Category: Business Daily

From February 10 to 13, Nairobi hosted one of the country’s most consequential scientific gatherings as the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) convened the annual Kenya Annual Scientific and Health Conference (KASH) 2026.

This brought together researchers, policymakers, academics, and industry leaders under the theme, ‘The Future of Health: Scientific Research, Innovation, Technologies and Manufacturing for a Resilient Universal Health Coverage.’

Now firmly embedded in Kenya’s research calendar, KASH has evolved into more than a conference. It is a strategic platform where science meets policy and innovation aligns with national development priorities.

Across four days of deliberate and forward-looking discussions, the message was clear: Kenya is steadily positioning itself as a leader in Africa’s health innovation ecosystem.

Officially opening the conference, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale reaffirmed the central role of research, innovation, and local manufacturing in advancing universal health coverage (UHC). Strengthening vaccine research and production, he observed, is not simply a scientific agenda but a matter of economic competitiveness and national sovereignty.

The Covid-19 pandemic offered a sobering lesson. When vaccines were scarce, Africa found itself at the back of the queue. Dependence is expensive, risky, and at critical moments, it can cost lives.

Prof Elijah Songok, acting director-general of Kemri, captured this urgency by describing vaccine research, development, and manufacturing as pillars of national health security and economic resilience. Science is no longer confined to laboratories; it is a strategic economic asset capable of shaping a nation’s future.

Encouragingly, Kemri has been elevated into a strategic national institution with an expanded mandate to link science to industry while advancing mission-driven research in genomics, climate and health, and emerging diseases. This is the kind of institutional clarity that transforms countries from consumers of innovation into producers of solutions.

Dr Abdullahi Ali, the Kemri board chairman, emphasised that the strength of future health systems will depend on robust research ecosystems, dynamic innovation pipelines, and strong local manufacturing capacity.

Among the most strategic conversations was Africa’s ambition to produce 60 percent of its vaccines locally. Delivering on this goal will require talent, financing, regulatory efficiency, and sustained political commitment. Kenya is not waiting on the sidelines. The country has the scientific base, institutional leadership, and policy momentum to help drive this continental shift.

The broader takeaway from KASH 2026 is unmistakable: Health security is economic security, scientific capacity is geopolitical leverage and innovation is sovereignty. Kenya is ready to lead, and the task now is consistency. Conferences must translate into sustained investment, supportive policy, and deliberate partnerships.

When the next global health crisis emerges, preparedness will not be judged by what was said in conference halls, but by what Kenya chose to build before the storm.

The Treasury is betting on a last-minute dash to raise Sh106.3 billion from the sale of a stake in Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) before the deadline on Thursday as the initial public offering (IPO) struggles to meet targets.

Multiple top stockbrokers and investment banks reckon they have struggled to sell the State oil pipeline company, especially among high-net worth investors who have expressed interest, but have failed to make payments for the shares.

The four remaining days ahead of closure of the sale are crucial for the success of what would be East Africa’s biggest IPO in local-currency terms.

The government priced the KPC IPO at Sh9 per share for the offer that opened on January 19 and ran until Thursday, with the shares scheduled to begin trading on the Nairobi bourse on March 9.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi expects a huge chunk of investors to purchase the shares in the next four days, terming the last-minute dash normal.

Certain segments of investors, he said, had recorded significant demand for the offer, without giving numbers.

‘You know how Kenyans behave, even when the IEBC [Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission] is registering voters, they all come at the last minute. Let’s wait for the final week, I am sure we will have enough investors,’ he said.

‘Ugandan investors want more shares from us and are annoyed we are only offering 20 percent under the East African pool.’

KPC’s IPO must receive valid applications from not less than 250 applicants representing 50 percent of the offer shares.

This means that the IPO must raise at least Sh53.1 billion for the offer to proceed.

Of the total stake on offer, 15 percent is reserved for oil marketing companies, five percent for employees and the remainder for local retail, local institutional, East African and foreign investors, with each category receiving 20 percent.

The government will retain a 35 percent stake.

‘In cases of undersubscription, valid applications in the affected category be allocated in full, with remaining shares reallocated in the order of local retail, local institutional, East African investors, international investors and oil marketing companies (OMCs),’ the KPC investor memorandum says.

‘In cases of oversubscription, Kenyan investors will be given priority.’

The sale of a 65 percent stake in KPC is part of the Treasury’s plan to divest from State companies.

The government is also reducing its stake in telecoms operator Safaricom, with the sale of a 15 percent stake to South Africa’s Vodacom for Sh204 billion.

Burdened by high national debt, limited room to raise taxes and annual loan repayments that consume 40 percent of government revenues, the State has sought new funding models.

The KPC IPO will be the region’s biggest, surpassing the 2008 Safaricom offering, which raised just over Sh50 billion.

In dollar terms, the Safaricom IPO may still rank as the largest, given the weakening of the Kenyan shilling over the past 17 years.

