Category: Business Daily

Venture capital (VC) firm Chui has raised $17.3 million (Sh2.2 billion) to back local founders building mass-market, tech startups in Kenya and across sub-Saharan Africa.

This is the final close of the Nairobi and Lagos-based investment firm’s debut Fund I, which originally had a fundraising target of $10 million (Sh1.29 billion).

The funding round attracted commitments from the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation. Several family offices also participated, as well as over 25 African dollar-millionaires, the VC firm said.

Chui said it will deploy the capital to seed-stage startups -those that have developed an initial product or prototype and are actively working to demonstrate initial traction.

‘We believe African founders are best positioned to solve Africa’s challenges at scale, and Fund I is proof that global and local investors share this conviction,’ Joyce-Ann Wainaina, General Partner of Chui Ventures, said in a statement.

‘As we look ahead, we will continue to double down on technology-driven ventures that deliver both returns and measurable social impact.’

Chui says it focuses on tech-enabled products for ‘everyday consumers and MSMEs, where leapfrogging is most pronounced.’

Its Kenyan startup portfolio spans financial technology, health-tech, e-commerce, agri-tech, and logistics, with notable investments in Leta, the supply chain software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider; Uncover, a skincare products brand for African women; and the cloud-based kitchen platform Ando Foods.

Chui has also backed the Kenyan ed-tech company Craydel, and Lami, whose application programming interface (API) enables companies to offer flexible digital insurance to consumers.

Fund I has already deployed 60 percent of its committed capital in Kenya and four other sub-Saharan African countries, the company said.

The VC firm added that Fund II targets $60 million (Sh7.8 billion) as the company expands into North Africa and focuses more on financial services, business-to-business (B2B) software, digital commerce, and climate-tech startups.

Africa’s venture ecosystem continues to navigate a global funding slowdown in 2023, attributed to rising inflation, weakening currency, and unfavourable interest rates, leading foreign investors to shift capital from emerging markets.

However, the continent’s recovery is gaining momentum. Data from the startup funding tracker Africa: The Big Deal shows the continent’s startups have already raised $2.65 billion in equity, debt and grants this year as of October.

This is a 56 percent growth compared to the same period last year, and surpassing funding levels recorded over the same period in 2023.

Kenyan startups alone raised Sh17 billion in the six months to June, the database shows, a 12 percent improvement from last year’s figures.

The number of ventures raising at least $1 million on the continent has also increased to 179 as of October, up from 159 in 2024, signalling renewed investor confidence.

A shortage of number plates for motor vehicles has resurfaced again this year, in what has stalled sales of cars and hurt dealers already grappling with low orders due to economic hardships that have beset potential buyers.

Dealers say that the shortage has persisted for the past three weeks even as the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) remains mum. The crisis looks set to derail sales as the year edges to a close -a time when dealers traditionally enjoy high sales.

Lack of number plates hurts the ability to sell cars or even complete bank transfers that require number plates, significantly hurting the cash flows of dealers in a tough environment.

This is the second time this year that shortage of the critical parts has hit dealers, with a similar crisis having been experienced in April this year.

‘There is an industry outcry and it is a big one. It (shortage) has persisted for the past three weeks. We do not have number plates for the KDV-W, X, Y and Z series,’ Charles Munyori, the Secretary-General of Kenya Auto Bazaar Association said yesterday.

Dealers are grappling with low sales amid a tough economy and the shortage of the plates is set to exacerbate the woes.

It is not clear what has triggered the shortage, which has left dealers staring at significant reduction in sales ahead of the Christmas and New Year festivities.

NTSA had not responded to queries from over the shortage and when dealers should expect resumption of normal supplies.

Dealers usually get number plates within a week after registering the motor vehicles. Lack of the number plates is set to trigger a pile up of units at the port of Mombasa and thus increased storage costs for both dealers and buyers.

Besides dealers, buyers are also stuck given that they cannot get their cars even after paying the Sh3,000 fee for the critical parts.

The crisis has forced dealers to deepen reliance on Kenya Dealers (KD) number plates as a stop-gap measure to mainly move them from the port of Mombasa or showrooms for test-drives by clients.

These number plates are for motor vehicles without insurance or those whose whose physical Number plates are not yet out. These plates can only be used between 6am and 6pm.

