Category: Business Daily

Kenya and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are expected to resume talks of a new funded programme next month, with discussions moving from an initial set date of January 2026.

A fresh visit from the staff of the fund will come in the backdrop of a year when the multilateral lender played hardball after Kenya, terminating a multi-year arrangement in March 2025.

The confirmation of new discussions by the National Treasury keeps hope alive that Kenya can still unlock a fresh funded programme with the fund, an arrangement seen as key in assuring a credible framework of fiscal reforms to anchor debt sustainability.

‘Before the end of next month, the IMF is likely to be back in the country to continue with the discussions,’ said Raphael Owino, director general of the Public Debt Management Office of the National Treasury.

Mr Owino did not, however, disclose reasons for the delayed staff visit.

Kenya expects new funding from IMF but has not budgeted for the same in subsequent financial years as it seeks to manage expectations on outcome of ongoing discussions which started at the backend of 2025.

The IMF denied Kenya Sh109.7 billion ($850.9 million) in funding when it terminated a multi-year deal reached in 2021.

This was after Kenya failed to honour conditions agreed upon including restructuring of Kenya Airways (KQ), and lack of restrictions on the use of cash from the fuel stabilisation fund which was diverted to other purposes. In total, the country failed to meet 11 of 16 conditions including placing curbs on spending, bolstering tax collection and settlement of suppliers’ dues.

Kenya is also working to unlock financing from the World Bank development policy operations (DPO) but has struggled to also clear 11 prior terms to free the disbursement.

They include further implementation of the Treasury Single Account, e-government procurement and a framework for faster approval of County Government Additional Allocations Bills.

The IMF marked its last visit to Kenya between September 25 and October 9, 2025, where it assessed prevailing economic situation and discussed forward-looking policies and strategy including needs for a new programme.

The fund affirmed its commitment to economic support for Kenya into the long-term.

‘The IMF staff team made progress in taking stock of the latest macroeconomic and financial sector developments, assessing the economic outlook, and holding initial discussions with the Kenyan authorities and other stakeholders on a reform agenda that could pave way for an IMF-supported programme,’ IMF’s mission chief to Kenya Haimanot Teferra said.

‘We welcome the Kenyan authorities’ candid engagement and remain steadfast in our commitment to partnering with Kenya to secure a more robust, sustainable, and inclusive economic future for all Kenyans.’

The government is seeking investors to expand the infrastructure for data storage and processing capacity of the Konza Data Centre through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) deal.

The PPP unit of the National Treasury approved the project proposal dubbed Konza Data Centre Cloud and Smart City Facilities Expansion last month paving the way for progression to the feasibility stage.

Konza Data Centre is key to meeting growing need for cloud computing services across both public and private institutions, placing it at the centre of Kenya’s fast-growing digital economy.

Konza Technopolis, the procuring entity, has not disclosed the estimated cost of the project. The Exchequer has been footing the cost of the project and allocated Sh3.1 billion for smart cities and the data centre in the current financial year.

‘The project entails increasing data storage and processing capacity through expansion of the server infrastructure to accommodate growing demand of businesses, government agencies and international clients and enhancement of cloud computing capabilities to support enterprises, fintech and start-ups,’ the PPP Directorate says in disclosures on the project.

The PPP-funded expansion of the Konza Data Centre marks yet another big project where the government has opted for investors to fund and avoid burdening the Exchequer.

Such centres have various uses including cloud computing and data storage. Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computing resources over the internet. It eliminates the need for businesses or individuals to physically self -manage the resources.

A deepening digital economy has made it critical for high capacity cloud computing services with data centres such as the State-owned Konza Data Centre and private ones critical to this shift.

iXAfrica, Africa Data Centres, PAIX Data Centres, Safaricom and Digital Realty are some of the major players in Kenya’s cloud computing sector.

A PPP investor will expand the facility, own and operate it to recoup their investment before handing it over to the government, underscores the government’s push to deliver the centre without burdening the Exchequer.

Some of the services to be offered by the Konza Data Centre are cloud based backup and restoration of critical data of organisations (Back-Up as a Service) and video-conferencing infrastructure.