The KPC IPO comes amid a sharp rally at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), with stocks last week posting the biggest ever one-week gain.

The lead advisor to the transaction, Faida Investment Bank, and co-sponsoring broker, Francis Drummond, remained optimistic that the offer will be a success.

Francis Drummond said it expected institutional investors to ‘act on their decisions’ within the closing days.

‘Institutional clients have expressed strong interest, and we anticipate that within the next five days, the institutions will act on their decisions,’ Francis Drummond told this publication on Friday.

KPC’s IPO, the first in 11-years since Stanlib Fahari i-Reit listing in 2015 had been tipped to generate as much interest as Safaricom’s offer in March 2008.

The sluggish sale of the offer comes amid lack of consensus among investment banks over the valuation of KPC.

Faida Investment Bank and Dyer and Blair valued the company at Sh9 a share while NCBA Investment Bank and Standard Investment Bank (SIB) quoted a lesser Sh6.35 and Sh8.05 a share respectively.

KPC’s expected reduction in its dividend payout ratio and future capital expenditure commitments (Capex), including laying a new pipeline between Mombasa and Nairobi, have led to investor scrutiny of the offer.

The share sale offer document shows the firm will reduce its average dividend payout from 94.5 percent of profits to 50 percent.

Wesley Manambo, a senior research associate at SIB, has issued a buy recommendation to investors with a long horizon on KPC, arguing that there is less attraction for short-term oriented investors to skip the offer.

‘We did give strategic long-term investors with at least a seven-year investment horizon with a buy recommendation. For investors keen on the ability of the company to generate cash and perform relative to peers, then the offer seems to be fully valued,’ Mr Manambo told the Business Daily.

‘For investors keen on dividends, then the opportunity cost seems higher relative to other propositions in the market. For them, they might look to avoid the offer.’

Faida Investment Bank noted momentum in the book build ahead of the closure period, supported by enhancements made to the e-IPO platform by KPC and the start of shares trading on the M-Pesa platform, including bids for the IPO.

‘We are seeing encouraging growth in applications especially following the enhancements made to the e-IPO platform. As we approach the offer’s close, we encourage Kenyan retail investors to take advantage of the remaining window to participate,’ Faida told the Business Daily in a statement.

‘Applications are steadily flowing in, with particularly strong interest from institutional investors. This level of participation reflects confidence in KPC’s fundamentals, its strategic national importance, and its track record of consistent performance.’

You’ve probably heard about collagen and its benefits to your body, particularly if you are over 30. From glowing skin to stronger nails, thicker, darker hair to better joints – the selling points are endless.

Collagen is the supplement that seems to live everywhere often stirred into smoothies and teas. But what truly dictates whether one should take collagen or any other supplement for that matter and do you know that professionals advise that before you take any supplement, you should undergo a clinical assessment?

‘Many people are self-prescribing,’ says Purity Kamande, a 33-year-old registered clinical and sports nutritionist. ‘They see someone online using a supplement and assume that is what they also need. That’s not how it works.’

Many of these supplements are sold without prescription in gyms or marketed on social media by brand influencers. Supplements have become lifestyle accessories. Everyone is taking something. If you work out or even if you don’t, it can feel like you should be taking something.

Yet under Kenya’s Nutritionists and Dieticians Act of 2007, only registered and licensed professionals are permitted to provide nutrition and dietetics services, including advice on dietary supplements. The law further requires that any nutrition supplement sold locally be analysed, certified and registered with the Kenya Nutritionists and Dieticians Institute (KNDI).

The regulatory framework exists to shield consumers from unsafe, adulterated or misleading products.

While on paper it remains a controlled system, in practice, culture of self-prescription has flourished. Many consumers now ‘pick’ supplements based on influencer testimonials or gym-floor conversations. Rarely consulting a licensed nutritionist and even more rarely checking whether the product is properly registered.

The nutritionist however notes that in many fitness spaces, this does not hold as emphasis has been put on supplements. ‘It is not shocking to see people taking collagen before they are evaluated. Same goes to protein shakes and pre-workout drinks that are treated as mandatory for productivity in fitness circles.

Even before she discusses specific products, Ms Kamande insists on defining what a supplement is: ‘A supplement comes in to add to what your diet already provides. It is an addition, not a foundation. It should never be the first thing you reach for.’

In an ideal scenario, she says, a person should obtain all necessary macro and micronutrients from whole foods. Supplements are meant to bridge identified gaps and not compensate for poor eating patterns or replace balanced meals.

‘We recommend the ‘food first’ approach. Your diet is a key part of your wellness. There is a misconception in the market today that one can substitute their diet with pills and powders because they offer similar nutrients and some even promise better results than food. Your food and eating patterns could be the natural solution your body needs.’

