Category: Business Daily

The government is banking on pan-African financial institution Shelter Afrique to fund the affordable housing project (AHP) amid disclosures that no developer has sought State backing to secure loans from local banks.

The new plan follows a resolution to turn the housing financier into a development bank, a move expected to boost its access to funding in the international markets.

The disclosures were made at the Parliament’s Finance and Planning committee during proceedings to ratify a decision establishing the Shelter Afrique Development Bank (SHAFDB). The Cabinet ratified the decision on February 11.

The search for funding to the AHP is despite the State collecting about Sh6 billion monthly from the Housing Levy that was imposed on formal workers. In the 2024/25 fiscal year, the government collected Sh73.2 billion from the 1.5 percent levy.

The government, however, maintains that it is using the Housing Levy to develop infrastructure such as constructing roads and sewerage services where AHP projects are, rather than funding actual construction of the houses. The committee’s report observed the government’s position that ‘by ratifying the SHAFDB Agreement, Kenya will enjoy access to financing for affordable housing and urban infrastructure development.’

In a presentation to the committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the government targets to tap increased funding through SHAFDB to bankroll affordable housing projects.

‘The partnership will strengthen intra-African trade in building materials and financial services and support the government’s affordable housing agenda,’ the Ministry said.

The State Department for Housing yesterday said Kenya wants to take advantage of the fact that it is the biggest shareholder in Shelter Afrique to tap funding for the housing projects.

Housing PS Charles Hinga said the government wants to secure long-term funding through the development bank, since funding to AHP so far has been on a ‘deal-by-deal basis.’

‘All transactions as with any other bank are on a deal-by-deal basis. We are in talks with them on how they can support AHP but it’s still in early days with nothing specific on the table,’ Mr Hinga said.

The PS revealed that an initial plan by the government to issue off-take guarantees to developers in the AHP for use in securing financing from local banks remains untapped, with no developer having come forward.

The guarantees were meant to offer comfort to banks that funding developers who get affordable housing contracts would be secured, since the government would buy the houses once completed.

‘The guarantees are available on a deal-by-deal basis. We don’t have any application from a developer at the moment,’ Mr Hinga said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that Kenya had $21 million (Sh2.7 billion) as its share in Shelter Afrique’s paid-up capital by December 2023.

At least 44 African countries, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Reinsurance Corporation (African-Re) are shareholders at Shelter Afrique.

The company has funded projects valued at $319.5 million (Sh41 billion in current exchange rates) through project finance, lines of credit and equity investments since 1993, the government says.

‘Shelter Afrique also advanced Sh540 million and a standby facility of Sh128.3 million to Karibu Homes for affordable housing in Athi River, and entered its first joint venture in Kenya in 2010 through the Everest Park project, featuring 440 housing units,’ the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

In its 2024 annual report, Shelter Afrique acknowledged that major public housing initiatives such as Kenya’s have been major drivers of expanding housing across the continent.

The company, however, did not directly address any discussions towards funding Kenya’s AHP.

‘Kenya’s Affordable Housing Programme, Nigeria’s Renewed Hope Housing Plan, and Morocco’s 250,000-MAD Social Housing initiative stand out for their scale and structure,” Shelter Afrique said.

“In 2024, Kenya made notable strides under the AHP, a key pillar of the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda. Over 42,000 housing units were either completed or under construction across major cities including Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, and Kisumu.”

Shelter Afrique has over the years funded projects such as the 76 townhouses by Stima Investment Cooperative in Syokimau (Sh395 million) and Qwetu student residences in Ruaraka and Jogoo Road (Sh800 million).

Primary health facilities in Kenya waited an average of 24 days to receive essential medicines and medical supplies in the year ended June 2025, forcing patients to either buy drugs from private pharmacies at a higher cost or go without treatment.

Supply delivery time or lead time is the total duration from placing an order with a supplier to actually receiving the goods or services, encompassing order processing, production, shipping, and final delivery.

Essential medicines are those that satisfy the priority healthcare needs of the populationLatest data shows that the order turnaround time-the number of days between when a facility submits an order and when supplies actually reach the facility, more than doubled the official 10-day target increasing by 14.2 days in the financial year 2024/2025.

This represented about a 43.2 percent increase from the 16.9 days recorded three years earlier.

This worsened to 20.1 days in 2023/24, representing a 10-day delay, before reaching 24.2 days in the year ended June 2025.

The 14.2-day delay represented a 142 percent deviation from the target, signaling systemic problems rather than isolated operational challenges.

‘Targets were not met due to low on-time order integration, especially for program orders that led to long order processing,’ said the State Department for Medical in its sector report.

Consequently, the product availability, measured by the fill rate-the percentage of ordered items that Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) actually has in stock and can supply when facilities place orders, fell below the planned targets.

