Category: Business Daily

Multiple insiders familiar with the airline’s turnaround plans revealed behind-the-scenes intrigues that saw a strategic investment offer scuttled in January 2026 after interest groups demanded that the ‘field be opened to more players’.

At least four firms had expressed interest in KQ, as the airline is popularly known, with proposals including cash injections or providing airplanes in exchange for a strategic equity stake in the airline. ‘There was an investment offer around January that was about to be sealed, but some interest groups emerged and started pushing for opening doors for more parties,’ a source told Business Daily.

Sources said this tussle prompted the airline to revert to a tender system to recruit a strategic investor, further delaying the turnaround plans.

Consultancy firm KPMG was picked to prepare an investment memorandum to guide the tender, with the KQ board approving the document.

The international tender for a strategic investor is, however, yet to be floated nearly seven months after the earlier investment offer was scuttled.

KQ board chairman Kiprono Kitonny said the tender plans remain on course and denied claims of fallouts over the strategic investment following Mr Kamal’s abrupt exit.

‘We are all on the same page. We have the investor memorandum that has been done by KPMG, and now we’re in the process of appointing a transaction advisor,’ Mr Kittony told the Business Daily, adding that the open tendering process is the ideal situation since KQ is a publicly listed company.

KQ has been searching for a strategic investor for years, with the latest push coming as the airline grapples with mounting financial pressures and negative equity. The carrier posted a Sh17.2 billion net loss in 2025, reversing a Sh5.4 billion profit a year earlier, while its first-half loss widened further to Sh16.1 billion in 2026.

The plan has also evolved from a search for a single cash investor into a broader exercise that could involve different forms of capital and strategic support.

President William Ruto’s government had previously sought a strategic investor for its 48.9 percent stake in KQ. In December 2022, Dr Ruto met executives of Delta Air Lines in Washington, amid efforts to attract the US carrier as a potential strategic investor. The discussions crumbled as the carrier explored a merger with South African Airways, which also failed to materialise.

Former CEO Allan Kilavuka subsequently continued the search. In August 2024, he said KQ was close to concluding negotiations with a potential investor, although the talks did not result in an investment.

The latest capital target has grown from an initial $500 million (Sh65 billion) to roughly $1.2 billion (Sh155 billion), reflecting the scale of the airline’s balance sheet and fleet requirements. The Treasury has said the strategic investor is expected to provide capital and help strengthen the airline as the government seeks to reduce the burden of supporting the carrier.

Mr Kamal disclosed in March that KQ was already talking to at least four potential strategic investors and was open to bringing in more than one investor rather than relying on a single partner.

In an interview with NTV last week, he said interest had increased after an initial investor emerged in January.

‘Up to March, we had only one investor, and we thought that was a single source, but after that investors started to come one after the other,’ he said.

This followed the reconstitution of KQ’s board, which saw Mr Kittony appointed chairman and the addition of David Ndii, Chris Diaz and Winnie Nyamute as directors.

Mr Kamal told Business Daily that one of the investors had offered the airline airplanes in exchange for equity, while another was offering cash, and another debt that is convertible to equity. He said the airline was open to all of them.

His abrupt departure now leaves the board to oversee the next stage of a process that KQ says remains on course.

Read: Kamal pushed out of KQ after 8 months

Mr Kamal denied that his resignation was linked to the investor search.

He told the Business Daily that he was leaving because of a personal matter that required him to take a leave of absence and return home.

Its 8 a.m. on a Monday. You have barely settled at your desk when requests start pouring in. The CEO wants revised projections after a customer delays an order, the bank needs an updated cashflow forecast, and the board pack is due before lunch.

Not long ago, that meant hours rebuilding Excel models and rewriting reports. Today, an AI assistant can produce a solid first draft in minutes.

The bigger question is not productivity. It is this: if AI can perform much of the technical work, where does the real value of a finance professional lie?

The answer is higher up the value chain. For years, finance careers began with collecting data, reconciling accounts, updating spreadsheets and producing routine reports before progressing to interpretation, commercial judgment and strategic decision-making.

AI is rapidly compressing those lower-level tasks, freeing professionals to spend less time producing information and more time interpreting what it means for the business.

That shift makes human judgment more valuable, not less. AI can generate convincing answers that are inaccurate, based on flawed assumptions or unsupported conclusions. In finance, a wrong figure can influence lending, investment or board decisions. AI should accelerate analysis, but accountability must remain with people.

There is also a paradox to using AI effectively. It requires context. Professionals must explain the business, define assumptions and clarify objectives before the technology produces useful results.

That initial effort pays dividends as future analyses become faster and more relevant. This is particularly significant for Africa, where many finance teams operate with limited staff. Rather than reducing headcount, AI offers lean teams greater capacity.

Time saved on reporting and documentation can be redirected to scenario planning, working-capital management and providing better insights to leadership.

The profession will also need to rethink how young finance professionals are trained. Routine modelling and reporting have traditionally been part of learning the fundamentals. Those skills remain essential because professionals must understand the mechanics well enough to question AI-generated output.