Does supplementation actually make sense? ‘Yes and no. It depends entirely on the type of activity you are doing and the intensity. That is what tells us whether you are a candidate for supplementation. Someone preparing for a marathon places very different demands on their body compared to someone attending moderate gym sessions three times a week. The duration, intensity and energy systems involved determine nutritional needs.’

Even then, the process she insists, must never be reduced to just buying a product based on algorithm or fitness buzzwords. Before recommending anything, professionals conduct what she calls an assessment phase.

‘We start with anthropometry. In simpler terms, your weight, height, body fat percentage and lean muscle mass to establish your baseline composition. From there, we do biochemical testing which provides deeper insight. We look at blood work,’ she says.

‘Red blood cells, haemoglobin levels, vitamin and mineral status. What you see on the surface is often a reflection of what is happening internally.’

Read: Herbs or supplements? Nutritionists warn of lurking dangers

Clinical signs matter too. Brittle nails, persistent fatigue, thinning hair can signal nutrient deficiencies long before they become severe.

Then comes dietary history. Do you cook at home? Do you eat out often? What does your schedule look like? What is your occupation?’ she asks. ‘All these factors determine whether a nutrition plan is practical and sustainable.’

For elite athletes, the analysis is even more granulated, factoring in sport type, competition season, training cycles and age. Only after this comprehensive review does supplementation enter the conversation.

One common myth is that supplements are specially formulated for different races or regions. That for example, European products are somehow different from African ones because of dietary differences.

‘In most cases, the ingredients are largely the same. What really differs is sourcing and manufacturing standards.’

This is also where the risk creeps in: ‘Contamination is a significant concern,’ she explains. ‘If you do not know where a supplement is coming from, you cannot be certain about what went into its production.’

For competitive athletes, this is particularly serious. Each year, the World Anti-Doping Agency releases a list of banned substances. Some unscrupulous manufacturers spike products with performance-enhancing compounds to increase perceived effectiveness.

‘Under anti-doping rules, intent does not matter. Athletes are responsible for every substance that enters their body.’

Not all supplements are equal in risk: ‘Creatine is one of the most researched supplements globally,’ Ms Kamande says. ‘There is strong evidence supporting its safety when used appropriately. Some studies even suggest heart-protective antioxidant properties.’

Ms Kamande advises that some supplements require caution. ‘High-caffeine products can trigger heart palpitations, elevated blood pressure and gastrointestinal distress. Fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K accumulate in the body and can reach toxic levels if overused. One needs to be constantly on the lookout to avoid this.”

‘The liver and kidneys are constantly processing what we consume,’ she says. ‘If you overload them with excessive or contaminated supplements over long periods, you strain vital systems.’

Commercial interest have led many people to falsely believe they need supplements. The easiest culprit is collagen.

‘I would say collagen right now is more market-driven than science-driven.’

The other supplement that is frequently misunderstood and perhaps even misused is protein powder. ‘If you are doing low-intensity workouts, your normal diet should meet your protein requirements.’

‘You cannot out-supplement a poor diet. If your eating habits are not right, supplements will not fix that foundation. They are additions, not replacements.’

Before beginning any regimen, she advises consulting a licensed nutritionist or medical doctor.

‘It is always better to assess first. Build your health on science.’

For many people, nutritional targets can be met through balanced meals alone. ‘If you are training four to five times a week at moderate to high intensity, then we may consider supplementation. ‘But that decision should follow assessment and not assumption.’

As a professional, her greatest concern is what she calls the ‘ten-container effect.’

‘You see someone online with 10 different supplement containers lined up and think that is the standard. It is not. Supplements are not harmless sweets. Their timing and interactions matter. Some must be taken with meals. Others on an empty stomach. Some interfere with medications. Some counteract each other. ‘Because you saw someone taking multiple products does not mean that is your path,’ she says.

I wasn’t at Davos this year, but I might as well have been for the richness of what I heard from those who were.

Every conversation relayed back to me carried the same unmistakable shift in tone. The old questions, the ones about what artificial intelligence (AI) is, or whether it would ever deliver real return on investment (ROI), were nowhere to be found.

Instead, CEOs, board chairs, and transformation leads seemed preoccupied with something far more human. They kept asking a variation of a single question ‘How do I bring my people along?’

What struck me most was how unanimously attendees described this pivot. They said the mood felt different, quieter but sharper, as if leaders were finally confronting the reality that technology is not the hard part of AI transformation, people are.

They spoke about a fireside chat with an amazing leader, where the conversation drifted from technical capabilities to leadership psychology. They described dinner tables filled with executives who, despite leading some of the world’s most capable organisations, admitted privately that they felt underprepared for the cultural implications of AI.

And in their stories, a pattern emerged: the real challenge today isn’t the adoption of AI tools, but the reshaping of identity, trust, and purpose inside workforces that are unsure of what the future means for them.

