Category: Business Daily

The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has offered a significant amnesty on port storage charges for long-stay containers as the import season begins, with more than 50 vessels set to dock in the next 14 days.

The Mombasa port manager has offered an 80 percent waiver on the accrued storage fees as one of the strategies to ease pressure on the port.

The KPA, in a notice to clients, outlined the terms for domestic and transit cargo, which is valid until November 6. Any cargo not cleared under the amnesty will be transferred to Naivasha Inland Container Depot (ICD).

‘This measure is expected to improve port efficiency by clearing up space currently occupied by aged cargo.

‘We intend to expedite the clearance of cargo by offering 80 percent amnesty on accrued storage fees,’ said KPA Managing Director William Ruto in an October 15, 2025, notice.

KPA said the waiver applies to long-stay containers that have been at the Mombasa port for more than 21 days from the date of the notice, and those affected cargo owners must lodge a waiver application to be considered for the reduction. While offering the amnesty, the KPA, however, warned that all long-stay transit containers that are not cleared within the notice period will be transferred to the Naivasha ICD.

‘This transfer will be at the owner’s cost. Furthermore, these containers shall attract normal storage charges from the date the container landed in Mombasa,’ Mr Ruto.

The announcement is issued at a time when the port is expected to handle a total of 50 vessels, with 34 accounting for container ships in the next 14 days.

According to the KPA port vessel schedule, Mombasa port will receive 11 conventional cargo vessels, four car carriers, and two oil tankers, with the influx benefiting the second commercial port, Lamu, which will handle seven container vessels during the period.

Read: Mombasa port container traffic hits a record in 2024

Shippers Council of Eastern Africa CEO Agayo Ogambi asked KPA to ensure services continue as scheduled during festivities to maintain efficiency, as October to December are peak importing months, as retailers replenish inventories and stock up for the holiday season.

KPA said it is undertaking a port cleaning exercise to free up yard areas and to maximise the use of all spaces to enhance safe and efficient operations and service delivery.

In the long term, KPA is expanding its container terminals with the old Kipevu Oil Terminal (KOT) already being demolished to expand berth 19.

The old KOT was decommissioned after the completion of a new facility, which has a capacity to handle four vessels.

KPA management is also working with CFS owners to expand their facilities to handle more cargo, which has remained the same for two decades despite increasing cargo flow.

‘Apart from port expansion, we are working with other stakeholders, including CFSs, to expand their facilities to accommodate increasing cargo throughput in the country,’ Mr Ruto said.

Last year, the port handled about 2.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (Teus) with a projection to reach 2.4 teus by the end of this year from 1.4 million in 2012.

Last week, organisations celebrated Customer Service Week, a time to recognise and reflect on the importance of exceptional customer experiences.

While the week was buzzing with activities and celebrations, the conversation around customer experience is timeless, especially as expectations evolve in a digital-first economy.

Artificial intelligence (AI), chatbots and predictive analytics have transformed how businesses deliver service, enabling faster responses, greater efficiency and proactive support. Yet, technology alone cannot secure customer loyalty. The most successful organisations will be those that integrate the efficiency of AI with the authenticity, empathy and trust that only human interactions can deliver. Today’s customers no longer compare brands, they compare experiences across sectors. Whether engaging with a retail leader or a fintech startup, consumers expect seamless, real-time interactions, consistent quality across all channels, with personalised and anticipatory support.

In this environment, AI has become a cornerstone of outstanding customer experience. From instant chatbot responses to predictive service models, businesses can now anticipate and respond to needs at unprecedented speed. Yet, technology alone is not enough, the emotional aspect of customer experience remains irreplaceable.

Customer experience is not only about resolving problems but also about how customers feel during every interaction. While AI tools can process queries instantly, they lack emotional intelligence. This is particularly critical in high trust industries such as finance, insurance and healthcare, where reassurance often matters more than the answer itself.