Others are colocation (renting physical space in a third-party data centre to house your own servers and hardware) and web-hosting to help businesses establish an online presence quickly.

Konza Technopolis is located along Mombasa Road, 80 kilometres from Nairobi CBD and central to Kenya’s plan of becoming a technology hub in Africa with a digital city.

For many employees earning above Sh108,000, the fourth phase of the NSSF Act 2013 has been met with apprehension.

The idea of losing a larger portion of one’s salary to statutory deductions naturally raises concerns about lower disposable income, especially in an economy where inflation and rising living costs already weigh heavily on households.

With contributions now capped at six percent of Sh108,000, amounting to Sh6,480 per month, take-home pay is undeniably lower than under the old flat-rate system.

Yet in my view, the debate has been framed too narrowly around immediate cash flow, ignoring the broader financial security this reform delivers and the strategic importance of building a resilient pension system for Kenya’s future.

The NSSF Act 2013 was designed to modernise Kenya’s social security framework. For decades, employees contributed a flat rate of about Sh200 per month, regardless of income.

While this system provided some level of retirement support, it was grossly inadequate for high earners and failed to align with international best practices.

The Act introduced a percentage-based contribution model tied to pensionable earnings, ensuring that contributions reflect actual income levels. To ease the transition, the law was rolled out in phases, gradually increasing the upper earnings limit each year.

This phased approach was deliberate: it allowed both employees and employers to adjust progressively to higher contributions, while giving policymakers time to monitor the impact.

For employees, the immediate effect is a reduction in disposable income, but this is cushioned by the tax deductibility of NSSF contributions. Since contributions reduce taxable income before Paye is applied, the net impact on take-home pay is smaller than the gross deduction.

Beyond the numbers, the reform carries broader implications. For employees, the phased increases represent a trade-off between short-term liquidity and long-term retirement security.

While the deductions may feel burdensome, the employer’s matching contribution doubles the effective savings, ensuring stronger pensions in the future.

This is not just a statutory requirement; it is a form of forced savings that protects employees from the risk of inadequate retirement income. In a country where informal savings often fail to provide sufficient support in old age, the NSSF system offers a structured, reliable safety net.

For employers, the rising payroll obligations require careful financial planning and transparent communication with staff.

Payroll costs increase with each phase, and organisations must budget accordingly. Yet these contributions can be framed as part of a broader employee welfare strategy, strengthening retention and motivation.

Employers who communicate the long-term benefits of NSSF contributions, particularly the fact that they are matched, can turn what might be perceived as a burden into a positive narrative about corporate responsibility and employee well-being.

For boards and policymakers, the reform demonstrates Kenya’s commitment to building a resilient social security system that balances compliance, sustainability, and international best practice. Pension adequacy is a global challenge, and Kenya’s phased approach shows foresight in addressing it.

By gradually raising the UEL, the government has avoided sudden shocks to payroll systems while ensuring that contributions grow to meaningful levels.

Critics argue that reduced liquidity hurts high earners, and employers face rising payroll costs. I acknowledge this reality. But I also believe the reform is a necessary step toward building a resilient pension system.

Kenya cannot afford to leave retirement savings to chance. The NSSF Act 2013 ensures compliance, sustainability, and alignment with international standards, while giving employees a predictable, capped contribution structure.

While employees will see higher deductions, the actual reduction in take-home pay is less than the gross deduction because contributions are tax-deductible. This means PAYE liability falls, cushioning the impact.

For high earners, the net effect is a smaller drop than feared, and the employer’s matching contribution doubles the long-term benefit.

While NSSF Act 2013 reduces take-home pay, it should be seen not as a burden but as an investment.

High earners may feel the pinch today, but in the long run will gain from more pensions and financial security.

That, in my opinion, is a trade-off worth making. The phased increases have been deliberate, transparent, and predictable, allowing both employees and employers to prepare.

As Kenya enters this critical stage of pension reform, the focus must remain on clear communication, proactive budgeting, and framing these contributions as investments in long-term welfare rather than short-term burdens.