The finance leaders of 2030 will not be valued for building spreadsheets faster.

They will be valued for asking better questions, challenging assumptions and turning numbers into sound business decisions. AI changes the tools, but judgment, context and accountability remain the profession’s greatest assets.

For many Kenyan businesses, keeping track of sales, stock, finances, employees, and customers can still mean juggling several disconnected records.

A sale recorded by one department may have to be manually entered into the accounting books, while stock levels are tracked separately and managers rely on spreadsheets or reports to establish whether the business is actually making money.

This is the gap that the enterprise resource planning (ERP) software provider Odoo is seeking to close by consolidating multiple business functions on a single platform.

The Belgian company’s software brings together more than 50 applications covering finance, human resources, sales, marketing, e-commerce, services and supply chain operations.

‘The functions are all integrated, meaning if you post a transaction on the sales module, on the accounting side, you’re going to have the net sales for that specific day, for example,’ says Franklin Musyoka, Odoo’s Key Partner Manager for Africa.

‘If you create a customer on the CRM, they are going to append the sales module that you’re working on. That is one of our competitive advantages.’

This integration means a business can, for instance, record a sale through the sales module and have the transaction automatically reflected in accounting. The same system can track purchases, reconcile bank transactions and update inventory.

Odoo says the most commonly used applications among Kenyan customers include sales, customer relationship management (CRM), point of sale (POS), inventory, manufacturing and accounting.

The company does not require businesses to adopt all the applications at once; clients can choose the modules that fit their operations and add others as their needs grow.

Its standard package starts at $9.10 (about Sh1,180) per user per month and provides access to all applications. The custom package starts at $13.60 (Sh1,763) per user per month. It adds features such as multi-company and external application platform interface (API) support for businesses that need to connect Odoo to other platforms.

Odoo says it discounts the rates for customers who take annual packages.

Mr Musyoka points out the ability to adjust pricing across markets as another part of Odoo’s competitive proposition.

Odoo’s platform also allows businesses to operate in different countries with different currencies under one software.

‘A company in Kenya with a branch in Tanzania can have that kind of operation run independently with the multiple currency set-up,’ he says.

The software can be deployed through cloud hosting or on-premises infrastructure, giving businesses flexibility depending on their needs.

Odoo Online gives managers access to their business records remotely as long as they have an internet connection. This allows them to monitor transactions in real time even when they are away from the office.

The company says it is also tailoring its software to local markets rather than simply offering the same global product to every country.

In Kenya, for instance, its human resource module incorporates the Social Health Authority (SHA), while its tax functionality has been integrated with the Kenya Revenue Authority’s eTIMS tax compliance system.

Odoo says it has finalized an M-Pesa integration for its point-of-sale (POS) and e-commerce platforms, including Lipa Na M-Pesa payment prompts.

This localisation is important for businesses that need technology to fit their day-to-day operating environment rather than forcing them to change their processes to accommodate an imported system.

Odoo opened its Kenyan office in 2022 as its Africa hub and now has more than 4,000 firms in its Kenyan client base.

Mr. Musyoka says one of the biggest challenges facing smaller businesses is that some may mistake cash flow for profitability because they lack a clear picture of their operations.

‘A lot of businesses are making losses thinking they are profitable because they don’t have a system to give an account of their operations,’ he says. ‘An ERP system can automate routine tasks while giving business owners a clearer picture of what is happening across the company.’

For a sales team, it means having visibility of daily sales rather than relying on estimates.

A manufacturer can identify which work centre needs to improve efficiency, while a retailer can track stock and avoid situations where customers arrive to buy products that are no longer available.

The ultimate goal, says Mr. Musyoka, is to help businesses save time and costs while making decisions based on actual data.

Odoo is also incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into its platform to reduce the time users spend searching through business records.

An accountant can prompt the system to provide sales for a particular day, cash positions or a profit-and-loss account for a particular period instead of manually navigating through reports and applying filters.

The AI can also help with decisions such as pricing. A salesperson negotiating a discount with a customer can query the system for information on pricing and how the proposed offer compares with competitors.

‘Traditionally, the information would have been available, but the accountant would probably have to go to reporting, filter and generate a specific report,’ says Mr. Musyoka.

‘Now, it’s just a prompt of a few seconds, and you have all that information instead of manually going to look for it.’

Odoo releases a new version of its platform every year, which the company says allows it to keep updating its tools as business needs evolve.

Its localisations, annual product updates and pricing are among the areas it sees as giving it an edge against established global ERP providers.

The company sees an opportunity in businesses that have historically struggled to afford sophisticated enterprise software, especially smaller firms that need integrated systems but cannot justify the cost of multiple specialised applications.

That approach will be at the centre of the company’s upcoming Odoo Experience event, which will be held in Nairobi for the first time in Africa.

The flagship global business and technology event will take place at Waterfronts 1 and 2 of the Ngong

Racecourse on September 3 and 4, bringing together Odoo partners, clients, developers, entrepreneurs and business leaders.

