Category: Business Daily

The way Roy Kinyua, the Regional Group Chef of Serena Hotels speaks about turkeys, one would be forgiven to think he grew up farming them. Forgiven but wrong.

It happens like clockwork. One year grinds to a stop. The next one starts right up. And the promises begin to flow.

‘This year I won’t do this or that,’ one will declare. ‘New year, new me!’ they insist.

‘This is the year that I do such and such,’ another swears on social media. ‘It’s my year of becoming!’ they caption a carousel of images showcasing the running gear they already bought in anticipation.

And they mean every one of those words. They shut down the open tab at their favourite local joint, get a fitness coach, and do a dry lap of their running route. They even manage to post, ‘One month into my health journey,’ without it being a lie. And then it goes quiet. No more progress to report.

But there are some, a few, who, when the year grinds to a halt, and the next begins, are still found in the wagon. They may be bruised and their shoes dusty, but a glow emanates from within them. Their eyes dance with knowledge and insight, and they acquire a hunger for more.

We caught up with a handful of these bright-eyed individuals who saw their goals through to the end of the year.

Vee Nyambura: Building strength, balance and consistency

Veronica ‘Vee’ Nyambura, an AI automation specialist and projects coordinator at Sagan Recruitment, wasn’t chasing a dramatic transformation. She simply wanted to feel stronger, have more energy, and improve her posture.

‘My goal was to lose a few kilos, tone up, and build a healthier routine overall,’ she says. ‘I wanted to create a lifestyle where movement was a natural part of my day.’

A long-time runner, Ms Nyambura says her motivation came from realising that her progress tended to rise and fall periodically.

‘A short break would undo everything,’ she explains. ‘I needed a more balanced and consistent routine, something that would build lasting results.’

Her approach unfolded in phases. She began with intermittent fasting, an 18:6 routine that involved fasting for 18 hours and eating within a six-hour window. She is quick to emphasise that this method works differently for everyone and advises consulting a professional before trying it.

‘For me, this rhythm, paired with short 2-3km runs three or four times a week, worked beautifully.’

But it wasn’t enough. Craving more structure, she joined a gym and committed to five sessions a week, with one day dedicated to a 4-6km run ‘just to keep the heart honest.’

Then came the diet overhaul. Wheat and soda were the first to go, in what she jokes was ‘a messy breakup’. She replaced them with healthier carbohydrates: sweet potatoes, nduma, alongside proteins and vegetables. Lots of vegetables. They accompany every meal.

Hydration became non-negotiable, with at least two litres of water daily. And finally, sleep – a minimum of seven hours – took its rightful place in her wellness plan.

‘I learnt that rest isn’t a luxury; it’s part of the workout.’

Piece by piece, these changes came together to create a routine that felt sustainable, energising and enjoyable. But it was not a perfect process.

‘There were days when my 18:6 fasting turned into 10:14, and some mornings when the gym felt like a distant dream and I couldn’t get myself through the door,’ she admits. But she never let it spiral.

‘Every time I slipped, I reminded myself that consistency is not a straight line. Some days you show up at 100 percent, and some days you only have 40 percent to give, and that still counts,’ she says.

‘What mattered most was getting back up the next day and choosing the routine again. Over time, the plan didn’t just evolve; I evolved with it.’

Interestingly, Ms Nyambura does not frame her hardest moments as challenges, but as sacrifices, particularly time.

‘Some days, finding even 30 minutes felt like a stretch,’ she confesses. ‘And convincing yourself to leave the warmth of your bed on those chilly July mornings? That’s a battle. You negotiate with yourself like it’s a hostage situation.’

Through this struggle, she learnt something important.

‘You don’t need huge blocks of time to transform your body,’ she says. ‘Some days all I could manage was a short run, a quick workout, or a simple stretch session. But once I started treating those small pockets of time as investments instead of inconveniences, everything changed.’

Today, Ms Nyambura weighs 58kg, down from 65kg. She feels stronger, is more toned and more confident in her body. But the most meaningful progress has been internal.

‘I’m calmer, more focused, and I handle stress so much better now,’ she says. ‘Working out stopped being about how I look; it became about feeling grounded, balanced and energised.’ Then she adds with a laugh, ‘I still want to look better!’

She also credits the physical effort with strengthening her mental resilience.

‘It’s amazing how sticking to a routine, pushing through tough workouts and showing up on hard days made me more disciplined, resilient and confident in other areas of my life.’

Not everything worked. Some workouts failed to deliver results, some foods didn’t agree with her, and she had to keep adjusting routines. All of this, she says, is part of the journey.

‘Nothing needs to be written in stone. Your body is always your best guide,’ she says. ‘Every ‘didn’t work’ is a lesson nudging you towards what truly does. Listening, adapting and being gentle with yourself makes all the difference.’

Her next chapter involves getting more toned and exploring movement beyond the gym – swimming, yoga, pilates, even dance – to challenge her body in new ways and make fitness more fun.

To those setting goals for 2026, her advice is simple.