Kenyan victims of the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi have lost the legal battle to compel the Attorney-General to pursue compensation from top French bank, BNP Paribas and Sudan.

The High Court on Wednesday found no legal basis to force Kenya to seek reparations from the bank, Sudan, Iran, or assets linked to al-Qaeda in a verdict that eased a diplomatic storm.

The compensation relates to al-Qaeda’s 1998 bombing of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people.

The judge found that the suit did not meet the legal threshold to hold the State liable or mandate foreign litigation.

The victims, through the Katiba Institute rights group, had petitioned the High Court for an order directing Kenya to seek compensation from the French bank and Sudan.

The victims tied their suit to the bank’s admission in a US court of violating economic sanctions against Sudan, which was accused of harbouring al-Qaeda, mostly during the 1990s.

They cited a US court’s finding that without Sudan’s support, al-Qaeda could not have perpetrated the attacks.

Close links between Khartoum and BNP Paribas–which has been accused of operating as the ‘central bank for the government of Sudan,’-had landed the French lender in trouble, forcing it into a $8.9 billion (Sh1.14 trillion) settlement with US authorities.

Some of the money went to people harmed by Sudan, but excluded victims of the 1998 US embassy bombings on a legal technicality.

‘Whether the government of Kenya should take legal action against Sudan, Iran, France, or BNP Paribas for their suspected involvement in the 1998 bombing requires delicate consideration of political and diplomatic consequences,’ said the judge.

The victims also sought compensation from Kenya for negligence.

The High Court reckoned that US court judgments against Sudan could not establish Kenya’s negligence.

‘I find no instance where American courts faulted the Kenyan government,’ said the judge.

The court further declined to grant an order for Kenya to sue BNP Paribas, Sudan, or Iran, ruling that such actions involve political and diplomatic considerations beyond judicial mandate.

In 2021, it was announced that Sudan had paid $335m (Sh43.2 billion) as compensation for victims of past attacks against US targets.

But the deal – a key condition set by the US for Sudan to be removed from its list of State sponsors of terrorism – compensated families of victims or those injured who are US nationals or US embassy workers.

The majority of the estimated 5,000 people injured in the twin bombings of the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam on August 7, 1998 did not get any money. Neither will the families of the more than 200 locals who died in the blasts be compensated.

Each American victim or family of the US embassy attacks was to receive $3m (Sh387 million), while locally employed staff got $400,000 (Sh51.6 million), according to earlier US media reports.

In total, 85 survivors or families of victims will be compensated.

Official records show that 12 Americans died in the Nairobi and Dar es Salaam blasts.

Sudan admitted culpability in the attacks after being accused of giving al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama Bin Laden, technical and financial support in the 1990s.

Its removal from a US blacklist allows the country to get badly needed debt relief, foreign investment and loans from international financial institutions.

The French banking giant faced multiple suits and inquiries into its financial dealings with Sudan.

In 2020, Paris prosecutors opened an investigation into BNP Paribas over allegations of complicity in crimes against humanity in Sudan.

The probe came after nine Sudanese plaintiffs, who said they had been victims of rights abuses by the ousted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s government, filed a legal complaint against BNP Paribas.

The plaintiffs allege the French bank was complicit in crimes against humanity because it provided financial services for the Sudanese government.

They argue that in a US sanctions violations case the US Department of Justice described BNP Paribas as Sudan’s de facto central bank from 1997 to 2007 because it gave the Sudanese government access to international money markets, and the means to pay staff, the military and security forces.

The Treasury will use proceeds from a Sh129 billion ($1 billion) debt-for-food security swap to make early repayments on outstanding Eurobonds to ease Kenya’s heavy debt burden.

The Public Debt Management Office (PDMO), a directorate of the Treasury, says it will use proceeds from the debt swap to retire early costly sovereign bonds that are maturing from 2031.

The plan is expected to work similarly to the debt-for-nature swaps carried out by several countries in recent years that offered lower interest rates in exchange for nature protection.

A debt-for-food swap would likely allow Kenya to replace costly existing debt with lower-cost financing on condition that the country channels the savings towards programmes to boost food security.