The organisers expect more than 10,000 attendees for the two-day event, which will combine training, product demonstrations, industry discussions and networking.

Among the speakers will be South African entrepreneur, investor and author Vusi Thembekwayo; Kenya’s Ambassador to Belgium, Bitange Ndemo; and award-winning entrepreneur, author and Pezesha founder Hilda Moraa.

The programme will begin with master classes on September 1 and 2, offering intensive training in areas such as advanced accounting, inventory management, and app development. The company is also expected to showcase new features in its AI capabilities.

The event targets students, entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders across sectors who want to learn how technology can improve their operations.

A basic pass is free and provides access to the talks and sessions throughout the day. A premium pass, meanwhile, costs $115 (about Sh14,900) and includes food and drinks as well as access to the evening concert, which will feature performances by Kenyan pop stars Bensoul and Watendawili.

For Kenyan businesses still relying on a patchwork of spreadsheets, standalone applications and manual processes, it is an opportunity to see how an integrated system can bring those functions together.

When Faith Rose Wambui took a job as a spa therapist in Mongolia, she expected to spend the next two years perfecting her craft and earning more in a country she knew little about.

Less than a year into her contract, the 32-year-old Kenyan is, however, already thinking about her next career move.

Faith now hopes to teach English in Mongolia, where foreign English teachers are in demand and the opportunity could open another door for her.

The career shift is the latest step in a journey that began with a three-month course in makeup and massage in 2023 and has since taken her from a Kenyan spa to a clinic thousands of kilometres from home.

‘I want to eventually shift into teaching English in Mongolia, since foreign English teachers are in high demand here, and it is a path I believe could open new doors,’ she says.

Never one to think twice about making big moves, when the opportunity for her current job came, she jumped at it.

Lucky break

A friend, she says, told her about an opening for a spa therapist in Mongolia. She knew little about the country, one of the world’s most sparsely populated, but was interested in the prospect of earning more.

A recruiter later visited the Kenyan spa where she worked and spent time observing her. She watched her technique, how she handled clients, kept her room organised and maintained cleanliness and presentation.

‘She was taking videos of how I was doing my work; she compared me with other candidates and I stood out,’ Faith says.

Two weeks later, she took an online interview with a team already working in Mongolia. ‘They told me they wanted someone efficient, who can do a good job,’ she says.

Within a month and a half, Faith was leaving Kenya on her first-ever flight.

‘My employer sponsored my flight, visa, health insurance, accommodation, and food, easing the weight of a move that could have otherwise felt impossible,’ she says.

She flew from Nairobi to Istanbul before connecting to Ulaanbaatar, arriving at Chinggis Khan Airport at around 3am on September 10, 2025, just as autumn was setting in.

The move, she says, meant leaving her two children behind, which she describes as the hardest part of the journey.

Learning a new market

Faith says the job has since exposed her to a different approach to the profession she trained for in Kenya.

Instead of working in a conventional spa, she works at a clinic where a dermatologist handles facial injections while she focuses on facial and body massages.

She has also noticed that her Mongolian clients seek facial treatments more frequently than the customers she served in Kenya.

‘In Kenya, most people do facial treatments like once a month,’ she says. ‘But here, the Asians really, really love it. They can have a facial once or even twice a week.’

But the transition was not straightforward. Worried that techniques she had learnt in Kenya would not be accepted at the clinic because they differed from those used by her new colleagues, Faith had to undergo additional training to adapt to the workplace.

‘I’m happy now that they really appreciate my services,’ she says.

Her experience has given her exposure to a different market and new ways of working, while prompting her to consider what she could do next.

Earnings and hurdles

Faith works from 10am to 7pm and earns a fixed monthly salary of about Sh77,600, paid in the local currency, the Mongolian tugrik.

While the salary is an important part of why she took the job, she says living costs are higher than in Kenya.

‘I spend between Sh13,000 and Sh20,000 a month on food. Clothes take up a big part of my budget too, since shops here rarely have my size. I have to ship some clothes,’ she says.

It has helped that her employer provides her accommodation. She lives in a three-bedroom house with her boss and has her own room, about a 10-minute walk from the clinic.

‘My accommodation is very nice. It is just a 10-minute walk to where I am working,’ she says. ‘Everything was just way above my expectations.’

Language remains one of her biggest daily challenges. Her boss speaks English, making it easier to communicate when clients require detailed explanations, but communicating in everyday situations has been harder.

‘It’s difficult. I have really tried,’ she says.

It doesn’t also help that there are few Kenyans around her. Since arriving, Faith says she has met only one other Kenyan – a priest at a Catholic church.

She has instead found companionship in a small African community comprising Nigerians, Moroccans, Egyptians and others living in Ulaanbaatar. On Fridays, they gather to listen to African music, with Nigerian DJs playing songs that remind her of home.

‘When I walk on the streets and see somebody with my skin colour, it doesn’t matter if they are not from Kenya,’ she says. ‘By the fact that they are Africans, I feel like I’m not alone.’

