Category: Business Daily

Fertiliser prices have sustained a rising trend globally, signalling possible renewed pressure on Kenya’s food production expenses ahead of the next planting season.

The latest World Bank’s Commodity Markets Outlook for October 2025 shows fertiliser prices rising by an average of 19 to 21 percent year-on-year, making them the only major commodity group to defy the global trend of easing prices.

‘Fertiliser prices have continued to climb, by 19 percent in the first nine months of 2025 (year-on-year), reflecting strong demand, the effects of trade restrictions, and production shortfalls,’ notes the Bank.

‘Fertiliser prices are projected to rise by 21 percent in 2025.’

The outlook attributes the sustained high costs to export restrictions in China, continued sanctions on Belarus and Russia, and logistical constraints that have kept supply tight through much of the year.

‘China has restricted exports of nitrogen and phosphate fertilisers, while Belarus -a major potash supplier- remains under EU sanctions. Together with Russia, it is also subject to new EU tariffs on fertilisers,’ says the World Bank.

In contrast, the report projects global energy prices to fall by 12 percent in 2025 and by another 10 percent in 2026, while food and metal prices are expected to ease modestly.

The divergence leaves fertiliser as an outlier, with market prices remaining far above their pre-pandemic averages.

Kenya relies heavily on imports for its fertiliser supply, sourcing most of its stocks from China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.

The global price stickiness means that local procurement and retail prices could stay elevated, even as the government continues to implement subsidies under the national fertiliser support programme.

Latest data from the Kenya Bureau of Statistics shows that last month, consumer prices of key food items rose by double-digit percentage points when compared against a similar period last year, underscoring the impact of higher production costs.

Prices of tomatoes, for instance, grew 37.3 percent during the referenced period, while those of sifted maize flour and loose maize grain rose 16.4 percent and 13.7 percent, respectively.

Other food items whose prices recorded significant growth year-on-year included fortified maize flour (16.5 percent), sukuma wiki (15.4 percent), spinach (11.9 percent), cabbage (20.3 percent) and onions (12 percent).

The government has, in recent years, expanded the national fertiliser subsidy programme, under which farmers access discounted inputs through the National Cereals and Produce Board.

While the scheme aims to stabilise food prices by lowering farmers’ production costs, the sustained increase in global prices may put a limit on how far the subsidies can go in offsetting import costs.

According to the World Bank, global fertiliser markets have struggled to normalise since the supply disruptions that began in 2022 following the conflict in Ukraine.

Production capacity in key exporting countries remains constrained, while shipping and energy costs- though easing-have not fallen enough to offset structural shortages.

The World Bank, however, expects the prices to decline slightly by about five percent in 2026, but warns that any rebound in natural gas prices or extension of export curbs could reverse the trend.

For Kenya, the sustained global prices come at a time when food inflation remains sensitive to agricultural input costs. Official data shows that agriculture accounts for nearly one-fifth of the gross domestic product, and fertiliser is one of its largest recurrent input expenses.

Since the introduction of the subsidy programme, retail fertiliser prices have eased from highs of above Sh6,500 per 50-kilogramme bag at the peak of 2022, to between Sh1,775 and Sh3,500 in selected counties.

Fertiliser imports also account for a significant portion of Kenya’s foreign exchange spending on non-fuel commodities. A prolonged period of elevated global prices is, thus, a recipe for pressure on the import bill, especially during the main planting seasons when volumes peak.

They say that the higher you go, the colder it becomes. Many leaders discover this truth only after securing the promotion or executive role they worked so hard to achieve. Along with influence and recognition comes an unexpected reality; loneliness. The leadership seat is visible, influential, and admired from afar, yet often emotionally isolating.

Leadership today demands navigating multiple pressures. A leader must satisfy board expectations, manage employee morale, deliver results, adapt to market shifts, maintain stakeholder confidence, and uphold personal values.

These pressures converge in one office, the leader’s, and while they are surrounded by people, very few of those are safe to speak to openly.

Decisions meant to safeguard the organisation may disappoint employees, people-centred choices may upset shareholders who may think the leader is more concerned with employees interests than business outcomes.

Every action has a ripple effect, and the leader carries both the responsibility and the emotional weight.

In Kenya, leadership is also intertwined with cultural expectations. When someone rises to a senior position, family and community often assume newfound wealth and influence.

Relatives anticipate assistance, society expects composure and generosity, and any sign of struggle may be judged harshly. This adds emotional pressure and makes vulnerability difficult. Leaders learn to ‘perform strength,’ even when tired, overwhelmed, or uncertain.

