the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) shows the value of bonds traded in the quarter ended March 2026 was Sh1.08 trillion compared to Sh724.8 billion over the same period last year.

Falling interest rates on newly issued Treasury bonds and Treasury bills has seen investors seek older higher yielding government securities in the secondary market at the NSE.

Treasury bonds are currently offering returns of between 11 percent to 13 percent from up to 18 percent in 2024.

‘We have been seeing retailers and offshore investors really pushing the secondary market (trading at the NSE),’ said the chief executive of Capital A Investment Bank, Linus Kang’ara.

‘DhowCSD has made transacting of bonds easy, creating traffic,’ he added.

DhowCSD, introduced in July 2023, allows investors to directly purchase Treasury bills and bonds from their smartphones, with the new system shortening the previously lengthy sign-up process.

Data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) shows households held Treasury bills and bonds worth Sh428.8 billion in December 2025, up from Sh365.9 billion a year earlier, signalling increased retailer participation.

DhowCSD also allowed the CBK to improve the classification of holders of government securities, as the platform is able to categorise the ultimate holder of Treasury bills and bonds including those traded in the secondary market.

The volume of government securities held by non-residents grew month-on-month from June last year to Sh311.3 billion as at end of December 2025, with stockbrokers indicating increased activity from the diaspora market in the first quarter of 2026.

The increased bond trading was also attributed to high liquidity in the market, profit taking by investors holding high-yielding securities and repositioning by corporate clients and fund managers in March.

‘There was a lot of switching especially to the short end of the curve where the returns have been relatively higher,’ said Eric Musau, director of research at Standard Investment Bank.

Stockbrokers are looking at a bumper year, with the increase in trading signalling higher commission fees for them. The bonds turnover for the period was Sh2.16 trillion – double the value traded – given that each trade has a buy and sell.

Capital A Investment Bank retained its position as the largest stockbroker in the bonds market with a market share of 18.4 percent, followed by Standard Investment Bank which had 12.8 percent share of the first quarter turnover. The top five brokers in the bond market control over 50 percent of the market, riding on corporate and fund manager business.

The others in the top five intermediaries are SBG Securities with a 7.63 percent, Faida Investment Bank (7.22 percent) and NCBA Investment Bank with a 5.83 percent market share. The turnover of the five brokers was Sh1.12 trillion while the other 22 intermediaries handled Sh1.04 trillion.

The stockbrokers’ market share signals the financial performance of the intermediaries, with trading commissions being a major revenue line.

Stockbrokers normally charge a commission of 0.03 percent per bond trade. Other top players in the bond market, as at the first quarter data, were Kestrel Capital with a 5.56 percent market share, Sterling Investment Bank (5.16 percent) and Genghis Capital (5.08 percent).

A legal battle over a Sh54 million loan, which triggered the forced sale of a prime 25-acre property worth Sh295 million in Karen, Nairobi, has been escalated to the Supreme Court, setting the stage for a landmark ruling on the powers banks hold in the sale of assets presented as collateral.

Nyanja Holdings, a company linked to former Limuru MP George Nyanja, is challenging a Court of Appeal decision that upheld the sale of its land despite findings that the loan had been overpaid and the auction process was flawed.

The company seeks to overturn the sale, arguing that illegal or irregular transactions should not confer valid ownership, leaving borrowers with only damages as recourse.

The dispute stems from a loan agreement with City Finance (now Kingdom Bank) in the early 1990s.

Borrowers claim they repaid over Sh54 million-far exceeding the initial Sh8 million overdraft limit-yet still lost multiple properties, including the Karen estate, through the bank’s statutory power of sale.

The land was later sold privately to Redmars Holdings for Sh60 million, a fraction of its alleged market value of Sh295 million, while litigation over the loan was still pending.

In January 2026, the Court of Appeal overturned a High Court ruling that had nullified the sale and restored the property to Nyanja Holdings.

The appellate court held that completed sales under a bank’s statutory power are irreversible unless buyer fraud is proven, restricting borrowers to compensation claims.

Dissatisfied, the borrowers have filed an urgent application to appeal to the Supreme Court, warning that Redmars could sell or subdivide the land before the case is heard.

Their lawyer, Dudley Ochiel, contends that the ruling exposes borrowers to unfair losses even when lenders act unlawfully.

‘The court upheld the sale despite the loan being overpaid and the statutory power of sale being illegally exercised,’ Mr Ochiel stated.

‘This creates uncertainty in mortgage law, affecting lenders, borrowers, and property buyers alike.’

The case hinges on whether courts can invalidate bank sales tainted by illegality or procedural breaches, a question that has divided judicial opinion.

Nyanja Holdings argues that conflicting appellate rulings have muddled mortgage enforcement, necessitating the Supreme Court’s intervention.

However, Kingdom Bank opposes the appeal, insisting the law is settled. Jackson Kimathi, the bank’s legal head, maintains that borrowers cannot reclaim sold properties and must instead seek damages.