Kenya has identified the early repayment of costly Eurobonds as part of the debt-for-food security swap, with five of the seven sovereign bonds maturing between 2031 and 2048 as its target.

‘The targeted transaction in liability management this year is that we are working on a debt for food security swap, which we expect to conclude by the end of this financial year,’ said Raphael Owino, the director-general at the PDMO.

‘We are getting a guarantee from the US-DFC [United States International Development Finance Corporation], which will enable us to issue an instrument in the financial market at a fairly good rate, and then we can use that to take out either a Eurobond or some other expensive commercial borrowing.’

Kenya has Eurobonds worth Sh872.2 billion, including two that will mature in 2027 and 2028 and are not part of the swap. The outstanding amount of the two bonds is Sh72.4 billion.

The Eurobonds will cost taxpayers Sh84.73 billion in interest payments for the year ending June, up from Sh73.89 billion a year earlier.

Under a debt-for-food swap, the guarantor- the US-DFC will help Kenya raise a new instrument in the international capital markets at a cheaper rate.

The Eurobonds pay an interest or return of between 6.08 percent and 8.8 percent. The new debt targeted under the swap deal could come with interest rates of below 3.0 percent, analysts says.

In early December 2025, President William Ruto confirmed that the US-DFC had agreed to proceed with the debt-for-food security swap and expected the arrangement to significantly ease Kenya’s repayment burden by replacing expensive existing loans with cheaper financing.

‘We appreciate DFC for agreeing to proceed with the $1 billion debt-for-food security swap to allow us to replace costly existing debt with lower-cost financing,’ President Ruto posted on social media.

The DFC is the United States’ flagship development agency.

Debt-for-food security swaps represent a new way the Treasury is seeking to ease the effects of Kenya’s mounting public debt.

The country has been working to cut its overall debt, which stands at close to 70 percent of its GDP, and make repayments more manageable.

The government has revamped its debt maturing management.

Annual debt repayments eat nearly half of taxes, leaving little cash for projects that are critical for revving up economic growth and easing the growing youth unemployment.

Dairy farmers have opposed plans to decentralise the operations of the New Kenya Cooperative Creameries (New KCC), warning that this would further weaken the troubled processor and erode their market share.

President William Ruto recently revealed plans decentralise the operations of New KCC and empower farmers to own factories in their regions as part of a plan to tackle managerial and financial challenges facing the parastatal.

‘We want to make New KCC farmer-owned, and the model is like that of Kenya Tea Development Agency, where farmers possess ownership of factories in their areas of jurisdiction countrywide. As a government, we shall assist them in managing the factories, implementing reforms, and injecting some money,’ he explained early this month while in Eldoret.

He said that the government has pumped Sh2 billion into the giant milk processor to enable it to settle debts for milk deliveries and introduce reforms to salvage its operations.

‘I want to make it clear that the release of the Sh2 billion will be the final payment I am making to the New KCC, and there will be no more funds. I have given firm instructions to the Ministry of Cooperatives to make sure they carry out reforms in the New KCC,’ said Dr Ruto.

Dairy farmers however warn that the decentralisation process will fragment supply chain, erode New KCC’s market share and expose them to exploitation by private processors.

They argue that, as contributors to the New KCC through capital levies, they should have a decisive role in the control and restructuring of the entity instead of being sidelined in a government-led overhaul of the firm.

‘The New KCC is owned by the farmers despite the government having pumped funds to transform its operations, and they should be involved in the decision-making process on its operations,’ said Kipkorir Menjo, Kenya Farmers Association director.

Dairy farmers have petitioned the government to introduce reforms to modernise the New KCC factories.

‘The reforms will empower dairy farmers to increase milk productivity and earn better returns,’ said David Too from Cheptiret, Uasin Gishu County.

According to dairy farmers in the North Rift region, the high cost of Artificial Insemination (AI) services offered by private breeders was compromising the quality of dairy breeds.

‘The exorbitant cost of AI services has forced most farmers to resort to bulls for breeding, which compromises the quality of dairy animals,’ said James Tuwei from Nandi County.