Leadership loneliness is real, but it can be managed. Leaders can take intentional steps to reduce loneliness.

Involve others in decision-making and solution building: Leadership does not mean having all the answers. Involving teams, departments, and cross-functional colleagues not only improves the quality of solutions, it reduces isolation.

Collaborative planning builds trust and encourages ownership. When people contribute to decisions, they support them more readily, and freely interact with the leaders.

Hold personalised meetings with managers and peers: Schedule regular, private check-ins, not just for performance discussions, but for genuine conversation.

These engagements help leaders stay connected to the pulse of the organisation and reduce emotional distance. Such meetings encourage transparency, strengthen rapport, and allow leaders to receive honest feedback in a moderated, respectful setting.

Be true to self: Authenticity remains one of the strongest remedies to loneliness. Leaders who are grounded in their values, identity, and purpose are less shaken by external expectations.

Being true to self means maintaining integrity even under pressure, acknowledging emotions rather than suppressing them, and allowing others to see you as human, not a symbol of perfection.

Seek coaching support: A leadership coach provides a confidential, non-judgmental space to process decisions, emotions, and personal challenges. Coaching enhances self-awareness, strengthens emotional intelligence, and helps leaders build clarity and resilience.

Build diverse networks: Cultivate meaningful relationships beyond the immediate workplace. Professional bodies, alumni networks, hobbies, and community groups, offering mentorship offer balanced perspectives and emotional grounding.

Establish a trusted inner circle

Identify a small group of people-inside or outside the organisation-who provide truth, empathy, and confidentiality and honest feedback to you.

Strengthen Emotional Intelligence: This enables leaders to develop self-awareness, understand and manage their emotions, and of others, interpret situations thoughtfully, and respond rather than react. It supports empathy, clarity, and healthier engagement, and reduces stress.

Leadership may sometimes feel lonely, but it does not need to be isolating. When leaders intentionally build connection, maintain self-awareness, and seek meaningful support, they lead not just with authority, but with emotional intelligence, which has been globally identified as key catalysts of transformational leadership. And that is the kind of leadership that transforms organisations, communities, and people.

The value of unpaid work done by each Kenyan woman has for the first time been set at Sh118,845 per year, putting the collective worth of the hours spent cooking, cleaning and caring for their families at Sh1.89 trillion.

The inaugural Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) report, titled Economic Value of Unpaid Domestic and Care Work in Kenya 2025, reveals a stark gender gap in unpaid labour, showing that women’s contribution far outweighs that of men.

According to the study, each Kenyan man performs unpaid work valued just Sh22,676 per year, putting men’s total contribution to unpaid domestic and care work (UDCW) at Sh353.89 billion.

This means women’s unpaid labour amounts to more than five times the collective Sh2.423 trillion annual UDCW, underlining the disproportionate burden of care and domestic responsibilities borne by women across the country.

This marks the first time Kenya has quantified the economic value of unpaid household and care work, offering a glimpse into the hidden economy that sustains millions of families but is not captured in the country’s traditional measures such as Gross Domestic Product.

‘On average, if UDCW activities had been remunerated, each woman aged 15 years and above would have earned Sh118,845 in 2021, whilst men aged 15 years and above would each have earned Sh22,676 for the same period,’ said KNBS in the new study.

The dominance of women in the unpaid labour ties with the 2021 Time Use Survey Report in which KNBS showed women spent 25.8 billion hours on unpaid domestic and care work while men spent 4.8 billion hours.

KNBS equates the Sh2.423 trillion to nearly a quarter (23.1 percent) of the value of Kenya’s economy in 2021, a revelation that reignites the global debate on the economic invisibility of domestic and care work.

The findings mirror a growing recognition worldwide that unpaid household labour – mostly performed by women – forms a vital yet uncounted pillar of economic productivity.

By quantifying its value, the report exposes the huge contribution women make to sustain households, communities and the formal economy, despite receiving neither pay nor recognition for it.

The study relied on the 2021 Time Use Survey Report and the Kenya Continuous Household Survey to quantify how much time women and men spent on household and care activities and assigned an equivalent market wage to that labour.

The report identifies food and meals management and preparation as the single most valuable category of unpaid work for women in Kenya at Sh1.073 trillion from 14.7 billion hours compared to men’s Sh157 billion courtesy of 2.1 billion hours.