Case in point: clients who are less digitally fluent, particularly older demographics, often value patience, personal guidance and reassurance more than speed. Building trust with these clients means meeting them where they are, simplifying processes, avoiding jargon and following up to ensure comfort and confidence.

The future of customer experience lies in hybrid intelligence, the strategic collaboration between humans and AI. AI should handle repetitive, low-complexity tasks such as password resets, balance checks, among others. Humans should manage high-stakes, emotionally sensitive or complex interactions.

Artificial Intelligence is here to stay, and its potential is undeniable. But the future of customer experience is not about replacing people, it is about enhancing human strengths with technology.

AI can anticipate needs based on prior interactions and escalate seamlessly to human agents when necessary.

On the other hand, humans should manage high-stakes, emotionally sensitive or complex interactions, build trust through empathy, transparency, and personalization. Interpreting nuance and context that machines cannot fully grasp is also best done by humans.

By leveraging AI for efficiency and humans for relationship-building, businesses can create a service model that is both scalable and human-centered. To sustain customer loyalty in the AI era, organizations must focus on automation with a human lens by training AI systems continuously for relevance and accuracy. Companies should design clear escalation paths to live support, empower CX teams with data for personalized service, gather and act on customer feedback.

Trust is built when customers know that they will be understood, supported and respected whether interacting with a bot or a human.

As Kenya rises among the top users of ChatGPT globally, Jubilee Asset Management is embracing personalization at every step of the way. We connect with our clients by name, understand their story and tailor solutions that fit their goals. By listening and acting on feedback, we are redefining both our AI and human experiences to serve our customers better.

The most memorable brands will be those that balance efficiency with empathy, speed with sincerity and automation with authenticity. In the end, customers may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

Recently I came across a 1994 investigative information in Singapore by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB); the case of Choy Hon Tim, a former deputy chief executive (operations) of the Public Utilities Board (PUB).

Following many investigations and judicial trials, Choy was found to have taken bribes to assist a sub-contractor doing work for PUB, on several occasions. Even though, Choy fled the country, he was eventually brought back to Singapore and charged on October 27, 1995 for criminal conspiracy and accepting bribes totaling around $13.85 million. He was sentenced to prison for 14 years.

The Court of Appeal has granted 51 tea plantation workers, most of them women, allegedly infected with HIV/Aids by their managers, a lifeline to pursue justice after a 13-month delay in filing their appeal.

Justice Mohamed Warsame allowed the workers’ application for an extension of time, citing “exceptional circumstances” including missing court files, bureaucratic delays and the logistical nightmare of coordinating with witnesses under State protection.

Stella Mutheu, the estranged wife of hotelier William Osewe Guda, took a plea on Wednesday in a case in which her former husband has accused her of ousting him from one of their shared business through forgery.

Ms Mutheu was charged at the Milimani Criminal Courts with the offence of forging minutes and a share transfer document, transferring her 250 shares in Ranalo Foods Dala Limited to herself.

On this day, he was not the man who had served as MP, Cabinet minister and Prime Minister. He was not the man who had run for President five times.

He was just the East African Spectre director, who happened to love the factory more than the boardroom.

The late 1990s were a time when Kenyans were just getting used to the crisp sound of FM radio. The popular US urban music show Walt Baby Love heard on syndication through Nairobi’s Capital FM popularised an emerging movement rooted in the classic R and B and soul traditions of the 1960s and 70s, flavoured with a dash of traditional jazz, with underpinnings of hip-hop.

The artistes at the forefront of what came to be known as neo soul were Erykah Badu, Angie Stone, Maxwell, Jill Scott, and D’Angelo. The latter’s signature was an intricate soulful rhythm, delivered in a falsetto that immediately sparked comparisons with his idol, Prince, the preeminent R and B star of the previous decade.

Fans the world over sat up and took notice when D’Angelo released a rendition of Smokey Robinson’s Cruisin’ with a striking video shot in retro black and white.