The performance data shows that only 55 percent of ordered items were supplied to facilities, far below the 90 percent national benchmark.

From 66 percent in 2022/23, already 24 percentage points below target, performance dropped to 62 percent in 2023/24 and jumped to just 55 percent in the next financial year.

This represented an 11-percentage-point decline over three years, with performance at barely half the benchmark that health planners considered essential for functional service delivery.

‘Though the order fulfillment rate for Kemsa Capital essential commodities has been decreasing, this can be attributed to low stock availability occasioned by long supplier payment times, due to strained cash flow/lack of adequate capitalisation,’ read the report.

It also said the low tracer commodity availability to the county was due to underfunding and debts owed to Kemsa by county governments, highlighting systemic financial management problems at the devolved level.

According to the State Department for Medical Services, pending bills owed to Kemsa by the Ministry stand at about Sh1.9billion.

As a result, the availability of essential medicines at the facilities stood at a low of 40.3 percent, meaning that fewer than half of essential medicines were available at health facilities when patients sought care, despite the billions spent on procurement and distribution.

Over the three years, the Authority successfully procured Health Products and Technologies worth Sh113.28 billion and delivered commodities totaling Sh115.11 billion across the country.

These supplies reached an average of 11,540 healthcare facilities and testing sites spread across all 47 counties, ensuring national coverage.

In the din of the controversy over the government’s decision to divest part of its stake in Safaricom, fundamental questions have been oddly muted: How exactly will the proceeds be spent, and who will authorise that spending?

Is the proposed infrastructure fund the product of a coherent, long-term national investment strategy, or is it simply being improvised to warehouse cash from the Safaricom transaction and the planned privatisation of the Kenya Pipeline Company? Where, in fact, did this idea originate?

Recently, in search of clarity, I reached out to a contact at the National Treasury for an off-the-record conversation. He declined-only to later send me by email a document titled By Generations, For Generations: 50 Years of Temasek. Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s sovereign investment holding company, is widely credited as one of the institutional innovations behind the country’s dramatic economic rise.

When you zoom out-when you listen to President William Ruto’s recent public statements about creating a sovereign wealth fund, when you review proposals for an infrastructure fund, and when you digest the drastic structural changes introduced by the newly enacted Government Owned Enterprises (GOE) Act-the conclusion becomes difficult to escape: the current push to divest from large, profitable State enterprises and channel the proceeds into an infrastructure fund mirrors, almost point-for-point, the logic that led Singapore to create Temasek Holdings.

It is the same logic behind President Donald Trump’s 2024 statement that he would use revenue from tariffs to create a sovereign wealth fund for roads, airports, and defence technologies. Around the world, governments confronted with fiscal pressure increasingly view sovereign funds and state-holding companies as tools for development.

But the clearest signal that Kenya is trying to imitate the Temasek model came when the President assented to the GOE Act, 2025. What is the significance of this legislation in the changes unfolding before us?

The centrepiece of the new law is simple but transformative: it repeals the Acts of Parliament that created most of our commercial parastatals. We once had the KPA Act, the KenGen Act, the Ketraco Act, and many more. All of them now stand repealed.

In policy jargon, this is ‘corporatisation’-the deliberate conversion of state-owned enterprises from statutory bodies created by specific Acts of Parliament into companies incorporated strictly under the Companies Act.

The government remains the owner, but only through shares, not statute. In this new structure, the State exercises influence through boards, not through ministers.

The implication is profound: corporatisation quietly unlocks large-scale asset monetisation without Parliament having to vote on each sale. It becomes the legal on-ramp for fast-tracking privatisation.

The pathway to selling equity becomes automatic and administratively streamlined.

If this is the road Kenya has chosen, then the country deserves an open, candid debate-not the shallow shouting match that currently dominates the airwaves. Temasek’s experience offers both inspiration and caution.

Temasek did the hard work first. Singapore stripped ministries of all direct control over commercial enterprises. Ownership was consolidated into a single shareholder: the State acting strictly as an investor, not a political operator. Performance-measured ruthlessly-became the organising principle.

As Kenya enters the public participation period on the Safaricom divestiture and infrastructure fund proposal, we must elevate the quality of debate. The key question is not whether divestiture is good or bad. It is: What exactly is this infrastructure fund?

Is it being set up as a serious, independently managed national investment institution? Or is it merely a temporary parking bay for windfall proceeds from one-off asset sales?

We must revisit the intellectual and legal origins of Kenya’s Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) idea. The first Sovereign Wealth Fund Bill of 2014, drafted by the Presidential Taskforce on Parastatal Reforms, adhered closely to global best practice.

It conceived a sovereign investment institution owned by the people of Kenya, aligned with the Santiago Principles developed under the IMF. It was to be insulated from day-to-day politics, professionally governed, and accountable.

