Category: Business Daily

The waiting time for radiotherapy services at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) more than doubled in the financial year ended June 2025, dealing a blow to cancer patients amid repeated breakdowns of key medical machines.

Radiotherapy is a cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors.

Latest data shows radiotherapy wait times at Kenya’s top referral hospital jumped to an average of 37 days from 18 days in the previous financial year.

This was more than twice the target of 17 days, with the hospital attributing this to machine breakdown and increased demand for the service.

‘In the financial year 2022/23 and 2024/25, targets were not met. This was due to frequent equipment breakdown and increased demand for radiotherapy services at the hospital,’ says the State Department for Medical Services in health sector reports to the Treasury.

KNH has faced recurring issues with its radiotherapy machines, particularly the Linear Accelerator (Linac) machine, which is a critical part of the hospital’s cancer treatment.

The rise in wait times for radiotherapy services contrasted with chemotherapy, which saw an improvement to 2.57 days compared to three in the previous year, and the targeted 12 days.

This was on the back of introducing round-the-clock services. ‘Targets met and overachieved. The hospital introduced 24-hour outpatient chemotherapy services as well as the implementation of the patient navigation programme,’ said the department on chemotherapy wait times at KNH.

Overall, KNH saw the number of oncology sessions on chemotherapy and radiotherapy drop to 22,873 in the year ended June this year from 43,216 in the previous year.

This points to the impact of the Linac machine setback.

Machine breakdowns also affected highly specialised services at the hospital.

KNH’s cardiothoracic unit reported missed surgery targets in 2024/25, specifically due to the breakdown of the image intensifier and Cath lab equipment-both essential for heart surgeries. The number of heart surgeries fell to 1,045 from 1,293. Radiotherapy delays were not unique to KNH. Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital reported wait times of 70 days from 69 in the previous financial year and 46 in 2022/2023.

However, MTRH posted a rise in the number of external beam radiotherapy sessions to 21,482 from 17,014, surpassing the targeted 10,150.

‘This was attributed to continued scheduling of patients and timely treatment planning, and by operationalisation of the second Linac radiotherapy machines, employment of two more medical physicists, and timely procurement of radiotherapy source,’ said the State department.

Over the same period, MTRH saw the number of oncology sessions on chemotherapy and radiotherapy rise to 1,492 from 1,092 due to the availability of oncology medication and equipment.

At Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH), the average wait time for radiotherapy improved to 18 days in the year to June 2025 from 60 days in the previous year, but came short of the targeted 12 days.

This was due to the high number of patients.

‘The targets were not achieved due to the inability to meet the demand for radiotherapy services. The hospital capacity for radiotherapy (one Linac machine) is stretched to the maximum,’ said the State Department.

The average wait time for chemotherapy services at the same hospital more than doubled to 14 days from six days due to increased demand.

This eroded the gains in the previous financial year, where the introduction of a new shift for chemotherapy services had cut the average wait time from seven days.

In financial year 2024/25, the number of patients receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment at KUTRRH dropped to 19,561 from 21,640 due to challenges with supplies of chemotherapy drugs.

For years, HR teams have battled a familiar frustration: investing heavily in new programmes that employees barely use. Whether it is learning initiatives, wellness activities, new HR technologies, diversity efforts or recognition schemes, many well-designed strategies fail quietly because employees simply do not engage with them.

The issue is not the quality of the programmes themselves; it is the assumption that once something is launched, adoption will automatically follow. In today’s workplace, participation must be earned.

Historically, HR relied on a compliance-driven approach: issuing directives from above, sending reminder emails, setting deadlines and implying consequences for non-completion. But the modern workforce, particularly younger employees, no longer responds to pressure or obligation.

They expect relevance, clarity and choice. If people do not understand why something matters, even the most urgent initiatives become background noise.

Marketers mastered this challenge long ago. Their work revolves around capturing attention, generating interest and influencing behaviour-exactly what HR has been trying to do but with less effective tools.

There is now a compelling opportunity for HR teams to adopt proven marketing practices that make their internal programmes more appealing, more visible and ultimately more successful.