Dairy farmers in the North Rift region earned Sh918 million for milk deliveries to the rival Brookside Dairies last year, as production increased on better agronomic practices by smallholders.

The payout represents a 27 per cent rise over earnings in 2022, with Brookside attributing the growth to the adoption of better farm practices following aggressive farmer empowerment programmes by the processor in the region.

Farmers in Uasin Gishu County received the highest payout for milk deliveries to the processor at Sh236 million, while West Pokot earned Sh211 million.

Data from the Uasin Gishu County Department of Agriculture and Livestock indicate that annual milk production stands at 220million litres from 340,000 herds of livestock.

According to a report by Ministry of Agriculture, the country produced an average of 4.2 billion litres of milk last year against potential of 12 billion litres due to poor animal husbandry techniques by farmers.

The Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) has however launched strategy increase national milk production from 5.2 billion to 10 billion litres annually and boost export to one billion litres. Newly appointed New KCC Managing Director, Joseph Choge, has promised to introduce an array of measures to address the processor’s financial struggle, improve milk productivity, and steer the company to success.

The ministry of Energy and Petroleum is seeking tax exemptions for drilling equipment and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) of more than 30 years to lower the price of geothermal power and ensure cheap electricity to millions of Kenya Power customers.

The proposals, the Ministry notes, are key to ensuring that the wholesale prices of geothermal power are not higher than $0.07 (Sh9) per kilowatt-hour (kWh), ultimately transferring the benefits to consumers.

Exempting drilling equipment from tax would make kits such as drilling rigs cheaper thus lowering cost of production. Longer PPAs would allow investors to recoup their investment over a longer period and at lower rates ensuring lower wholesale prices of geothermal power.

‘Reforming the steam tariff framework offers an opportunity to improve transparency, ensure cost reflective pricing and enhance project bankability,’ the Ministry notes in the draft plan for geothermal power development for 2026-2036.

‘Possible interventions include implementing tariff reduction measures towards meeting the target tariff of not more than 7 US Cents by; providing tax exemptions on geothermal development (drilling, equipment, and associated services and Having longer Power Purchase Agreement of 30 years and above.’

Parliament is key to these plans and must approve the tax breaks and longer PPAs before they take effect. Most of the existing PPAs are for between 20-25 years.

Geothermal power was the third cheapest two years ago at an average of Sh8.9 per kWh, according to official data, behind locally produced hydro and imported hydro at Sh8.39 and Sh3.83 per kWh respectively last year.

The proposals, contained in the draft plan for geothermal energy production, come at a time that the country has intensified efforts to tap a bigger chunk of the geothermal reserves estimated at more than 10,000 megawatts (MW).

The efforts have prioristised the geothermal fields of Menengai, Silali, Paka and Suswa areas as Kenya targets to increase the installed capacity of geothermal power by 1,413.5MW by 2025.

Kenya is set to get an additional 133 megawatts (MW) of geothermal by the end of this year courtesy of two independent power producers in Menengai and the Olkaria I plant (Units 1-3), which is owned by Kenya Electricity Generating Company.

Geothermal is the baseload (main source of power) to the national grid, accounting for 40 percent or 5,421.17Gigawatt-hours (GWh) of the 13,739.17GWh supplied to Kenya Power in the 11 months to November 2025, ahead of locally generated hydro at 23 percent (3,163.53GWh).

Increased supply of cheaper geothermal power is key to lowering the cost of electricity, thus making it more affordable to homes and businesses.

The cost of electricity in Kenya remains a sticky issue, largely due to the continued use of the expensive thermal power.

Kenya has 15 geothermal power plants currently operational with an installed capacity of 940MW. Ten of these are owned by KenGen while the rest by private investors.

As technology promises to revolutionise healthcare access, millions of Kenyans find themselves locked out by language, literacy, and connectivity barriers.

When Grace Wanjiku’s five-year-old daughter developed a high fever at 2 am, the domestic worker from Kawangware did what many mothers in distress would do: she reached for her phone to seek help from a doctor and a nearby pharmacist whose contacts she had saved.

But unlike the tech-savvy professionals in nearby suburbs who might consult ChatGPT or other AI health advisors, Wanjiku faced a different reality.