Lack of number plates has been a recurring problem over the past few years, pushing dealers into cash-flow woes over inability to complete sales and bank transfers.

Dealers grappled with a shortage of number plates in April this year and August last year. NTSA has never offered an explanation behind the cause of these shortages.

The shortage of number plates looks set to derail the steady rise in registration of motor vehicles that has been recorded since the start of this year.

Official data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that registrations of motor vehicles (excluding motorcycles and three-wheelers) jumped 25 percent to 75,059 in the eight months to August this year from 59,945 in the same period of last year.

The richest one percent of Kenyans got 40 percent of the new wealth created in the country amid strong economic growth over the last decade, increasing their fortunes as the number of extremely poor Kenyans burgeoned by millions.

The roughly 500,000 people now control 78 per cent of Kenya’s financial wealth, including stocks, company equity, physical assets and securities, while the bottom half of the population holds only a fraction of that.

Over the last decade, the wealth of this top tier has grown nearly twice as fast as over 7 million Kenyans slipped into extreme poverty, missing out on the gains of Kenya’s economic growth. New analysis by anti-inequality charity, Oxfam, shows that nearly half of Kenyans now survive on less than Sh130 per day and have not felt the benefits of rising average incomes or sustained GDP growth.

Kenya’s economy has expanded by an average of 5 per cent per year over the past decade, yet the richest one per cent of the population captured 40 per cent of all new wealth generated in that period, its study shows.

‘Kenya is becoming wealthy, but a vast majority of its citizens do not feel this,’ said Oxfam Kenya’s economic governance and policy advisor Beverly Musili.

‘The wealth generated is flowing to the richest, and the gap between the richest and the rest has widened.’

The wealth of the richest one percent has grown almost twice as fast as that of the rest of the population in the last two years and they now hold more wealth than 90 percent of Kenyans combined, and 13 times what the bottom half of the population owns.

Oxfam also found that the 125 richest Kenyans possess more wealth than 42.6 million Kenyans combined, underlining an inequality gap that widens each year and limits the public from sharing in Kenya’s economic gains.

‘This clearly shows that without redistribution, growth alone will continue to enrich the richest while deepening poverty for the majority,’ Oxfam said in a policy brief after the research.

Kenya is almost twice as wealthy today as it was ten years ago, with GDP rising from Sh9 trillion in 2015 to Sh16.15 trillion last year, according to the World Bank. Yet a growing number of Kenyans struggle to afford basic needs such as food, education or healthcare.

Oxfam argues that government spending priorities continue to sideline pro-poor sectors.

‘The cost of living crisis is making it hard for families to put food on the table. The number of Kenyans facing severe or moderate food insecurity rose by 17 million (71 percent) between 2014 and 2024,’ the charity said. ‘Inflation has hit those with the least money the worst because they spend most of their income on food.’

With increasing inequality, Oxfam notes that poorer households face rising barriers to education as government funding for both basic and higher learning continues to fall.

Healthcare is also severely underfunded, leading to avoidable deaths and illnesses among poor families, while the wealthiest rely on private healthcare.

Oxfam recommends that the government increase spending on education to at least 20 percent of the budget, raise health spending to 15 percent, and allocate at least one percent of GDP to social protection.

It also proposes reducing the income tax rate for the lowest band from the current 25 percent, raising capital gains tax from 15 percent to 35 percent, and increasing rental income tax back to 10 percent as part of efforts to strengthen tax progressivity.

While the study shows that more Kenyans are falling into poverty as most new wealth goes to a few ultra-rich individuals, the latest World Bank data indicates some progress in reducing income inequality.

The Gini coefficient has fallen from 0.4 in 2015, which reflects high inequality, to 0.38 in 2022, which reflects moderate inequality.

About 25,000 savings and credit co-operative societies (saccos) risk deregistration for failing to prepare and file audited financial accounts with the regulator, raising concerns over the safety of more than Sh1.2 trillion deposits held in the country’s co-operative movement.

The State Department for Co-operatives says just under 5,000-representing 16.6 percent of the nearly 30,000 co-operatives in the country-are preparing and submitting their financial results to the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (Sasra) and the Commissioner for Co-operative Development.

State Department for Co-operatives Principal Secretary (PS) Patrick Kilemi said in an interview that many of the non-compliant co-operatives have continued to hide their financial dealings despite numerous reminders from the government. Many co-operatives also failed to hold annual general meetings (AGMs) in line with the law, denying members knowledge of their financial dealings.