The first shift HR must embrace is an audience-first mindset. Marketers spend years understanding customer behaviour and preferences, segmenting their audiences and tailoring messages accordingly. HR can do the same.

Employees are not a single, uniform group. They differ by generation, role, working environment and motivation. Understanding these variations allows HR teams to frame programmes in ways that resonate, rather than relying on generic communication that appeals to no one.

Equally important is the way HR introduces new initiatives. Marketers never send a single announcement and hope for results; they build campaigns with teasers, stories, testimonials and follow-up narratives. HR can significantly increase adoption by adopting a similar approach.

A new programme should be rolled out in phases, reinforcing the purpose, showcasing internal success stories and keeping the conversation alive through regular touchpoints. This transforms HR communication from one-off notices into ongoing engagement.

Branding is another lesson HR can borrow. Products succeed because people recognise and relate to them. The same principle applies internally. A leadership programme branded as ‘Emerging Leaders Lab’ creates excitement in a way that a generic ‘Leadership Training’ never will.

Visual identity-logos, colours, taglines, even small branded materials-helps an initiative stand out. When respected employees or leaders i.e. internal influencers publicly endorse a programme, it gains credibility and momentum, much like customer influencers in the commercial world.

Content quality also matters. In marketing, content is crafted carefully to attract and hold attention. HR must raise its standards here. Dense, jargon-heavy communication no longer works.

Employees respond to clear storytelling, clean visuals and concise formats that fit naturally into their workday. With information coming from every direction, HR must compete for the same attention employees give to social media, news and digital content.

Finally, HR must embrace data as a strategic tool. Marketers track analytics relentlessly-open rates, click-throughs, conversions. HR can look beyond completion rates to measure what truly matters: behaviour change, repeated usage, segment-specific participation and the long-term impact of programmes. Data provides insight into what employees value, what needs improvement and how future initiatives can be refined.

The broader shift is clear. HR can no longer rely on authority to drive engagement. The tactics of the past-deadlines, directives and warnings-deliver compliance, not commitment. Real engagement comes from relevance, storytelling and emotional connection. Adoption is not automatic; it must be inspired.

If marketers can sell products through identity, influence and compelling narratives, HR can apply the same principles to sell ideas that shape the employee experience. Because the future of HR isn’t about forcing action. It’s about inspiring it.

Farmers contracted by dairy processing firm Brookside have been paid Sh257 million for supplies made in the half-year to May 2025, under a scheme that rewards producers for milk quality and for surpassing supply targets.

Brookside’s General Manager for Milk Procurement, Emmanuel Kabaki, said the payout will benefit dairy groups and individual farmers who signed up for the programme and supplied raw milk between July 1 and November 30 this year.

‘We are rewarding farmers who signed up for our scheme and were given raw milk supply targets, for both quantity and quality,’ he said in a statement issued in Nakuru.

Bulk of payout

The bulk of the payout will go to farmers supplying the processor through dairy groups (Sh 118m million), while milk traders, large farms, and individual suppliers will pocket the remainder of the Sh257 million, according to data released by the processor.

The payout comes barely six months after the processor paid another Sh303 million in bonuses for milk supplied between December 1, 2024, and May 31 this year.

Mr Kabaki said the biannual payouts reward farmers who meet agreed supply targets in both quantity and quality.

Brookside, the country’s leading dairy processor, has intensified capacity-building programmes for farmers in key milk-producing regions as it seeks to grow its raw milk volumes.

‘The reward scheme, now in its sixth year, is a statement of our excellent working relationship with our 160,000 raw milk suppliers. It has boosted the supply of high-quality milk, enabling us to tap into a larger share of high-value products,’ Mr Kabaki said.

Brookside has intensified capacity-building programmes for farmers in key milk-producing regions as it seeks to grow its raw milk volumes.

This year alone, more than 60,000 farmers have benefited from Brookside’s extension services, including field-day training and the use of demonstration farms to showcase best practices in dairy enterprise management.

Supply chain

The firm is also strengthening its supply chain through environmentally friendly technologies that promote sustainable milk production.

