Category: Business Daily

Tea produced in Rwanda and Burundi suffered the sharpest fall in prices at the weekly regional auction in Mombasa over the first eight months of 2025 amid overall subdued demand from buyers, which is likely to trim farmers’ earnings this year, analysis showed.

Data showed that the average price from Rwanda stood at $1.61 (Sh208.07) over the first eight months of 2025, compared to $2.84 (Sh367.04) in a similar period, marking a 43.3 percent drop, which is the sharpest among countries trading at the regional auction run by the East African Tea Trade Association.

Africa’s youth have, over the years, been referred to as the continent’s untapped potential. This framing is common in reports and political speeches in Kenya, where 85 percent of the population is below the age of 35.

However, the truth is that young Africans do not stand on the fringes. They are already creating the future, innovating technologies, disrupting industries, and driving social change.

What is now needed is a strong commitment to ensuring that the youth have the environment and resources needed to tap into their power, a commitment that African governments must make now.

So how do we unlock this power?

There are key elements that must be unpacked, no matter how uncomfortable they make us. It is in this discomfort that we can start to actualise Africa’s great future. It is paramount that the trust deficit between citizens in multiple African countries and their governments is addressed first.

We cannot build on a rocky foundation, and the youth, especially, do not trust their governments. This trust will be rebuilt on the delivery of services, on an accountability that honours enquiries from the youth instead of punishing them when they demand a just government.

Governments must start seeing the youth as capable partners in building Africa’s future and solving global problems.

A testament to this is Wawira Njiru. At just 21, she founded Food for Education, which ensures students get access to nutritious meals at school. Their work is efficient and leverages technology, too. She has gone from serving 25 students to serving 500,000 children daily across Kenya. The schools she supports have seen a 27 percent increase in enrolment.

Additionally, national policies must not only incorporate youth insights but must have a tangible impact today. Youth representation in government is key in this and must be harnessed from a young age. A key example that can be borrowed is that of the Liberian Children’s Parliament, now known as the Liberian National Children’s Representative Forum.

This space ensured children across Liberia were not just represented in national governance issues, but got to interact with leadership organs in government. It also gave rise to the youth leaders Africa needs, like the powerful human rights activist Satta Fatumata Sheriff, a dynamic young Liberian changemaker. Satta is making a real-time impact in Liberia today.

Another uncomfortable truth we must face is that we are at the beginning of the end of funding as we’ve known it. African governments must wake up, clamp down on corruption, bridge commercial alliances with each other, and begin to leverage domestic revenue.

Without prioritising this, we will not have the autonomy or sustainability needed to ensure that African youth can realise their potential.

The future of Africa isn’t on a distant horizon; it is unfolding right now. Every day, the youth of this continent are actively creating it. The world must catch up.

Why the world must pay attention

While income gaps in Africa are often discussed, age gaps between leaders and their people present an opportunity to discuss what a brighter African future should look like.

It is against this background that the Future of Africa Podcast, which I have the pleasure of co-hosting, was created. The podcast was developed to amplify African voices participating in global discourses and also align with generational views.

Each episode is a moderated, intergenerational conversation featuring a youthful changemaker alongside an elder statesperson or thought leader, ensuring a true exchange of ideas across generations.

It is a seven-episode series, with each episode bridging local experiences and global policy debates. The most inspirational idea to me is the nature in which the podcast reinvents youth not as passive beneficiaries of development, but as active creators of the future of Africa.

Moving from potential to power

To unlock the youth potential, there is a need to transform education systems to incorporate digital literacy, green economy, and entrepreneurial skills.

Youth-led ventures should also be funded. It is also crucial to provide the youth with a place at the decision table and make their voices heard on the policies that have direct influence on their lives and ambitions.

Governments, investors, and global partners face a crucial challenge: It’s time to move beyond discussing potential and start investing in these empowered individuals.

For years, with its low operating costs and strong profit margins, Joseph Karuga’s beekeeping and honey aggregating venture was a sweet business.

He was a happy entrepreneur. Then, as demand grew, shortages and unreliable supply left him frustrated – until he decided to build the solution himself.

Eight commercial banks raised interest rates in the year to August, placing them on a collision course with the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), which has threatened daily fines on lenders that deny borrowers lower interest charges.

The overall weighted average lending rates of DIB Bank Kenya, Consolidated Bank of Kenya, Co-operative Bank of Kenya, Kingdom Bank, UBA Kenya Bank, Diamond Trust Bank Kenya, Premier Bank Kenya, and Access Bank Kenya have increased over the past year, according to fresh CBK data.