Participants told me that the ‘let a thousand flowers bloom’ stage of AI, the era of bottom up experimentation, has reached its natural ceiling. Many organisations have had brilliant proofs of concept that never scaled, pockets of innovation that never connected to strategy.

Leaders now feel the weight of making top down choices about where AI can create a genuine competitive advantage and committing meaningful resources to those few bets. Yet even with those strategic choices becoming clearer, attendees said the more difficult work is managing the emotional and social dynamics of integrating AI alongside humans.

One founder shared a story illustrating this perfectly. His company introduced AI-driven forecasting tools into their operations team, and at first, the human analysts felt quietly threatened.

Rather than pushing the technology harder, he paused the rollout and created open Q and A forums where people could voice anxieties without judgment. He went further and created new roles, hybrid positions where analysts could pair their domain knowledge with AI oversight responsibilities.

Within months, analysts were championing the system. In his words, ‘They stopped seeing AI as a rival and started seeing it as an amplifier.’ That transformation didn’t come from the tool; it came from how people were invited into the change.

A manufacturing executive described a similar experience. He had been tasked with deploying predictive-maintenance AI across a network of plants. Instead of centralising the work, he created cross functional groups on each site, including engineers, frontline operators, supervisors, and data scientists learning together.

One attendee told me that those groups felt like ‘AI guilds,’ places where experimentation was allowed to be messy, where people laughed at the model’s wrong predictions, and where local teams shaped the final workflow.

By the time the system went live, it didn’t feel imposed; it felt co created. Productivity rose, yes, but the more interesting outcome was the cultural cohesion that took root.

I also heard a powerful story from healthcare. A CIO described integrating an AI triage assistant into clinical workflows, something that could easily provoke fear among clinicians. Instead of treating the tool as an established reality, she convened a clinician advisory council with representatives from nursing, emergency medicine, radiology, and operations.

She insisted on radical transparency, where the algorithm was strong, where it was limited, where uncertainty remained. She encouraged clinicians to challenge AI outputs in early pilots rather than defer to them. By the time the tool was deployed, the clinicians trusted the process because the process had trusted them.

What fascinated me in all these accounts was how much emphasis leaders placed on their own learning. One attendee said that a speaker remarked that executives learning to code, not to become developers, but to reshape their thinking, to understand systems, constraints, and possibilities from the inside out.

Several CEOs at Davos took this to heart. One even documented his journey through an introductory coding course, mistakes and all, as a way to signal that curiosity and vulnerability were now leadership expectations. His teams responded by adopting the same mindset; learning became something shared, not delegated.

The common thread running through every story I heard was the idea that bringing people along is not the soft side of AI transformation. It is the transformation. Leaders who succeed are the ones who choose visibility over mystique, inclusion over imposition, and learning over expertise.

They create languages of change that resonate with people, not just with systems. And they treat cultural fluency as a strategic asset.

I was also struck by how participants talked about the democratisation of AI knowledge.

MIT releasing its entire AI library for free came up repeatedly in conversations. People mentioned how accessible the materials were, dense but practical, better than many paid courses, and how this shift symbolised something important.

AI understanding is no longer confined to technical elites. Anyone with curiosity and a browser can meaningfully engage.

The leaders who embrace this democratisation and encourage teams to learn, not as a one off initiative but as a cultural norm, will see their people move from apprehension to agency.

The more I listened to these accounts, the clearer it became that the speed of technological change is no longer the problem. The problem is ensuring that people feel capable of moving with it.

The real work now is cultivating cultures where humans and intelligent systems elevate one another, where experimentation feels safe, where learning is visible, and where the future isn’t happening to people but with them.

Even from a distance, Davos made something unmistakably clear to me: this moment will be defined not by how quickly organisations adopt AI, but by how compassionately and courageously leaders help their people grow into an AI powered world.

All roads led to teaching, even the ones Prof Jack Mwimali took to escape it. The secretary and CEO of the Council of Legal Education is the finest product of teachers, the best student of his mother and father. Family genes are hard to shake off, he has learned.

He was a naughty boy growing up, breaking his hand two or three times in rugby, football and WrestleMania. He had hoped the gene had missed his children, skipped a generation, but woe unto him. ‘In fact,’ he says, ‘in many cases, when I am mad and want to discipline my children, I see my younger self in them.’ He is a funny guy, that Mwimali.

But he is also a bodybuilder, something he has been doing since 1998. A strongman, you would be forgiven for thinking he comes at the world with the ‘full force of the law’. Forgiven, but wrong. Because underneath that giant patina is a reticent recluse, a man who prefers to do his own laundry. Not a revolutionary act, but given the circumstances, perhaps a revelatory one: everything has to be the best in class.

It is often said that professors and academics are quite uptight. Are you uptight, Prof?

Haha! Perhaps. I may not be the best judge of my own character. But I believe I’m amiable and a good listener. That’s probably what drew me to academia. To teach and impart knowledge, you also need feedback from the people you’re interacting with; otherwise, you’re just speaking to yourself.

