Category: Business Daily

The financial sector regulator recently published Draft Central Bank of Kenya (Credit Guarantee Business) Regulations, 2025, laying out who can operate in this space, how they will be overseen, and the safeguards required to protect the financial system.

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The draft regulations flow from the Business Laws (Amendment) Act, 2024, which expanded the CBK’s mandate to include the regulation of credit guarantee providers. The move is in line with the government’s policy drive to promote credit guarantee schemes as a tool to unlock lending to MSMEs, a longstanding pillar of Kenya Vision 2030.

They apply to entities engaged in providing guarantees to lenders, covering part of or all the credit risk on facilities advanced to borrowers in the event of default. They also clarify the definition a “credit guarantee provider”, which includes entities exempt from licensing under section 33X (2) of the CBK Act but still subject to registration with the CBK.

This category covers entities owned by foreign governments or international financial institutions that have entered into agreements with the Government of Kenya to enhance access to financial services or provide credit guarantee business to targeted groups, sectors, or regions for a specified period. It also includes foreign companies partnering with local financial institutions for similar purposes, as well as any other persons the CBK may designate.

The CBK wants guarantees that pay when needed, not only when convenient. To that end, the draft regulations require a minimum core capital of Sh1 billion, core capital of at least 10.5 percent of total risk-weighted assets (including off-balance sheet items, total capital of at least 14.5 percent of total risk weighted assets; and an irrevocable bank guarantee lodged with the CBK of Sh1 million or 10 percent of outstanding exposures at year-end, whichever is higher.

Credit guarantees may only be issued to lenders who satisfy specific prudential requirements set out by CBK thus minimising systemic risk.

The terms and conditions of such guarantees must be clearly disclosed and any variation to guarantee limits can only be done with the approval of the CBK. Furthermore, the classification and provisioning of credit guarantees must mirror the risk classification of the underlying loan exposures, with minimum provisioning thresholds established for each category of risk.

Directors and senior managers must meet fit and proper criteria, and firms must maintain risk management, governance and internal control frameworks.

A credit guarantee company may not amalgamate or transfer assets, liabilities or shares to another credit guarantee company without prior CBK approval. Any transfer of 10 percent or more of its shareholding also needs approval. If a firm tips into financial distress, the CBK can intervene in management to preserve stability.

For lenders’ credit committees, settlement mechanics are critical. The draft regulations set out specific conditions for calling a guarantee and prescribe timelines for validation and settlement.

Under the draft regulations, a guarantee may be called where:

(i) the amount in default under a credit facility has fallen due and remains unpaid;

(ii) the facility has been classified as non-performing in accordance with the CBK Prudential Guidelines; and

(iii) the guarantee was in force at the time the facility was so classified.

This alignment with loan risk classification is intended to reduce disputes and enhance predictability in recoveries. In our view, however, these conditions are unduly restrictive, as there are additional circumstances in practice where the invocation of a guarantee is warranted.

If adopted, the draft regulations would formalise Kenya’s credit guarantee market, providing clarity for lenders, protection for the financial system, and a pathway to scale for credit enhancement schemes targeting MSMEs.

The emphasis on capital strength, transparency and governance mirrors international practice and could help crowd in more lending where guarantees bridge risk gaps.

More importantly, formalisation of credit guarantee is expected to create a significant waterfall effect on trade and the general economy in Kenya. With lenders’ risks mitigated by regulated guarantors, we anticipate increased access to credit for MSMEs, fostering business growth and job creation. This, in turn, can stimulate supply chains and boost local trade.

Bitcoin may no longer be the reigning king of crypto. Here’s how traders navigated one of 2025’s most active markets.

2025 was a defining year for global markets, and cryptocurrency trading was no exception. Global trade tensions intensified as the US imposed steep tariffs on several countries, triggering immediate retaliation and market uncertainty. Yet, despite the geopolitical friction, major asset classes surged: the Dow Jones climbed 8.7% YTD, and gold delivered more than 50% over the same period.

Under normal circumstances, this combination of political uncertainty, trade disruption, and aggressive market repricing would send crypto markets into defensive mode. Instead, crypto traders showed remarkable composure. Even as bitcoin whipsawed between 75,000 USD and 126,000 USD throughout 2025, participation remained strong, and more importantly, trader behavior began to shift in ways that suggest the market is maturing beyond its usual volatility cycles.