Mr Kabaki said sustainable agronomic practices, such as agroforestry and the adoption of biogas as a clean energy source, help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

To support fodder establishment, Brookside has distributed nearly 250,000 cuttings of Super Napier and sweet potato vines to farmers this year.

The increased popularity of special funds has diluted the dominance of money market funds (MMFs) as investors pivot to the higher yielding class of unit trusts.

Data from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) shows the proportion of MMFs, as share of total pooled investor funds, dropped to 58.9 per cent in September, from 62.2 percent a year earlier.

The dilution of assets under MMFs has coincided with the rising popularity of special funds whose share rose to 20.3 per cent in the review period, crossing the 20 percent mark for the first time.

The attraction of special funds has been underlined by above-market returns for investors so far while fund managers have launched these products on less restrictions including the ability to charge higher fees on clients’ assets under management (AUM). Special funds closed the period with an asset base of Sh137.8 billion compared to Sh400 billion for MMFs.

A special fund describes a type of collective investment scheme or unit trust that invests based on a fund manager’s investment strategy and largely covers non-traditional assets such as real estate, private equity, offshore stocks and commodities.

Fewer restrictions in this type of scheme means a fund manager can choose to invest exclusively in select asset classes including high risk instruments which can deliver market-beating returns even as it leaves clients exposed to losses.

‘Special funds are becoming popular due to fewer restrictions,’ CMA said in a statement.

Fund managers have drawn bigger returns from the special funds by charging higher fees compared to traditional funds such as MMFs.

A prior analysis of disclosures by fund managers showed that the unique funds are charging fees of as high as six per cent per annum, way above the median two percent charged on funds such as MMFs.

The funds can charge fees above the plain management fee including high performance fees and penalties for early exits allowing fund managers to draw even higher fees.

MMFs, on the other hand, have a ceiling on returns which are set by the underlying invested assets of commercial bank fixed deposits and Treasury bills.

Returns from MMFs have slipped in the past year to mirror falling yields on banks’ fixed deposits and Treasury instruments.

The return on the highest yielding money market fund has slipped from as high as 17 percent last year to 11.89 per cent as of Friday last week whilst the bulk of MMFs have annualised returns below 10 percent.

MMFs also hurt from a saturation standpoint for fund managers with 41 schemes all investing in the same asset classes.

The saturation has driven fund managers to establish special funds to differentiate themselves from other players.

‘Fees on money-market funds are running anywhere from one to two per cent. That market has become so competitive and fund managers must differentiate themselves by seeking higher returns via access to other markets,’ Ndovu Wealth Management co-founder and chief executive officer Radhika Bhachu said in a previous interview.

‘Starting special funds also makes commercial sense because you can now charge anywhere from three to five per cent, driving revenues significantly.’

Special funds are the second largest type of unit trusts after MMFs with fixed income funds, equity funds and balanced funds holding a lower proportion of assets at 20.1 percent, 0.5 percent and 0.2 percent respectively.

This translates to an asset base of Sh136.7 billion for fixed income funds, Sh3.3 billion for equity funds and Sh1.6 billion for balanced funds.

The number of special funds stood at 33, as of September, while fixed income funds were 38.

Equity and balanced funds have the fewest schemes, at 15 and 14 respectively.

Fixed income funds invest primarily in government bonds while equity funds primarily sink funds in Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) stocks with balanced funds investing between the two asset classes.

Last year, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) accounted for 61.7 percent of all deaths in Kenya, up from 52.4 percent in 2023. Kenya’s health burden has grown significantly.

This makes universal healthcare costlier than it was two years ago, with studies showing that NCDs are increasingly affecting younger age groups.

Kenya’s health budget has steadily increased. In the 2024/25 fiscal year, the national government plans to spend approximately Sh121.97 billion on health services, up from Sh107.52 billion in 2023/24, when the allocation represented about 11 percent of the national budget.

However, other sectors, such as education, defence and infrastructure, receive larger shares while a significant portion of the budget is devoted to debt servicing.

The typical government response to such data is often alarmist. It tends to focus on the high costs of treating tobacco-related illnesses and the strain they place on an already limited health budget.