‘I hear on the radio that people can now use their phones to talk to a doctor computer,’ Wanjiku told the Business Daily, speaking in Kikuyu through a translator. ‘But that is not for people like me. That is for the ones who went to school in English.’

Struggle to fit into shift

Wanjiku represents millions of Kenyans struggling to fit into the shift toward the government’s ambitious healthcare digitisation.

Kenya is also at the forefront in adopting technology to streamline healthcare delivery.

Tiba AI, founded by Flavian Simiyu, a biomedical engineering graduate from the Technical University of Mombasa, offers an AI-powered health platform for patient record management and clinical decision support.

The platform includes a patient portal for uploading paper records and accessing digital medical history-addressing a uniquely Kenyan challenge.

Another one is Antimicro.ai, developed by Kenyan doctors Fredrick Mutisya and Rachael Kanguha, which uses AI to predict antibiotic resistance-a critical issue in a country where over-prescription and misuse of antibiotics are rampant.

Amref Health Africa’s JibuAI aims to expand conversational support for mothers and youth through voice-enabled chatbots, combining clinical data with local context, while IntelliSOFT’s Mama’s Hub, built on Google’s Open Health Stack, empowers patients, community health volunteers, and health systems.

These tools are designed by Kenyans for Kenyan contexts, yet face scaling challenges against foreign tech giants, like the just-launched Horizon1000, an initiative by OpenAI and Bill Gates, which aims to deploy AI tools to 1,000 primary healthcare clinics across Africa to address severe healthcare workforce shortages.

Who is being left behind?

As Kenya races to embrace AI in healthcare, with global tech giants and local startups deploying chatbots, diagnostic tools, and digital health platforms, two questions come up: Who actually benefits from this digital health revolution? More critically, who is being left behind?

OpenAI, an American AI organisation, reports that more than 40 million people globally use ChatGPT daily for health information, for decoding medical bills, for spotting overcharges, for appealing insurance denials, and, when access to doctors is limited, even for attempting to self-diagnose.

More than five percent of all ChatGPT messages globally are about healthcare, with between 1.6 million and 1.9 million health insurance questions sent weekly.

In Kenya, where the country produces only 7,000 health professionals annually against a deficit of 70,000, these tools are handy.

Nearly seven in 10 healthcare conversations with AI happen outside normal clinic hours, making them particularly appealing for a nation where accessing a doctor often means a half-day journey and waiting in queues until late evening.

Language barrier

At Penda Health’s 15 Nairobi clinics, a study of 39,849 patient visits showed clinicians using OpenAI’s ‘AI Consult’ achieved a 16 percent reduction in diagnostic errors.

‘The findings have shifted what we expect as the standard of care within Penda. We probably wouldn’t want our clinicians to be completely without this,’ said Dr Robert Korom, chief medical officer at Penda.

His patients speak English or Swahili comfortably, have smartphones, and can afford data, but they are the minority.

The language barrier is staggering. Kenya has over 60 languages, yet only four percent speak English as their first language, while most AI health tools work best in English. For instance, Zuri, a chatbot for sexual and reproductive health, initially launched in English only. User feedback forced developers to add Swahili, but this still covers just two of Kenya’s dozens of languages.

Martha Chebet, a community health volunteer in Uasin Gishu County, sees this daily.

‘When I try to explain what the chatbot says, I translate from English to Kalenjin, and the meaning gets lost. Medical words don’t translate well. By the time I explain it, we could have walked to the clinic,’ she said.

AI health tools are most accessible to Kenya’s English-speaking elite, who already have the best access to doctors, while the rural majority, who need them most, cannot use them.

The United States government released a new dietary guideline that signals an important change in recommended foods and diets.

The guidelines, which will be in effect until 2030, suggest a strong focus on eating whole foods, cutting back on sugar, and getting more protein. They also make room for traditional cooking fats, including beef tallow.

Beef tallow, which is fat rendered from beef, is mentioned directly as a cooking fat. This marks a change in tone from earlier advice that warned against animal fats. The new guidance focuses less on single nutrients and more on the overall quality of food.