‘Start where you are, however you can. Ten minutes, twenty, an hour-it all counts,’ she says. ‘Fitness isn’t a race, nor is it about perfection. It’s a journey with no destination.’

Maurice Mutwiri: Lean muscle, speed and discipline

Maurice Mutwiri, or Coach Maurice as he is better known, helps others achieve their fitness, nutrition and wellness goals. But this year, he became his own most demanding client. His target: 85kg of pure, lean muscle.

‘My previous goal had been to bulk up, which I did. But when you’re bulking up, putting on some fat is inevitable,’ he says. ‘So this year I wanted to shed the fat and drop the weight from 93kg to 85kg.’

That wasn’t all he was after. He also wanted to pack on more muscle and improve his speed, to become, as he puts it, ‘a big bad machine with speed’. The plan was simple: hybrid training and a caloric deficit.

‘In addition to lifting weights, I introduced running into my routine. I’m currently training for a marathon,’ he reveals. ‘And when it comes to nutrition, since the idea is to lean out, I need to consume fewer calories than my body burns. So I did the calculations based on my age, height and weight, and now I track and measure my proteins, carbs, vegetables – everything – before consumption.’

His motivation? Aesthetics. He is unapologetic about caring how his body looks.

Billionaire Elon Musk came to East Africa on a mission to vanquish the region’s two dominant mobile network operators, Safaricom and Airtel, but instead made peace with them and formed a partnership.

The key difference, however, lies in how Starlink is working with each telco. Safaricom is using satellites to strengthen its existing network, whereas Airtel is enabling phones to connect directly to Starlink satellites.

Under the agreement announced last month, Safaricom will primarily use Starlink satellites to transfer data between remote base stations and the core network, improving coverage without customers needing to interact directly with satellite serviceThis month’s deal with Airtel Africa, on the other hand, allows ordinary phones to connect directly to satellites (direct-to-cell), eliminating the need for specialised devices or hardware installations.

These two models are reshaping how satellite technology is being adopted into Kenya’s telecoms market and the way users experience connectivity beyond traditional fibre and mobile infrastructure.

‘A Safaricom user won’t know they’re using satellite backhaul; it’s a technology within the network. Mobile networks in Kenya already have satellite backhaul to a few hundred sites in remote parts of the country,’ says Ben Roberts, principal advisor at consulting firm Digital Economy Advisors Limited.

‘For Airtel’s direct-to-cell, it means your phone can work anywhere even in the remotest spots that are currently dead zones,’ he adds.

These developments signal a shift from direct retail competition towards integration within existing telecommunications infrastructure and follow the American multinational’s two-year attempt to assert dominance in a rapidly digitalising economy.

The contrast between Starlink’s agreements with the country’s leading telcos highlights two distinct models for deploying satellite connectivity within Kenya’s mobile market.

Disruption and slow growth

While Safaricom’s partnership with Starlink focuses on using satellites for data backhaul to reinforce network coverage in remote areas, Airtel Africa’s agreement centres on direct-to-cell connectivity, enabling phones to connect without terrestrial towers.

Starlink entered the Kenyan market in July 2023 as a retail satellite internet provider, offering high-speed connectivity at a lower price than most fibre and fixed wireless alternatives.

The entry disrupted the internet service provider (ISP) market, triggering pricing adjustments and infrastructure investments among incumbent players seeking to retain customers in underserved and peri-urban regions.

Safaricom responded by raising regulatory and security concerns, arguing that uncoordinated satellite operations posed risks to network integrity, spectrum management and national communications oversight.

These objections culminated in legal challenges and formal submissions to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), calling for tighter controls on satellite internet licensing.

Despite this resistance, Starlink gained traction among users in areas with limited fibre penetration and inconsistent mobile broadband coverage.

However, by mid-2024, Starlink’s growth slowed after the company froze new subscriptions in parts of Nairobi, citing capacity constraints caused by high user density.

The freeze highlighted technical limitations of satellite networks in densely populated urban environments and prompted a reassessment of Starlink’s expansion strategy.

Rather than pursuing aggressive retail growth, Starlink began positioning itself as a complementary infrastructure provider to mobile network operators. allowing its subsidiaries to integrate and resell Starlink services.

Satellite partnerships

Under the arrangement, Safaricom is authorised to use Starlink satellite capacity for data relay within its mobile network, particularly in rural and remote locations.

The partnership enables Safaricom to extend coverage without constructing extensive fibre links or additional base stations in sparsely populated areas.

For users, the service remains indistinguishable from conventional mobile connectivity, relying on existing Safaricom SIM cards, devices and pricing structures.

The satellite component operates in the background to support network performance, rather than functioning as a standalone consumer internet product.

Meanwhile, Safaricom continues to maintain other satellite partnerships, including an earlier agreement with Vodafone and AST SpaceMobile focused on satellite-to-phone connectivity.

The Kenyan market leader has stated that it will use multiple satellite providers to address different coverage and resilience requirements.