What came later was a steady dilution. Successive National Treasury teams reframed the SWF as little more than a specialised Treasury bank account at the Central Bank-established under the PFM Act and capable of being dissolved at the stroke of a Cabinet Secretary’s pen.

Which brings us back to the most consequential question of all: Who will decide how the infrastructure fund is spent? The Cabinet? Parliament? Or a professional investment board insulated from politics? Without airtight governance rules, such a fund risks becoming a large and efficient political slush fund-only this time financed by the family silver.

Kenya stands today at the same fork in the road that confronted Singapore decades ago. Do we want a serious national investment holding model built for generations? Or a convenient cashbox for whichever administration happens to be at the National Treasury.

As debates intensify over how Kenya can create quality jobs, strengthen SMEs, and build climate-resilient local economies, development partners are under growing pressure to rethink the way they design and deliver their plans.

For most, the traditional project-based approach has sufficed, with jobless youth, for example, plunged into the deep end of entrepreneurship in a one-size-fits-all approach that assumes everyone is cut for business.

However, Swisscontact Kenya, an NGO, has a different approach known as Market-Systems Development (MSD). Sharon Mosin Urner, the country director of Swisscontact Kenya, talks of how they have used MSD to bring about systemic change.

What is a market-systems development (MSD) approach?

Before we talk about MSD, it’s important to recognise the broader context shaping development today. Around the world, public financing for development is under pressure, and governments-particularly in emerging markets-are being asked to do more with far fewer resources. Kenya is no exception.

With limited fiscal space, the need for solutions that are efficient, scalable, and sustainable has never been greater.

This is precisely where the market-systems development approach becomes transformational.

For nearly three decades in Kenya, Swisscontact has worked from a simple but powerful premise: when the incentives of all actors in a system are aligned, markets become engines of opportunity.

When we enter a sector, we begin by understanding how the system functions-what is working, what is not, and why gaps exist. Take the skills ecosystem, for example. Youth unemployment is not only about the absence of jobs; it is also about the misalignment between what training institutions deliver and what industry demands.

So we bring together students, employers, trainers, and government to examine the ‘transactions’ between them:

What motivates each actor?

What holds them back?

What incentives would unlock the behaviour change the market needs?

This analysis led us to the construction sector and, eventually, to plumbing and electrical trades, where employers consistently cited skill gaps even among diploma graduates. Students want meaningful employment. Schools want strong placement rates. Employers want productivity. Government wants reduced unemployment.

MSD helps each of these actors realise their goals by strengthening the system that connects them.

What would a truly market-system approach that addresses root causes of youth unemployment look like? And how would you evaluate it compared to the traditional approach?

We are looking at different levels of changes. When we go into a sector, we want to see market-level changes. Changes at the client level are a product of systemic change.

Our project called PropelA – dual apprenticeship is modelled on the Swiss dual apprenticeship. It’s a two-year programme where students spend 75 percent with companies and 25 percent at school. That is different from the current TVET offering where you’re in school then three months of internship.

Our dual apprenticeship model is demonstrating what system-level change looks like in practice.

Companies are investing in young people, paying stipends, contributing to training costs, and shaping the curriculum. Regulators such as NITA are unlocking new mechanisms-like releasing the apprenticeship levy-to sustain the model. Training institutions are expanding programmes because they see the results.

Does the programme prepare youth for fast-changing technologies and future skills?

As industries evolve, the skills required must evolve with them. That is why we are strengthening our training approach to ensure apprentices graduate with both technical mastery and digital fluency.

Digital literacy is no longer optional. It is fundamental to employability and competitiveness, and we are embedding it across all areas of training. Our Future-Fit programme ensures that the skills we teach today prepare young people for the jobs of tomorrow and the technologies reshaping our industries.

What is the proper approach to financing youth-led enterprises and SMEs?

Yeah, that is tricky. You’re right, there are a lot of guarantees and de-risking mechanisms sitting within banks being under utilised. There was a regulatory barrier and that’s why they were under utilised. Banks are regulated and don’t want their books classed as risky.

We approach de-risking and blended finance for SMEs and students by looking at sustainability. Students get stipends but not all can afford school fees, so we are de-risking school fees to get them through school. Our partner financier is not a commercial bank but a specialised school-fees lender. They only recover after the students have been employed or get into business.

Financing is important, but it is only one part of what makes enterprises thrive.

Should Kenya accept that not everyone is cut out for entrepreneurship?

Yeah, absolutely. Not everybody can be an entrepreneur. The way we approach development is that when we create a mushroom of small enterprises, we assume we’ve solved the problem. People have similar businesses and wonder why they’re not making progress.

People who can be employed need the right skills.

How do you shield the programme from political risks?

Public institutions play a pivotal role in shaping the systems we work within. Our engagement with national and county governments is anchored in shared development priorities- creating jobs, strengthening markets, and improving service delivery. By demonstrating how limited public resources can catalyse private investment and scale, we build partnerships that endure across political cycles.