Beef tallow is seen as a traditional fat that is stable for cooking and less processed than many modern oils.

In Kenya, although there are no official dietary guidelines that promote beef tallow, its use is becoming more common.

Some households are turning to beef tallow as a natural cooking fat, choosing it over refined vegetable oils.

According to Wanjiku Njenga, a consultant dietitian at the Aga Khan University Hospital, tallow is ‘essentially fat from meat’.

‘You remove it, boil to render, and once cooled, it becomes usable for cooking. No additives, no chemicals, just fat in its natural form,’ she says.

In Kenyan kitchens, beef tallow is used for frying, cooking beans, vegetables, and meat, and for general food preparation. Its adherents say it is filling, flavourful, and closer to traditional ways of cooking.

Ms Wanjiku says tallow provides energy and helps the body absorb vitamins A, D, E, and K when used in moderation.

‘These vitamins can’t be absorbed without fat, and tallow supports that process naturally,’ she explains.

The growing interest is also visible in the market. Food-grade beef tallow is now sold in butcheries, local markets, and online shops. Some products are made locally from grass-fed cattle, while others are imported. Beef tallow is also sold for non-food uses such as skin care, which has helped raise awareness of the product.

Beef has always been part of many Kenyan diets, especially in pastoral and rural communities. National nutrition advice in Kenya focuses more on protein from many sources including meat, fish, poultry, and legumes rather than specific fats. Fat intake beyond common cooking oil is not widely measured, so beef tallow use is mostly shaped by culture, cost, and personal choice.

Entrepreneurs are cashing in on the fat renaissance. Real Beef Kenya, founded by Peter and Tabitha Kang’ethe, sells tallow nationwide. Since launching in 2023, their sales have grown from 20 to over 300 kilos per month.

‘Our company is certified by the Kenya Bureau of Standards,’ Peter says. ‘We started small, but now more people are embracing tallow in their kitchens.’

Peter identifies three main customer types: health-conscious individuals, curious traditionalists, and older adults returning to traditional cooking methods. A kilogramme sells for Sh850.

With policy shifts abroad and renewed local interest, beef tallow is seeing increasing use in Kenyan homesteads as a trusted traditional cooking oil.

The US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which mentioned tallow as a cooking option, noted that healthy eating patterns should be built around whole foods and limit highly processed products.

One of the biggest changes in the new advice is protein, as Americans are now encouraged to eat more protein than before. The guidelines suggest that people should get more protein each day to support health and balance in the body. Both animal and plant sources are included, and they include beef, chicken, fish, eggs, beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds.

According to the guidelines, ‘Protein is important for muscle health, strength, and normal body function across all ages.’

While some experts still question whether higher protein intake is needed for everyone, the government position is clear that protein plays a key role in daily nutrition.

Another message in the new guidelines is about sugar. Added sugar is no longer seen as part of a healthy diet. The advice says people should avoid foods and drinks with added sugar as much as possible. These include sweets, sugary drinks, and heavily processed foods. The focus is on eating food in its natural form rather than refined or packaged products.

The guidelines state: ‘Added sugars do not support health and should be limited as much as possible.’

The most talked about shift, however, is in how fats are treated. In the past, saturated fats were often discouraged. The new guidelines take a different approach. They encourage fats that come from whole foods.

According to the guidelines, ‘The message is not to fear fat, but to choose fats that come from real food and use them wisely.’

The government now says these fats can be part of a healthy diet when eaten in reasonable amounts.

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye,” said Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Is it true that “The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows” as Greek shipping magnet Aristotle Onassis said? Does business success revolve around a mindset of addressing problems – and even giving away tangible value for free? Why do global market leaders work in ecosystems? Is AI just a tool, or is it an agent that can soon out-think humans?

What is often not visible is; the bigger the problem the business solves, the bigger and more successful the enterprise. Look at some of the most successful companies in Kenya today, say Safaricom and Equity Bank. What problems do they solve? Betting apps have boomed – addressing the hope of getting rich quick.