The absence of shareholder meetings has denied members the chance to elect directors and oust non-performing leaders.

‘Compliance is not a suggestion. It is a legal and moral obligation. We now want to commence the process of cancelling registration certificates of all non-compliant co-operatives,’ said Mr Kilemi.

‘We will sustain enforcement and ensure we protect co-operative members from mismanagement, secrecy and financial abuse.’

Failure to prepare and file audited accounts is in breach of the Co-operative Societies Act and Co-operative Societies Rules, which require co-operatives to submit audited accounts within four months after the end of a financial year.

The move is part of the government’s broader push to clean up the co-operative sector, curb financial scandals and protect the over 7.4 million members from potential losses.

The sector has been hit by several high-profile scandals, including the Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives (Kuscco) fraud, Ekeza Sacco heist and mismanagement at Metropolitan Sacco, which have collectively hurt public confidence in co-operatives.

Latest data from the Co-operatives Department shows the number of audited accounts submitted to regulators dropped to 4,062 in the year ended June 2025 from 4,130 in the previous year and 4,734 in the period ended June 2023.

This points to falling compliance levels in a sector that saw deposits jump to Sh1.224 trillion at end of June this year, compared with Sh1.126 trillion a year earlier.

Sasra oversees all deposit-taking (DT) saccos and non-withdrawable DT saccos that hold at least Sh100 million deposits, leaving the rest of the co-operatives in the hands of the office of the Commissioner for Co-operatives.

The law allows the Commissioner of Co-operatives to cancel the registration of a co-operative society and dissolve it immediately if it fails to file returns for three consecutive years. The law applies to primary co-operatives as well as apex bodies and secondary cooperatives like Kuscco, National Cooperative Housing Union (Nachu) and Cooperative Alliance of Kenya (CAK).

Read: Saccos with 3-year audit lapse now face deregistration

‘Where a co-operative society has- (a) less than the prescribed number of members; or (b) failed to file returns with the Commissioner for a period of three years; or (c) failed to achieve its objects, the Commissioner may, in writing, order the cancellation of its registration and dissolution of the society and the order shall take effect immediately,’ states the Act.

‘Where the registration of a co-operative society is cancelled, the society shall cease to exist as a corporate body from the date the order takes effect.’

The law also provides that if a co-operative society fails to have its accounts audited within the required timeframe, the members of its management committee automatically lose their positions at the next general meeting. Such officials are barred from seeking re-election for three years unless the Commissioner determines that the delay was caused by circumstances beyond their control.

Mr Kilemi’s move looks set to trigger widespread concern among cooperatives, many of which face tight timelines and heavy documentation demands if they are to avoid the risk of regulatory sanctions at a time the government is pushing for mergers among small saccos that find regulations burdensome.

In June, the State Department-through the Commissioner of Co-operatives, David Obonyo-directed societies that had missed the April filing deadline to submit their audited results by the end of September. However, Mr Kilemi said the majority had still failed to comply, prompting the government to consider tougher enforcement measures, including deregistration.

He stressed that no society was permitted to operate without preparing and presenting audited accounts to its members and filing them to regulators.

‘Ignoring official circulars is a direct violation of the Cooperative Societies Act and those who do so expose themselves to sanctions including removal from office, surcharges and deregistration,’ said Mr Kilemi.

In October this year, the purge was extended to external auditors. Sasra ordered external auditors who have been hiding or failing to submit statutory reports on saccos’ operations, financial condition and regulatory compliance to the regulator to do so within 30 days or risk permanent ban from auditing the sector.

Many co-operatives have also failed to hold AGMs as is provided for in the Act, and therefore denying members a chance to know the financial dealings of the entities they have invested money in. Members have also been unable to choose leaders.

Mr Kilemi said there are large saccos that have failed to switch to the delegates system of holding AGMs, making it impractical for their gatherings to offer an equal chance for members to hold their officials accountable.

The delegates system requires large saccos-often those with over 5,000 members- to elect a limited number of representatives to attend and vote on behalf of the entire membership so as to make meetings more efficient and easier to manage.