Being away from her children for nearly a year now has not become easier. Faith keeps in touch with them through video calls, although poor network connections sometimes cut conversations short.

‘Some nights the calls are short because the network is weak, and some nights we do long calls because neither of us wants to hang up first,’ Faith says.

Life in Mongolia

Away from work, she has gradually become more comfortable with her new surroundings. She has embraced aspects of Mongolian culture, particularly during the warmer months when the city becomes livelier.

She recently experienced the Naadam festival, Mongolia’s major cultural celebration featuring wrestling, horse racing and archery. ‘The culture is really amazing,’ she says. ‘Very different from how we do things in Kenya.’

Food has been another part of the adjustment. She particularly likes khuushuur, a flatbread filled with meat, although she has not developed a taste for a snack she hasn’t quite mastered it’s local name made from fermented milk.

For now, Faith’s two-year contract continues. But her ambitions are already moving beyond the spa.

Her first overseas job has given her an opportunity to work in a new environment, adapt to different professional expectations and experience life in another country. Now she wants to use that experience as a springboard into another career.

From a three-month makeup and massage course in 2023 to working as a spa therapist in Mongolia, Faith’s career has already taken an unexpected turn. Her next one could take her from the treatment room to the classroom.

When an employee leaves, what rights does an employer retain over photographs and other personal information collected during employment?

For former Java House steward Gidraf Gatira, the question became a legal battle after he discovered his photograph and name on an online recruitment platform months after leaving the company.

Mr Gatira sued the restaurant chain for Sh10 million, arguing that the continued use of his image without his consent violated his privacy, dignity, and publicity rights.

However, the High Court struck out the petition filed in March 2022, ruling that the complaint should first have been taken to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

‘The Petitioner has not demonstrated that he has exhausted the remedies provided under the Data Protection Act, or that the statutory mechanism is ineffective or inadequate,’ the court said, declining the petitioner’s call ‘to establish clear constitutional standards for employees’ privacy and publicity rights.’

The dispute began with a workplace photograph taken while Mr Gatira was employed as a steward at Java House, a job he held from January 2015 until his summary dismissal in July 2021.

In December that year, months after leaving the company, Mr Gatira discovered that a photograph of him wearing Java House-branded clothing during his employment was being used on Shortlist, an online recruitment platform.

He said a friend alerted him about the photograph and, upon checking, found his image and name published globally.

Mr Gatira demanded compensation, but Java House rejected liability. He filed a constitutional petition dated March 21, 2022, seeking declarations that his rights had been breached, damages and costs.

His lawyers sought Sh10 million in damages, arguing that employment did not surrender his privacy and image rights. They argued that Java using his image to represent staff on an online portal constituted a marketing benefit.

Java House, through its legal and compliance officer, Daisy Ogola, said the photographs were taken with Mr Gatira’s knowledge and voluntary consent during employment.

It relied on a clause in his employment contract document, saying he assigned intellectual-property rights in works made for hire across media platforms and waived moral rights.

The company said the image appeared on Shortlist only as a staff profile, not advertising.

It added that the petitioner was dismissed after a disciplinary hearing concerning allegations of theft and lack of integrity.

Java House also said it responded to Mr Gatira’s demand letter denying liability. It nevertheless removed his photograph from Shortlist after receiving his complaint.

The company maintained that the image was used solely as a profile image to provide an accurate representation of on-duty staff, rather than for commercial marketing or monetary gain.

Mr Gatira argued that Java House had confused ownership of copyright with his separate privacy and publicity rights. He said any waiver or assignment required supporting paperwork, which Java House had not produced to the court itself.

Rejecting allegations that his petition was a vindictive retaliation for his termination from employment, the petitioner maintained that the suit was a legitimate pursuit of justice regarding constitutional privacy violations.

The High Court did not decide which side was right on the photograph. Justice Roseline Aburili instead struck out the petition after finding that Mr Gatira should first have taken his complaint to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

‘The Petitioner’s complaint falls under the Data Protection Act, No. 24 of 2019,’ Justice Aburili said in the judgment delivered virtually in Nairobi on August 18.

The court said the Act empowers the Commissioner to investigate complaints, facilitate resolution and impose administrative fines.

Mr Gatira had not filed a complaint with the Commissioner or shown that the statutory remedies were ineffective.

‘Simply presenting an image rights claim as a constitutional issue does not give this court automatic jurisdiction,’ Justice Aburili said, adding, ‘the Petitioner is at liberty to invoke the provisions of the Data Protection Act for redress.’

For many parents, the birth of a child represents the beginning of a new chapter filled with hope, dreams and possibility. Yet for some families, that joy is accompanied by an unexpected and devastating diagnosis: a child has a heart condition that requires specialised treatment.

For these families, the journey can be overwhelming. Beyond the emotional burden comes the difficult reality of accessing specialised cardiac care, navigating long treatment pathways and, in some cases, facing costs that are beyond the family’s means. A child should not have to lose the opportunity to live a healthy and fulfilling life simply because they were born with a heart condition.