But why crawl when we can fly? Rather than reacting only to disease, we can empower tobacco consumers through education, prevention and informed choices, enabling them to reduce harm before illness sets in.

This is where the concepts of regulatory divergence and regulatory lag (or conflict) come in.

Regulatory divergence happens when the industry’s product innovation outpaces or conflicts with government-approved public health strategies.

On the other hand, regulatory conflict occurs when government regulations or official guidelines fall behind rapid product innovation, leading to gaps in enforcement or public guidance.

The problem with the Kenyan government’s approach is that it solely supports Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT), which is often expensive.

Meanwhile, the tobacco industry offers commercial alternatives that can yield the same public health benefits more quickly, alleviating the health burden.

Consumers tend to prefer commercially marketed alternatives over medically approved options such as NRT. These alternative products are usually more accessible, appealing and familiar.

Often driven more by emotion than reason – a fact the tobacco industry has understood far better than any health ministry – most consumers also prefer to feel responsible for their choices rather than be told what to do.

However, public health strategies that engage industry through regulated partnerships, product standards or responsible marketing, often achieve better outcomes than purely adversarial approaches. The collaboration between industry and the regulator can align commercial innovation with public health goals, ensuring consumers have access to safer alternatives while advancing public health objectives.

Also, the industry often has the resources, budgets and know-how to reach consumers effectively, through marketing campaigns, promotions and product education. Leveraging these channels, under strict regulation, can complement public health efforts, ensuring accurate information reaches users while promoting safer alternatives.

Open, transparent communication, grounded in science and tailored to local realities, tends to be far more effective in guiding behaviour than prohibition or heavy-handed messaging. But censorship only makes consumers more stubborn. Unfortunately, governments influenced by the World Health Organisation (WHO) often perceive the tobacco industry as an adversary rather than a potential partner.

A nation is only as healthy as the priority it gives to its people’s well-being; as such, Kenya needs to invest in alternative ways to tackle the disease burden if it is to sustain its Universal Health Coverage plans and address the growing burden of disease.

The tobacco industry can be a partner in consumer education, not in promoting use, but in providing accurate information about product risks and safer alternatives.

It is time to reevaluate the collaboration between government and industry in this sector to see if a cordial note can be struck in empowering consumers to choose safer alternatives.

Commercial banks’ lending to the private sector accelerated in November to 6.3 percent, marking the fastest pace in 19 months as improving credit conditions and lower borrowing costs spurred demand.

Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data on Tuesday showed the latest private sector credit growth was from 5.9 percent in October.

The last time the pace of growth exceeded this level was in April last year, at 6.6 percent.

The acceleration in the pace of lending to the private sector has come on the back of CBK’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) cutting the benchmark lending rate in nine consecutive sessions including the one yesterday where it slashed the rate to nine percent, from 9.25 percent.

At nine percent, the Central Bank Rate (CBR) -a key signal in the pricing of loans- is at the lowest level in about three years, having stood at 8.75 percent in January 2023.

The latest pace of credit growth marks a contrast from a negative growth of 2.9 percent in January. CBK attributed the growth to the falling interest rates.

The average commercial banks’ lending rates declined to 14.9 percent in November 2025 from 15 percent in October and 17.2 percent in November last year.

‘Growth in credit to key sectors of the economy, particularly manufacturing, building and construction, trade and consumer durables, remained strong in November. This mainly reflects improved demand for credit in line with the declining lending interest rates,’ said Kamau Thugge, the CBK governor, in the MPC statement.

The CBR had hit a 12-year of 13 percent in February last year where it lasted up to August of the same year before the CBK started cutting it as inflation eased and the Kenya shilling Tuesday’s cut marked the ninth consecutive easing since the peak of 13 percent and means the CBR has seen a four-percentage points reduction over the past 15 months.

‘This (reduction in CBR) will augment the previous policy actions aimed at stimulating lending by banks to the private sector and supporting economic activity, while ensuring inflationary expectations remain firmly anchored, and the exchange rate remains stable,’ said Dr Thugge.