Our goal is simple, to support government in delivering sustainable, locally-owned solutions.

How can counties use MSD to build viable local economies?

All these economic transformation plans aim to create robust local economies. Swisscontact is a foundation that was set up by private sector companies in Switzerland, so private-sector approach is in our DNA.

Counties are recognising that real economic transformation comes from unlocking private-sector investment and strengthening the systems that support producers, service providers, and entrepreneurs.

Our role is to catalyse these markets-creating strong supply chains, enabling enterprises to scale, and ensuring communities benefit from emerging economic opportunities. When counties embrace this approach, they build robust, self-sustaining local economies that deliver prosperity far beyond the lifespan of individual projects.

How can MSD create more inclusive, scalable opportunities for women and underserved groups?

An inclusive economy is one that recognises the potential of every citizen. We deliberately design our interventions to ensure women and underserved groups can participate meaningfully in markets – whether through apprenticeships, employment pathways, or entrepreneurship support.

We avoid creating ‘grant-preneurs’. People go from grant to grant but are not doing business. We support people by creating structures that support their business. Seed capital may be there but very minimal. If you need capital, you go through a financial institution.

When systems open up for women, communities prosper, industries diversify, and opportunities multiply. Inclusion is not an add-on to our work; it is central to how we build equitable and sustainable economies.

The government is planning to hand over the modernisation of the country’s driving licence system to a private investor after years of underperformance by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA).

This is after the NTSA missed the target for issuance of chip-based driving licences (DLs) for the second time in three years, blaming the underperformance on motorists’ growing preference for electronic (system-generated certifications) driving licences.

The State Department for Transport says it is now considering transitioning the underperforming smart driving licence project to a public-private partnership (PPP).

NTSA has issued less than half of the targeted five million smart driving licence cards in eight years.

The transport sector regulator signed a three-year, $21.09 million (about Sh2.1 billion at the time) deal with the National Bank of Kenya (which has since been acquired by Nigerian-owned Access Bank Plc) in March 2017 to supply, install and maintain five million second-generation licences.

The NTSA, the report submitted to the Treasury shows, had issued 2.1 million chip-based DLs by June 2025 against a planned five million cards. This comes after the NBK, which subcontracted the supply to another firm, delivered more than four million blank cards.

‘The uptake of smart driving licences has been slow. The project is under consideration for transitioning to PPP,’ the Transport department wrote in its budget proposal report to the National Treasury.

The proposed policy shift comes after NTSA underperformed its target for the chip-based driving licences by 14.38 percent in the financial year to June, shining the spotlight on the multibillion-shilling system to modernise management of the chaotic transport sector.

NTSA printed 342,492 smart driving licences in that period against a target of 400,000, falling short by 57,508 cards.

The performance marked a reversal from the previous year when NTSA surpassed a lower target of 350,000 smart DLs following increased enrolment drives that saw 369,155 motorists acquired the chip-based DLs.

‘The target [was] not achieved due to preference for a yearly electronic driving license as opposed to the 3-year smart driving license,’ NTSA explained in the report.

Embedded chips

Smart driving licences, which are renewed after three years, come with embedded chips similar to those in ATM cards, designed to carry a motorist’s information, photos and offence history under a Demerit Points System under the NTSA.

The Electronic Driving Licence is renewed for three years at a cost of Sh3,050 through the NTSA portal and verified digitally by police via an app.

It is also easier to renew compared with the smart card that requires biometric capture and an in-person appointment at Huduma Centres or NTSA stations. The smart card also costs Sh3,050.

Performance records show NTSA also missed its smart DLs issuance targets in 2021/22 and 2022/23 financial years, largely due to frequent breakdowns of the specialised printer needed to personalise the smart cards.

The latest setback underscores the agency’s continued struggle to match its fiscal year 2020/21 performance, when intensified public campaigns propelled issuance to nearly 396,000 cards -about 96,000 above target.

The smart driving licence project had gobbled up nearly Sh1.83 billion by June 2025, with NTSA putting the implementation status at 85 percent.

In her latest report for the year ending June 2024, Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu noted that NTSA had printed 1,637,930 smart licences out of more than 4 million blank cards delivered by the supplier, NBK.

Her audit found 572,674 unprinted cards valued at Sh176 million lying unused in NTSA stores, with no clear plan for deployment, exposing taxpayers to potential losses.

‘The uptake for the cards is still slow and the management did not demonstrate efforts to improve the situation,’ Ms Gathungu wrote in her report.

‘In the circumstances, the value for money could not be confirmed.’

As the year draws to a close, BD Life reflects on some of the milestones in the music industry in 2025.

Cultural resurgence

In an exclusive interview with the BDLife a year ago, singer-songwriter, musician, Bien-Aimé Baraza (of Sauti Sol fame) revealed that he was seeking a new edge to his music by exploring the cultural heritage of his roots in Western Kenya.