In a move to restore trust in financial reporting, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya will launch the Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN) on October 2, 2025.

This transformative tool will revolutionise how audit opinions are authenticated-ushering in a new era of transparency, accountability, and professional integrity.

Every audit report issued by Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK)’s 2,110 authorised assurance providers will now carry a 12-digit UDIN code and a QR code, both uniquely tied to that specific opinion. These identifiers will allow third-party users-procurement officers, regulators, banks, Saccos, and other institutions-to instantly verify the authenticity of any audit report. If a code is missing or invalid, the system will flag it, notify ICPAK, and trigger corrective action. Such reports may be rejected outright, restoring confidence in the audit process and protecting the public from fraudsters.

This innovation is not happening in isolation. ICPAK has benchmarked UDIN against similar systems used by professional accountancy bodies in India, Australia, South Africa, Nigeria, and Singapore.

Among these, India’s Institute of Chartered Accountants-the largest professional accountancy body in the world-stands out as a global success story.

Despite India’s vast geography and complex regulatory landscape, ICAI’s system has proven robust, scalable, and transformative. Kenya now joins this league of forward-thinking nations, embracing technology to uphold professional standards.

But the implications of UDIN go far beyond the accounting profession. This is a wake-up call to other regulated fields-law, architecture, engineering, supply chain, medicine, and beyond. Quacks have infiltrated nearly every sector, eroding public trust and exposing unsuspecting citizens to risk.

Take the legal profession, for example. Many Kenyans have unknowingly engaged individuals posing as advocates-only to discover, often too late, that they were never admitted to the bar. The consequences range from botched cases to lost property and shattered lives. A UDIN-style system, managed by the Law Society of Kenya, could allow the public to verify the legitimacy of legal documents and confirm whether a lawyer is duly registered and licensed to practice.

A simple code, searchable on a public portal, could be the difference between justice and deception.

Architects and engineers, too, face similar challenges.

Rogue practitioners have been known to submit fraudulent drawings, supervise unsafe constructions, or misrepresent their qualifications.

A document authentication system-anchored in professional registers-would empower clients, developers, and regulators to verify credentials before approving plans or releasing payments.

The future of professional practice in Kenya must be secure, transparent, and digitally verified.

Supply chain professionals, especially those involved in procurement and logistics, are increasingly relied upon to uphold ethical standards in public and private sector transactions.

Yet, without a way to verify their standing, institutions risk engaging individuals who lack the training, certification, or integrity required for such sensitive roles.

The medical field is another critical area. While the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council maintains a register, a UDIN-style verification tool could help patients confirm the legitimacy of prescriptions, referrals, or medical reports-especially in rural or underserved areas where impersonation is more rampant.

ICPAK’s investment in UDIN includes a secure, user-friendly platform accessible via www.icpak.com. Users can simply enter the UDIN code to confirm the validity of any audit report.

The portal is prominently displayed for seamless access, ensuring that verification becomes a routine part of financial due diligence.

Following the launch, ICPAK will embark on a nationwide sensitisation campaign-engaging stakeholders across public and private sectors to ensure smooth adoption.

Forums, trainings, and regulator briefings will help embed UDIN into Kenya’s financial culture, making it a standard for accountability.

As the regulator of the accounting profession, ICPAK recognises that technology is no longer optional-it is essential. UDIN reflects our commitment to staying ahead of the curve, breaking barriers to trust, and empowering professionals to uphold the highest standards.

It is a digital shield against fraud, a gateway to credibility, and a testament to our resolve to protect the integrity of Kenya’s financial reporting ecosystem.

In adopting UDIN, ICPAK is not just launching a tool-it is making a statement. We are ready to lead, innovate, and transform. And we invite other professional bodies to follow suit.

My explanation of the size of the Mt Kenya economy on Radio Generations last week elicited many comments on Tiktok. My point? Perspective drives action.

For all our difficulties, Kenya has immense opportunities. We should not squander them, imprisoned by self-pity, recriminations, and name calling. Rather, leaders should reduce their daily political battles, and inspire Kenyans to greatness.

As long as domestic borrowing continues to expand, monetary adjustments by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) will remain cosmetic and ineffective.

In Kenya’s current fiscal landscape, the greatest paradox is not simply that the government owes more than it possesses in liquid resources, but that the remedies prescribed to address this imbalance often serve the State more than the people.