Tell me something cool about yourself.

I’m a bodybuilder. I’ve been bodybuilding since 1998.

Let’s talk about your house of pain. What led you to bodybuilding?

Two reasons. First, I was asthmatic and struggled with colds and certain allergens, so I went to the gym to develop my chest and improve my breathing. I also used to be a very rough boy when I was young. I broke my arm about four times, and it got very weak. I went to the gym to try to strengthen that right arm.

What’s something most people don’t know about bodybuilding?

It requires a lot of discipline. At first, there’s a lot of pain as your muscles adapt. But after a while, you feel you can’t do without it. In fact, if you don’t exercise, you feel lethargic and off the whole day. It’s almost addictive.

Do you have a memorable bodybuilding experience from your younger years?

Not particularly. But I remember when I was in Sweden, I went to the gym at the University of Lund. Some renowned Nordic strongmen trained there. I would look at them and the level of intensity with which they were training, which was quite interesting. I resolved to try doing a bit of what they were doing. As much as I could not lift as heavily as they did, I was quite competitive. I surprised myself.

What’s the hardest part about being a bodybuilder?

When you wake up, and there’s that lethargic feeling. Yet you know that if you do not exercise for the next four or five days, by the time you go back, you’ll get those aches. You have to push yourself. But in most cases, once you have started, you pick up. Even though you may have felt that you didn’t want to go, the moment you’re there, it all flows.

How has your exercise regimen changed you?

It has helped my concentration. Leadership and research require a lot of intensity, and working out relieves pressure and improves sleep. It gives you a good night’s sleep so that by the time you wake up, you feel refreshed.

Secondly, just as long and drawn-out research requires discipline, so does bodybuilding. You have to be disciplined in how you approach your training schedule.

Speaking of, Prof, what’s your guilty pleasure?

I have a sweet tooth [chuckles]. I eat a lot of sweets. In fact, if you get to a place where there are sweets, people will be surprised because I take a lot of them. I literally chew on them.

There was a time I used to go to the supermarket and buy a packet, and within a few days, they’d be finished, so I deliberately stopped buying them. But at meetings, if there are sweets, I’m usually the one taking them [chuckles].

What do sweets do for you? Did you have them a lot in childhood or not at all?

I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because I didn’t have many sweets growing up. I was raised in a very remote rural area in Trans Nzoia, near Saiwa Swamp, where we walked barefoot for about five kilometres. But we never felt any different from other students. We never felt that we were being treated badly; it was life, and we lived it fully, eating maize stems as sugarcane.

But many childhood games had disciplinary consequences. If you made a wire car, people assumed you had cut a fence to get the wire, and you’d get beaten. I guess that is what we derive pleasure from – that prohibited fruit made it even sweeter.

What do you miss about your younger self?

Haha! I was very strong-headed. In fact, I often see my younger self in Gen Zs. I was very argumentative, and I held very strong positions. Grown-up me is more pragmatic. I have to listen to and take the views of others.

Is that why you gravitated to bodybuilding?

Maybe. I would have played rugby. I once broke my arm when I was playing as a football goalkeeper. When I caught the ball, it went with my arm. There was a time I was jumping a hurdle and landed on my arm and broke it. The third time was while wrestling. I was a naughty boy.

Have any of those traits been passed on to your children?

Oh, a lot of them. In fact, sometimes when I want to discipline them, I remember my younger self. Once, I was marking exam papers and warned my son not to touch them. Of course, the warning excited him, and he doodled on one of the papers. I was furious, but when I looked at his face, I saw myself. I just told him not to do it again [chuckles].

My daughter once abandoned her bicycle and insisted on riding her brother’s, which was bigger. I warned her several times. She hit a tree and got injured. After the hospital visit, she still went back on the bicycle. That was me back in the day [chuckles].

What’s an aspect of fatherhood that surprised you the most?

How humane it makes you. As a single person, you tend to think in terms of personal benefit. As a parent, you sacrifice and put your children first; you can give them everything that you have. As a hard-headed person, I never thought I could make sacrifices, especially for those tiny little people.

What shortcomings from your father are you correcting with your own children?

It’s not a shortcoming, but my dad was a teacher from 1956 to 1981, when he became an administrative chief. He was a disciplinarian par excellence, very firm and sometimes harsh. We thought he was unreasonable, but later realised he knew what he was doing, even though he sometimes went too far.

I have my own ways of dealing with my young ones, but not to the extremities of my dad or my mum, who was also a teacher from 1963 to 1998.

But the teaching gene refused to skip you?

In fact, at one time, I thought I would not want to be a teacher. I did everything not to be a teacher. By the time I turned 40, I looked back at

Kenya plans to tap up to 90 percent of annual collections from the Railway Development Levy (RDL) to secure additional financing for railway projects, under proposed legal changes before Parliament.