Airtel Africa’s partnership with Starlink, on the other hand, follows a different deployment model focused on direct-to-cell technology.

The arrangement allows standard mobile phones to connect directly to satellites only in areas without mobile signal, acting as a fallback rather than a primary connectivity option.

This model is intended to support users in remote regions, border areas, offshore locations, and sparsely populated zones where building mobile towers is not commercially viable.

Unlike Safaricom’s backhaul-focused integration, Airtel’s approach makes satellite connectivity available directly to end users during coverage gaps.

This reflects Airtel’s smaller terrestrial infrastructure footprint compared to Safaricom’s, as well as its strategy of extending reach without heavy capital expenditure.

Regulatory view

For regulators, these partnerships offer greater accountability by routing satellite services through licensed mobile operators rather than standalone providers.

The CA has previously indicated that it relies on international frameworks, including the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), to manage satellite operations due to their cross-border nature.

‘From a regulatory point of view, direct-to-cell will be more complex since these are nationally allocated frequencies. So coordination, especially near country borders, will be needed,’ observes Roberts.

Routing satellite connectivity through mobile operators also aligns with national objectives to expand universal access while maintaining oversight of critical communications infrastructure.

Despite its early disruption, data shows that Starlink remains a minor player in Kenya’s retail internet market.

As of September 2025, Starlink accounted for just 0.8 percent of the local fixed internet market share with a total of 19,470 users, having added 2,045 new subscriptions in three months.

During the same period, terrestrial internet providers added significantly more users, reinforcing the dominance of fibre and mobile broadband in urban centres.

Safaricom, for instance, added 79,288 fixed internet customers during the period, raising its market share to 35.6 percent from 34.3 percent in June.

Starlink’s partnerships, therefore, reflect a strategic repositioning towards wholesale and infrastructure roles rather than mass-market retail expansion.

The shift has coincided with improvements in internet speeds and service quality across the market due to increased competition.

In response to Starlink’s entry, existing providers upgraded their networks and adjusted their pricing to retain customers.

President William Ruto publicly welcomed Starlink’s entry into Kenya, noting that increased competition had improved service delivery among established providers.

Satellite integration

Elon Musk has maintained a visible presence in Kenya through Starlink’s operations, positioning the country as a key African market for satellite connectivity.

Beyond consumer internet, Starlink’s infrastructure supports connectivity for government services, education platforms, health facilities, and mobile money systems in remote locations.

Safaricom’s shift from regulatory opposition to partnership further illustrates the sector’s adjustment to satellite integration.

The telco has acknowledged that partnerships offer faster and more cost-effective routes to extending coverage compared to exclusive reliance on fibre rollout.

Airtel’s deployment reflects similar economic considerations, using satellite connectivity to close gaps where traditional infrastructure investment is constrained.

Satellite connectivity now functions as an enabling layer within Kenya’s telecom ecosystem rather than a competing retail alternative.

The evolution marks a stabilisation of Starlink’s role following its disruptive market entry over two years ago.

Kenyan retail traders are upgrading their playbook. They want smarter analysis, steadier risk control, and platforms that fit M-Pesa-powered routines and mobile-first habits. Artificial intelligence and social allocation features are filling that gap by compressing research time and translating complex market behaviour into simple actions.

Many beginners start by exploring copy trading as a low-barrier way to participate while they learn core concepts. The idea is simple. You can mirror strategies from experienced traders or models and keep full control of your risk settings. When combined with AI screeners, the experience shifts from chasing signals to running a basic portfolio that fits a Nairobi or Mombasa schedule.

Understanding Why AI Matters In Kenya

Kenyan traders juggle work and study with limited windows during London and early New York hours. AI tools automate the heavy lifting. They scan pairs, cluster patterns, and rank setups by quality. Instead of scrolling through charts, you review a shortlist with reasons attached. This saves data and time while keeping focus on execution and risk.

How Copy Features Support Discipline

Copy is not only about following someone else. The stronger apps let you allocate small slices to multiple strategies with clear loss limits. You can pause or cut exposure when spreads widen. You can see per strategy performance and decide what to keep. That structure helps beginners avoid oversized bets and gives experienced users a way to diversify across styles.

Where AI Delivers The Most Value

AI models are useful at three decision points. First, regime detection. The tool can tag the market as trending or range-bound and suggest tactics that fit. Second, risk sizing. By learning from your history, the system can suggest a smaller size when your results dip and a larger size when conditions match your strengths. Third, timing. The tool can alert you when volatility rises near news and ask you to reduce risk.

Why Kenyans Are Adopting These Tools Now

Mobile money and fast data bundles have made funding and withdrawals more convenient. Education content is better and easier to access. Local communities discuss execution quality, not only entry patterns. Traders compare spreads, slippage, and fill rates across sessions. AI and copy features fit this more mature conversation by making the process measurable.

Key Benefits For Everyday Users

Clarity is the first gain. You get explanations tied to each alert, such as rising volatility with supportive momentum. Consistency is the second gain. Risk caps and allocation rules reduce emotional decisions. Speed is the third gain. With a ranked list of setups, you act when liquidity is strong and stand aside when the market is thin.