In mid-June this year, Mr Obonyo wrote to all co-operatives, directing those with more than 5,000 members to update their bylaws within six months and adopt a delegates system for holding AGMs. Under the directive, each co-operative is required to have between 150 and 500 delegates depending on its membership size.

Mr Kilemi warned that CEOs who fail to hold proper AGMs or continue to rely on formats that reduce the meetings to mere ceremonial events with no room for members to democratically elect their officials will be surcharged for the millions of shillings splurged on such gatherings.

‘Without books of accounts, many co-operatives are not holding AGMs. Failure to hold AGMs or hold proper elections means the officials claiming to be in office are doing so illegally. Such officials are liable for surcharges on all expenditures incurred during the period of non-compliance,’ he said.

Some co-operatives have used the weak format of AGMs or the absence of shareholder meetings to borrow excessively and plunge their entities into debt. These loopholes prompted the State Department to issue guidelines demanding that all loan submissions be accompanied by, among other documents, certified AGM meetings, up-to-date audited accounts and a comprehensive business plan.

The State is also pursuing sacco CEOs who have failed to file their wealth declarations as part of wider efforts to tighten governance and curb malpractice in the sector.

The Co-operative Societies Act requires all co-operative officials to file income, assets and liabilities declaration forms within 30 days of assuming office. After the initial filing, officials are required to update their declarations every two years.

East Africa Portland Cement’s (EAPC) biggest shareholder Kalahari Cement has announced an agreement to buy a 27 percent stake in the company held by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) for Sh1.6 billion, even as the Nairobi bourse halted trading on the stock on Wednesday morning citing a lack of notification about the material information on the deal.

Kalahari Cement, which is controlled by Tanzanian tycoon Edhah Abdallah Munif, said in its notice that was published in the media that it reached the share purchase agreement with state-controlled NSSF for the pension fund’s 23.4 million shares, pricing the units at Sh66 each for a total consideration of Sh1.604 billion.

‘Kalahari entered into a share purchase agreement with the sellers (NSSF) on November 25, 2025, pursuant to which each of the sellers have accepted Kalahari’s offer to purchase the sale shares.,’ Kalahari, whose parent firm is Amsons Group, said in its notice.

If approved by regulators, the purchase will give Mr Munif effective control of EAPC, with an eventual stake of 68.7 percent. He currently holds a 41.7 percent stake in EAPC through Kalahari Cement (29.2 percent) and his wholly owned Bamburi Cement (12.5 percent).

Kalahari is jointly owned by Mauritius-based investment companies Pacific Cement Limited (90 percent) and Comercio Et Consiel Limited (10 percent). The two investment companies are in turn fully owned by Mr Munif.

The purchase price of Sh66 per share in the latest transaction represents a significant premium on the Sh27.30 per share that Kalahari paid to acquire its existing 29.2 stake or 26.32 million shares from Swiss multinational Holcim in a deal that was concluded earlier this month.

Holcim’s exit valuation represented a 46.2 percent discount on EAPC’s prevailing share price of Sh50.75 at the time the deal was announced for the first time on August 1. On the other hand, the NSSF transaction is being valued at the share’s current market price.

EAPC has 90 million issued shares, giving the company a current market valuation of Sh5.94 billion at Wednesday’s closing price of Sh66 per share. The Holcim transaction price valued the company at Sh2.46 billion.

Both valuations are, however, well below EAPC’s net asset or book value of Sh20.4 billion, as per the company’s latest audited financial results dated June 2024. The company’s total assets stood at Sh35.19 billion, and total liabilities at Sh14.79 billion.

The EAPC on Wednesday stock saw activity only briefly in the morning before the NSE moved to implement a trading freeze on the counter, describing the news of the transaction as ‘unverified’.

Before the trading halt, investors had traded 6,319 shares, with the price jumping by a near maximum 9.54 percent from Sh60.25 per share to Sh66 -suggesting the market was reacting to the news of the transaction.

‘Trading in the shares of EAPC was halted this morning following the circulation of unverified market information regarding a potential share transfer. The halt was implemented in consultation with the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) as a precautionary measure to ensure orderly trading and protect investors while the matter is reviewed,’ the NSE said in its notice to the market on Wednesday.

‘The NSE is engaging with the issuer to establish the accuracy of the information and will provide further updates once verified details are available.’

Both the NSE and the CMA had not responded to emailed queries on whether they had been made aware of the transaction before trading opened on Wednesday morning.