The Miscellaneous Fees and Levies (Amendment) Bill, 2025 seeks to amend the Miscellaneous Fees and Levies Act to expand how proceeds from the Railway Development Levy Fund (RDLF) can be used. The levy is charged at two percent of the customs value of all imported goods.

‘The purpose of the levy shall be to provide funds for the construction and operation of a standard gauge railway network in order to facilitate the transportation of goods,’ the memorandum to the Bill states.

If approved, the amendments would allow the State to leverage future levy revenues to mobilise fresh capital for railway infrastructure. This marks a shift from the current pay-as-you-go model.

A clause in the Bill provides that a proportion of the RDLF ‘not exceeding ninety percent of the Fund may be used to secure additional funds’ for developing railway infrastructure, including the standard gauge railway (SGR).

The structure mirrors the securitisation of the Road Maintenance Fuel Levy, where the government committed part of future fuel levy collections to repay investors in road bonds.

The Treasury securitised Sh7 of the Sh25 collected per litre of petrol and diesel after increasing the levy from Sh18 to Sh25 in July 2024.

Read: Martin Agumbi: Why Kenya Roads Board is tapping future fuel levies now

While that approach has been framed as a way to clear sector arrears, the National Treasury has differed with the International Monetary Fund over whether such financing should be classified as sovereign debt.

‘The concern is an accounting matter on whether we should capture it as a sovereign debt or not. Our position as government is that once you sell a right to a special purpose vehicle (SPV), then there is no risk to the government at all,’ Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said earlier.

The proposed amendments would effectively turn the RDLF into a financial anchor, enabling the government to use future levy proceeds to back loans, bonds or other structured instruments to accelerate railway expansion and upgrades.

Chinese lenders negotiations

Kenya has increasingly turned to alternative financing models to fund infrastructure amid rising debt-servicing costs and constrained fiscal space. Rail projects, seen as critical to lowering freight costs and improving regional trade competitiveness, have faced funding gaps.

The Bill also broadens the use of the levy to include financing the safety and economic regulation of railway infrastructure, as well as rehabilitation works, subject to approval by the Cabinet Secretary.

The changes come as Kenya negotiates with Chinese lenders to make the levy more flexible. China Exim Bank financed the SGR from Mombasa to Suswa near Naivasha.

Mr Mbadi said Kenya has opened talks with China Exim Bank to drop a clause requiring RDL proceeds to be used to repay the loan for the Mombasa-Naivasha line.

He said a waiver would allow the levy, which forms part of the security for existing loans, to back a bond to finance the extension of the SGR from Naivasha to Malaba.

‘What we intend to do is use the railway development levy to raise funds and have an engagement with Exim Bank on this because there is a provision in the agreement that ties the railway development levy to this loan,’ he said on February 11.

He added: ‘We have not engaged with China to fund the railway from Naivasha.’

Ring-fencing RDLF

The Bill, sponsored by Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, proposes the creation of a ring-fenced Railway Development Levy Fund into which all levy proceeds would be paid.

The Fund would be managed by a Railway Development Levy Fund Board structured as a corporate body. It would comprise a chairperson appointed by the President, the Principal Secretaries responsible for railway transport and the Treasury, a representative from the Office of the Attorney-General, five non-public members with expertise in infrastructure finance, law, investment or public-private partnerships, and a secretary serving ex officio.

The governance framework is intended to strengthen oversight of levy revenues, which have historically flowed through broader government systems.

Under the Bill, the Cabinet Secretary would have powers to make regulations on staffing, administration and use of the Fund, subject to the Public Finance Management Act. Transactions would be subject to audit under the Public Audit Act.

Administrative costs would be capped at 0.5 percent of the Fund, a provision aimed at limiting overheads and directing most resources to infrastructure development.

Africa’s economic future is no longer framed solely by development aid or political summits; it is increasingly defined by balance sheets, construction timelines, and export statistics.

Across the continent, governments are recalibrating their growth strategies toward industrialization, regional trade, and value addition.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) represents more than a policy milestone; it signals a recognition that Africa’s 1.4 billion people can constitute a formidable internal market.

Yet integration on paper requires integration in practice.

Railways must move goods efficiently from inland production hubs to coastal ports. Power plants must keep factories running without interruption.

Digital infrastructure must connect entrepreneurs to global supply chains. From the expanding port facilities in Mombasa to industrial zones outside Addis Ababa, the continent’s ambitions are becoming visible in steel, concrete, and fiber-optic cables.

In this transformation, geopolitics and business have become inseparable. Major global economies are reconfiguring supply chains, seeking secure access to strategic minerals such as cobalt, copper, and lithium, resources that Africa holds in abundance.

The green energy transition has amplified this interest, turning parts of Southern and Central Africa into pivotal nodes in global manufacturing networks.

For African policymakers, however, the central question is how global competition can be leveraged for domestic gain.