This is why programmes that expand access to paediatric cardiac care are important.

Congenital heart disease is among the most common birth defects worldwide. Some heart conditions are relatively simple to manage, others require specialist monitoring, medication, catheter-based interventions or surgery. Early diagnosis and timely treatment can make an enormous difference to a child’s health, development and quality of life.

Yet across many African countries, access to paediatric cardiac services remains a challenge.

The reasons are complex. There are shortages of specialised healthcare professionals, limited access to diagnostic equipment, long distances to referral centres and significant financial barriers. For families already struggling to meet every day needs, the cost of specialised cardiac treatment can feel impossible.

This is where our responsibility as healthcare providers extends beyond treating patients who arrive at our facilities. We must actively seek ways to identify children who need help, connect them to appropriate care and ensure that financial circumstances do not become an insurmountable barrier to treatment.

Our cardiac programme for children is built around this principle: every child deserves the opportunity to receive the care they need to give their heart a chance to thrive.

At the heart of the programme is early identification. A child living with an undiagnosed heart condition may experience symptoms that are easily mistaken for other illnesses.

Breathlessness, poor weight gain, fatigue, recurrent respiratory infections or difficulty keeping up with other children may sometimes signal an underlying cardiac problem. In other cases, a heart condition may not be immediately obvious.

Greater awareness among parents, caregivers and healthcare workers is therefore critical.

When a child is identified early, the healthcare team has a greater opportunity to determine the nature of the condition and establish an appropriate treatment plan. Early intervention can prevent complications and, in many cases, allow children to return to school, play and participate more fully in everyday life.

But diagnosis alone is not enough. The real value of a cardiac programme lies in creating a pathway from diagnosis to treatment and follow-up. Children and their families need access to specialists, diagnostic services, treatment, rehabilitation and ongoing monitoring.

This requires partnerships. No single institution can solve the challenges surrounding paediatric cardiac care alone. Sustainable progress depends on collaboration between healthcare providers, government, medical specialists, development partners, insurers, communities and organizations committed to improving children’s health.

Such partnerships can help bring expertise and resources together, strengthen local capacity and expand the number of children who can be assessed and treated.

There is another important dimension to this work: supporting families. When a child is diagnosed with a heart condition, parents need more than medical information. They need someone to explain what the diagnosis means, what treatment involves and what they can expect throughout the journey. They need reassurance, practical guidance and, often, emotional support.

A successful cardiac programme should not be measured only by the number of procedures performed. Its impact should also be seen in the child who returns to school, the teenager who can participate in activities with peers, the parent who no longer lives with constant uncertainty, and the family that can look towards the future with renewed confidence.

This is ultimately what access to cardiac care is about: restoring possibilities. We must also recognise that paediatric cardiac care is an investment in the future of our communities.

When children receive timely treatment, they have a better chance of growing into healthy, productive adults. The benefits extend beyond the individual child to families, communities and the economy.

As we strengthen healthcare systems across Africa, specialised care must remain part of the conversation. Universal health coverage should mean more than access to basic services. It should also include pathways through which children with complex conditions can receive appropriate specialist care.

We have an opportunity to change the story for children living with heart conditions.

It begins with awareness. It continues with early diagnosis. It requires access to quality treatment. And it succeeds when healthcare providers and partners work together to ensure that no child is left behind.

Every child’s heart carries the possibility of a future filled with dreams, education, relationships and contribution to society.

Our role is to help protect that possibility.

A cardiac diagnosis should not define a child’s future. With the right care, at the right time, many children can go on to live healthier, fuller lives.

That is why investing in paediatric cardiac care is not simply an investment in medicine. It is an investment in children, families and the future of our society.

Absa Bank Kenya and Co-operative Bank of Kenya led listed lenders in pre-tax earnings generated from bancassurance in the first half of the year ended June 2026 as banks deepened their push into insurance.

Latest disclosures show Absa generated Sh1.1 billion in pre-tax profit from the business, up eight percent from Sh1.02 billion a year earlier. Co-op Bank followed with Sh812.7 million, representing a three percent increase from Sh789 million.

Bancassurance is a strategic partnership between banks and insurance firms that enables insurers to market and sell their products through banks’ customer networks.

During the review period, I and M Group recorded the third-highest earnings at Sh425 million, up 56 percent from Sh272.4 million. However, KCB Group bucked the trend as its pre-tax earnings retreated by 47 percent to Sh336 million from Sh634 million.

‘Bancassurance performance continues to gain traction, driven by sustained growth from the traditional client segment and increasing penetration of the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises market frontier,’ said I and M during the release of half-year results.

Insurers ride on banks’ infrastructure, customers and data while banks share in the revenue, giving them a chance to diversify their revenue streams beyond the traditional business of lending without having to put their capital on the line.

South Africa’s Absa Group recently announced plans to divest its stakes from Absa Life Kenya and First Assurance and redirect its efforts to the bancassurance model through Absa Bank Kenya. The move looks set to strengthen its market leadership in bancassurance.

