Category: Business Daily

In his 2024 memoir, ‘Life in the Key of G’, legendary American smooth saxophonist wrote, ‘When you’re Kenny G, every day is a good hair day.’

This was confirmed on October 27 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, in the Tsavo Ballroom. At about 10.20pm, Kenneth Bruce Gorelick, aka Kenny G, swept onto the stage sporting a navy-blue suit and signature cascade curls. He looked every inch the living legend the packed house of 1,200 or more had come to see.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has appointed individuals recommended by stockbrokers to fill board vacancies in a move which could further ease tensions between the bourse and the traders.

Last week, the NSE picked Nancy Angano Noreh – a manager at Sterling Capital – as a non-executive director representing trading participants.

The Comesa Competition Commission (CCC) has granted conditional approval for a joint business agreement between British Airways (BA), Qatar Airways and the Spanish carrier Iberia, within the common market, following concerns that it would undermine competitiveness on the busy Nairobi-London route.

The agreement, which was inked in August 2023, allows the airlines to cooperate on scheduling of flights, tickets sales, fare pricing and inventory management, frequent flyer programme coordination, and joint handling and procurement of services.

Fifty-three percent of saccos exceeded the recommended maximum loan default rate of five percent in the year ended December 2024, with the value of bad debt surpassing Sh70 billion.

Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (Sasra) data shows 167 out of the 355 deposit-taking (DT) and non-withdrawable deposit-taking (NWDT) saccos kept their non-performing loans (NPLs) ratio below five percent.

The remaining 188 saccos under Sasra’s regulation posted default rates above the recommended maximum of five percent for co-operatives.

The five percent is the global benchmark adopted by the World Council of Credit Unions from the Basel framework – a set of international financial sector regulations.

The breaches in the NPL ratio occurred across the industry a year when the stock of defaulted loans rose by 10.6 percent to Sh70.87 billion, up from Sh64.06 billion in 2023.

In response to the increased number of defaults, saccos increased provisions for loan defaults to Sh58.61 billion from Sh53.79 billion.

Most sacco loans are secured by members’ deposits, and in cases of default, guarantors are required to repay the loans on behalf of the borrowers.

Sasra acting CEO David Sandagi said in an interview that there were positives in the year under review, given that DT saccos cut their NPL ratio to 8.56 percent from 8.6 percent in 2023, while that of NWDT saccos improved to 7.07 percent from 7.12 percent.

He added that Sasra continues to engage with saccos on improving their ratios and that the co-operatives bucked the trend last year by maintaining the lowest default rates in the financial sector.

During this period, the NPL ratio for commercial banks rose to 17.1 percent from 15.58 percent, while microfinance banks saw their default rate hit 33.6 percent from 27.99 percent.

‘Many saccos continued to show resilience as demonstrated by the decline in the NPL ratio. The NPL above five percent for different saccos speaks to the specific challenges in different sectors they draw most of their members from,’ said Mr Sandagi.

‘For instance, saccos with heavy leaning in the agricultural sector are likely to see a bit of elevated NPLs because of the cyclical challenges in the sector. We have seen saccos enhance cushioning through appropriate and adequate provision for loan losses and this speaks to prudence approach.’

He added that non-remittances have also impacted some saccos’ NPL ratios. For instance, Sh3.1 billion or 74.5 percent of the Sh3.49 billion that employers deducted from employees and failed to remit to saccos, related to loan repayments. The problem affected 85 saccos.

‘Higher defaults mean saccos take a hit on their net surplus given that they have to increase provisions to mitigate against the likely loan losses,’ said Mr Sandagi.

The Sacco Societies (Non-Deposit Taking Business) Regulations, 2020 require saccos to assess and provide for loan loss allowance at one percent for loans classified as performing, five percent for those under watch and 25 percent for those rated as substandard. Those classified as doubtful require 50 percent provisioning, while those classified as loss are provisioned fully.

Mauritius-based private equity firm Adenia Holdings is set to acquire insurance broker Minet as part of a pan-African deal that also expands its Kenyan portfolio, which includes supermarket chain QuickMart Limited.

Minet (Mauritius) Holdings Limited is incorporated in Kenya and offers insurance brokerage, consulting, claims management, insurance fraud investigation and pension fund administration services.

The insurance broker is among multiple similar businesses across the continent whose parent firm is South Africa’s private equity firm Capitalworks.

The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has authorised the Kenyan component of the transaction, whose value was not disclosed.

‘The Competition Authority of Kenya has approved the proposed acquisition of control of Minet (Mauritius) Holdings Limited by Bima Holdings Ltd unconditionally, since the transaction is unlikely to negatively impact competition in market for provision of insurance brokerage and pension administration services in Kenya, nor elicit negative public interest concerns,’ the regulator said in a statement.

CAK added that Bima Holdings, a new entity incorporated for purposes of this transaction, is among the businesses owned by Adenia besides QuickMart and ESS Equipment Kenya Limited.

Minet has a pan-African presence, including in Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique and Botswana.

‘The proposed transaction involves acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Minet Mauritius by Bima,’ the regulator said.