The death of D’Angelo at the age of 51 from pancreatic cancer, announced on Tuesday this week, truly marks the end of an era. Tragically, the demise of the singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist comes just seven months after the passing of his mentor and former girlfriend, Angie Stone.

Michael Eugene Archer was born on February 11, 1974, the youngest of three sons. He sang in the choir of his grandfather’s church just outside the city of Richmond, Virginia. By the age of five, he was playing the organ for the church congregation, and in later years, he would also learn the piano, bass, guitar, and drums.

His music teacher in school described him as ‘James Brown, Michael Jackson, and Prince all wrapped into one’. In 1991, at the age of 17, he won the amateur hour at the iconic Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York, performing Rub You the Right Way by former New Edition singer Johnny Gill.

Archer dropped out of high school and moved to New York City in the early 1990s and was signed to his first publishing contract and eventually a recording deal with EMI Records. It was then that he took on what became his famous stage name, inspired by Italian sculptor Michelangelo.

For his first album Brown Sugar, D’Angelo was paired with singer and rapper Angie Stone, a more experienced recording artiste, who had made her career as a member of the group Sequence. Their relationship turned romantic and resulted in the birth of a child, Michael Archer Jr, in 1997.

‘Together, we were a threat because they know two heads are better than one,’ Stone told Ebony magazine in 2012, accusing sections of the music industry of driving a wedge between her and D’Angelo, which led to the collapse of the relationship.

Writer Faith A. Pennick describes D’ Angelo’s second album Voodoo released in January 2000, as one that not only tore down the walls between genres ‘but in effect vaporised his own well-made but in comparison musically straight-forward first album.’ It is not just the production and songwriting craft on the album that made it a classic, the optics were a factor too, right from the cover with D’Angelo baring his well-toned physique,

The album’s first single Untitled (How Does It Feel), a homage to Prince, gained notoriety thanks to a sexually charged video with images of D’Angelo’s sweaty tattoo-adorned torso. He explained that the inspiration for the song had been misconstrued: ‘I was thinking about a spiritual experience. I was thinking about the Holy Ghost, and at the end, when I had to bring the emotion through, that’s where I went to get it.’

Pennick states in her book Voodoo 33/3 that, as much as D’Angelo was hailed for his musicianship and songwriting, he did not get enough credit for his singing ability. ‘His church choir training, his passion and ability to switch from pillow softness to full-on gospel wailing make the songs on Voodoo that much richer and multidimensional, on record and live in concert.’

Voodoo was released in January 2000, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart and selling more than 1.7 million copies in the US alone. It won the Grammy for Best R and B Album and Untitled won Best Male R and B Vocal Performance but D’Angelo struggled to cope with the consequences of his portrayal in the video in subsequent years.

After the Voodoo tour, D’Angelo withdrew from the spotlight, returned to his hometown of Richmond, and, frustrated that the sex symbol image had overshadowed his art, took a hiatus from music. He slipped into alcohol and drug abuse.

Amid the shifts in economic conditions, businesses continually prioritise efficient cash management to preserve capital, generate returns while maintaining access to the funds. Business cashflow management requires balancing revenues with ongoing operational needs.

Revenues often fluctuate with seasons, industry cycles, or project timelines, whereas expenses such as payroll, supplier obligations, and statutory payments remain constant. Ensuring that funds are availed at the right time without lying idle is thus a major consideration in financial planning.

Liquidity is not only about meeting obligations but also maintaining the agility to take advantage of opportunities as they arise, whether that is securing inventory at favourable terms, investing in short-term growth projects or cushions against unplanned expenses. Current accounts are convenient for daily transactions but often offer negligible returns. With the inflation in July 2025 standing at 4.1 percent, the funds held in current account experience gradual loss in its real value.

Fixed deposits can be used as better yielding alternative for surplus cash, with the interest currently averaging at 8.37 percent as of June 2025, but are far less flexible as funds remain locked out to maturity.