On its part Kalahari said that it served notice of the transaction on EAPC, the NSE, the CMA and the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) on November 26, 2025, although the fact that the NSE and CMA went ahead to stop trading on the EAPC stock indicated that they had not received the notice before the market opened for the day.

Market rules require listed companies to publish material announcements before the opening of trading, or after the market closes at the end of the day. Announcements made during trading hours usually trigger trading a halt on the security.

Under NSE trading rules, the bourse, in consultation with the CMA, can temporarily stop trading on a specific counter in order to obtain clarification of specific information or report about the firm that has been brought to the attention of the exchange.

Halts are also introduced when there is an unusual market movement in price or volume of a security, and in case of occurrences that could impair transparent, fair and orderly trading of the specific securities.

Taxes on companies’ and workers’ earnings recorded a rare fall in the first quarter of the current financial year ending June 2026, underlining weakening profitability, stagnating formal jobs and freeze on pay raises.

Latest data from the National Treasury shows that income tax receipts dropped 2.31 percent to Sh252.62 billion in three months to September 2025, down from Sh258.60 billion in the same period the year before.

The receipts from income tax streams underperformed the quarterly the Sh317.69 billion target set by the Treasury target by Sh65.07 billion.

The shortfall piles pressure on the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) at a time when the government is pursuing aggressive fiscal consolidation.

The data shows the performance was weighed down by what the Treasury calls ‘other income taxes’ which typically captures instalment taxes on business income and corporate tax advances.

This category of income tax fell 5.13 percent in the review period to Sh115.99 billion from Sh122.27 billion in comparable quarter the previous year, pointing to slower profit growth or cash-flow tightness that affects remittance of advance payments by companies.

That was compounded by softer collections from Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE), which grew a measly 0.21 percent to Sh136.62 billion, signalling a cooling formal labour market and stagnant wage adjustments.

Stephen Waweru, a senior manager for tax services at KPMG, said that drop in corporate income tax (CIT) underlined rising signs of business distress across various sectors.

‘A significant number of firms may be operating at a loss. In such cases, where there is no net profit, the business would not incur a CIT liability,’ Mr Waweru said in October.

In contrast, the Treasury data shows that consumption taxes such as VAT and excise duty continued to hold firm.

Domestic VAT collections jumped 17.42 percent to Sh87.34 billion in the period from Sh74.38 billion a year earlier, buoyed by stronger compliance with electronic Tax Invoice Management System (eTIMS) and improved domestic consumption. VAT on imports also bumped 11.80 percent to Sh86.03 billion, from Sh76.96 billion.

Excise duty similarly grew 8.43 percent to Sh73.88 billion, up from Sh68.13 billion, reflecting receipts from consumption of excisable goods such as beer, spirits, wine, cigarettes, mineral water, juice, cosmetics and soda as well as excisable services like airtime, internet and earnings on loan fees.

This year’s Africa Industrialisation Day, marked on November 20 under a theme centering on Sustainable Industrialisation, Regional Integration and Innovation, offers Kenya a moment to reflect on how deliberate deployment of sustainable practices catalyses sustainable industrial growth.

Kenya stands at an inflection point where sustainable industrialisation is no longer aspirational-it is the decisive pathway to securing our global competitiveness.

A key enabler of industrialisation is sustainable energy infrastructure. Data from the Energy and Petroleum Statistics Report for the Financial Year ending June 30, 2025 by the Energy and Petroleum Regulation Authority (Epra), shows that of the total power generated that year, renewable power accounted for 80.17 per cent.

Of this, geothermal was at 39.51 percent, hydropower 24.21 per cent and wind power at 13.18 percent while utility scale solar installations contributed 3.27 percent.

To enhance this, the government has put in place policies to generate 100 percent of the electrical energy from renewable energy sources by 2030.

In tandem with this is manufacturing, which is a major energy consumer and a driver of industrialisation through trade facilitation. Kenya’s manufacturing sector contributes about 7.3 percent to the GDP, as of 2024, a figure that has declined from 11.3 percent in 2010 according to the Kenya Association of Manufacturers.

Only a stable, predictable, and innovation-friendly regulatory environment can unlock the potential of our manufacturing sector and protect it from existential threat of illicit trade.