What To Check Before You Commit

Transparency of performance data and simple explanations for strategy changes

Clear cost presentation that reflects spreads, commissions, and overnight financing

Risk controls at the account and strategy level with daily and weekly loss caps

Access to statements, downloadable trade logs, and time-stamped alerts

Support that answers within published service targets during peak hours

How Kenyan Traders Use AI And Copy Together

Nairobi professionals use AI filters to pre-screen opportunities, then put small allocations into two or three uncorrelated strategies.

University students in Eldoret run a demo to validate alerts during the evening, then mirror only the strategies that show clean execution at a small size.

Small business owners in Nakuru keep exposure low during month end, then raise it slightly when cash flow stabilises, and volatility fits their plan.

Practical Tips For Smarter Usage

Start with a written rule for risk per trade and a weekly circuit breaker. Keep notes on each alert and the action taken. Record spread and slippage during entry and exit so you see your true cost. Review once a week and remove any strategy that adds heat without improving the equity curve. Protect your time by trading only during sessions that match liquidity and personal focus.

Education That Actually Helps

Good apps explain decisions in short sentences. Trend model weight reduced due to falling momentum and widening spreads. These notes teach faster than long courses because they attach lessons to live situations. Over a month you will recognise recurring patterns and you will adjust faster with less stress.

Common Pitfalls To Avoid

Do not judge by the best three weeks on a leaderboard. Look for performance across calm, normal, and stressed markets. Do not concentrate in one idea dressed up as three strategies. If all models trade USDKES momentum, your risk is not diversified. Do not remove loss limits after a few wins. Limits exist for the day you least expect.

A Simple Kenya Centric Starter Plan

Run a two-week demo that includes at least one major news day and one quiet Friday

Allocate a small size across one trend model, one mean reversion model, and one news-aware model

Set a daily loss cap and a weekly stop that pauses all activity when hit

What The Next Year Could Bring

Expect better explanations, simpler dashboards, and safer default settings. Community data will help rank strategies by stability, not just by return. Execution reports will show typical spreads by time and the distribution of slippage so you can plan entries at minutes that align with liquidity. Education will move toward short modules tied directly to the app workflow.

Final Takeaway For Kenyan Traders

AI and copy features are tools for discipline, not a shortcut to certainty. Used well, they reduce noise, enforce risk standards, and make learning continuous. The path is to keep allocations modest, measure costs carefully, and let a rules-based process guide adjustments. That is how Kenyan traders can turn mobile first access into steady progress across Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and beyond.

Ask any Kenyan about their December plans and you’ll hear meticulous details: which transport they’re using, what time they’re leaving to beat traffic, which mbuzi has been earmarked for the feast, even which relatives they are visiting. We are exceptional planners during the festive season. But mention insurance, and the conversation shifts.

‘We’ll be fine,” we say. ‘Nothing will happen’. “We anticipate everything-except the possibility that something might go wrong. And that’s precisely when it does.

I’m not here to dampen the festive spirit. By all means, you deserve it. But if you want that grand holiday and a smooth January start, your preparation needs to go beyond booking transport, dinner, and buying groceries. Last December alone, 466 Kenyans died on our roads-a 10 percent increase from 2023.

Behind each statistic is a family whose celebration ended in crisis, many without adequate cover to cushion the financial devastation that follows. The festive season, for all its joy, carries heightened risks. The question isn’t whether accidents will happen during December-it’s whether your family will be protected when they do.

Yet, the numbers tell a troubling story. Insurance penetration in Kenya stands at just 2.4 percent of GDP, with most policies being the mandatory third-party motor cover.

Voluntary protection-personal accident, comprehensive health, life insurance-remains drastically underutilised. But here’s the catch: third-party only covers the other vehicle if you cause an accident.

Your own car-the one carrying your family upcountry-gets nothing if you’re hit, if you skid, or if a pothole causes damage.

During December, when you’re doing more mileage than the entire year combined, that gap becomes glaring.

If you’re in a bus with only third-party cover, most passengers walk away with nothing. Families are left navigating funeral arrangements and medical bills that can take years to repay, if ever.

Beyond the roads, December presents a perfect storm of vulnerability. Consider your home: locked up for two weeks while you’re upcountry, perhaps with a neighbour occasionally checking in. You’ve secured the doors, maybe even hired a watchman. But electrical faults don’t wait for your return, and neither do determined burglars.

A single incident such as a fire from faulty wiring, or a break-in, can undo years of investment.

Small businesses face similar exposure. That shop or workshop you’ve closed for the holidays sits unattended. Lightning strikes. Vandals break in. Pipes burst. I’ve watched business owners return in January to devastation that insurance could have cushioned, forced to restart from scratch instead of hitting the ground running in the new year.

Then there’s the risk we discount entirely: personal injury. December means hiking with friends, trying new adventure sports, long hours driving on unfamiliar roads. Active, healthy people assume accidents only happen to the careless. But personal accident cover isn’t about carelessness, it’s about unpredictability.