Read: Banks urge ninth straight cut in benchmark cost of loans

Kenya’s headline inflation was 4.5 percent in November compared with 4.6 percent in October while the shilling has remained largely stable, exchanging at under 130 to the dollar.

This environment has given CBK room to cut CBR. The reduction in CBR is in line with the bankers’ wishes. Through Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), lenders had urged for a reduction in CBR to help lift the pace of private sector credit growth and reduce loan defaults.

CBK data shows the ratio of gross non-performing loans (NPLs) to gross loans was 16.5 percent in November 2025, down from 16.7 percent in October and 17.6 percent in August.

‘Decreases in NPLs were noted in the mining and quarrying, energy and water, personal/household and transport and communication sectors. Banks have continued to make adequate provisions for the NPLs,’ said CBK.

The banking industry is transitioning to use of the CBR as their benchmark in setting loan prices despite earlier rejecting it and negotiating the creation of the Kenya Shilling Overnight Interbank Average (Kesonia) which they have now shelved.

Banks including KCB, Equity, Absa, NCBA and DTB have issued notices that they will be using CBR as their reference rate in the risk-based pricing model which took effect on December 1.

Banks were expected to use Kesonia -which is based on the price at which banks borrow from each other referred to as interbank rate- as they are the ones who had pushed for its creation after they rejected the Central Bank of Kenya proposal to use the CBR as a benchmark for loan pricing.

The MPC noted that the revised model, which will be fully operational by March next year, will improve the transmission of monetary policy decisions to commercial banks’ lending interest rates and enhance transparency in the pricing of loans by banks.

The Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives (Kuscco) has issued compensation of Sh152.4 million to saccos after offloading non-core assets and stepping up loan recoveries, marking the latest phase of its effort to refund co-operatives facing a major loss in the financial heist.

The umbrella body of saccos says the amount builds up on Sh216.9 million paid out last year and brings the total compensation to the affected saccos to Sh369.3 million.

Saccos had invested billions of shillings in Kuscco, but a forensic audit made public early in the year revealed the entity suffered a Sh13.3 billion heist under the watch of former officials who have since been charged in court.

Kuscco targets to recover at least 70 percent of the Sh8.8 billion principal amount that Saccos had invested in the umbrella entity within the next three years and has, for the start, relied on the sale of non-core assets, auctions, and loan recoveries to process the refunds.

The latest payout includes Sh112 million as fixed deposit compensation, which has seen 116 saccos receive between Sh9.23 million and Sh1,680 depending on how much they had invested.

In addition, Sh35.4 million has been paid out to individuals who had invested money in the Kuscco Housing Fund for the purchase of houses. A further Sh5 million has been distributed to those who had saved money under the Front Office Savings Activity account called Kusasa.

‘We are releasing this money after the PricewaterhouseCoopers verified that indeed these are genuine claims. You will see us sustain, if not step up these payments, as we move forward,’ said Arnold Munene, managing director at Kuscco, in an interview.

‘The payment demonstrates that our initiatives to dispose of non-core assets, auction houses of defaulters, and implement cost-cutting measures at Kuscco are for the good of the sector.’

The top five recipients from the latest distribution are Hazina (Sh9.23 million), Njiwa (Sh9.23 million), UN Sacco (Sh7.58 million), IG Sacco (Sh7.56 million), Ndege Chai (Sh5.35 million), and Mhasibu Sacco (Sh4.39 million).

Kuscco sold over 32 vehicles, reduced the number of branches to five from 17, and trimmed the staff size to 79 from 250. Mr Munene said these initiatives have helped generate money and also cut operating costs.

Kuscco and Sacco industry officials are in Mombasa for the Kuscco Annual Leaders’ Summit. The launch of the summit was by Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium-sized enterprises cabinet secretary Wycliffe Oparanya, who said the target is to have saccos receive all their investment back.

‘This fiscal distribution is part of the journey to ensure that saccos receive their principal investment held at Kuscco. This refund, calculated on a prorated basis, inaugurates a renewed covenant of transparency for the entire cooperative movement,’ said Mr Oparanya.