Diamond Trust Bank’s pre-tax profit from bancassurance increased 10 percent to Sh212 million from Sh192.7 million, while Family Bank recorded a one percent decline to Sh172 million.

NCBA Group posted one of the fastest jumps among the larger lenders, with pre-tax profit rising 68 percent to Sh135 million from Sh80.4 million. Stanbic Holdings profit from bancassurance grew 17 percent to Sh84 million.

HFCB recorded the fastest growth among the listed banks, with earnings more than doubling to Sh80 million from Sh34.3 million.

The performance highlights the growing importance of bancassurance as banks seek to diversify income beyond traditional lending, while some lenders are increasingly pursuing direct investments and subsidiaries in insurance.

This shift could partly explain the declines recorded by Equity Group, whose bancassurance earnings fell by 53 percent to Sh160 million from Sh340.4 million as it redirects business to its general, life and health insurance businesses to capture all the insurance income rather than sharing it with rivals.

Lenders ride on their corporate, retail and small business customer bases to cross-sell insurance products.

Group credit life has remained an easy entry point for banks because borrowers can be signed up for cover alongside loans. Banks also have an advantage in motor insurance, where they can identify customers financing vehicle purchases and offer insurance alongside asset financing.

Premium financing provides another advantage, allowing banks to use their lending infrastructure to finance insurance premiums.

The Insurance Regulatory Authority has encouraged the expansion of bancassurance as part of efforts to deepen Kenya’s insurance penetration, which stood at 2.43 percent in 2025.

Currently, at least 17 banks are licensed to undertake the business through bancassurance intermediary subsidiaries.

Besides the listed banks, the market has also attracted mid-tier and small lenders such as Credit Bank, SBM Bank, Kingdom Bank, National Bank of Kenya, Prime Bank and Sidian Bank. Microfinance banks like Caritas, Faulu, Rafiki and SMEP are also licensed to undertake the business.

The Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI) published data in 2024 showing the value of insurance business underwritten through bancassurance grew by 13.3 percent to Sh35 billion in the year ended December 2023, taking its share in the insurance industry’s business to 10 percent.

At Sh35 billion, the bancassurance business had grown by 79.5 percent over the five years to 2024, given that it was at Sh19.5 billion in 2019 when it contributed 8.43 percent of the industry’s gross written premium.

The AKI report showed 21 out of 24 bancassurance intermediaries reported increases in premiums between 2019 and 2023, with nine intermediaries more than doubling their premiums during this period.

Bancassurance business had stalled but the streamlining of regulations between 2021 and 2022 has encouraged more partnerships between banks and insurers.

Bancassurance jobs have been one of the new openings in the banking and insurance sectors over the past two years as firms strengthen their offerings. The new hiring has been under titles such as bancassurance sales managers, officers, operation officers, sales representatives, sales officers and sales coordinators.

Kenya has reduced new HIV infections by 83 percent in ten years, from 101,448 in 2013 to 16,752 in 2023, while the number of people receiving antiretroviral therapy more than doubled from 656,369 to 1,336,681 during the same period.

According to the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council (NSDCC) report, Aids-related deaths also fell by 65 per cent, from 58,446 to 20,480.

By 2023, 97 percent of people living with HIV were receiving treatment. The NSDCC says that the success of antiretroviral therapy has prolonged the lives of people living with HIV and that the ageing population is increasingly affected by multiple chronic conditions.

The NSDCC’s 2025 Aids Response Progress Report states that 62 percent of people living with HIV have at least one non-communicable disease (NCD), compared to 51 per cent of the general population.

‘The growing burden is partly a consequence of the success of antiretroviral treatment, which has prolonged the lives of people living with HIV. As this population ages, more are experiencing multiple chronic conditions, including hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease,’ the report said.

However, the progress in HIV management is creating financial pressures for patients and the healthcare system.

Kenya estimated that it would require Sh647.7 billion to finance its HIV response between 2020/21 and 2024/25 to cover prevention, treatment, care, and support. Yet domestic resources accounted for only 34 per cent of the required financing.

For some patients, the additional illnesses mean paying for medicines and clinic visits that were not part of their original HIV treatment.

For Grace Maina, living with HIV is no longer her only health concern. She also has diabetes and high blood pressure, conditions that have increased her treatment costs.

‘The diabetes medication is sometimes too expensive for me. In a month, I can spend up to Sh16,500 on medication and other supplements, which is additional money that I had not planned for in the first place,’ said Grace.

She said that when her blood pressure rises, she also struggles to control her blood sugar. At one point, her blood pressure reached 200, leaving her severely fatigued and unable to walk.

Although her HIV treatment is available through the HIV programme, managing diabetes and hypertension requires additional medication and care.

John Otieno, 55, has also had to deal with the added cost of managing diabetes. When his medication is unavailable at the public facility, he has to purchase it from private pharmacies, which adds to his household expenses.

The retail price of diabetes medicines varies widely at private pharmacies, ranging from approximately Sh500 for a 30-tablet pack of metformin-based treatment to over Sh4,000 for some com-bination tablets. Insulin and newer injectable medicines can cost more than Sh10,000.