A story of volatility

Painting the cryptocurrency landscape in 2025 with broad strokes may be challenging, but it is necessary to understand the dynamics that affect the market. Around the time of the new US presidential inauguration in January, bitcoin briefly surged to 109,400 USD amid renewed political support for digital assets. However, the momentum was short-lived. Prices rolled back within days, only to recover and break through the long-watched 100,000 USD level again soon after. By April, BTC had fallen to 75,000 USD, before climbing steadily toward its October peak above 126,000 USD.

Altcoins also experienced a whirlwind. In January, ripple (XRP) reached its highest ever close month-over-month, but wiped out 20% of those gains in just 24 hours. During the same period, most major altcoins, including ETH, AVAX, ADA, DOT, and SHIB, experienced a 17-34% decline in value. Market sentiment deteriorated further after bitcoin posted its largest monthly drop since 2022, while a high-profile exchange hack added another layer of pressure.

Part of the pullback was due to market structure: extreme highs tend to be followed by profit-taking. But the year’s geopolitical backdrop and delayed monetary easing by the Fed also weighed heavily on crypto risk appetite.

The stability of stablecoins

Despite the broader market downturn, stablecoins quietly reached new milestones. While the combined market cap of major cryptocurrencies slipped by 18.6%, stablecoins climbed to an all-time high of 226.1 billion USD. The biggest winner during this period was USDC, which added 16.1 billion USD during this period. This is a clear signal that boldest crypto traders seek stability when uncertainty rises.

And for a brief moment, ripple managed to outperform the king of the cryptos, bitcoin. Meanwhile, ethereum and solana (SOL) saw deeper corrections of 45.3% and 34.1% respectively.

‘The trends are showing that the market is starting to establish itself in more concrete terms. We are seeing cryptocurrency investors employ more effective risk management and move away from their strict adherence to the ‘Big Four.’ These are very encouraging signs of an evolving market, more thoughtful, more structured, and more resilient,’ said Quoc Dat Tong, Exness senior financial markets strategist.

The power of the pivot

For years, cryptocurrency CFD traders largely centered their strategies on bitcoin, ethereum, solana, and ripple. But the 2025 market has shown a clear pivot. More traders diversified into stablecoin CFDs and smaller crypto, not out of speculation alone but to build portfolios that could withstand the year’s volatility.

This shift also brought a sharper focus on broker infrastructure. Trading highly active, fast-moving assets demands more than market knowledge; it demands conditions built for precision.

Platform stability, fast execution, and low spreads are a rare but necessary trifecta. Exness has invested heavily in this infrastructure. Its proprietary pricing model and execution engine help maintain stable spreads1 and precise order fills,2 even when markets accelerate. The better-than-market conditions offered by Exness have become a defining advantage for traders navigating the unpredictable momentum of the crypto market.

Galloping into the new year

As 2025 closed, bitcoin positioned just below its all-time highs. Analysts remain cautiously optimistic for 2026, but acknowledge several potential headwinds: slower global growth, the lagged effect of tariffs, and the late-cycle dynamics of the post-halving rally.

Historically, bitcoin halvings support upward momentum for 18 to 24 months. Considering the last halving in April 2024, the market may approach the late stages of that cycle in 2026. Exchange-traded fund inflows could offset some of this cooling, but expectations remain measured.

Beyond bitcoin, new developments could shape the broader market. The EU is progressing toward a digital euro, which is expected to be introduced after its legal framework is adopted in 2026, with implementation anticipated by 2029. Other economies are exploring similar digital-currency frameworks, developments that may influence stablecoin dynamics.

How confident should crypto traders be in 2026?

‘2025 brought sharp swings, from tariffs to sudden highs and deep lows, but the cryptocurrency market handled it with surprising composure. These stresses didn’t swing the market; they strengthened its fabric,’ Tong commented.

For traders, the lesson is clear: adaptability matters more than the size of a single swing. The era when bitcoin dominated by default is fading. In its place is a broader ecosystem defined by diversification, more sophisticated risk management, and smoother execution powered by brokers with robust technology.

Crypto’s next chapter will reward traders who combine agility with infrastructure, and who recognize that confidence isn’t built on the absence of volatility but on the ability to navigate through it.