‘The funds were derived from the sale of non-core Kuscco assets and the resolute pursuit of recovery against loan defaulters who ignored legal processes. This refund demonstrates that integrity is our non-negotiable, immutable foundation.’

Last year, Kuscco paid out Sh216.9 million -mostly to small saccos. Out of this amount, Sh132.2 million was towards partial settlement of fixed deposit savings, while Sh84.7 million went to repaying investments in the Kuscco Housing Fund (KHF).

Kuscco is betting on several initiatives, including the sale of a 60 percent stake in Kuscco Mutual Assurance -the insurance subsidiary- to recover more money.

Other initiatives include the auction of houses and land held by defaulters of mortgages issued under the KHF and the recovery of loans from saccos who had defaulted on payment.

Continued recovery will see the payout hit about 70 percent in three years and rise to the entire saccos’ principal investment in the Kuscco by the fifth year, according to an earlier plan shared by the entity.

Kuscco is currently auctioning houses and parcels of land valued at about Sh1.7 billion in the hands of 684 individuals who have defaulted on loans issued through its housing fund.

The Kuscco heist prompted the intervention of the government to avoid the collapse of the country’s co-operative movement that holds over Sh1 trillion deposits.

Mr Oparanya said his ministry extended the term of the interim board of Kuscco for a term of two years to give them ample time to develop and implement a recovery strategy, reconstruct the books of accounts, oversee statutory and forensic audits, and amend the union’s bylaws.

He has been pushing for the merger of small co-operatives in order to strengthen their operations and also ensure closer supervision to avoid governance lapses.

Vodacom Group expects the advance dividend it gave the government as part of the Safaricom share sale transaction to be repaid within two or three years, signalling expectations that the telco will increase the size of its cash distribution to shareholders in the short term.

In a conference call with analysts, the South African firm said that it considered expected dividend flows over three years in order to arrive at the size of the facility to lend to the government, while also factoring in a return of about 16.5 percent.

The accelerated dividend of Sh40.2 billion is part of the deal in which the multinational is also buying a 15 percent stake in Safaricom from the Treasury for Sh204.3 billion or Sh34 per share through a Kenyan investment vehicle known as Vodafone Kenya. Vodacom will then get rights to Sh55.7 billion worth of future Safaricom dividends that will accrue on the government’s remaining shareholding of 20 percent, giving it a discount of Sh15.5 billion.

‘We took a percentage of expected dividends over a three-year period, and then we discounted it at an internal rate of return (IRR) of 16.5 percent. The way it works is if those dividends are more than the percentage, and it will pay down the facility quicker, in which case the IRR will go up,’ said Shaun Biljon, the group financial controller at Vodacom.

‘However, we’re capped at 18 percent IRR. So, we actually fully expect it to be paid down in just over two years.’

IRR is a discount rate that allows a company to calculate the present value of future cash flows, effectively allowing a firm to estimate the annualised return that an investment is expected to generate over a set period.

Therefore, from Vodacom’s point of view, it is effectively lending the dividend facility at a rate of 16.5 percent per annum.

In the year ended March 2025, the Treasury banked full-year dividends worth Sh16.83 billion from its 14.02 billion shares in Safaricom, which paid shareholders Sh1.20 per share for the period. The payout was split between an interim dividend of Sh0.55 per share and a final dividend of Sh0.65 per share. If the telco were to maintain the same dividend rate going forward, the Treasury would be in line to earn Sh9.6 billion annually from its reduced stake of 8.01 billion shares, meaning that it would take about six years to offset the dividend rights sold to Vodacom.

However, a higher payout per share would allow Vodacom to recoup its lending to the government much sooner.

Vodacom disclosed that the dividend payout is being financed through a loan facility from a local bank.

For the share purchase transaction, Vodacom is utilising a credit facility from Vodafone Luxembourg.

This will fund both the government share deal and the concurrent purchase of a five percent stake in Safaricom that is held by its parent firm, Vodafone Group, at the same price of Sh34 per share.

Once the twin transactions are concluded, Vodacom will raise its ownership in Safaricom to 55 percent, giving it control after spending a total of Sh272.4 billion on the share purchases. The Vodafone stake will cost it Sh68.1 billion.