When you go out to a club on Saturday night with friends to have a few drinks — thanks to a few cool White Caps and a Johnnie Walker, for just a few hours you are in a confident ‘master of the universe’ state. That irritating nagging boss to be confronted on Monday morning is far from your consciousness.

If Sarah has spotted an aggravating problem in Busia, that customers are ready to pay for, she has solved the problem development economists fret about, by increasing her household income, stimulating demand in the local economy.

Mindset is the flame

Development partners have long believed that training and access to capital will produce entrepreneurs, with profitable establishments creating jobs. But what is missing is that invisible spark. That spark that turns the cool liquid propane and butane molecules under pressure in the gas cylinder into a flame.

Knowledge, skills and mindset – are the triangle of elements. Knowledge has become abundant, almost free in our digital AI age, thanks to the computer in your pocket.

Trick is to apply the knowledge and turn that into specialised skills. Mindset is the flame, the almost invisible scarce rare earth element – that lecturing and preaching won’t uncover. You can train for knowledge and skills, but that ‘batteries included’ mindset is tougher to find and ignite.

Create free value upfront

Business will continue to change radically; it is almost as though every two years one needs to do a drastic rethink. ‘Sweet nothings’ saying all those nice things, accompanied with heavenly mission statements, catchy taglines and promises of delighted customers – was the past unspoken operating principle.

Now one has to create tangible product – service value upfront, and give it away for free. ‘People don’t buy what others want to sell, they buy what others want to buy,’ observes Daniel Priestly.

What may be invisible is that just about every enterprise is interacting, ‘doing business’ with a wide range of organisations, where in reality, the business is part of an ecosystem.

Days of lone ranger competition are over. There is a need to recognise that today, leading corporations across sectors have concluded that they can no longer play it alone as they contemplate ways for their organiastion to have greater impact, expand, and innovate.

The solution for each partner to address the problems faced, lies in the ability to partner within an ecosystem of cross sector players that work together to define, and even disrupt stale old thinking. By 2 pm, your 9 am ‘competitor’ may become your ecosystem business partner.

No reward for just a good job – create an ecosystem

‘Every business leader must acknowledge that building a successful business requires them to make a complex ecosystem seem congruent and effortless. They must turn chaos into order and do it with style. Entrepreneurs and leaders can no longer simply deliver value and then get fairly paid. That model died a long time ago.

Today’s high-performing businesses are ecosystems of people, products, media, software and services all working in harmony. They are complex, paradoxical and hard to mimic. You cannot expect to be highly rewarded for doing a good job.

Rather, you can expect to be rewarded when you’ve built a high-performing ecosystem that delivers value in a multitude of ways,’ advises Daniel Priestly.

Good morning agent AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a wonder, much more than a tool. AI firms that dominate the industry are overwhelmingly based in the United States, hosting 42 of the top 50 AI companies with a heavy concentration in California’s Silicon Valley, followed by significant hubs in China and select locations in Europe, like London where Google DeepMind is based.

‘The most important thing to know about AI is that it is not just another tool. It is an agent. It can learn and change by itself and make decisions by itself. A knife is a tool. You can use a knife to cut salad or to murder someone, but it is your decision what to do with the knife. AI is a knife that can decide by itself whether to cut salad or to commit murder.

The second thing to know about AI is that it can be a very creative agent. AI is a knife that can invent new kinds of knives as well as new kinds of music, medicine, and money. The third thing to know about AI is that it can lie and manipulate.

Four billion years of evolution have demonstrated that anything that wants to survive learns to lie and manipulate. The last four years have demonstrated that AI agents can acquire the will to survive and that AIs have already learned how to lie,’ said Yuval Noah Harari recently at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

‘Now, one big open question about AI is whether it can think. Modern philosophy began in the 17th century when Rene Descartes proclaimed, ‘I think therefore I am’.

We humans defined ourselves by our capacity to think. We believe we rule the world because we can think better than anyone else on this planet. Will AI challenge our supremacy in the field of thinking?’ Asks Harari.

‘Yes’ is the not so invisible answer, AI will soon think better than human beings, and in some areas already does. Question is – what does this mean for you and your business? What does your heart say?