Achieving this goal, especially for the country’s growing private sector, demands that systemic constraints key to sustainable energy access are addressed, including infrastructure gaps, access to industrial financing and regulatory streamlining.

Regional integration via the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) increases the stakes for industrial competitiveness. Access to a larger market makes specialisation more viable and allows Kenyan manufacturers to capture scale economies, which may not be possible in a fragmented or smaller environment.

Kenya’s diversified economy, combined with renewable energy should attract firms seeking stable production platforms with continental reach. Manufacturing driven by technology, innovation and infrastructure, requires both dependable energy and technical expertise. This integrated approach helps to ensure that value addition occurs efficiently while building inclusive technical capacity.

Kenya is addressing this in part through parallel investments in renewable infrastructure and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.

For instance, the KOICA-GIZ TVET Project, a joint initiative by Kenya’s Ministry of Education, the Korea International Corporation Agency, and GIZ to equip Kenyan youth with future-ready skills in, among other areas, manufacturing and renewable energy, is a notable step towards the development of an inclusive and sustainable future for Kenya.

As important, sustainable industrialisation must be firmly anchored on a predictable fiscal and regulatory environment which enables medium and long-term planning.

Illicit trade such as in the tobacco industry where illegal tax evaded cigarettes account for approximately 37 percent of the market, and counterfeits such as in the alcohol, cosmetics and electronics industries, is becoming a critical existential threat that needs urgent and decisive attention.

Irrefutably, addressing this critical issue will take a whole of society approach, to help ensure that legitimate industry and the livelihoods of Kenyan supply chains are protected.

At the same time, for industrialisation to be fully sustainable for Africa, it must be pegged on innovation.

Utilisation of science and modern technology in product design and innovation ensures that business solutions remain relevant and responsive to evolving needs and demands of consumers. It is also prudent that regulatory frameworks align themselves with the rapidly evolving marketplace, and even better, be a step ahead through proactive engagement with private sector.

If we are to realise Vision 2030, we must treat industrialisation as a national priority, anchored on renewable energy, skilled talent, and a whole-of-society commitment to safeguarding legitimate industry.

Services alone cannot generate growth at this magnitude while providing broad-based employment. Manufacturing creates formal jobs with competitive wages, develops technical capabilities that are transferable across industries and establishes production competencies that compound over time.

As Africa Industrialisation Day highlights sustainable industrialisation’s centrality to economic transformation, the synergies are apparent. It is time that we up the ante to help accelerate sustained and sustainable industrialisation and socio-economic development in our country, for the prosperity of all.

At least 1,529 employees will lose jobs and some 429 projects be left in limbo should the State dissolve six regional development authorities (RDAs), the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has warned.

The National Treasury, in its reform strategy for State Corporations (SCs), resolved to wind up the RDAs with a combined asset base of Sh4.9 billion because their functions overlap with those of counties.

The six RDAs are part of 90 entities that will undergo reforms including mergers, divestitures and dissolution, as the government strives to cut wastage by attaining efficiencies in their operations.

‘However, the winding up of the RDAs is likely to face challenges since they are managing a total of 423 projects with a number of them cross-cutting county borders. Beyond physical assets and liabilities, the RDAs collectively employ 1,529 with salaries and benefits valued at approximately Sh1.53 billion,’ the PBO says.

Technical advice

The office, which offers technical advice to parliament on fiscal and economic matters, warns that shutting the institutions without a clear roadmap on how to handle their employees, assets and projects could cause legal challenges.

The six RDAs are Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority, Kerio Valley Development Authority, Lake Basin Development Authority, Ewaso Ng’iro North Development Authority, Ewaso Ng’iro South Development Authority and Coast Development Authority.

‘The winding up of these RDAs provides financial and administrative implications in the projects, assets and liabilities currently held by these institutions,’ the PBO says.

State reforms in the State Corporations target to merge 42 entities into 20, dissolve nine SCs, restructure six, divest or dissolve 16 corporations with outdated functions and declassify 17 public funds and professional organizations categorized as SCs.

The targeted 90 State Corporations have a combined recurrent budget of Sh122 billion during the current fiscal year, and the PBO observes there will be huge savings after the actions.

SCs targeted for merger are expected to have most savings for the National Treasury since they have a combined recurrent budget of Sh118 billion during the year to June 2026.