Committing resources to longer-term financial instruments can further lock in much higher yields, yet this comes at the expense of quick access should business emergencies arise. As a result, businesses must carefully weigh the trade-off between returns and liquidity, while ensuring the capital is preserved.

Money market funds (MMFs) provide a strategic approach to managing surplus cash, allowing businesses and institutions to build working capital, invest short-term reserves, and cushion against inflation.

An MMF is a collective investment scheme that pools funds from investors and invests in short-term instruments such as Treasury bills, fixed and call deposits, and high-quality commercial paper.

Specifically designed to preserve capital while delivering steady returns and near-term liquidity, MMFs also diversify exposure across government securities, bank deposits, and corporate debt, reducing reliance on a single counterparty.

Additionally, unlike long-term financial instruments, MMFs provide quick access to funds, helping businesses cover payroll, pay suppliers, and handle unexpected expenses without disruption.

Beyond ensuring liquidity, MMFs provide businesses with competitive returns that track short-term interest rates, making them a reliable cash flow tool in shifting economic conditions.

Positioned at the short end of the yield curve, their performance closely follows interest rate cycles. When the central bank tightens the monetary policy, short-term securities reprice upwards, lifting MMF yields. When policy rates are cut to stimulate activity, MMF returns adjust downward but still remain higher than most savings accounts.

Yields on short-term securities throughout 2025 have generally trended downward with the 91-day Treasury bill currently at 7.98 percent per annum (p.a) and the 182-day at 8.03 percent p.a.

The Capital Markets Authority’s robust and transparent regulatory framework has further reinforced investors’ confidence in MMFs. For instance, according to the Capital Markets (Collective Investment Schemes) Regulations, 2023, MMFs must maintain highly liquid portfolios with a maximum weighted average tenor of 18 months or less, ensuring ready liquidity.

Additionally, trustees and custodians provide independent oversight, ensuring adherence to investment guidelines and investor protection.

Together, they create a governance structure that protects investors and enhances confidence in the MMF market. By ensuring safety, liquidity, and steady returns under a strong regulatory framework, MMFs have emerged as a strategic tool for Kenyan businesses to optimise cash flow while preserving capital.

According to the CMA’s Q2 2025 CIS Report, industry assets under management grew by Sh207.1 billion over six months – from Sh389.2 billion on December 31, 2024, to Sh596.3 billion on June 30, 2025 – representing a 53 percent growth.

With Money Market Funds (MMF) accounting to nearly two thirds of this AUM, this trend signals that investors are increasingly adopting MMFs as a primary savings and investment channel.

This dominance can further be mirrored in the market by licensed fund managers such as Madison Investment Managers Limited, which has grown its assets under management to over Sh23 billion across products including its MMF, Fixed Income Fund, and segregated funds.

According to Managing Director Rebecca Tiba, the rising popularity of MMFs demonstrates investors’ growing preference for these CMA-regulated short-term investment instruments.

Whether you’re managing household expenses, running a business or executing large-scale projects, MMFs offer an excellent way to earn on your cash before it’s utilised. They’re not just an investment but also a financial tool for smarter cashflow management for entrepreneurs, corporates and everyday savers.

Nearly three in four small traders in the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) register paid taxes in the financial year to June, outperforming large and medium-sized firms where only one in four companies remitted duty from their earnings.

Data obtained from the KRA suggests that micro and small enterprises in the turnover tax (ToT) register are becoming more compliant than large companies under corporate income tax (CIT), painting a striking contrast between the country’s informal and formal business segments.

A few years ago, a man dressed as a sad boar and dancing would not have been considered a business that would earn millions of shillings in profit. However, as more Kenyans become entrepreneurial, the mascot craze has swept across towns, with wacky characters being hired to lure visitors and investment.

You have seen them in shopping malls, hotel play areas, or even at a children’s party. The brightly coloured mascots spread joy, but they have also become a source of income for many.