True to his word, 2025 marked a significant shift in his overall sound and image with the hit single All My Enemies Are Suffering. Propelled by the energetic rhythm of isikuti drums, multi-layered harmonies and a contemporary Afro groove, it set the template for a powerful fusion of global and cultural influences.

Some of the biggest acts of the year, including Okello Max, Coster Ojwang, Watendawili and Charisma, have molded their aesthetics with a strong cultural foundation while still producing music that resonates with a mainstream audience.

Reinvention of classics

Just like the soundtrack to the anti-taxation protests in Kenya last year was Kasongo, a 1977 song by Super Mazembe, 2025 also saw classic songs going viral thanks to topical events.

For instance, the most searched song lyrics, according to Google Kenya’s Year in Search, were for the Jamaican folk song Jamaica Farewell, recorded in 1956 by Harry Belafonte. Interest in the song was sparked by the death of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who had often mentioned it as his favourite.

The interest in oldies was not peculiar to Kenyans. The No 1 song on video sharing platform Tik Tok in 2025 was Pretty Little Baby, a 1962 song by American singer Connie Francis.

Tik Tok’s Year in Music Recap released this week reveals that the song’s popularity was due to its use as the soundtrack for videos on family, pets, relationship and flowers leading to more than 68 billion views. Its popularity was not just confined to one platform; it has 133 million streams on Spotify.

Francis who died in July 2025 at age 87 expressed surprise at the success of the ballad she recorded 63 years ago: ‘To tell you the truth, I didn’t even remember the song,’ she told the People Magazine in May.

Streaming

Music streaming platform Spotify has now made Wrapped a much-anticipated fixture of the end of the year with fans sharing personalised revelations about their music preferences, from genres to artistes, of the past year.

The data is mind boggling. For instance, Spotify listeners streamed over 163 billion hours of music in 2025 with social features like Collaborative Playlists and Friends Mix accounting for 782 million hours of shared music during the year.

The older generation of Kenyans, those who grew up on physical formats like the vinyl and CDs, are gradually discovering the world of streaming; the over 55s registered the highest growth in listening this year at 74 percent, followed by the 45-54-year-olds whose streaming grew by 56 percent.

Top songs

The East African collaboration between Tanzanian star Marioo and Kenyan artist Bien, Nairobi, tops Apple Music’s 2025 Year-End Charts in Kenya, followed by Tanzanian Joel Lwaga’s worship anthem Olodumare and the South African amapiano/Afrobeats hit Isaka (6 am) by Ciza, Jazzworx, and Thukuthela.

The popularity of the latter, along with other isiZulu hits like Ngishutheni by Goon Flavour, confirms isiZulu as one of the top three most-streamed musical languages in Kenya, just behind English and Swahili, according to Spotify data.

Documentaries and biographies

If you missed any of the outstanding music films and publications in 2025, there is no better time to catch up on them than this holidays season.

The most talked about music documentary of 2025 is the recently released Sean Combs: The Reckoning which investigates the murky events surrounding the life and career of US producer and music mogul, also known variously as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, who is currently serving a 50-month jail term.

Earlier in the year, Avicii: I’m Tim offered a very personal portrait of the much-loved Swedish Electronic Dance Music DJ/producer who died in 2018.

One Shot with Ed Sheeran is a pure musical experience as British singer-songwriter walks the streets of New York City with his guitar spontaneously entertaining fans with a repertoire of his songs as a film crew shoots the unfolding events in one take.

If you don’t want to fight for the TV remote control with members of your household then get your hands on Truly by Lionel Richie, the 2025 memoir of one of the biggest pop stars of all time.

Read: 10 nuggets from Lionel Richie’s memoir ‘Truly’

Lionel shares his story with wit, self-deprecating humour and juicy nuggets of his interactions with everyone from Michael Jackson to Quincy Jones.

Transitions

Some big names that left the stage for the last time in 2025, including Roberta Flack, she of Killing Me Softly with His Song fame, who died in February at the age of 88.

Teddy Osei bandleader of the legendary Ghanian group, Osibisa, who found global fame in the 1970s and 80s with hits like Woyaya and Sunshine Day died in January at 89.

Two Jamaican reggae icons died this year, Cocoa Tea in March at age 65 and Jimmy Cliff in November at age 81. US neosoul pioneer D’Angelo passed in October at age 51.

Safaricom has borrowed $138 million (Sh17.8 billion) from Standard Bank to fund the expansion of its subsidiary in Ethiopia.

Africa’s largest bank by assets, operating in Kenya as Stanbic, is the sole arranger and lender of the loan. Safaricom will invest the capital towards expanding digital infrastructure and services in Ethiopia.