The Asian giant has become a prominent and constructive commercial presence within this evolving landscape, pairing infrastructure financing with trade expansion and industrial cooperation.

Its approach has emphasized speed of delivery, large-scale implementation, and long-term strategic engagement, attributes that resonate strongly in environments where infrastructure deficits have historically constrained growth.

African business leaders increasingly focus on tangible results. When a railway reduces freight costs, manufacturers can price their goods more competitively. When a power project stabilises electricity supply, small enterprises can scale into medium-sized firms.

When port modernisation shortens cargo clearance times, exporters can meet international deadlines more reliably. The Asian giant’s growing engagement has included not only construction projects but also expanded market access for African products, enabling agricultural exporters and light manufacturers to tap into a vast consumer base.

For many African economies seeking diversification beyond raw commodity exports, such access represents a meaningful pathway toward value addition and industrial upgrading.

At the same time, Africa’s agency continues to strengthen. Governments are negotiating agreements that incorporate skills transfer, joint ventures, and domestic employment opportunities, ensuring that partnerships generate long-term developmental benefits.

In Kenya, infrastructure investments are increasingly designed to maximise economic spillovers ensuring that transport corridors stimulate industrial clusters and regional trade.

In Zambia and Tanzania, discussions about mineral wealth are advancing toward beneficiation and local processing, reinforcing the continent’s determination to capture greater value from its resources. Partnerships anchored in mutual respect and shared economic objectives are central to this progress.

The broader geopolitical environment reinforces Africa’s strategic importance. As global supply chains diversify and the energy transition accelerates, Africa’s youthful workforce and resource base position it as a vital contributor to global growth.

In this context, pragmatic engagement with reliable partners becomes essential. The Asian giant’s sustained involvement in infrastructure, manufacturing, and trade cooperation demonstrates a long-term perspective aligned with Africa’s industrial ambitions.

Rather than episodic engagement, the relationship increasingly reflects continuity and structured economic planning.

Demographics add urgency to these choices. Each year, millions of young Africans enter the labor force. Industrial parks, agro-processing facilities, and technology hubs must expand rapidly to absorb this workforce.

Infrastructure must anchor productive ecosystems that create stable employment and enhance competitiveness.

The Asian giant’s experience in rapid industrial scaling offers valuable lessons in sequencing development integrating transport, energy, and manufacturing capacity in coordinated corridors. When adapted thoughtfully to local conditions, such models can accelerate Africa’s transition from commodity dependence to diversified production.

Ultimately, Africa’s business moment is unfolding at the intersection of opportunity and transformation.

Global demand for minerals, consumer markets, and manufacturing diversification presents the continent with unprecedented leverage. Success will depend on disciplined governance, transparent negotiations, and a steadfast focus on productivity and innovation.

The future will be determined by measurable outcomes, kilometers of railway laid, megawatts generated, goods exported, and skills transferred.

Africa’s steady emphasis on industrialisation and value addition signals a continent intent on shaping its own commercial destiny. With committed partners such as the Asian giant contributing capital, expertise, and market access, Africa is not merely participating in global economic change; it is actively defining its role within it.

One common pitfall in implementing sustainability is organisations selecting performance measures that are misaligned with their business growth strategy.

Taking this approach leads to severe consequences, such as keeping sustainability on a separate parallel track from the actual business, and encouraging dual reporting, in which sustainability information is prepared solely for compliance and fails to address business information needs required to monitor progress against targets for business growth.

Organisations have numerous stakeholders with different expectations and information needs.

Therefore, it is imperative to distinguish between material sustainability issues and other matters that are related to compliance and information requests. Failure by organisations to make this distinction usually indicates a shallow understanding of sustainability and its role in the broader business context.

The reason for focusing on material issues is to identify the subset of non-financial matters that could impact the organisation’s short, medium, and long-term success. These material issues need to be considered as the organisation executes its strategy. The other sets of information that are not material but required for compliance or to meet stakeholder expectations need to be provided separately.

This is why, unlike other sustainability reporting standards, the IFRS sustainability disclosure standards are investor-focused and aim to provide investors with the relevant, decision-useful information about the organisation’s financial prospects.

Therefore, the handful of KPIs (key performance indicators) used to track these material investor-focused topics or issues will equally be of interest to the board and management of organisations. Organisations should ensure that their sustainability materiality process involves all critical stakeholders, including the strategy team.

The involvement of these stakeholders in the materiality process will further enrich the outcome, ensuring alignment and distinguishing between KPIs and other performance objectives that are not key but essential to meet other stakeholders’ information demands.

The benefits that accrue to organisations that are deliberate in this process range from a focused approach to value creation to the efficient use of resources and clarity on the sustainability reporting approach.

Organisations can choose to incorporate this investor-focused, strategy-aligned set of sustainability information, which also complies with the IFRS sustainability disclosure standards, into their general financial report, while using a separate sustainability report to meet other stakeholder information needs.