These two patients are part of a wider group of people living with HIV who are also dealing with chronic illnesses.

A 2025 study involving 6,795 people living with HIV at Homa Bay County Referral Hospital found that 16.2 percent had hypertension and 1.8 percent had diabetes, while 44 per cent of participants were overweight or obese. The researchers reviewed the electronic medical records of adults receiving HIV care.

A separate study at Isiolo County Referral Hospital, which involved 231 adults receiving HIV treatment, found that 42.4 per cent had previously been diagnosed with hypertension, and 23.4 percent with diabetes.

These additional conditions also incur direct costs for patients.

A 2023 study using data collected in Busia and Trans-Nzoia in 2020 found that patients spent an average of Sh7,458 a year on hypertension treatment and Sh8,408 on diabetes treatment. For patients with both conditions, the average annual cost rose to Sh13,149, including healthcare, transport, and other treatment-related expenses.

The financial burden of NCDs extends beyond the cost of medicines and hospital visits.

A 2016 study by University of Nairobi economists Daniel Mwai and Moses Muriithi found that non-communicable diseases reduced household income by 28.64 per cent, compared with a 13.63 per cent reduction associated with general illnesses.

While no newer national study has produced a directly comparable estimate of NCD-related income loss, more recent evidence shows the financial burden remains substantial. A 2024 study estimated that managing type 2 diabetes alone cost Kenya Sh74.5 billion in 2021, while a World Bank analysis estimates that seven major NCDs cost the economy about Sh230 billion annually, with the losses projected to rise to Sh607 billion a year by 2030 without stronger action.

‘NCDs eat into a household’s current income and reduce the future productivity of patients,’ wrote the researchers.

According to Dr Mwai, financing is not just about finding more money but also about how existing resources are used.

‘Financing is not just about raising more money. It is also about how we strategically use this money to address persisting health challenges,’ he said in a discussion on domestic health financing.

‘We can cut the cost of healthcare in Africa by 40 percent if we reorganise and plan its delivery well.’

One way of doing this would be to utilise the infrastructure already in place for HIV treatment.

A 2020 cost analysis of the AMPATH Chronic Disease Management programme found that adding chronic disease care to an existing HIV clinic cost an average of $10.42 (Sh1,344) per patient visit.

Providing chronic disease services through the HIV platform costs about $1 (Sh129) less per visit than adding them to a primary care facility.

At the time of the study, the programme was providing chronic disease care to over 24,000 patients across 69 facilities.

This approach enables health workers, laboratories and clinic infrastructure that are already sup-porting HIV care to also screen for and manage conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.

However, scaling up such services would still require medicines, diagnostic equipment, and staff trained to manage conditions beyond HIV.

Kenya’s new health financing system is also expected to help carry this burden.

The Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund (ECCIF), which is managed by the Social Health Authority (SHA), pays for care relating to chronic illnesses once the benefits available through the Social Health Insurance Fund have been exhausted.

The SHA’s financial statements for the year ended June 2025 show ECCIF benefit expenses totalling Sh457.7 million. The fund also reported Sh344.3 million in incurred but not reported claims and Sh455.2 million in outstanding claims reserves, bringing the total ECCIF expenses reported in the financial statements to approximately Sh1.26 billion.

In May 2026, the SHA reported a further Sh433 million paid through the ECCIF in its latest claims cycle. However, it does not show how much of this money went specifically to people living with HIV who also have NCDs.

Since then, the country has launched the Kenya AIDS Integration Strategic Framework 2025-2030, which brings the management of HIV alongside other conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis and mental health conditions closer together. This makes use of existing health facilities and systems instead of running each disease as a separate programme.

Several airlines continued to face flight delays on Tuesday as they struggled to clear the backlog created by a two-day aviation workers’ strike that brought operations at Kenya’s major airports to a near standstill.

The strike, which began on Sunday and was called off on Tuesday morning, forced airlines to cancel and delay flights, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at airports, including the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi.

Major carriers in Kenya, including Kenya Airways (KQ) and Jambojet, said they expected normal flight schedules to resume on Wednesday as they continued to deal with the effects of the industrial action.

Foreign carriers operating flights to and from Nairobi also continued to face disruptions, with airlines such as Etihad postponing some scheduled flights on Tuesday as they worked to clear backlog from Sunday and Monday.

The Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU) called off the strike after reaching a return-to-work agreement with the government, Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) and Jambojet.

The agreement commits KAWU and KCAA to resume negotiations on a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), while salary discussions will be handled within the ambit of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission. It also provides for the release of agency fees owed to the union and protection of workers who participated in the strike from victimisation or disciplinary action.

KAWU had cited unresolved labour issues, including a stalled CBA, disputes over union agency fees, and its recognition dispute with Jambojet. The union also raised concerns over workers’ welfare and employment conditions.