1 Spreads may fluctuate and widen due to factors including market volatility and liquidity, news releases, economic events, when markets open or close, and the type of instruments being traded.

2 Delays and slippage may occur. No guarantee of execution speed or precision is provided.

The High Court has dismissed an application by troubled petroleum dealer Hashi Energy, seeking to table additional documents as the firm fights a tax demand of Sh7.1 billion.

The court rejected the application, saying that the firm, which is under liquidation, made the plea too late in the day.

According to the court, the application was made two days before a judgment on the appeal against Kenya Revenue Authority’s (KRA) tax demand was rendered.

The court further noted that apart from listing the documents proposed to be admitted, Hashi did not attach the documents to support its case, hence the court was unable to form any opinion as to the actual relevance of the proposed documents.

‘Further, I agree with the respondent’s (KRA) submissions that the documents listed in the application are transactional and financial records ordinarily within the appellant’s control. Save for general assertions of jurisdictional challenges and third-party consent, no sufficient explanation has been given why they could not be produced earlier,’ said the court.

KRA slapped the company with a Sh7.1 billion tax demand for the period between 2017 and 2022, a decision that was upheld by the Tax Appeals Tribunal in October 2024.

Hashi Energy then moved to the High Court seeking to overturn the demand. The case was heard, but before the judgment was delivered, the firm made an application to attach the documents.

The firm said the tribunal dismissed its appeal primarily on the ground that it failed to discharge its burden of proof, for not producing crucial documents requested by KRA.

The company said it had since obtained and compiled additional documentary evidence, which is directly relevant to the determination of its tax liability.

The documents sought to be introduced included the contract for supply of fuel to the United Nations, detailed sales ledgers and stock movement schedules, evidence of payments from the UN, and loan agreements/statements from Democratic Republic of Congo, and bank statements and account reconciliations to explain variances in audited financial statements, which the firm contended are relevant to the case.

While rejecting the application, the court noted that while the tribunal’s decision was made on October 4, 2024, the company filed the appeal and never indicated its intention to file any additional documents.

‘Further, the court is of the considered view that admitting evidence at this stage would, in my view, violate the principle of finality in litigation, as a party should not be allowed to patch up weak points in their case after realising they may be unsuccessful,’ said the court.

The firm was involved in the sale and distribution of LPG and the provision of food rations and related services to UN stabilisation missions in the DR Congo.

Evidence presented before the tribunal was that KRA carried out an audit on the firm’s business covering corporation tax, withholding tax, VAT, and pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) for the period 2017 to 2022.

The company had faulted the KRA on the assessment, although it admitted that it did not file the tax returns for the years 2021 and 2022 on the due dates due to delays in completion of the annual audit.

However, the firm said once the audits were completed, it supplied the KRA with the audited financial statements for the years 2021 and 2022, although the taxman proceeded with the default assessment.

The company said it explained to the KRA through supporting documents and agreements that the food supply business to the UN in DRC was carried out by the holding company, Hashi Energy Holdings, hence was not an income as per Section 3 (1) of the Income Tax Act.

Consequently, the costs relating to holding firm’s operations in DRC had not been considered as business expenses in the updated books of the firm.

Heaven Can Wait feels like a prodigal son returning home, not with regrets but with the goodies. It marks his return in solo exhibition after more than six years.

It is quintessentially what you would expect from Michael Soi albeit with an upgrade, the colour scale and transitions are impeccably clear, and the catchphrases on the works are downright witty. Heaven Can Wait is colourful, salacious, provocative, evocative and a perfect reflection of a society leaning on its numb side of life. It masks as a hubris for hedonists but in reality, it is the veneer of a society numb on the inside.

Heaven Can Wait centre around celebration, it highlights the urbane uppity end of the high life, the night life and a society living on the end of a tippled existence. In it one experiences a typical weekend in Nairobi, the stag and bachelorette parties, the after-work shindigs. It paints the picture of a city suckling life from the long end of a brown bottle. This is however the tip of the pinnacle; the real issue lies beneath hubbub.

‘What people classify as partying is an attempt to numb the brain from what Kenyans are going through, and these include socio-political issues, harsh economic times, and civil unrest. Since there is very little they can do, most choose to go and bury themselves in the life of the party, it is both a happy and sad scenario,’ Michael Soi says.