The second most valuable form of unpaid work was caring and maintenance of textiles and footwear, where women’s unpaid work was valued Sh295.98 billion compared with men’s Sh55.33 billion.

Cleaning and maintaining the home and its surroundings was the third highest unpaid work for women at Sh192.92 billion while that of men was Sh48.17 billion.

Caring for children including feeding, cleaning and physical care came fourth with women at Sh176.83 billion and men at Sh7.12 billion.

Rounding out the top five categories was shopping for household and family members where women devoted hours valued Sh65.58 billion compared with men’s Sh27.64 billion.

The findings could reshape how Kenya measures and plans for economic development. Many policy experts and champions of equality have argued that not recognising or valuing the unpaid work perpetuates income gaps, lowers productivity and constrains national growth.

The valuation of the unpaid domestic and care work was based on data from the 2021 Kenya Continuous Household Survey which included a Time Use Survey (TUS) module.

The TUS module captured detailed information on how individuals aged 15 years and above spent their time over a 24-hour period, allowing the KNBS to quantify the total hours devoted to unpaid domestic and caregiving tasks.

The value of unpaid work was estimated by multiplying the total time spent on each type of unpaid activity by an appropriate wage rate that would be paid to a market worker performing similar services.

The rise of digital payment systems in Kenya has reshaped how people access and interact with financial markets. From M-Pesa mobile money transfers to bank-linked online wallets, traders now have faster and safer ways to deposit and withdraw funds from their trading accounts. This accessibility is one of the main factors driving the growth of retail forex participation in the country.

For those beginning their journey, understanding what is forex trading and how does it work is essential before leveraging the advantages of digital payments. Once the fundamentals are clear, traders can take full advantage of the speed and efficiency offered by modern payment solutions, allowing them to focus on strategy and execution rather than worrying about transaction delays.

The Role of Digital Payments in the Forex Market

In the past, moving money in and out of a trading account could be slow and expensive, especially for traders outside major financial hubs. Bank transfers often took days, and fees could eat into profits. In Kenya, this used to be a significant barrier for many aspiring traders.

Today, the situation is very different. Digital payment platforms now offer near-instant deposits and quick withdrawals. This means Kenyan traders can respond faster to market opportunities, increasing their ability to trade efficiently. They can also manage risk better by adding or removing capital from their accounts as needed without long waiting periods.

Mobile Money as a Game Changer

Kenya is recognised globally for its mobile money adoption, with M-Pesa leading the way. Many brokers serving the Kenyan market now integrate M-Pesa directly into their funding systems. This allows traders to top up their trading accounts from a phone in just a few steps.

This level of convenience is particularly helpful for traders in rural areas or those without easy access to traditional banking services. It levels the playing field, giving more people the chance to participate in the forex market without logistical limitations.

Benefits of Digital Payments for Kenyan Forex Traders

Digital payments bring multiple benefits to traders in Kenya, making them an integral part of the trading process.

Speed: Instant or same-day deposits mean traders can act quickly on emerging opportunities.

Lower Costs: Reduced transfer fees compared to traditional banking methods.

Accessibility: Easier access for those without bank accounts through mobile money services.

Security: Encrypted payment systems help protect funds and personal information.

By reducing both time and cost barriers, these benefits contribute to a more inclusive trading environment.

Impact on Risk Management

One of the less obvious advantages of digital payments is their effect on risk management. Traders can quickly add funds to cover margin requirements if markets move unexpectedly. Similarly, they can withdraw profits regularly to secure gains outside of their trading account.

For Kenyan traders, this ability to move funds in real time reduces the risk of margin calls during volatile periods and ensures that profits are not left exposed to market fluctuations.

Encouraging More Participation in the Market

As funding and withdrawal processes become faster and more reliable, more Kenyans are exploring forex as an investment and income opportunity. The convenience of digital payments removes one of the main concerns for new traders: the ability to access their money when needed.

This is especially important for younger, tech-savvy individuals who expect seamless financial transactions. By meeting these expectations, brokers and payment providers are encouraging a new generation of traders to engage with the market.

Integrating Digital Payments with Trading Platforms

The best brokers in Kenya are now fully integrating digital payment options into their platforms. This means traders can initiate deposits or withdrawals without leaving their trading interface.

Such integration not only saves time but also ensures that traders stay focused on market activity. They do not need to navigate multiple websites or apps, which can be distracting during active trading sessions.