A twisted ankle on a hike, a collision despite driving carefully, or a slip at a family gathering. Without cover, a minor injury can derail your finances for months.

Now, let’s talk about December economics. You’re paid on the 21st, then nothing until January 31st. That makes it 40 days navigating school fees, rent, and the bills you deferred.

This timing makes every festive risk exponentially more expensive. That smartphone pickpocketed in a crowded event? You’re now stuck with a feature phone until February.

That car accident requiring repairs? You’re choosing between fixing it and paying school fees. That medical emergency? You’re starting the year in debt. Insurance doesn’t just protect against loss, it protects against loss at the worst possible financial moment.

Year after year at Kenya Orient Insurance, we see the same pattern: December claims spike, not because Kenyans become reckless, but because exposure increases. More travel, more activity, more properties left vulnerable. The families who weather these storms best aren’t the lucky ones; they’re the ones who planned for the “what if.”

So why the gap? There are two misconceptions that persist. First, is that insurance is expensive, reserved for the wealthy. The reality is that many comprehensive covers cost less than a monthly phone bill, with flexible payment plans.

Second, is that “it won’t happen to me.” But accidents don’t discriminate based on optimism. Insurance doesn’t prevent tragedies; it prevents tragedies from becoming catastrophes.

This December, by all means, celebrate. Enjoy that mbuzi, the family time, the break you’ve earned. But add one more item to your meticulous planning should be the “what if” cover. Not because you’re pessimistic, but because you’re thorough.

The same instinct that makes you leave early to beat traffic should make you ensure your family is protected if that traffic turns dangerous.

True peace of mind isn’t hoping nothing goes wrong. It’s knowing you’re covered when something does.

If Kenya is genuinely committed to attaining a development status comparable to Singapore, the starting point is not infrastructure, legislation, or foreign capital; it is mindset.

Nations rise or stagnate first in the collective psychology of their leadership and citizens.

Before Singapore became a global hub for finance, logistics, and innovation, it became a disciplined, purpose-driven society with a shared mental model of success.

Kenya’s ambition to transform into a high-income, globally competitive economy must, therefore, begin with a deliberate and sustained shift in national mindset.

A mindset shift is fundamentally about choices: what a country tolerates, what it rewards, and what it decisively rejects. Singapore, under the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew, made a conscious decision to reject mediocrity, corruption, and short-term populism.

Scarcity was not treated as an excuse but as a catalyst for efficiency, integrity, and long-term planning. Kenya, on the other hand, tends to display unparalleled potential in hampered thinking patterns, inconsistent policies, and condoning inefficiency.

To turn this trend around, there will be a need for a leadership that will pose the aspects of discipline, ethics and competence not as choices of virtue but as responsibilities of being a patriot.

The President, as the foremost symbol of national unity and purpose, carries a unique responsibility in shaping this mindset. Beyond policy pronouncements, presidential leadership sets behavioural norms across the state.

When integrity is practised on the highest levels, when the handling of the public funds is viewed as the sacred capital and when the performance is evaluated with the level of rigour, the message goes down through the institutions and the society.

The success of Singapore is not by chance, but it is a creation of the leadership that coordinated values, incentives, and accountability. Kenya must similarly cultivate a culture where public office is understood as stewardship, not entitlement.

Economically and financially, a mindset shift translates into prioritising productivity over patronage, investment over consumption, and value creation over rent-seeking.

Rwanda is one of such countries that have shown that with a clear national vision, strong implementation, and an unwillingness to tolerate corruption, countries can change their development paths within a short period of time, despite the lack of natural resources.

South Korea, which was poorer than Kenya in the 1960s, has transformed itself by inculcating an ethic of national education, industrial competitiveness and export orientation. These countries did not only imitate the policies; they instilled a notion that there is no compromise when it comes to excellence, planning and sacrifice.

For Kenya, fostering such a mindset requires institutional coherence and societal alignment. Education systems must emphasise critical thinking, ethics, and technical competence.

The management of public finance should be transparent and strategy-based, and so, the debt, taxation and spending should be directly proportional to the productive areas. The privatised economy should also be seen as a development entrepreneur rather than an object of wealthier extraction.

Citizens must be ready to accept the culture of responsibility, punctuality, and respect for the rule of law.

Ultimately, the journey to a ‘Singapore status’ is less about imitation and more about internal transformation. Mindset is the invisible infrastructure upon which all physical and economic structures rest.

If Kenya chooses discipline over disorder, long-term vision over expediency, and ethical leadership over convenience, progress will follow. History consistently shows that when nations change how they think, they irrevocably change how they perform. This transformation is neither instant nor painless, but it is achievable.

The reformation of mindset requires stability through the electoral outcome and protecting the development priorities in the sharing storms. It needs leaders who are free and frank about tradeoffs and citizens ready to compromise short term gratification with long term prosperity.

When a nation collectively agrees on standards of excellence and enforces them impartially, momentum becomes self-reinforcing, and national ambition evolves from rhetoric into measurable, durable outcomes.