Soi wanted to curate a body of work flexible enough for his audience to look at and make their own conclusion.

The particulars of the pieces are presented in such a way as to have a different messaging for different members of the audience. It is a tactful masking of pain and agony with things that make it oblivious of the suffering that people go through every day. Masterfully, the paint sugarcoats the misery.

Traditionally, Soi’s style has been known to provoke by touching on issues political, economic or even sexual and in Heaven Can Wait, he does not veer off this lane. Controversy is an aspect of his life which he seems to embrace with verve.

‘Call me whatever you want but also look at me as a documenting artist. I am not doing this because I want to change society to a better place, no, that is not my goal, my role is to document moments for posterity so that 40, 50 years from today, somebody can get a book and get a picture of what Nairobi looked like. I document things that Kenyans don’t want documented. We love what we love, we do what we do but let us not talk about it openly is what we keep saying.’

The stance gets him into problems at times, but Soi remains unfazed because he says his goal, once he cleared art school, was always to be as different as possible from everyone else and to tell stories that nobody was telling and for this to happen, he had to develop a very thick skin.

He describes his current exhibition as a slight departure from his usual work which is very political. It is an overlook at a society that complains of harsh economic realities but still manages to pack up reveling joints which he sums up as people are trying to temporarily forget their problems. The appearance of having money is farcical.

Soi does not ascribe to being a moralist but rather defines himself as a cartographer of happenings, he highlights the pulse of happenings, most of which stem from his experiences tracking people’s lives, men especially.

‘There was a point around 2016/2017, I spent a lot of time around strip clubs in Nairobi. One thing that people miss the point about this body of works is that it doesn’t revolve around the women, it is the men whom I follow because I want you to know where your man, husband, brother, son is when they are missing from the house. Since 2015, these places have grown to the extent of even moving into residential areas, go to Umoja, Pipeline, strip clubs have been completely decentralised and I felt like this was a story that needed telling.’

His female figures have an uncanny resemblance to each other, and he says this is by design. He has never been able to find another muse from the time he ditched his cat and pig figures which were the custom of his political satire work.

Soi remains unbothered about government interference with his work by way of perceived threat or otherwise, mostly because he says they are clueless about what is happening in the visual art scene.

‘We have been lucky because for a very long time, the government has never looked at art as something that can be used to voice dissent. We have managed to get away with many things because there is very little interest in art here, a lot of critiques of my work also comes from a very ignorant point of view which doesn’t bother me much.’

The art scene has been experiencing tumults of its own with a large number of galleries closing up shop.

Globally, art festivals and Biennales are seeing a downside in numbers and positive reviews and closer home, the art scene has not had enough infrastructure poured into it especially by the government. Soi believes that the solution is pretty simple, ‘we need to rely on the local market’.

‘The whole dependency on the West as the market for Kenyan art should end, we have to target local audiences because that is where the money is at. I am telling you this because it is happening to me. I am probably the most collected artist in Nairobi in terms of the number of my works that people have in their houses. Social media can be a good tool if used properly, 70 percent of my clients come from Instagram.’

Occasionally, he burns his artwork on social media.

‘I struggle with space; my studio is not very big and so instead of having a sale of my work I destroy it. This is because if you buy my work at say Sh387,840($3,000) then later on you hear that I sold the same for Sh12,928 ($100), you would feel cheated. When you sell at discounted prices, you lose your credibility. Whatever remains from my shows comes back to my studio and stays for a year then I destroy it. I don’t show my work twice,’ he says.

Despite having a large volume of works, Soi’s last exhibition was six years ago. The break happened because he didn’t feel ready. He ascribes to the notion that if his work doesn’t make him happy, then he has no business showing it.

How does he feel about his current exhibition? ‘It makes me very happy,’ he says with smile.

The exhibition at the Circle Art Gallery runs until February 25, 2026.

The monthly domestic Value-Added-Tax (VAT) collections by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) have increased by up to Sh10 billion, signalling the gains from a crackdown in hard-to-tax segments, including farmers and small businesses.

KRA Director-General Humphrey Wattanga disclosed that monthly domestic VAT collections have risen to between Sh28 billion and Sh30 billion, up from Sh20 billion, lifted by a requirement that all supply transactions be accompanied by electronic tax invoices generated through the Electronic Tax Invoices (eTIMS).

