Category: Business Daily

Mobile applications and social media platforms such as WhatsApp are now the primary drivers of e-commerce in Kenya, surpassing traditional websites as the preferred channels for placing and receiving online orders, a new survey shows.

The survey by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) indicates that mobile apps account for 44.8 percent of all order placements and receipts, while online messaging platform WhatsApp has emerged as a major shopping channel at 20.2 percent. This is amid a boom in conversational commerce, where buyers and sellers interact directly.

‘Better a flawed diamond than a pebble’ said Confucious 2,500 years ago.

What can we learn from someone who at age seven – as a new immigrant to the US – learned English from his mother, who herself did not speak English? If you love what you do, does stale conventional thinking about ‘work life balance’ not apply? Could you work 14 hours a day, seven days a week and thrive?

The Persons with Disabilities Act of 2025 represents an overhaul of Kenya’s disability rights framework. It gives effect to the constitutional rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in an approach that has major implications for every business operating in Kenya.

The law restructures the National Council for Persons with Disabilities and expands its functions and powers. It establishes essential laws that all state agencies, public officials, persons, business associations, and civil society organisations must follow. The focus is on respecting inherent dignity and individual autonomy to promote equality and non-discrimination.

These principles form the foundation for all obligations and rights established under the Act, creating a framework that extends far beyond traditional disability accommodations.

The Act imposes various obligations on employers. For instance, it now imposes an express obligation on employers not to discriminate against a PWD in job application procedures, hiring, advancement, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.

Where an employer has at least 20 employees, five percent of direct employment opportunities must be reserved for PWDs to secure employment. This is a bold inclusion measure, but it may be difficult for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) or specialised industries to meet in practice.

Employers will need to formulate policies and systems to promote basic human rights, improve working conditions, and enhance job opportunities for PWDs. And there will be a few rules:

When recruiting, employers are not permitted to discriminate based on disability. Second, firms may not conduct any examination to establish whether an applicant is a PWD or as to the nature or severity of a person’s disability.

Thirdly, employers are required to carry out appropriate modifications in their work premises to accommodate hiring of PWDs. And lastly, the age of retirement for PWDs is above the mandatory one set by the government.

What’s more, the Act provides that no PWD shall be dismissed or suffer any reduction in rank on the grounds of disability or acquiring any disability.

Suppose any employee with a disability is placed under undue stress or disadvantage in the usual course of employment as a result of their disability? In that case, that employee shall be eligible for a position at the same rank with adequate support.

The Act also establishes new standards for suitable entries and exits, universal design standards, accessible facilities at transport hubs, and proper building access.

The council may even issue adjustment orders for inaccessible premises, services, or amenities, requiring owners to undertake necessary modifications at their own expense within specified timeframes.

Failure to comply with an adjustment order is punishable by a fine of up to Sh5 million or imprisonment for up to five years. But this isn’t without its incentives: The law rewards compliance with significant tax benefits.

Private employers who engage, improve, or modify physical facilities or provide special services to accommodate disabled employees are entitled to a taxable income deduction equal to 25 percent of the salary and wages of the disabled staff.

An employer that improves or modifies its physical facilities or provides special services to provide reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities shall be entitled to apply for additional deductions from its net taxable income equivalent to 50 percent of the direct costs of the improvements, modifications, or special services.

These tax incentives extend to workplace modifications, assistive technology costs, and reasonable accommodation expenses, creating a financial framework that rewards inclusive employment practices.

The Act demands immediate attention because non-compliance results in severe penalties and inaccess to financial incentives. In practice, its scope includes both employment settings like quotas, workplace policies, and reporting, and daily life contexts like public transportation, infrastructure, and service delivery.

Businesses must distinguish between obligations related to employment and those connected to customer or public access, as compliance strategies vary significantly.

The nature of the Act’s provisions means compliance requires a holistic approach to address employment practices, physical accessibility, service delivery, information provision, and staff training.