Such consensus defines transformational national leadership.

Kenya’s industrial sector is entering a new phase, one defined by consolidation, capital muscle, and the unmistakable logic of economies of scale.

The recent wave of mergers and acquisitions across industries, from cement to banking and logistics, signals a deeper restructuring of how business is done in a highly competitive, cost-sensitive environment.

The ongoing acquisition of East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) by Amsons Group, coming just months after Amsons’ takeover of Bamburi Cement, perfectly illustrates this shift. The cement industry is capital-intensive, energy-hungry, and logistics-heavy.

This combination punishes inefficiency and rewards size. Larger players produce cement at lower unit costs, spread their overheads across output, negotiate better supplier contracts, and invest in cleaner, more modern technology. Ultimately, consumers are the ones who benefit the most from this.

By contrast, smaller players often struggle to stay afloat. EAPCC, once an industry leader, has in recent years grappled with dead stock, weak cash flow, and years without dividend payouts.

Without the financial strength or production scale to compete effectively, such firms – like EAPCC – become vulnerable to acquisition or decline. Shareholders of EAPCC went 13 years without a dividend payout and finally received one this year, but that was only because of the sale of some land.

With heightened fiscal pressures, rising energy costs, and shifting regulatory policies reshaping Kenya’s business environment, smaller firms are being forced to scale down production or temporarily halt operations due to high electricity tariffs and the rising cost of imported inputs.

In such an environment, only firms able to invest in energy-efficient technology, negotiate bulk power arrangements, or diversify their sourcing strategies can remain competitive. Larger companies can absorb these new costs more easily, whether it means meeting tougher emissions rules or adjusting to new tax measures.

For smaller or struggling manufacturers, these added pressures pile on top of rising energy costs and unpredictable market conditions.

This challenge goes far beyond the cement sector; it affects the entire manufacturing industry, where size increasingly determines who survives and who struggles.

Consolidation, therefore, becomes not just a strategic option but a practical response to economic headwinds that hit smaller and struggling firms hardest.

When done responsibly, it can help protect jobs, stabilise supply chains, and keep Kenya competitive.

In the beverage sector, large players like EABL continue to dominate through integrated production, strong distribution networks, and economies of scale.

In banking, the consolidation trend has seen big players like KCB, Equity, and NCBA leverage digital transformation and regional expansion to spread operational costs to millions of customers, causing smaller banks to either merge, be acquired, or fade out.

Even in logistics, port handling, and energy, scale is everything. A company like Kenya Pipeline Corporation moves oil more efficiently through centralized infrastructure than smaller distributors could ever manage individually.

In telecommunications, Safaricom’s scale advantage enables it to invest billions in 5G infrastructure and digital services that smaller players cannot match.

At its core, economies of scale describe the cost advantage that arises when production becomes efficient. As output grows, the cost per unit falls.

This creates a virtuous cycle; larger firms can reinvest profits into innovation, expand market share, and drive prices lower, which again benefits the public, especially during times of economic hardship.

Of course, consolidation must be handled carefully. Without proper regulation, it can lead to market dominance and reduced consumer choice. But when managed within a competitive framework, mergers can rejuvenate industries that have long struggled to grow or stay organised.

They bring new capital, modern management, and operational efficiency, the very ingredients that Kenya’s industrial sector needs to thrive in a regional and global marketplace.

For Kenya, where infrastructure expansion and housing demand continue to rise, the creation of large, efficient industrial players is not just good for business; it’s an economic necessity.

Therefore, the acquisition of struggling firms like EAPCC, if well executed, could unlock new capacity, stabilize prices, and ensure that industrial assets are fully utilised.

In the long run, Kenya’s growth story will depend less on the number of players in the market and more on their ability to operate at scale, compete regionally, innovate consistently, and deliver quality at affordable rates.

The age of small, isolated operators is fading; the era of scale, integration, and strategic consolidation has arrived, and we should welcome it.

Amina founded and led a mid-sized professional services firm in Nyali. She strongly believed in building up her employees and therefore specifically encouraged her female staff to attend women only networking breakfasts across Mombasa.

While some of the male workers found it odd that Amina championed the women only networking, she firmly believed that gathering women together in one room would naturally spark more collaboration, mentorship and opportunity.

Amina invested her firm’s resources in buying tickets, allocating travel time, and preparation for the events because she especially wanted her younger female managers to build confidence and visibility.

However, she quietly noticed that when many participants returned back from the events energised emotionally, they simultaneously felt uncertain about what tangible career outcomes they could pursue thereafter.

Over time, some of Amina’s senior managers dismissed the networkings as ceremonial while the mid-career women at the company complained about internal intense competition disguised as solidarity around the mission, vision and values.

However, junior staff members, by contrast, praised the internal firm atmosphere and spoke enthusiastically about friendships and encouragement.

Amina listened carefully. She began to wonder why a space designed to empower women sometimes produced confusion, frustration or disengagement instead of collective momentum. Amina decided to dig deeper and deploy a staff engagement survey.