‘The two businesses worked side by side in the development of the financial solutions that were bespoke to the business while responsive to the market’s needs,’ Standard Bank said in a statement. Safaricom entered Ethiopia in 2022, with Standard Bank as its advisors and financiers. The company has since then invested $2.27 billion (Sh292.77 billion) in telecom and digital financial services infrastructure in the country.

‘We are honoured to have partnered with Safaricom again in enabling and supporting their ongoing vision to drive digital transformation and inclusion in Ethiopia,’ said Anthony Ndegwa, Executive Vice President for Telecoms, Media and Technology at Stanbic Kenya’s Corporate and Investment Banking.

Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said: ‘We are guided by innovation and strategic partnerships as we aim to transform lives at scale; empowering youth, entrepreneurs, and underserved communities to fully participate in Ethiopia’s digital economy and realise the promise of shared prosperity by 2030.’

‘Through this partnership, we are given the opportunity to pursue this goal and grow further to digitally enable Africa,’ Mr Ndegwa said.

Safaricom has over 10 million active customers in Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous market.

The telco says its 4G network now covers more than half of the 136 million population, with 3,141 live sites deployed across over 150 towns and cities.

Last week, the telco introduced a network-agnostic M-Pesa app called Lehulum, just two years after introducing the mobile money service in Ethiopia. It marked a major step in the country’s digital payments landscape, allowing any mobile user, regardless of their network operator, to download the app and use M-Pesa services.

This includes sending and receiving money, making payments, and accessing digital financial tools – services that have helped M-Pesa grow in double digits in Kenya since its 2007 launch. But the company has already reported restricted access among users of the state-backed telco Ethio Telecom, the country’s biggest player with 83.2 million customers as of June.

‘M-Pesa Lehulum is currently not accessible on smartphones using mobile data services managed by Ethio Telecom, leaving our customers unable to log in, transact, or retrieve their funds,’ Safaricom said in a December 5 statement.

In the six months to September, Safaricom recorded a smaller loss in Ethiopia, which contributed to a 52.1 percent rise in profit to Sh42.7 billion ($330 million).

Ethiopia’s losses dropped by 59 percent to Sh15.2 billion from Sh19.4 billion in the first half of last year.

This was heavily impacted by a depreciation of the birr currency. Safaricom expects to make a profit in the country in the year ending March 2027.

KCB Kenya has received Sh19.5 billion ($150 million) financing from the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), allowing it to expand its lending, especially to women-led entities and green businesses.

The country’s largest lender, by asset base, said Sh12.9 billion of the funds will be subordinated debt. Subordinated debt is classified as tier two capital and contributes to a bank’s total capital position that determines the amount of lending a bank can do.

KCB capital positions were above regulatory requirements as at the end of September. However, an increase in total capital ensures growth of its loan book, especially with the uptake of large ticket green projects.

KCB said it will use the funds for onward lending projects under renewable energy, infrastructure, and agriculture. Environmental awareness has seen businesses increasingly lean towards projects that are classified as green, including the installation of solar power and renovation of their buildings, creating opportunities for banks to grow their loan book.

‘We are looking to strengthen our capacity in supporting customers focusing on green projects,’ KCB Bank Kenya MD Annastacia Kimtai said.

‘This partnership marks a significant milestone in our sustainability journey as it reinforces our commitment to scale up green lending and enable us to deepen our impact, catalyse private investment and support Kenya’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050,’ she added.

KCB has been piling funds for lending to projects that prioritise environmental sustainability and high social impact, especially in energy, infrastructure, agriculture, health, and education sectors.

For example, in February, the bank received Sh12.9 billion ($100 million) from the British International Investment (BII) for lending to climate-related projects, which came on the back of Sh27.5 billion received from different international lenders last year.

Last year, KCB disbursed Sh51.8 billion ($402 million) in green loans, growing its green portfolio to 21.32 percent from 15 percent in 2023. The loans were largely extended to green products designed to foster energy transition, including initiatives in the blue economy, e-mobility, and climate change adaptation.

KCB was part of the consortium of banks that funded Safaricom’s Sh30 billion sustainability-linked loan. KCB partnered with Absa, Standard Chartered Kenya, and Stanbic to extend the loan to Safaricom in two tranches of Sh15 billion each, the first being in 2023 and the second one last year. KCB is pushing to allocate 25 percent of its portfolio to green initiatives by 2031.

‘KCB has demonstrated strong leadership in sustainable finance, and we are confident this collaboration will deliver measurable climate impact and inclusive development for Kenya and the region,’ said AfDB Director General for East Africa Alex Mubiru.

KCB will use Sh6.45 billion to deepen its presence in international transactions, with the AfDB providing a guarantee to other banks receiving letters of credit and similar trade finance instruments from KCB.

Trade finance helps the bank earn commissions off the balance sheet. KCB has been a key player in trade finance, including its role in the government-to-government (G-2-G) oil deal.