Akinyemi Awodumila is a Partner at PwC Kenya. He is an author who writes and speaks widely on corporate reporting topics

A bouquet of 10 red roses that cost about Sh500 last year now sells for Sh2,000, a price increase that has made even simple Valentine’s gestures unaffordable for many Kenyans.

Prices have climbed steeply in the run-up to February 14, traders say, as high demand and export markets take up most of Kenya’s high-quality roses, leaving less for local buyers.

Some florists say they have not had any roses since January.

Limited supply has pushed prices sharply higher, with a buyer hoping to make a grand Valentine’s gesture now paying Sh15,000 for a 100-stem bouquet.

‘The prices have really gone up. The suppliers just told us roses are not available, no explanations,’ says Zippora Wachira, a florist, adding, ‘The very few stems we’re getting are so pricey, we are forced to pass the cost to customers.’

So, where have all the roses gone?

Clement Tulezi, the CEO of the Kenya Flower Council, says the shortage in local markets is not due to low production, but rather to exceptionally high demand in international markets.

‘The demand was extremely high. All export-quality roses were taken up. Growers sold almost everything,’ he said, adding, ‘even I faced a difficulty in sourcing red roses for a school event, I had to mix them with other flower varieties.’

Mr Tulezi adds that Valentine’s is not a day, it is a period. The export window runs from January 15 to February 10, a period of three weeks during which flower shipments increase significantly.

‘While celebrations happen on February 14, most exports are completed in the weeks leading up to it,’ he said.

On a normal day, Mr Tulezi said Kenya exports approximately 60 million stems of flowers. However, during the Valentine’s season, exports rise by about 35 percent, pushing daily shipments to over 90 million stems.

The procurement watchdog has launched a crackdown on uniform cartels in secondary schools, ordering principals to disclose suppliers and actual prices.

Heads of national and extra-county schools have been directed to provide details of uniform suppliers, their qualifications and the tendering process that led to contract awards. They must also submit invoices and payment records.

Required disclosures include suppliers’ names, quantities supplied, prices charged to schools and prices passed on to parents.

The information must be uploaded to the Public Procurement Information Portal (PPIP) by February 27, 2026. The data is expected to expose beneficiaries of the alleged uniform racket, which has triggered public anger over high prices.

The PPIP publishes tender notices, contract awards, supplier identities and a market price index for commonly procured items.

In a February 5 letter to principals, the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) warned that non-compliant schools would be referred to investigative agencies, including the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

‘To facilitate the audit, you are required to provide the list of all suppliers that supplied school uniforms in the financial year 2025/2026 in the attached format and ensure that all the contracts and relevant supporting documents for each contract have been uploaded in the PPIP,’ PPRA Director-General Patrick Wanjuki said.

PPRA has initiated a performance audit of school uniform procurement amid complaints that some schools compel parents to buy uniforms from designated suppliers at inflated prices.

Compliance officers will be deployed to inspect procurement records, interview suppliers and question officials involved in the contracts.

Schools must submit procurement plans for the 2025/26 financial year, practising licences for heads of supply chain, signed contracts, delivery notes, invoices and payment records.

‘Kindly note that failure to upload the documents as per the date indicated, the Authority shall forward the matter to other relevant government investigative and oversight agencies,’ Mr Wanjuki said.

The crackdown follows persistent failure by public schools to report procurement spending, amid allegations that some principals collude with suppliers to overcharge parents.

PPRA estimates that about 33,000 public primary and secondary schools qualify as procuring entities, serving roughly 14.5 million learners and managing more than Sh100 billion annually in capitation funds.

In a November 2023 circular, PPRA said only two primary and secondary schools had registered on the PPIP, representing 0.006 percent of basic learning institutions.

Schools are required to disclose public procurement information, including the beneficial ownership of companies supplying goods and services.

‘The disclosure of beneficial ownership information will enhance transparency, openness, and accountability in public procurement and asset disposal systems; through seamless disclosure of beneficial owners’ information for companies/tenderers that have been awarded contracts as part of contract details to be published,’ PPRA said in a 2022 circular.

The crackdown comes days after the Ministry of Education intensified enforcement against principals accused of the practice.

Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok directed regional and county directors to enforce laws governing uniform supply and purchase.

‘The Basic Education Act prohibits schools from restricting parents from purchasing uniforms exclusively from the institution or designated stockists. The Ministry is concerned that some schools’ requirements undermine these legal provisions, causing frustration among parents,’ Mr Bitok said.

The school uniform scandal has persisted for more than a decade, despite repeated interventions.

In 2016, the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) said it was developing guidelines with the Ministry of Education to stop schools from forcing parents to buy uniforms from specific suppliers.

The authority conducted investigations following complaints from parents across the country. A decade later, the problem appears to have deepened.