When total debt far outpaces cash and cash equivalents, the economy is effectively living on borrowed time, with liquidity shortages constraining the ability of both the government and the private sector to function. According to recent reports, public debt in 2025 has climbed above Sh11 trillion, even as revenue growth remains sluggish and falling short of what is needed to service the debt without sacrificing other obligations.

The Central Bank of Kenya has tried to portray monetary policy as the engine for recovery. Rate cuts, revised loan pricing formulas, and persuasion to commercial banks to reduce lending rates are part of this strategy.

These moves might appear reassuring: in April 2025, the CBK lowered its policy rate by 75 basis points to around 10.00 percent, aiming to stimulate credit growth.

Yet these policy shifts neglect the reality that the state itself remains the chief claimant on domestic capital. When the government continues to issue domestic debt-such as long-term Treasury bonds with coupon rates upward of 13.20 percent to 13.40 percent, and funds being raised at these levels-banks and investors naturally find government securities more attractive and safer than private sector loans.

Private sector credit tells the more concerning side of the story. By December 2024, credit to the private sector stood at Sh3.86 trillion, but growth was negative in Q4, with a 1.4 percent year-on-year decline-even as households, the trade and manufacturing sectors remain important borrowers.

Households took about Sh1,317.4 billion (34.1 percent of private credit), while trade and manufacturing took 16.9 percent and 15.0 percent, respectively.

These figures suggest that demand remains, but the supply of credit is choked-banks are reticent to lend to riskier private actors when government securities provide relatively high, risk-free returns.

In addition, Treasury bill yields, and bond coupon levels remain high, reinforcing what is already obvious: the state is crowding out the private sector.

The result is a vicious cycle where private investment is starved, households and businesses remain credit-constrained, and growth slows. Inflation and borrowing costs remain elevated.

With each round of short-term domestic borrowing, rollover risk increases. The state’s solvency becomes the central concern, not inclusive growth.

Kenya’s path out of this quagmire requires much more than lower rates. Structural reforms are necessary: debt issuance must shift toward long dated, concessional financing; incentives and guarantees need to encourage banks to lend to SMEs and productive sectors; fiscal discipline must be strengthened; and transparency in debt, cash holdings, and liquidity management must improve so that policy signals are credible.

The CBK, as monetary custodian, must act not as the Treasury’s enabler but as a guardian of an inclusive financial system. Unless domestic borrowing is contained, unless the incentives change, CBK’s well-intentioned adjustments will remain cosmetic and ineffective. And unless monetary policy is not aligned with fiscal policy, anything else is a mirage.

Investors demand yields for government securities in double digits, especially for long-term bonds. These attractive rates make lending to government very appealing, while loans to households or small businesses offer less return for more risk. Hence, even though the policy rate is lowered, the transmission to private lending rates is weak.

The high yields on government paper effectively provide a safe harbor for liquidity that might otherwise flow to more productive but riskier private investments.

The logic of cuts in rates or adjustments to pricing formulas assumes that banks will reorient their balance sheets toward growth-oriented lending. But when the state is issuing large volumes of debt-bills and bonds-and offering high rates on government paper, that assumption fails.

Banks are profit-seeking entities; for them, holding government securities is often the lower-risk, higher-return path. Private sector lending suffers not just because of risk or demand but because supply of credit is diverted toward sovereign debt.

This dynamic reveals the deeper contradiction: CBK’s monetary adjustments are less about empowering private growth and more about easing the government’s debt servicing burden.

Debt service is elevated, liquidity margins are thin, and the government depends heavily on domestic borrowing to meet recurrent expenses. Under these conditions, rate cuts and loan formula tweaks are at best marginal relief at worst promotional rhetoric.

Shares at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) rewarded investors with the highest returns in the third quarter of the year, eclipsing bonds and cash deposits whose gains dropped in the wake of falling interest rates.

During the three months to September, investor wealth at the bourse, as measured by market capitalisation, rose by 15.1 percent, or Sh367.4 billion, to reach Sh2.78 trillion.

The Employment and Labour Relations Court has faulted Consolidated Bank of Kenya for the unfair dismissal of one of its business development officers over allegations of improper loan approvals totalling Sh102 million.

Justice Monica Mbaru stated that it was improper for the bank to hold Emmanuel Wambua responsible for a non-verified asset used to secure the debt, noting further inconsistencies in the lender’s actions.

Early last month, Karen Thaba, a digital marketer, was approached by an agency to apply for a social media role and content creator. After she shared, the agency wrote back asking for a full social media strategy plus a two-week content creator calendar in 36 hours for a specific brand as an assignment.

“I checked the brand they requested I make the content for and noticed they could be their client,” she recalls.