KCB Kenya contingent liabilities, which capture letters of credit, guarantees, swaps, and options issued under trade finance by the bank, were at Sh295.9 billion at the end of September 2025.

KCB had the largest size of contingent liabilities in the banking sector, signaling its dominance in trade finance. It earned Sh9.8 billion from fees and commissions, which were not loan-related in the nine months to September, pointing to the lucrativeness of trade financing.

When BD Life contacted Maurice Ochieng’, a hammock seller based in Westlands, posing as a prospective buyer, he responded in a friendly but straightforward manner.

‘Please check with us in the next two weeks,’ he wrote in a WhatsApp message.

This was in late November, and he had sold all of his hammocks. Fast forward to December and another inquiry at China Square Mall produced a similar response. However, no restocking timeline was offered this time.

This pattern is unmistakable. The surge in Kenya’s hammock swing market is a clear indication of how people are choosing to spend their leisure time, especially during the holiday season: Swinging.

By the time BD Life arrived at Alice Wanjiku’s showroom on Ngong Road, the last piece had literally just walked out of the door, leaving nothing to photograph or examine.

“Our handcrafts men are currently working on some pieces, and they will be ready by tomorrow,” Alice explained, her tone mixing pride with the pressure of overwhelming demand.

Consequently, our interview was postponed until the following day, with the hope that the new hammocks would still be available.

As it turned out, this waiting game has become a familiar experience for customers across Nairobi during the festive season. Sellers were grapplinWhat was once a niche product for outdoor enthusiasts has evolved into one of the holiday season’s most unexpected success stories in the luxury furniture sector.

Retailers are struggling to keep up with demand, while customers are willing to wait weeks for their own piece of comfort and relaxation. According to Maurice, the transformation has been dramatic.

“In recent years, hammocks, particularly swing chairs and loungers, have transcended their traditional camping associations to become statement pieces for homes and gardens, symbols of leisure, comfort, and the promise of rest after a difficult year,” he observes.

So what’s driving this remarkable demand? According to Alice, the digital drive is playing a big role in increasing the demand.

“Instagram-worthy garden setups and Pinterest-perfect balcony designs have normalised hammocks as décor elements rather than purely functional items. When customers see friends and influencers lounging in stylish swing chairs, the aspirational appeal becomes irresistible,” she explains.

She has established a unique position by focusing on locally-made, handcrafted products created entirely from scratch.

Primarily operating online, it serves customers nationwide from Kisumu to Mombasa to Nairobi.

Each hammock swing, she says, starts with the fabrication of its metal stand.

“The metal is cut, joined, sanded, and painted before the swing chair portion is constructed and hand-sewn with either corded rope or rattan,” says Alice.

The local standard corded rope hammocks cost Sh24,000, while premium rattan versions range from Sh28,000 to Sh30,000.

The product line includes two main types of swings, including single-person models supporting up to 130 kilograms, and custom double hammocks accommodating over 250 kilograms, made to order and costing between Sh35,000 and Sh42,000.

For Alice, the black hammocks have proven particularly popular this season, disappearing from inventory almost as soon as they’re completed.

Her customers also have options, as they can choose between canvas materials for weather resistance or decorative fabrics suitable for indoor spaces like living rooms and bedrooms.

However, she notes that the customisation options that make each piece special also mean production cannot be rushed, a reality that has become increasingly challenging during the festive rush.

The festive rush for hammocks begins in November, with the demand increasing toward Christmas and extending through the long holiday breaks.

For Alice, this means increasing the production to stock at least five hammocks at a time.

This year, however, she notes, has been markedly different. “We can now sell anywhere from two to four hammocks in a single day during peak periods, compared to the typical four to five per week during slower months,” Alice notes.

Yet according to her, the most significant operational challenge isn’t raw materials like metal, corded rope, fabric, and paint since they remain readily available.

“It’s finding enough trained workers to handle the increased holiday orders. The hand-sewing process requires skill that takes weeks to develop, and finding artisans who can maintain quality standards while working faster has proven nearly impossible,” she says.

So, how does she navigate through this challenge?

“We just decline the orders, and that means potential sales lost. For a business that built its reputation on quality and reliability, turning away customers feels like a failure, even when it’s actually a sign of success,” she says.

Despite these challenges, customer enthusiasm remains high. While the business operates during a season typically associated with gift-giving, Alice reports an interesting trend, whereby most buyers aren’t purchasing hammocks as presents.

“Occasionally, customers surprise romantic partners, but the majority are investing in their own comfort and outdoor leisure spaces,” she reveals.

In terms of marketing, Alice takes a different approach. Word of mouth does the heavy lifting, with satisfied customers bringing new referrals.

She prefers to let handcrafted quality speak for itself, instead of getting into aggressive marketing campaigns.