A new global study by Patricia Hein, Marjo Diehl and Karin Kreutzer released this week helps explain what Amina observed in her own organisation around the value of same gender networking functions.

The researchers examined women-only networking events across Europe and uncovered that women attach extremely different meanings to networking with other women. While some women pursue status and credibility, other ladies seek immediate instrumental career gains.

Interestingly, the study highlights a critical distinction between enforced and agentic gender homophily. What on earth does this mean?

Essentially, in compulsory situations, organisations typically design events from the top-down and pressure women to attend under the narrow-minded assumption that shared gender alone guarantees connection.

The study found that it often leads women to withdraw or cluster narrowly with peers of similar rank or social standing. In contrast, independent settings allow women themselves to shape the purpose, format and goals of networking.

The research also reveals how same gendered all male or all female organisational experiences shapes behaviour inside networking spaces. Regarding all female networking events, the researchers posit that senior women often prioritise business focused conversations.

While mid-career women face bottlenecks and intense competition in their current career ambition and more junior ranked women in firms approach networking with much more optimism and expressive energy.

Here in Kenya, our firms and professional associations can draw powerful lessons from the study. Same gender networking succeeds when organisers define its purpose, focus on shared professional goals, and design interaction around collaboration rather than mere symbolism.

Progress only emerges when organisations trust participants to build networks that reflect their real ambitions, challenges and capabilities.

In conclusion, magic does not happen simply because all women or all men gather in one room. Certainly male-dominated organisations should not make assumptions for what would best empower and connect women.

Kenya holds extraordinary female talent across every sector, and intentional agentic networking can convert our homegrown talent into leadership, innovation, and institutional change.

When Africans are asked, ‘How are you doing?’ the most common answer is not ‘great’ or ‘thriving.’It is ‘I’m surviving.’ That word carries layers. Caution. Endurance. Unspoken weight.

Even when things are going well, many founders still choose it. Not because they are failing, but because they are unsure whether the listener can handle the truth. Whether success will invite support or scrutiny. Whether honesty will be safe.

That instinct to compress truth mirrors the moment we are now living through with artificial intelligence.

AI is not making us stupid. It is asking us to be more honest about how we think, how we work, and how much of our value was quietly protected by friction.

As a founder, AI has accelerated how I think, ideate, and execute. Not because I outsource judgment to it, but because it compresses time. An idea discussed over coffee in the morning can be pressure-tested by noon, prototyped by evening, and refined into a sharper question by the next day. When time collapses like that, illusions fall away.

For years, entire professions were built around guarding complexity. Meetings stretched. Documents thickened. Language became ceremonial. ‘Only lawyers understand this.’

‘Only finance people can model that.’ ‘Only engineers can build this.’

These statements were not lies. They were artefacts of a slower world where access itself was power. AI did not erase expertise. It rearranged the room. It shortened the distance between intention and exploration.

Today, a founder with context can walk into a legal discussion asking precise questions instead of waiting passively. Not reckless questions, but informed ones.

A founder can sit in a financial meeting already understanding scenarios, sensitivities, and trade-offs. Not to replace the expert, but to meet them as a collaborator rather than a gatekeeper. The difference is immediately visible.

In one room, a professional speaks for 40 minutes explaining why something is complex, risky, and will take months. In another, a professional opens options, highlights constraints clearly, and says, ‘Here’s how we can test this safely in two weeks.’ The first guards territory. The second builds momentum. Both may carry the same credentials. Only one is creating movement.

Vertical expertise still matters deeply. In fact, it matters more than ever. But vertical depth without horizontal thinking has become fragile. The world no longer pays for repetition. It pays for interpretation. For judgment. For those who can see the system, not just their slice of it.

The most effective people now sit at intersections. They understand their craft, see the wider system, and use AI as leverage rather than a substitute. With them, conversations change shape. Ideas move faster. Mistakes surface earlier. Ego softens because iteration replaces argument.

What unsettles many is not that AI sometimes produces flawed outputs. We have always lived with imperfect tools. What unsettles people is watching processes that once justified weeks of discussion get stress-tested in hours.

Seeing a prototype appear where a memo was expected. Realising that thinking slowly is no longer a requirement it is a choice. Founders are familiar with this discomfort. We live close to uncertainty.

We move, test, adjust, and move again because delay costs us personally. AI has simply brought others into that tempo. It has exposed who was adding value and who was adding time.

And in that exposure, something else becomes clear: the importance of tribe.

There is nothing more energising than working with a professional who has real depth and has embraced AI thoughtfully. You feel it immediately. They listen first.

They arrive prepared. They speak in options, not constraints. They optimise for outcomes, not billable hours. The conversation stops being about extraction and becomes about construction.

Negotiations soften. Trust forms faster. You stop defending every decision because you sense shared ownership of the outcome.

At that point, the founder’s role becomes clear again. To think.