Speaking on Friday, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi defended the cost of the dividend overdraft, saying that Kenya factored in the value of an upfront payment that is based on a future cash flow that is not guaranteed to materialise.

‘That figure (Sh15.5 billion) is based on the assumption that the current profitability will be maintained. It may or may not; the markets are dynamic; the dividend is not guaranteed,’ said the CS in an interview with the Business Daily.

‘But we have gotten money in advance, which will be recouped. I think it has been properly valued.’

Safaricom has been one of the most consistent dividend-paying companies on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) over the years.

Last month, Safaricom disclosed that it will maintain its policy of paying out 80 percent of its net profit as dividends, despite dipping into the debt market with a Sh40 billion green bond programme.

For the current financial year, Safaricom announced that its net profit for the six months to September 2025 rose by 52.1 percent to Sh42.7 billion, helped by a smaller loss in Ethiopia and M-Pesa’s double-digit growth. The company usually announces its interim dividend within the first quarter of a calendar year.

On December 1, Kenya’s banking sector shifted to a new interest rate pricing regime. Banks have since issued public notices through the newspapers, emails, SMSs and posts in their websites, notifying their customers and the general public of the change in how the cost of borrowing will now be determined.

The news is, for the first time in Kenya’s financial history, the interest rate a borrower pays will be significantly influenced by their own individual behaviour, discipline and overall creditworthiness, as determined by their credit score.

Until this year, lending rates were largely assessed at portfolio level, using broad borrower segments and product categories, that did not differentiate between good and bad behaviour within the same bracket. Under the new regime, this approach has been replaced with a single-obligor assessment model, where each borrower is evaluated independently based on their performance across all credit relationships.

The primary tool used in this process is the credit score, a numerical representation of one’s repayment behaviour, reliability and consistency in meeting financial obligations.

Credit scores are determined by the CRB from a holistic view of the borrower based on how they borrow and repay in banks, digital credit providers, trade and insurance and, importantly, Sacco loans.

This development places Sacco members in a highly advantageous position. For decades, Saccos have encouraged a culture of regular saving, disciplined borrowing and mutual accountability.

The very nature of the Sacco model promotes stable financial behaviour, and as Sacco loan data becomes more deeply integrated into the credit information ecosystem, members with strong Sacco histories now enjoy higher scores and, consequently, access credit at lower interest rates in the banking sector.

Today, Sacco loans have NPLs of below 8.5 percent against over 16 percent for commercial banks, and over 30 percent in microfinance and digital credit provider institutions.

As a result, borrowers with at least one Sacco loan, have 10 percent better credit scores than their counterparts without Sacco loans.

In Kenya, the word ‘Sacco,’ just like the word ‘bank,’ carries a specific legal and social weight. These are protected titles that cannot be used casually or carelessly. One cannot simply register a company and call it a Sacco without meeting strict regulatory thresholds.

Even investment cooperatives are designated as SICOs, while transport cooperatives are referred to as TRANS-COOPs.

Standards required to operate as a Sacco are intentionally high, reflecting the level of trust placed in this sector by both regulators and the public. Few industries in the country enjoy the depth of confidence, cultural significance and societal legitimacy that the cooperative movement in Kenya commands.

The strength of Saccos is rooted in Kenya’s history.

The cooperative movement emerged in the 1930s during the colonial era, when African farmers and workers were deliberately excluded from formal markets. Cooperatives became a vehicle through which communities pooled limited resources, accessed markets and created their own financial systems in the face of deep structural discrimination.

The democratic nature of Saccos, with the principle of one member, one vote, plays an important role in entrenching accountability.

In credit transactions, Saccos use guarantee models to generate collective responsibility, which also acts as an internal control system that boosts borrower behavior.

This social capital is now an asset in credit pricing. The shift to risk-based pricing now formally rewards this model and the resultant discipline it builds.

Starting or joining a Sacco is not hard. The journey of a Sacco typically begins with a handful of individuals who feel excluded or underserve by the existing financial structures. They may start as a small chama.