“During the festive season, this organic approach works almost too well, generating more demand than the business can comfortably handle,” she says.

Looking ahead, Alice plans to expand her capacity over the next one to two years.

The goal is to maintain an inventory of 10 to 15 hammocks rather than just five, so that we can ensure that our customers who want instant gratification receive them immediately,” she explains.

Meanwhile, in the busy Ngara suburb, Raj Jethwa sells a different type of hammock.

At his Sangyug Entreprise Ltd., he has stocked two types of the hammocks, including gauze and wood stick hammocks, in different colours, which he imports from China.

Among these options, gauze hammocks emerge as clear best sellers during the festive period.

“Customers are preferring ready-to-hang, compact travel models for their convenience and portability, characteristics that for them, align well with holiday travel plans and outdoor leisure activities,” he explains.

These Chinese-made hammocks, priced between Sh2,000 and Sh3,000, he says, are ideal for those spending their festivities on a budget.

Unlike the ones at Alice’s shop, Jethwa notes that his import model allows for easier scaling than artisanal production.

“We don’t experience human resource constraints, no custom orders requiring special attention, no measurement issues or colour mismatches,” he says.

About his customer base? “They revolve around hikers and resort operators who need functional, affordable solutions in larger quantities,” says Jethwa.

Also, most individual buyers are homeowners with large gardens or spacious rooms where hammocks can serve as comfortable relaxation spots.

Additionally, urban apartment dwellers rarely feature among the holiday customers, as the product selection caters more to those with outdoor space. “My customers are seeking functional leisure accessories that can move from garden to balcony to vacation home with minimal fuss,” Jethwa explains.

The festive rush for Jethwa also starts in November, which coincides with Black Friday promotions that kick start the holiday shopping season with discounts and bundles of deals.

For Jethwa, this is the busiest period as the demand reaches its annual peak, even though he does not offer any price discounts.

He notes that this is the time when resort operators stock up before the holiday tourism rush, prioritising ready-to-hang convenience and quick setup.

Beyond Black Friday promotions, he takes a low-key marketing approach, as he relies on the previously established demand patterns rather than intensive campaigns.

“The affordable prices does much of the marketing work. When customers discover they can own a hammock for the price of a nice dinner out, the decision becomes easier,” Jethwa says.

The Treasury has revealed a Sh103.76 billion termination or break fee that Kenya will pay to the owners of the Nairobi Expressway should the 27-year public-private deal be terminated prematurely.

The disclosures show termination of the Chinese-backed expressway dwarfs all other public-private partnership (PPP) break fees, underscoring the extent to which its owners sought to protect themselves from regime transitions in a country where new administrations have cancelled or revised mega projects.

Locally incorporated Moja Expressway, a subsidiary of China Road and Bridge Construction (CRBC), built and funded the construction of the 27.1-kilometre super highway and will recoup its investments from tolling over 27 years. It was constructed under the previous administration of Uhuru Kenyatta under the PPPs to finance the construction of highways and other infrastructure after public debt ballooned.

Termination fees of Nairobi’s expressway account for more than half of the Sh203 billion in PPP break fees for 11 infrastructure projects.

The potential payout to Moja Expressway in the event of termination of the deal set to run to 2049 is equivalent to 29.03 percent of the projected revenue of $2.765 billion (about Sh357.35 billion) over the 27 years.

It is also about 82.17 percent of $977 million (Sh126.27 billion) the firm will earn in the form of dividends and equity release (recoup of capital and returns therein) during the concession period.

The Treasury’s disclosures show that while PPPs such as the Nairobi Expressway are structured to shift financing and operational risks to the private investor, they expose taxpayers to hefty fees in the event of the collapse of the deals or State breach.

“Assuming the worst-case scenario of termination of PPP projects due to contracting authority default, the maximum termination sums as at financial close for executed projects have been reported as the contingent liability,” the Treasury writes in the Annual Public Debt Report for the financial year 2024-25.

“As of the end of June 2025. total estimated exposure related to termination sum payments amounts to Sh203 billion. Assuming 5.0 percent probability of termination by the contracting authorities, contingent liability associated with PPP projects arising from project termination payments is Sh10.19 billion as of end June 2025.”

Under the PPP structure, private investors recover their investments by charging user fees over a defined concession period.

The regime of former President Mwai Kibaki enforced the PPP Act in January 2013, banking on private capital to deliver large infrastructure projects without tapping taxpayers’ cash or piling on new loans, and further ballooning the public debt.

The model has so far delivered 11 projects, with the Nairobi Expressway being the largest and most commercially significant.

Moja Expressway collects tolls of between Sh170 and Sh500 from motorists in a 27-year operating agreement after the road opened in May 2022.

The road, which cost Sh70.78 billion to build, runs from Mlolongo in Machakos County to Westlands in Nairobi.