To hold the long view. To open doors. To pitch. To sell. To take the risk. You are willing to do it because the person across the table is building with you, rather than quietly shifting their own liabilities-rent, overhead, and fear-onto your shoulders. This shift is not limited to technology. Even healthcare reveals it.

Sitting with a doctor who embraces AI changes the entire experience. The language becomes clearer. Decisions come faster. You are invited into the reasoning instead of spoken over. Trust deepens because partnership replaces hierarchy. What AI is quietly demanding from all of us is not more speed, but more maturity.

It is asking professionals to release protection and choose contribution. It is asking founders to stop collecting credentials and start collecting collaborators. It is asking all of us to be less defensive and more deliberate.

This is where the African Founders Operating System quietly matters not as theory, but as survival architecture. Managing the inner world before managing an empire. Building networks that outlive personalities and include people who notice when you are not okay. Making decisions that remain true beyond your lifetime, understanding that integrity itself is sustainability.

Remembering why you began, because purpose is not decoration; it is fuel. And evolving from builder to teacher, from hustling alone to healing together.

The opportunity before founders is real. AI has levelled the surface. What remains is posture, judgment, and tribe.

Find your people, your Tribe. The ones who move with depth and speed. Who see AI as leverage, not threat. Who care about shared upside, not personal insulation.

Because the world has changed its pace, not its need for wisdom. And AI, for all its power, is simply holding up a mirror asking each of us whether we are still surviving, or finally ready to build honestly.

As we come to the close of the year and enter the holiday season, I want to thank every reader who has walked this journey with me those who paused, reflected, disagreed, nodded quietly, or shared these columns with someone who needed them.

To the founders still building, still questioning, still surviving and to those learning to build with more intention, I wish you rest, clarity, and courage in the season ahead.

May this holiday period bring moments of stillness, honest conversations, and the reminder that your work matters, but so do you. And may the new year meet you with the right people, better questions, and the wisdom to choose your battles well.

Warm holiday wishes, and here’s to a thoughtful, grounded, and purposeful New Year ahead.

Recently, several government websites were recently disrupted by a coordinated cyberattack that exposed how vulnerable digital infrastructure has become.

Around the same period, Anthropic disclosed that a group had used its Claude model to automate over 80 percent of an espionage campaign targeting organisations across multiple sectors, including financial institutions and government agencies.

Meanwhile, on social media, users are testing AI tools to generate illicit recharge tokens for services such as airtime.

These developments may appear disconnected, but together they illustrate how rapidly cyber risks are evolving and how easily advanced digital tools can be misused.

Attackers today are not just individuals trying to guess a password.

They are well-resourced actors with advanced tools that can overwhelm outdated security practices. For pension administrators who hold sensitive data on millions of workers, this shift is a clear warning that the systems that support retirement savings must be as secure as the assets themselves.

Our retirement sector has quickly embraced digitisation. Members log in to check contributions, administrators manage records through online platforms and most reporting to regulators is done electronically.

The convenience is undeniable. But every digital improvement widens the surface that attackers can exploit.

Pension systems store extensive identity profiles, salary histories, contribution records and investment information. Such data is valuable to criminal networks engaged in identity theft, fraudulent withdrawals or social engineering schemes.

As cyberattacks grow more sophisticated, pension schemes need stronger lines of defence that go beyond traditional IT security tools.

Effective cybersecurity in pension administration begins with governance. Boards and trustees cannot treat digital risk as a technical matter that sits solely with IT teams.

They must have clear visibility into how member data is collected, stored, transmitted and protected. This might call for understanding system architecture, third-party vendor access and the controls used to prevent unauthorised entry.

Regular cyber risk reporting should be standard practice, allowing trustees to analyse vulnerabilities with the same seriousness as they would funding ratios or investment performance.

The Retirement Benefits Authority already requires schemes to maintain internal controls, but governance must evolve to reflect the scale of modern threats. This also means trustees must be trained and updated frequently.

The reliance on external service providers creates another layer of complexity. Recordkeepers, administrators, messaging platforms and cloud vendors all touch member data in some way. If even one link in this chain has weak security practices, the entire scheme could be exposed.

It is no longer enough for pension providers to assume their partners are secure.

They must verify it. Independent audits, encryption standards and clear incident protocols should be part of every contractual relationship. Without this level of scrutiny, administrators may discover vulnerabilities only after damage has been done.

Human behaviour remains one of the weakest points in cybersecurity. A single employee clicking on a convincing phishing link can compromise an entire platform, which is why continuous staff awareness is as important as the technology itself.

Password discipline, multi-factor authentication and restricted access rights are simple practices that significantly lower the likelihood of internal breaches. In many global cases, these basics have proven more effective than expensive cybersecurity software.

Even with strong defences, no system is completely immune. This is why preparedness is very important. When a breach occurs, administrators must act quickly, contain the problem and communicate clearly with members and regulators.

Slow or disorganised responses can increase the damage and reduce trust. At the end of the day, beyond the data itself, we are protecting the future retirement of members and it is our shared responsibility to ensure that this promise is secure.