‘We have seen an impact from a revenue perspective. If you look back two or three years, we were collecting domestic VAT at a rate of about Sh20 billion, and over time, once e-TIMS was made mandatory, we have seen that number rise to between Sh28 billion and Sh30 billion,’ he said on Thursday during the swearing-in of new KRA board member Risper Olick.

This translates into annual domestic VAT collections of between Sh96 billion and Sh100 billion. Domestic VAT is charged on goods and services supplied within the country by businesses, at a standard rate of 16 percent.

‘So, it (e-TIMS) has had a significant impact. And we are working on further simplification of the system to make it easier for all sectors to use e-TIMS,’ Mr Wattanga added.

e-TIMS is a digital platform run by the KRA that requires businesses to issue electronic tax invoices for taxable supplies, allowing the taxman to track sales in real time for VAT compliance.

Introduced in early 2023, first as a software-based successor to the earlier TIMS/ETR system, e-TIMS is supposed to curb malpractices such as tax evasion and fraud.

Also, by extending electronic invoicing to businesses, and not just VAT-registered ones, the government is banking on e-TIMS to bring more economic activity into the formal tax system and reduce exemptions that have created gaps in tax compliance.

From January 1, 2024, the KRA said only expenses supported by e-TIMS-compliant invoices would be recognised for income tax deduction purposes, a requirement that has proved challenging for bulk traders such as petrol stations and supermarkets.

This has led to innovations, including reverse invoicing, where the buyer, instead of the supplier, generates the tax invoice for a transaction.

The government has captured transactions worth Sh800 million through reverse invoicing, which it introduced on December 27, 2024, as part of new strategies of reaching businesses that predominantly operated in the hard-to-tax segment of the economy.

The law provides that one can raise a reverse eTIMS invoice for any business whose annual turnover is below Sh5million. In 2024/25, KRA reported having collected Sh2.9 billion through tax base expansion, which refers to the amount collected through taxpayers who were previously not captured in the tax register.

With a target of increasing revenue as a percentage of GDP to 20 percent in the medium term, the government reckons there is an opportunity to collect more from VAT compared to other tax heads, such as income tax.

In the first half of the current financial year, revenue collection hit Sh1.39 trillion against a target of Sh1. 44 trillion. This resulted in a performance rate of 96.2 percent against the target, leading to a deficit of Sh55.5 billion and a growth of 11.6 percent.

The Kenya Pipeline Company initial public offering (IPO) arrives at a critical moment for our capital markets-a chance to rebuild trust with ordinary Kenyans that was shattered over a decade ago when brokerages collapsed and took people’s savings with them.

There was a time when Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) was averaging one IPO per year: KenGen (2006), Safaricom (2008), Equity Bank, Co operative Bank, Scan Group, Eveready, Access Kenya, and Kenya Re (2006).

I witnessed the IPO boom of the 2000s firsthand from the Nation Centre, where several stockbrokerage houses shared space with the Daily Nation offices. Long queues snaked outside broker offices as ordinary Kenyans clutched application forms and cheques, eager to participate in the privatisation wave. Retail investors camped outside firms, determined to own a piece of Kenya’s corporate success.

Then came the collapses: Shah and Munge (2003), Francis Thuo (2007). Nyaga Securities (2008), Discount Securities (2000), Ngenye Kariuki (2010). These weren’t abstract corporate failures-they were catastrophes for unsophisticated investors who had entrusted hard-earned savings to firms they believed were regulated and safe. Life savings vanished overnight. Dreams of wealth creation through equity ownership turned into nightmares of loss and betrayal.

The queues disappeared. Retail investors, burned badly, retreated to bank deposits and informal savings groups. An entire generation of potential equity investors was lost, not because they lacked capital or interest, but because the system had failed them spectacularly.

Kenya Pipeline IPO offers a genuine opportunity to begin rebuilding that confidence because it has been structured to mitigate past failures.

The e-IPO structure eliminates traditional brokerage bottlenecks. Applications will be submitted digitally, reducing the role of intermediaries who previously held client funds and shares. While brokers still play a role, the electronic infrastructure creates additional transparency and reduces opportunities for misconduct.