‘Bima indicated that the transaction is driven by commercial

considerations across the continent, and not with specific reference to Kenya. On the other hand, Minet Mauritius noted the proposed transaction aligns with its strategy to divest from its insurance brokerage business in Africa and realise gains.’

CAK noted that the deal would not harm competition in Kenya, adding that Minet has many competitors in the key services it offers.

Concerns about market dominance arise when a firm has a market share of more than 50 percent and it is difficult for rivals to join the business.

As of February 2025, Minet had a market share of 4.89 percent in pension administration.

Pension administrators, who are regulated by the Retirement Benefits Authority, provide services such as member enrolment and claims processing.

In the life insurance agency business, Minet held less than one percent of the market in 2023.

‘Further, the number of insurance agents has constantly increased from 10,471 in 2019 to 14,648 in 2023 while brokers have steadily increased from 220 in 2019 to 226 in 2023,’ CAK said.

The regulator noted that the acquired business will face competition from other market players accounting for over 90 percent market share nationally.

‘Therefore, the structure and concentration of the market provision of insurance brokerage and pension administration services in Kenya will not be affected,’ CAK said.

‘Premised on the foregoing, the proposed transaction is unlikely to substantially lessen or prevent competition in the market for the provision of insurance brokerage and pension administration services in Kenya.’

Insurance firms in Kenya distribute products directly or through intermediaries like insurance brokers and agents. According to the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), in 2023, 49.9 percent of the total industry premium was sourced through insurance agents, 30.3 percent through insurance brokers and 19.9 percent through direct business.

The National Housing Corporation’s plan to build 2,820 affordable houses in Athi River under the public-private partnership (PPP) model has flopped after the bidding firms failed to meet the pre-qualification test.

Disclosures by the National Treasury PPP Directorate show that the NHC, the project owner, found that none of the firms that had expressed an interest met the necessary conditions to bid.

NHC began plans to build the houses in a project dubbed Stoni Athi Affordable Housing in May last year. The project also entailed the construction of an additional 200 houses, priced at market rates.

The collapse of the pre-qualification bid threatens to derail NHC’s efforts to set up the houses as part of the government’s wider efforts to build hundreds of thousands of affordable houses.

‘The Request for Qualification (RFQ) was re-issued on 20th May 2025 and closed in August 2025. The tender was non-responsive. Consultations are underway to determine the way forward,’ the PPP Directorate says.

An RFQ, also known as Invitation for Expressions of Interest, allows a contracting authority (in this case, the NHC) to set the minimum requirements for any firm interested in the PPP deal.

An RFQ reduces the risk of a project failing, but an overly restrictive process may put off interested investors.

The project will be carried out in two phases, each with a two-year construction period and a one-year off-take period.

The PPP Directorate allowed NHC to proceed to appoint a private firm for the project in May last year.

NHC -the State entity tasked with developing low-cost houses to ease access to quality homes- did not disclose the estimated cost of this project.

The government is partly using the NHC to build some of the 250,000 affordable houses targeted for construction across the country annually.

NHC has previously said that 50 percent of the houses it will build under the government’s housing agenda will be under the affordable homes, 30 percent at market prices and the remaining 20 percent under the social housing.

The State-owned firm has built housing projects (residential and offices) in several parts of the country, including Athi River, Kisumu and Nyeri. The price of the residential units starts from Sh5.35 million, while the monthly rent is upwards of Sh20,000.

NHC plans to set up the affordable houses on 700 acres across the country, with the firm freeing up 650 acres, while counties will provide the remaining space.

Efforts by the NHC to sell some of its ready houses across Kenya have backfired, with an audit report revealing that the firm was stuck with hundreds of units valued at Sh1.27 billion as at June 2024.

The government has shaken up the board of Consolidated Bank of Kenya Ltd (CBKL) amid the pending privatisation of the State-owned lender that has been grappling with falling deposits, a dwindling loan book, increased impairment costs and capital constraints.

CBKL and another State-owned lender, the Development Bank of Kenya, are lined up for sale as the government attempts to cut reliance on the Exchequer, with the recouped money being channelled into development projects.

A growing number of giant construction firms, which won big-ticket jobs under the late president Moi’s reign, have run into financial headwinds after losing ground in a transformed infrastructure landscape dominated by Chinese players.

Crescent Construction Company is the latest in a string of cash-strapped legacy contractors to face auction, having missed out on the building boom that began under the Look-East policy introduced during the late President Kibaki’s tenure.

The podium that stood at the centre of Uhuru Park for many years is no more. For the average Kenyan adult, it occupied a space of gathering for political, civil, cultural and religious purposes.

The promulgation of Kenya’s new Constitution was celebrated here on August 27, 2012. Presidential inaugurations have been held here and numerous political and social rallies hosted at the Park.

The government has set a March 31, 2026 deadline for the listing of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, a decision that sets a six-month window to complete the firm’s privatisation process.

This marks another delay; President William Ruto had previously stated that the company’s initial public offering (IPO) would be done by September 2025.