‘However, the economic benefits from the state corporations have predominantly been lower compared to the expenditures mainly due to overlapping mandates, duplicate staffing structures, and fragmented service delivery,’ the PBO says.

Majority of the corporations were marked due to their overlapping mandates, operational inefficiencies, and heavy reliance on the exchequer for survival.

SCs targeted for divesture include Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, Pyrethrum Processing Company of Kenya, Numerical Machining Complex and PostBank.

The PBO notes that while the targeted SCs consume 17 percent of government revenues, their contribution to the country’s economy has been far lower (3.5 percent of GDP), compared to the average 14 percent rate across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The office, however, warns that there could be institutional resistance as affected agencies fear loss of autonomy, legal and political challenges due to redundancy of personnel particularly in top management and support services and loss of specialized expertise during mergers.

Kenya has made a last-minute decision to split the contract for the Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit toll road to avoid scrutiny and lengthy approval by the Chinese government.

In a U-turn, the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has revealed that it is reinstating the runner-up from the original bids and giving it a section of the 236-kilometre road network, while the initial contract winner will handle the remaining portion.

This follows revelations that the winning bidder — China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC)-would require a lengthy internal review from Beijing, which demands its approval for overseas projects exceeding $1 billion (Sh129.6 billion) that are handled by state-owned Chinese companies.

The highways regulator has since offered CRBC a smaller deal involving 81 kilometres from Nairobi to Gilgil via Naivasha and a 58 kilometre-stretch from Nairobi to Naivasha through Maai Mahiu.

Another Chinese firm — Shandong Hi-Speed Road and Bridge International Engineering (SDRBI)-will construct the 94 kilometres stretching from Gilgil to Mau Summit.

The split gave SDRBI a piece of the deal after it lost in the initial bidding for projects to a consortium of CRBC and the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), which had a more competitive bid and offered lower base toll rates.

The consortium was in October awarded the entire Sh170 billion project, with President William Ruto announcing that it will be launched this Friday after meeting with the president of the China Communications Construction Company (CCC), CRBC’s parent firm.

But the launch looked set to be derailed after CRBC said the investment would attract ‘extensive and tedious’ scrutiny by the Chinese government because of the $1 billion threshold, arguing that it would take more than a year to get approvals from Beijing.

This prompted the split of the contract.

‘With neither of the proponents able to deliver the full corridor within the terms of the PPP Act, the contracting authority [KeNHA], guided by the National Treasury and Economic Planning, initiated evaluation of the feasibility study reports of the alternative split-scope proposals earlier submitted by the proponents,’ KeNHA said in a new disclosure.

The two Chinese firms will have to harmonise their toll charges for the roads.

The NSSF consortium edged out SDRBI, which had also submitted a privately initiated proposal (P-i-P), after quoting a lower base toll rate.

Kefa Seda, the director-general of the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) Directorate, told the Business Daily that the split will not translate into different toll fees for the different sections, even though the two companies had initially proposed different rates.

‘The rates must be harmonised. Each developer will individually manage and toll the section they have constructed, but the fees will be the same across the road network,’ he said.

‘There will be a framework that will go through Parliament to harmonise that tolling rate, so that even though the implementing companies are different, the tolls will be the same.’

The winning consortium also agreed to absorb traffic-volume risk rather than pass it to the government-a departure from a proposal by the French contractors, who were awarded the deal during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s era and wanted the State to shoulder the cost of any fall in traffic.

The French deal was cancelled in favour of the Chinese.

The ability to work under a tight deadline was another factor in favour of the CRBC-NSSF bid, as the Ruto administration rushes to complete the project before the next elections in 2027.

The two Chinese companies have already conducted feasibility studies for the full project and the alternative split, meaning construction could begin once KeNHA completes negotiations and project agreements are signed.

KeNHA has not ruled out the option of a single contractor for the entire project and is inviting other interested firms to submit counter-proposals.

‘To promote competition and openness in privately initiated proposals, the public is hereby notified that any other qualified private party with the technical and financial capacity may, within the statutory timelines, submit a competing privately initiated proposal (PIP) for the project,’ the authority said.

The Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit toll road project has been in the pipeline since 2016. According to KeNHA plans, at completion, it will be a dual-carriage four-lane road, and all of it will be tolled. The administration of former President Kenyatta awarded the contract to a French consortium led by Vinci SA Highway.