The one-month subscription period-running from January 19 to February 19, 2026-is significantly longer than previous IPOs. This extended timeline allows retail investors time to gather information, secure funds, and make informed decisions. Unlike the frenetic, queue-driven applications of the 2000s, this structure enables measured participation.

The 20 percent allocation specifically reserved for local retail investors demonstrates commitment to ensuring ordinary Kenyans can access the opportunity. At Sh21.26 billion, this represents meaningful participation in a strategic national asset, not a token gesture.

The involvement of receiving banks-Co-operative Bank, KCB, and Stanbic-provides familiar, trusted institutions through which retail investors can participate. These are banks where Kenyans already hold accounts, eliminating the need to establish new relationships with unknown entities.

The full allocation structure spans diverse stakeholders: 20 percent for local retail, 20 percent for local institutions, 20 percent for the East African Community, 20 percent for international investors, 15 percent for oil marketing companies, and 5 percent for KPC employees.

Yet the IPO allocation is merely a starting point. What matters more than initial allocation is whether minority shareholder rights will be protected once they own the shares.

If retail investors are to return to the NSE in meaningful numbers-if the queues are to reappear, even in digital form-they deserve more than an efficiently structured IPO. They deserve governance protections that will safeguard their investment over the long-term.

First, majority shareholders must nominate and vote for directors proportionate to their shareholding. This is basic corporate governance. Second, minority shareholders-including the retail investors being courted through this IPO-must have explicit rights to nominate and elect directors proportionate to their collective stake. This cannot depend on majority goodwill; it must be embedded in KPC’s constitutional documents.

This will require the government to direct KPC’s board to convene a special Annual General Meeting to amend the company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association. These amendments should establish proportional board representation, create clear nomination procedures for minority shareholders, and include protective provisions preventing future dilution of these rights.

Retail investors considering the KPC IPO should ask hard questions: What specific governance reforms will protect minority shareholders? How will board composition be determined post-listing? Will the company’s Articles of Association be amended to enshrine minority shareholder rights? Today, minority shareholders have a 30 percent stake in Ken Gen. The board is stuffed with political appointees. The same goes for KCB and Kenya Re.

The queues outside brokerage offices disappeared because unsophisticated investors were betrayed-first by brokerages that absconded with their funds, and subsequently by listed companies whose governance prioritised political connections over shareholder value.

The Kenya Pipeline IPO can help bring those investors back. But only if we break the pattern of political board capture that has characterised too many State-linked listed entities. The infrastructure is sound; now we need the governance framework to match it.

Electricity producer KenGen wants to amend its internal rules to grant the government board control, irrespective of its shareholding, mirroring a similar move at Kenya Reinsurance Corporation (Kenya Re).

The proposal, which is set to be considered by shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on February 12, will entrench the State’s influence over board composition and decision-making at the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm even if its stake falls below current 70 percent.

The planned changes will be introduced through amendment to its Articles of Association to give the State superior class of shares that guarantee it a majority of board seats and control over the appointment of the CEO.

Articles of Association refers to a company’s internal rulebook that outlines how the business will be run, managed and governed.

The document defines the roles, responsibilities and rights of shareholders, directors and other stakeholders.

If approved, the proposals will see KenGen constitute class A and B ordinary shares.Class B shares will be those held by the Treasury Cabinet Secretary on behalf of the government, while class A will be those in the hands of the rest of the power generator’s shareholders.

According to the proposal, the State’s class B shares will entitle it to elect six directors to the board, while the rest of the shareholders will be entitled to two directors through their class B shares.

The company said in a notice on Thursday, the changes will provide ‘fair representation’ of the majority and minority shareholders in the board whose membership will be cut to nine from the current 11.’

The holders of class A and B shares shall have the same rights and privileges except with respect to nomination and election of directors,’ reads the proposed changes to the Articles of Association.

KenGen’s move closely matches what Kenya Re has proposed to shareholders ahead of its EGM on February 11.The reinsurer’s shareholders will vote to grant the government board control through class B shares and also cap the CEO’s tenure at a maximum of two terms of three years each.

The changes, if approved, would ring-fence government influence at the two companies irrespective of how the shareholding evolves over time, allowing it to maintain strategic oversight while still tapping capital markets for funding.