Over time, as membership, trust and capital grow, the group formalizes into a closed Sacco, later graduating into a non-withdrawable deposit-taking (NWDT) Sacco and, eventually, a fully licensed deposit-taking (DT) Sacco. This organic progression is part of the maturity of the credit character.

Kenya’s Sacco regulatory regime is progressive. Regulators are now focusing on the next phase of the Sacco evolution, which is digital enablement. In recent engagements with officials from the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (Sasra), I got to understand they have a plan for the smaller Saccos.

Recognizing the high cost of digital transformation and automation, they have proposed to rollout a shared infrastructure model that will reduce the capital burden associated with modern loan origination systems (LoS), core banking platforms and digital channels.

Through a shared services framework, even smaller Saccos will be able to achieve efficiencies comparable to large institutions. This will lead to improved cost-to-income ratios, enhanced governance, better member experience and stronger competitiveness across the sector.

This digital transformation will have the added benefit of enabling the Saccos to easily transmit the information and data of their members to CRBs for use in credit scoring. So that, even members of smaller Saccos, can start to enjoy the lower interest rates members of the larger Saccos are already enjoying.

Today, in the new era of risk-based credit pricing, being a Sacco member is a big asset. More importantly, borrowing responsibly and honoring credit obligations boosts your credit score, which leads to greater access to loans and other forms of credit at a significantly lower cost.

The hyper-connected, open-plan, always-online workplace makes it easy to confuse camaraderie with career growth.

We all want to be liked at work. We gravitate toward people who laugh at our jokes, vent with us about tough clients, and maybe even share a matatu route home. But when it comes to professional development, liking someone, or being liked, is not enough.

The hard truth is this: if your goal is to grow, lead, and thrive in your career, you do not need a bestie in the office. You need a mentor.

Having a work bestie can feel like the perfect safety net. They ‘get’ you. They have seen your bad days, covered for you when you were late, and exchanged a thousand memes with you during long afternoons. They may even be your constant companion at team lunches.

But this comfort, while emotionally satisfying, can quietly stall your progress. Work besties are usually peers-people at the same level of experience and influence. That means they’re often in no better position than you are to help shape your career strategy or guide your next step. In fact, they may unconsciously prefer things to stay as they are, because your growth could shift the balance of the friendship.

A mentor, on the other hand, is not invested in maintaining the status quo. Their role is to challenge your assumptions, stretch your vision, and push you, gently or firmly, out of your comfort zone. As human-resource consultant and career coach James Watare puts it: ‘Look for someone who has been where you want to go and is willing to show you how they got there. Mentors do not just approve your ideas; they question them, refine them, and help you act on them.’

His experience coaching young professionals in Kenya reinforces that mentorship is not a ‘nice to have’ but a fundamental step in career growth.

‘A mentor brings something your bestie often cannot: perspective. They have experience, both in your industry and within the organisation, and can help you see opportunities and pitfalls you might otherwise miss,’ he says.

While a bestie will validate your feelings after a difficult meeting, a mentor will ask what you might do differently next time. A bestie will sympathise with your frustrations; a mentor will encourage you to find solutions.

‘Too often, I see young professionals message recruiters or seniors with ‘Hi, any job?’-no structure, no clarity,’ Mr Watare notes. ‘The same lack of intention shows up when they choose mentors. They look for someone nice instead of someone strategic.’

None of this diminishes the value of emotional support. In high-pressure environments, having someone to talk to can make the difference between burnout and balance.

But emotional support is not the same as professional development. Besties may always be on your side, but mentors are on the side of your progress, and that sometimes means hearing what you don’t want to.

Kenyan cultural challenges

The Kenyan workplace brings its own cultural challenges to mentorship. Hierarchies, age gaps, and unspoken rules can make approaching a senior colleague feel intimidating. There is a fine line between being eager and being seen as overly ambitious.

But mentorship does not have to be formal. It often starts with curiosity, observation, and small conversations.

Mr Watare advises professionals to notice how seniors respond to client push-back, handle negotiations, or lead discussions. ‘Then ask for five minutes after a meeting: ‘What would you have done differently?’ That’s how informal mentorship begins,’ he says.