‘The applicants have not shown exceptional circumstances to justify reopening this matter,’ he argued in court filings.

At the heart of the dispute is a long-running legal question that has split courts, especially on whether an illegal or irregular sale of charged property can still confer a valid title to a buyer, leaving the borrower with damages as the only remedy.

The applicants argue that conflicting decisions by the Court of Appeal have created uncertainty in mortgage law, affecting lenders, borrowers, and property buyers.

They want the Supreme Court to determine whether courts can overturn such sales, especially where there are allegations of illegality, undervaluation, or procedural breaches.

‘Due to the class interest in this matter, the prevalence of land securitization, and the jurisprudential split at the Court of Appeal, the issues in this appeal are prone to recur and will continually engage the workings of Kenyan courts,’ says Mr Ochiel.

The Supreme Court’s decision, expected after hearings on April 21, 2026, could clarify the extent of buyer protections in bank sales and could reshape Kenya’s property lending landscape.

The ruling could also influence future disputes over alleged undervaluation and procedural breaches in secured transactions, setting a precedent for balancing borrower rights against the finality of commercial deals.

Kenya’s economic narrative today is one of energy and ambition. New investments are announced, investor engagement is active, and business registrations remain strong, with over 130,000 new entities entering the system each year.

The government deserves recognition for its efforts to position the country as a preferred investment destination across various sectors of the economy. This is an important and positive foundation.

However, beneath this momentum lies a quieter trend that deserves equal attention. Businesses face increasing pressure. While new enterprises continue to enter the market, many operational companies, especially in manufacturing and the formal SME sector, are under strain. The challenge is not one single factor, but the combined effect of multiple cost layers.

These include high financing costs, elevated energy tariffs, rising water and utility charges, increasing logistics costs, port congestion and inefficiencies, expanding regulatory requirements, increased instability and unpredictability of the operating environment and rising taxes and levies at both national and county levels.

At the same time, the evolving geopolitical tensions affecting key trade routes have increased freight costs, disrupted supply chains, and added to the uncertainty businesses must already navigate.

Recent trends also show that business closures are rising, even as new registrations remain high. While Kenya continues to see net growth in the number of registered businesses, this does not fully reflect the quality or sustainability of that growth.

This raises an important question: are we placing enough focus on the survival and competitiveness of existing businesses, or are we overly focused on new entries? Because in reality, the two are not equal.

An established manufacturing business supports hundreds, sometimes thousands, of jobs. It builds export relationships and contributes significantly to the tax base. When such a business weakens or exits, the impact is immediate.

By contrast, many new business registrations represent small or early-stage enterprises, often with limited employment and uncertain survival. Over time, this imbalance can quietly weaken the industrial base.

Manufacturing makes this challenge very clear. It is a globally competitive sector. Kenya competes with countries where the cost of finance is lower, energy is cheaper, logistics are more efficient, and policy environments are more stable. Even moderate cost differences, when combined, can significantly reduce competitiveness.

The effects are gradual but real. Businesses delay expansion, reduce investment, or shift focus. Over time, this can lead to slower export growth, fewer jobs, and reduced industrial depth.

At the same time, Kenya’s move toward stronger environmental and regulatory standards reflects a forward-looking commitment. This is necessary and aligned with global expectations. However, the pace and cost of compliance must be balanced to ensure that businesses remain viable as they adapt.

The issue, therefore, is not intent, but alignment. As Kenya’s economic policy clearly prioritises export-led industrialisation, there is a strong case for viewing export manufacturing through a global competitiveness lens. Businesses operating in the export processing zones (EPZs) and special economic zones (SEZs) compete internationally, not locally. They require a stable and predictable environment aligned with global benchmarks.

A ring-fenced policy approach, with consistency in taxation, utilities, and regulatory costs, would enable them to compete on a level playing field. This is not about special treatment. It is about ensuring that Kenya remains competitive in global value chains. Such an approach would strengthen exports, increase foreign exchange earnings, support large-scale employment, and deepen industrial capability.

Looking ahead, a few strategic shifts can further strengthen Kenya’s trajectory.

First, policy decisions must be evaluated through a consolidated cost-of-doing business lens. At present, multiple agencies, departments, and levels of government act in silos, each adding costs and compliance requirements. Individually justified, these measures together can steadily erode competitiveness.

Second, regular benchmarking with peer economies is essential to maintain competitiveness in globally traded sectors such as manufacturing. Third, stability and predictability in policy are critical to support long-term investment and expansion. Finally, stronger alignment between national and county frameworks will help reduce duplication and improve efficiency.

Above all, the focus must shift from how many businesses are created to how many competitive businesses endure, scale and thrive.

Kenya has the fundamentals to become a leading industrial and investment hub in the region.

The next phase of growth will depend not only on attracting new businesses, but on enabling existing ones to survive, compete, and grow. Because sustainable economic progress is built not just on entry, but on resilience.