The proposed shareholding model in the two companies mirrors that of many private sector companies in developed markets such as the United States and the United Kingdom, where board control has been delinked from shareholding through differentiated voting rights and shareholder agreements.

Companies such as Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Meta Platforms (Facebook’s parent company), and Berkshire Hathaway operate dual-class share structures that put control in the hands of a few shareholders, often founders.

KenGen has in recent years embarked on large-scale geothermal and renewable energy projects, requiring substantial capital investment.

For decades, legacy brands didn’t need to explain themselves. The name did the work. Trust was inherited, loyalty was assumed, and scale felt permanent. Sadly, that era is over.

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Today, ‘legacy’ is no longer shorthand for credibility. In many markets including Kenya and across Africa it quietly signals slow decision-making, outdated customer journeys, and brands that are talking at people instead of with them. This isn’t because audiences have lost values; it is because they now have choice, speed, and visibility.

Legacy brands are not failing because they lack history. They are struggling because many confuse history with relevance.

The first challenge is nostalgia without translation. Many brands lean heavily on anniversaries, throwback campaigns, and past wins without adapting them to modern consumer behaviour. The story may be powerful, but the experience that follows slow checkout, unclear pricing, fragmented access breaks the promise.

Second is the culture gap. Internet culture is not noise; it’s where attention lives. Brands that dismiss creators, short-form video, and conversational tone as ‘not serious enough’ often become invisible to the audiences shaping future demand.

Third is rigidity disguised as consistency. Consistency matters, but when brand rules become cast in stone, they block evolution. Winning brands protect their core identity while updating how they show up, speak, and deliver value.

Finally, there is friction, the most underestimated threat. In 2026, your biggest competitor is often the easiest option. Brands don’t lose customers because of one bad ad; they lose them because engaging, subscribing, or paying feels harder than it should.

Adaptation for legacy brands does not mean abandoning what made them successful. It means re-engineering how that value is experienced.

First, meet audiences where they already are. Today’s consumers, especially younger ones, consume content in mobile-first, creator-led, and on-demand formats. Legacy brands must design for these environments, not simply recycle old formats into new channels.

Second, treat speed as part of the brand promise. Speed is no longer just operational; it shapes perception. Fast onboarding, clear pricing, simple access, and responsive support communicate respect for the customer’s time.

Third, communicate like a human being. Corporate language creates distance. Clarity builds trust. Brands that speak plainly, explain value simply, and remove unnecessary jargon outperform those that hide behind polished but empty messaging.

Fourth, partner with culture instead of controlling it. Creators are not just distribution channels; they are translators. When brands collaborate authentically, they gain relevance without forcing it.

Across Africa, the strongest legacy brands have evolved by expanding their value, not just refreshing their look.

Safaricom’s success, for example, comes from continuously layering digital services and ecosystems on top of its core trust.

In media, African publishers who have invested in paid digital access, community, and convenience show that audiences will pay when value is clear, consistent, and easy to access. The common thread is simple: adaptation works when it is structural, not cosmetic.

Working within a legacy media house has reinforced one truth for me: trust only scales when access is simple.

At Nation Media Group, the Nation App represents this shift. Rather than expecting audiences to navigate multiple platforms, formats, and entry points, the app brings our ecosystem together in one place allowing readers to move seamlessly across titles and formats based on how they want to consume content.

This approach is less about technology and more about mindset. We are packaging value around outcomes staying informed, making better decisions, understanding context rather than around individual products.

Equally important, we treat the customer journey as a growth lever.

The launch of the Sh106.3 billion Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) IPO and South African lender Nedbank’s Sh109.9 billion offer for a 66 percent stake in NCBA Group have helped the Kenyan capital market continue the recent deals momentum that yielded transactions worth more than Sh700 billion in 2025.

Nedbank announced its bid for a controlling stake in NCBA on Wednesday, which will be executed through a cash and stock compensation plan.

Nedbank will cover 80 percent of the consideration by issuing its shares to eligible NCBA shareholders at a rate of 4.029 shares for every 100 NCBA units, with the remaining portion of 20 percent to be settled in cash at a price of Sh2,100 per 100 shares.

The share purchase deal is the third one involving a top-10 NSE firm in just over a month, following the December 2025 notices by South Africa’s Vodacom Group and Japan’s Asahi Holdings of major equity acquisitions in Safaricom and East African Breweries Plc (EABL) respectively.

