Category: Business Daily

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) is joining other central banks across the world in the scramble for gold to diversify away from the dollar.

This marks a new reserve strategy for the regulator that has generally been conservative when it comes to accumulating the precious metal in the age of currency volatility and geopolitical uncertainty.

We all dream of landing that corporate job, the one that promises stability, a steady income and a shot at climbing up the ladder. For others, the dream is to one day call the shots and run their own business. But sometimes, that dream changes.

The long hours, office politics or simply the feeling of being stuck push some people to walk away from the corporate world altogether. A few leave with a plan; others take the leap first and figure things out later. Either way, both paths come with their own share of risks.

The Employment and Labour Relations Court has rejected an attempt by former Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) commissioner Edward Kinyua Karanja to halt the recruitment of a new head of the Investigations and Enforcement Department.

In a ruling delivered on October 16, Justice Christine Baari Noontatua dismissed Dr Karanja’s application seeking to suspend the hiring until his suit for unlawful termination and reinstatement is heard and determined.

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When Germany shut down its last reactors at Isar 2, Emsland, and Neckarwestheim, the pound 500 billion Energiewende was applauded as a triumph. Two years on, however, the results read more like a cautionary tale.

With coal smoke drifting again over the Rhine and electricity prices hovering around pound 0.39 per kilowatt-hour, Germany has become a net importer of power from the likes of nuclear-powered France, even as it is dismantling its functional fleet.

Rather than the green utopia promised, the National Bureau of Economic Research says the social cost of Atomausstieg (nuclear phase-out) that had begun in 2000 and that was put on steroids after the tsunami that flooded the Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant, is nearly $12 billion a year.

A staggering 70 percent of this stems from increased air pollution mortality as coal smoke stacks last seen a century ago are resuscitated and resume belching thousands of tonnes of greenhouse emissions when the wind is not blowing.

For pragmatic leaders everywhere, the spectacular failure of Germany’s energy reversion teaches a lesson that our own, the late Raila Odinga (Baba), advocated for long before it was fashionable.

As both an engineer and statesman, Baba showed through his actions that he understood that energy access is the heartbeat of modern life. When evaluating the case for the now-cancelled coal-powered plant in Lamu, he warned that politics alone cannot keep the lights on.

His conviction that policy must respect science, system integration, and cost reality is writ large in such and other infrastructure projects. I was old enough to examine the intrigues that surrounded the construction of the Thika Super Highway.

Now, in the stillness and silence that follows his sudden death, his final gift to us, his children, is perhaps his greatest — the promise of nuclear power.

According to the Least-Cost Power Development Plan 2024-2043, our growing cities, swelling population, and manufacturing ambitions can no longer rely solely on hydro and fossil-fuel thermal stations that buckle under drought or import costs.

Baba’s actions in the past insisted that ambition without structure is daydreaming. The government has crafted the Nuclear Science and Technology Policy that aims to guarantee not only power generation but also radiation protection, waste management, and adherence to global treaties.

The policy’s objectives stretch well beyond energy. It encourages peaceful nuclear applications across fields that directly affect food security and livelihoods. It promotes research, education, and innovation by seeking cooperation with other nations for safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste.

The policy even outlines mechanisms for establishing the Kenya Atomic Energy Agency to coordinate all these activities. Each clause echoes Baba’s philosophy of development through knowledge, not slogans.

May Baba rest in eternal peace, and may the energy of his nuclear-powered ideas continue to guide his children towards the future he envisioned for Kenya, Africa and the rest of the world.

The nay sayers who do not share Baba’s visionary judiciousness often point to risks or costs, forgetting that every technology carries both one way or the other.

For nuclear technology what matters is governance. Kenya’s measured approach moving steadily from one IAEA Milestone to the other reflects the prudence Baba championed.

Our path might not mimic the blind exuberance of some nations nor the abrupt withdrawal of others. Ours is deliberate, layered, and inclusive such that if Germany’s phase-out was a sprint fuelled by sentiment, Kenya’s slow but steady build-up is a marathon paced by science and soon to be guided, once adopted by the Nuclear Science and Technology Policy.

For a nuclear engineer with roots in Kibra, the constituency Baba served and as an alumnus of Maseno School, where his father taught, the project is not just about the cheap, clean and safe megawatts that will chase away darkness.

The nuclear plant is the continuation of the realism and courage that has imbued Baba’s life. When future generations switch on their lights, they will be illuminated by the light cast by one of the greatest statemen of our time.

They’ll inherit not just electricity but also proof that foresight eventually beats fashion and that leadership anchored in reason and realism endures long after slogans have faded.

Property agencies face daily fines of Sh10,000 for failing to register with the anti-money laundering watchdog, the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC), in a crackdown on corrupt business people and other criminals hiding wealth in real estate.

The anti-money laundering watchdog has turned the heat on the property and land dealers after only 112 of the targeted 1,504 agents registered with it. All real estate agencies have been directed to register with the FRC by November 14 or risk penalties for non-compliance, which include Sh25 million fines for institutions and Sh5 million fines for individuals.

Kenya will be required to substantially improve its collection of taxes to raise its credit score, global ratings agencies have said.