But President Ruto’s government terminated the deal valued at Sh190 billion in 2022, citing high costs.

While this will be SDRBI’s first major project in Kenya, CRBC is no stranger to large infrastructure works in the country.

It constructed the standard gauge railway (SGR), the Nairobi Expressway, the Nairobi western, eastern, and northern bypasses, and is currently building the Sh44 billion Talanta Stadium.

President Ruto is keen to see the project completed before the next polls, a key campaign pitch to residents of the Rift Valley, Western Kenya and Nyanza, where motorists often endure long traffic snarl-ups, especially during festive seasons.

The road is expected to significantly cut travel time along the corridor, easing congestion on the main artery from Nairobi to western Kenya and neighbouring Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Ruto administration cancelled the deal inked by his predecessor with the three French contractors, terming it too expensive. The government is expected to pay termination fees of around Sh7.2 billion to the French consortium led by Vinci SA Highway.

Technology CEO Wanjala decided to thrust his firm into the corporate social responsibility (CSR) space in Kenya. He proceeded to trumpet a massive cash donation to a struggling Nairobi hospital. In so doing, he sought immediate public acclaim and publicity.

However, the tech firm that Wanjala led routinely disregarded local environmental standards regarding production waste that sparked widespread local anger in the communities near the firm’s facilities.

Once Wanjala’s CSR donation hit the news wire, stakeholders immediately denounced the seemingly tactical charitable move, labeling it a cynical public relations stunt.

They wondered, how can an executive cause health problems through pollution one day but donate to health another day? The CEO’s shallow attempt to gain public admiration backfired dramatically, which ended up costing the firm more crucial community trust and seriously damaging its reputational standing in the broader industry.

A brand new study released last week that is gaining much attention in academic circles dissects how a CEO’s narcissistic personality shapes their company’s CSR activities. Tine Buyl, Boris Lokshin, and Christophe Boone posit that institutional contexts direct what external stakeholder audiences praise or dismiss in regards to corporate social actions.

The research develops an interesting model proving that a narcissistic CEO tailors his or her firm’s CSR activities to incessantly seek to achieve excellence and gain continuous approval within their specific market environment.

The study analyses panel data spanning a 21- year period across 18 different countries. In liberal market economies that champion strong shareholder primacy, narcissistic CEOs pursue greater corporate philanthropy.

Such tactical performative high-visibility giving provides rapid reputational returns that in turn secures immediate praise from key financial stakeholders.

Conversely, in coordinated market economies that focus on consistency of social norms and demand embedded long-term commitment from companies, narcissistic CEOs overwhelmingly favoured much more strategic CSR.

These latter CEOs implemented substantial resource commitments and organisational changes that resulted in stakeholder admiration for the firms deeper structural engagement.

Here in East Africa, do you work for a narcissist? How about your firm’s CEO? Companies must recognise the context-dependent nature of narcissistic CEO behaviour.

Boards of Directors now wield a proven mechanism to influence executive action. In so doing, they can oddly harness their CEOs narcissism and channel it toward desired CSR outcomes by formally emphasising and rewarding the appropriate type of social investment.

A board operating in a liberal market like Kenya, Zambia, and South Africa, for example, can prioritise investment transparency and clear short-term shareholder value thus promoting well-publicised philanthropic giving.

While a board in a coordinated market more similar to Tanzania, China, and Rwanda can demand measurable, embedded environmental and social policy changes, reinforcing strategic, long-term investments.

Multinational firms operating across borders can further utilise this research to formulate unique tailored global strategies. They should stop implementing a universal one-size-fits-all CSR approach across all subsidiaries.

The firm’s leadership should adjust its CSR portfolio country by country to ensure that local actions match local institutional norms. Such strategic adaptation allows a company to gain legitimacy, avoid reputational damage, and secure essential stakeholder approval in every market it enters.

In short, boards must understand the OCEAN big five personality of their executives as well as the three dark personality traits that include narcissism.

CEOs have a higher rate of narcissism than the general population because that same narcissism coincides with their confidence and drive and therefore more get to executive roles.

But boards with narcissistic CEOs must structure executive compensation packages specifically designed for narcissistic leaders. In so doing, they can directly tie bonuses to excelling in the type of CSR activity most valued by their operating institutional context.