Vodacom is buying a 15 percent Safaricom stake from the government for Sh204.3 billion, and a further 5 percent from its British parent Vodafone Group for Sh68.1 billion, which will ultimately see it raise its holding in the Kenyan telco to a controlling 55 percent from the current 35 percent.

Asahi entered into an agreement to purchase the 65 percent stake in EABL held by British multinational Diageo Plc last month, for a consideration of $2.354 billion (Sh303.6 billion), making it the biggest ever equity deal at the Nairobi bourse.

The Japanese beverage maker is also buying a 53.68 percent holding in spirits producer and importer UDV Kenya from Diageo for $646 million (Sh83.3 billion), raising the total value of the transaction to Sh387 billion.

Safaricom and EABL also floated five-year corporate bonds worth Sh20 billion and Sh16.8 billion respectively in the fourth quarter of last year, boosting activity on the segment that had seen limited traction in recent years.

On Monday, the NSE welcomed its first IPO in a decade, when the government opened the sale of a 65 percent stake in KPC-equivalent to 11.81 billion shares-to the public at Sh9 per unit, hoping to raise a gross amount of Sh106.31 billion.

The KPC offer is the first divestment from a government company through the stock market for nearly 18 years, with the last such sale having been the Safaricom IPO which was on sale in April 2008 with a haul of Sh51 billion.

The pipeline offer also marks an end to a decade-long IPO drought at the Nairobi bourse.

The most recent public share sales were the October 2015 listing of the Fahari Investment Reit (I-Reit), the NSE’s self-listing in September 2014 and Britam’s IPO in September 2011.

Meanwhile tier two lender Family Bank is expected to list via introduction within the first half of 2026, having received shareholder approval to go public in November.

It will join packaging firm SKL Group (Shri Krishana Overseas Plc) which entered the market by introduction in July 2025, and Sanlam’s Satrix MSCI World Feeder exchange traded fund (ETF) which also listed in July.

Caregivers of persons with disabilities (PWDS) could each receive a monthly stipend of Sh2,000 if a proposal to expand the allowance scheme for the special group is approved.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection said in a disclosure that it targets to cover 500,000 PWDs within five years, costing the government Sh12 billion annually once fully implemented.

The Cash Transfer for Persons with Severe Disabilities (PWSD-CT) in Kenya covered approximately 47,200 to 51,890 households between 2016 and 2020.

The proposal looks to include a monthly caregiver allowance as provided in the newly enacted Persons with Disabilities Act for 130,000 caregivers of PWSDs, for Sh3.12 billion a year.

This translates to Sh2,000 per month for both caregivers and PWDs.

‘Recommendations: An expanded and individualised disability allowance targeted to 500,000 beneficiaries within 5 years with the full annual cost of Sh12 billion realised from the fifth year onward,’ the report read in part.

‘A caregiver allowance to recognise the efforts of 130,000 caregivers of persons with severe disabilities and high support needs within the next 3 years, with a full annual cost of Sh3.12 billion from year three onwards.’

The proposal also seeks to shift care into communities through 5,800 ‘circles of care and support’, for Sh928 million annually, besides expanding respite and rehabilitation centres from 12 to 47 nationwide, with running costs of Sh597 million a year.

The plan shows that assistive devices such as wheelchairs, hearing aids, and prosthetics would be covered under Taifa Care, with an estimated insurance cost of Sh700 million annually, moving disability support from charity to a state-backed public service.

The plans also present a phased approach that will provide accessible transport to 36,209 learners with disabilities throughout the academic calendar for Sh2.2 billion and 91,669 PWDs seeking medical services for Sh110 million per year.

‘Overall, the proposed disability inclusion strategy will expand coverage and guarantee participation of persons with disabilities in the community by nearly doubling the disability inclusion costs from Sh10.42 billion in year 1 to Sh19.74 billion,’ the report read in part.

‘This implies an increase of disability inclusion costs from 0.06 percent of the GDP to 0.11 percent, which will align Kenya’s spending with commitments made at the 2025 Global Disability Summit. This expansion will also position Kenya at the bottom of the good-performing countries, such as Egypt, Zambia, and South Africa,’ it added.