The country’s ratings from all three major agencies sit in the non-investment grade category at B- for Fitch, Caa1 for Moody’s and B for Standard and Poors (S and P).

Consumers could soon face a fresh levy on fuel and electricity as the government moves to introduce a special fund to finance energy projects and reduce loans.

Contributions from the energy sector will be one of the sources of money for the Consolidated Energy Fund (CEF). These contributions are likely to be in the form of a new charge on fuel or electricity to be collected from consumers.

You arrive at work, coffee in hand, ready to tackle the day. But your manager seems off, curt in meetings, impatient with questions, and unusually sharp in tone.

Before chalking it up to personality, consider this: they might just be sleep-deprived. Research in organisational behaviour and sleep science suggests that a leader’s sleep quality can significantly shape their behaviour at work – not just their mood, but their decision-making, communication style, and even ethical judgement. And the effects ripple far beyond the manager themselves.

In a multi-day field study tracking supervisors and their teams, researchers found that poor sleep on one night predicted more abusive supervisory behaviour the next day. This wasn’t a fixed trait; the same leaders behaved more positively after better sleep.

The study revealed a clear pattern: when leaders slept poorly, their capacity for self-control dropped. This affected the people around them, leading to more brittle interactions and disengaged teams.

The whole team is affected

This isn’t just about being cranky. Sleep deprivation impairs emotional regulation, reduces patience and increases impulsivity.

Tired managers are more likely to micromanage, react punitively and set an edgy tone, even when their team members are well-rested. These behaviours, in turn, reduce team engagement and discretionary effort. The result is a measurable dip in collective energy and productivity.

Despite the evidence, many organisations still glorify sleep deprivation. Executives who rise at 4am and start working before sunrise are often celebrated as paragons of discipline.

Read: How sufficient sleep prevents stress, mental health problems

For some, early starts align with their natural circadian rhythms, which regulate our sleep/wake cycle. But for many others, this schedule creates circadian misalignment – a mismatch between biological clocks and social demands – which degrades alertness, mood and long-term health.

Management scholars argue that this culture begins early, in business schools and leadership development programs, where short sleep is normalised as a badge of honour.

But the consequences are serious. Chronic sleep deprivation undermines learning, performance and wellbeing, cultivating leaders who are less resilient, less clear-headed and less engaging at precisely the moments that call for steadiness and persuasion.

Leaders aren’t aware of the value of sleep

Surveys suggest nearly half of leaders report sleep problems, and more than 65 percent are dissatisfied with how much sleep they get.

Alarmingly, over 40 percent regularly sleep six hours or less, well below the recommended seven to eight hours for adults. And more than 80 percent of leaders say that not enough effort was spent to educate them about the importance of sleep.

The short-term effects of sleep deprivation are well known:

daytime sleepiness

reduced attention span

and slower reaction times.

But the long-term consequences are even more concerning. Chronic sleep deprivation increases the risk of depression, addiction, obesity and metabolic disorders. It also impairs self-regulation, making individuals more prone to impulsive behaviours, from unhealthy eating to substance misuse.

For leaders, sleep isn’t just a health issue, it’s a performance issue. Studies show sleep-deprived leaders are less inspiring, less charismatic and, as mentioned earlier, more likely to be abusive towards their teams.

They struggle to manage their emotions, and often are not aware that their hostility stems from poor sleep. This can initiate a downward spiral: negative interactions lead to rumination and stress, which further disrupt sleep, perpetuating the cycle. Even a few nights of poor sleep can damage leader-follower relationships.

And the consequences extend to ethics. Sleep deprivation compromises moral awareness and increases the likelihood of unethical behaviour. One study found a 2.1-hour reduction in sleep led to a 10 percent decline in moral awareness.

Education can build a healthier workplace

Given the evidence, leadership development programs must take sleep seriously. Career sustainability for leaders means building mental and physical resilience to meet high job demands, and sleep is central to that.

Leaders also play a critical role in modelling healthy behaviours for their teams. By prioritising sleep, they can foster a culture of wellbeing and sustainable performance.

Unfortunately, sleep is still undervalued in many organisations. But that can change. By educating current and future leaders about the science of sleep, organisations can cultivate more effective, ethical and engaging leadership – and healthier workplaces overall.

So next time your manager seems unusually difficult, consider what kind of night they had. A short or restless sleep might be the invisible force shaping today’s workplace dynamics.

A legal battle pitting a Chinese company against the government over gold mining rights in Narok County has taken a new turn after the High Court allowed another firm, Tianjin Hongfengyuan Trading Co. Ltd, to join the dispute amid allegations of document forgery and defrauding of investors.

Justice Lucy Gacheru ruled that the Tianjin-based company demonstrated sufficient interest in the constitutional petition filed by Bao Gold Hill Kenya Limited in August.

Equity Group Holdings more than doubled its spending on staff training to Sh846.6 million last year in a bid to entrench regulatory compliance, fraud awareness, credit risk management and ethical conduct.

This represented a 167 percent increase from Sh317 million spent in 2023, according to the lender’s latest sustainability report.