Businesses looking to ensure compliance with the new legal requirements under the Act, and to promote an inclusive workplace for PWDs, should take the following immediate steps should be taken:

Conduct an internal audit of PWDs’ representation to assess compliance with the 5 percent quota.

Update human resource policies to include non-discrimination, accommodation procedures, and reporting obligations.

Budget for workplace modifications and explore available tax deductions.

Establish a reporting mechanism to prepare annual returns for the Council.

Train managers and human resource staff on the Act’s provisions and how they differ from everyday non-employment obligations.

The Kenya Revenue Authority’s bid to net extra billions of shillings from large American multinationals through a minimum effective corporate tax rate of 15 percent has suffered a major setback following a new exemption deal brokered by US President Donald Trump.

The US and more than 145 countries this week reached an agreement exempting US-headquartered companies from the global minimum corporate tax that was negotiated under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Countries organise themselves into regional blocs for political and socio-economic reasons. These groupings protect shared interests and strengthen collective bargaining power. Behind the many trade principles lies the most powerful and least understood: rules of origin.

Rules of origin determine which country’s tariff, quota or sanction applies to an imported good, effectively assigning products their economic nationality. What was once a technical customs concept has become increasingly consequential.

Rules of origin fall into two categories: preferential and non-preferential. Preferential rules, embedded in free-trade agreements, decide if a product qualifies for reduced or zero tariffs in a bloc.

Non-preferential rules apply outside such agreements – governing anti-dumping duties, countervailing measures, safeguards, quotas, sanctions and trade statistics.

The criteria have been straightforward. A good is considered originating if it is ‘wholly obtained’ in one country – such as agricultural produce or minerals – or ‘substantially transformed’ there through meaningful manufacturing or processing.

However, these ‘usual criteria’ are becoming less usual. The shift is clearest in the US. President Donald Trump brings into the open what many politicians and trade specialists prefer to keep obscured. Under his influence, Washington has begun to rethink what rules of origin actually mean.

The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement signals a potential break with long-standing practice. A new principle is emerging; sovereign control rather than physical presence.

Under this approach, origin would depend on who owns, controls and directs the producer. The objective is to prevent Chinese firms from establishing factories in Mexico in order to gain preferential access to the US market.

Europe is moving in a similar direction. Under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, fish caught outside territorial waters qualify as ‘originating’ only if the vessels are registered, flagged and at least 50 per cent owned by nationals or companies of either the UK or the EU.

Rules of origin, once a dry customs exercise, are being repurposed as instruments of geopolitical screening.

The High Court has barred the Treasury from releasing contract payments to a firm awarded a tender linked to the State-run Integrated Financial Management Information System (Ifmis) due to a debt of Sh212.8 million due to its business partner.

Enforcing an arbitration-backed decree stemming from the technology tender, the judge ruled that while government assets cannot be seized, the law permits attaching debts owed by the government to third parties.

The High Court has temporarily stopped the government from implementing the higher standards levy, which was gazetted in August last year.

The is after a political party challenged the imposition of the legal notice, arguing that its adoption would cripple the manufacturing sector.

Dumping of plastic carrier bags remains the most prevalent environmental offence reported to regulators, highlighting persistent compliance gaps that continue to raise environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks for manufacturers, retailers, and logistics firms.

The government of Kenya banned the manufacture, importation, and use of plastic carrier bags and flat bags on March 14, 2017. The enforcement of the ban started in September the same year.

Local generation of electricity between July and October last year grew for the first time since 2022 helped by a rise in geothermal sources helping doge a deepening crisis amid increased power demand.

From gym lockers to office desks across the country, jars of pink salt and fiery red pepper are appearing as the latest wellness hack. But can a glass of warm water with Himalayan salt and cayenne pepper really flush toxins, boost metabolism, promote weight loss, and lower high blood pressure?

According to experts, the answer is no.