The strike affected JKIA, Moi International Airport in Mombasa, Eldoret International Airport and Kisumu International Airport. The disruption was particularly severe at JKIA, which serves as Kenya’s main international aviation hub.

KQ, which uses JKIA as its hub, said it continued to experience delays on Tuesday following the suspension of the strike.

‘Customers should expect some delays as our teams restore flight schedules. We anticipate resuming our normal scheduled operations by Wednesday,’ said KQ in a statement.

Jambojet also said it expected to resume its full schedule on Wednesday after operating most of its flights on Tuesday, albeit with some delays as priority was given to earlier bookings.

‘Our immediate priority is to support passengers whose travel plans were affected, while ensuring that all flights operate safely,’ Jambojet CEO Karanja Ndegwa told Business Daily.

The airlines are rearranging their schedules to clear the flight backlog, with some destinations receiving higher frequencies than normal and others being served using larger aircraft.

‘We are also adjusting our schedules and operational resources to accelerate the recovery and restore the network to normal by Wednesday 2nd. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and provide guests with timely updates on their flights,’ added Mr Ndegwa.

The latest disruption was the second major aviation workers’ strike in Kenya this year, highlighting persistent labour tensions in a sector that serves as a critical gateway for regional and international travel.

The February strike also disrupted operations at JKIA and other airports before workers returned to their stations following government-mediated talks.

While the latest agreement has ended the strikw, airlines are still dealing with the operational consequences, with passengers warned to expect delays as carriers work through the accumulated backlog and restore their normal schedules.

Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) can proceed with its review of the proposed acquisition of Diageo’s 65 percent stake in East African Breweries (EABL) by Japan’s Asahi Group Holdings, even as a legal challenge over the transaction remains pending before the High Court.

In a ruling delivered on Monday, the High Court clarified that the competition regulator is free to continue evaluating the transaction and make a determination under the Competition Act.

The court also said an appeal challenging the deal before the Capital Markets Tribunal should proceed. However, the transfer of Diageo’s controlling stake to Asahi cannot be completed until the ongoing court case is determined.

The court held that maintaining the status quo would preserve the transaction without prejudicing the rights of any party while allowing statutory regulators and dispute-resolution bodies to carry out their mandates.

‘I do note that the petitioner sought a raft of injunctive and disclosure orders including an order of status quo to preserve the transaction. An order of status quo will allow the appeal to be concluded as well as the Competition Authority to determine the matters before it so that the petitioner or any party may avail themselves of the dispute resolution mechanisms in the Act,’ the judge said.

The court found that preserving the status of the transaction as it stood on June 18, 2026, was necessary pending the determination of the appeal before the CMA Tribunal and CAK’s review of the acquisition.

The dispute stems from a petition filed by shareholder Christine Irungu, who challenged the constitutionality of the sale of Diageo’s controlling interest in EABL to Asahi Group Holdings.

Ms Irungu argues that the transaction violates several constitutional provisions, including those relating to transparency, access to information, consumer rights, fair administrative action and protection of property rights.

She claims that Diageo, EABL and the regulators failed to disclose key details about the transaction, including information relating to the tender offer, share premium, the impact on minority shareholders and regulatory safeguards.

The petitioner also accuses the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and CAK of failing to adequately protect investors and the public interest.

According to court filings, she contends that the CMA failed to shield minority shareholders from the possibility of a controlling shareholder benefiting disproportionately from a control premium. She further argues that CAK did not sufficiently consider the competition implications of the transaction, including its impact on consumers, distributors and the wider beverage market.

On June 18, the court issued conservatory orders halting completion of the transaction.

Diageo Kenya and Diageo Plc subsequently moved to court seeking to set aside the orders and allow the transaction to proceed.

The companies argued that issues raised by the petitioner fall within specialised statutory frameworks governing takeovers, mergers and competition regulation and should therefore be handled by the relevant regulators and tribunals.

They pointed to an appeal pending before the CMA Tribunal challenging a CMA decision that exempted Asahi from making a mandatory takeover offer to EABL’s minority shareholders.

The firms also noted that CAK was still reviewing the acquisition and that any decision by the regulator could be challenged before the Competition Tribunal.

Diageo argued that the courts should not assume supervisory powers over matters assigned by law to specialised regulatory bodies.

The brewer also rejected claims that its previous acquisition of additional EABL shares through a 2022-2023 tender offer was part of a pre-arranged plan to later sell an enlarged controlling stake to Asahi.

It argued that the petitioner had delayed in bringing the challenge and had not demonstrated any personal or public prejudice arising from the transaction.

Asahi Group adopted a similar position, arguing that the dispute should be pursued before the CMA Tribunal and the Competition Tribunal rather than through constitutional litigation.

CAK also raised a preliminary objection, saying the High Court lacked jurisdiction because the Competition Act provides an elaborate mechanism for reviewing merger decisions. The regulator relied on provisions of the Fair Administrative Action Act requiring parties to exhaust available statutory remedies before approaching the courts.

The court’s decision means regulators can continue reviewing the acquisition while preserving the existing ownership structure until the legal and regulatory processes are concluded.