Challenges to Consider

While digital payments offer many benefits, there are still challenges to address. Fraud and phishing remain concerns, especially when traders are not careful about where they share personal and financial information. It is important to use secure networks and work only with regulated brokers that have strong data protection policies.

Transaction limits on some mobile money services can also be restrictive for high-volume traders. In such cases, combining mobile money with bank transfers or e-wallets can provide greater flexibility.

The Future of Digital Payments in Kenyan Forex Trading

The growth of digital payments in Kenya is expected to continue, with more innovation on the horizon. Faster settlement times, expanded payment limits, and broader integration with international financial systems will further improve the experience for traders.

For the forex market, this means even more people will be able to participate with fewer barriers. As brokers and payment providers compete to offer better services, traders will benefit from increased efficiency and convenience.

Final Thoughts

Digital payment solutions have opened the door for more Kenyans to participate in forex trading than ever before. The ability to deposit and withdraw funds quickly, securely, and at low cost makes it easier for traders to focus on market opportunities rather than logistical challenges.

For those who understand what is forex trading and how does it work, the combination of knowledge and modern payment systems can be a powerful advantage. By choosing reliable payment methods and working with reputable brokers, Kenyan traders can fully enjoy the benefits of this new era in forex trading.

The Treasury on Tuesday made a stark admission of the shilling being undervalued against the dollar, placing Kenya on a collision course with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that advocates a freely traded exchange rate.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said at a press briefing on Tuesday that the shilling could strengthen to Sh118 to the dollar if allowed to fall freely in a setting of increased inflows of the US currency.

This suggests that Kenya has been influencing the trade of the shilling against the dollar, adding the exchange rate to the monetary policy tools for managing inflation.

The IMF expressed concern over the unchanged value of the shilling against the dollar, despite global shifts that were expected to see a stronger local currency.

It termed the shilling too stable, having traded on a narrow range between Sh129.22 and Sh129.24 since the start of the year despite weakening against other major world currencies, including the euro and British Pound at 12 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively.

‘By the way, the stability of the shilling has a basis. I was even saying, if it [the shilling] is just allowed free fall, the shilling would even trade at 118 to the dollar,’ said Mr Mbadi, suggesting a State bias for a weaker shilling.

‘Because our current account balance has been improving. Our exports are doing better.’

Mr Mbadi says the local currency’s stability is backed by improving macroeconomic fundamentals, including improved diaspora remittances, tourist receipts and strong export earnings.

A stronger shilling leads to cheaper imports and makes domestically focused companies that rely on inputs from overseas in foreign currency face lower input costs, easing inflation.

It also weakens the Kenyan firms’ foreign earnings, while also making local goods expensive abroad.

Analysts who spoke to the Business Daily anonymously said that the government was likely intervening to keep the shilling weak through purchase of dollars by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

The CBK’s position is that Kenya has a flexible rate policy and only intervenes to smooth volatility.

Mr Mbadi said that the stability of the shilling was supported by a steady inflow of earnings from exports and tourism as well as diaspora remittances.

Export earnings fell 3.06 percent to Sh554 billion in the six months to June, while tourism receipts are expected at between Sh560 billion and Sh650 billion this year from Sh452.2 billion in 2024.

Remittances rose 5.88 percent to $2.519 billion in the six months to June, with the foreign exchange reserves of about $12.1 billion (Sh1.56 trillion) providing ample cover.

The stable shilling got a boost from the 2023 deal to purchase fuel on credit from three state-owned Gulf companies, allowing the country to build up dollars for the purchase over time, rather than requiring about $500 million every month to pay for imports.

Dr David Ndii, the chairperson of the Presidential Council of Economic Advisers, argued that the CBK had been switching between setting interest rates and creating a dollar peg as a measure to check imported inflation.

Most critical goods, including food and petroleum products, are imported and paid for in dollars.

‘We say our [monetary] instrument is interest rates, but when you try to uncover it, it flips between the two [interest rate and exchange rate]. Sometimes we use interest rates and sometimes we use the exchange rate and that’s what I call common sense,’ said Dr Ndii at the NCBA Economic Forum last week.

Dr Ndii further said that Kenya, unlike developed markets, could not rely on interest rates alone as the key monetary policy tool, as the economy is too small and open to shocks, which limits the transmission of interest rate decisions.

Under the IMF’s policy orthodoxy, the exchange rate is expected to serve as a shock absorber – adjusting naturally to external pressures rather than being fixed or heavily managed to help the economy adjust automatically to global shocks.

For instance, if exports slow, a weaker shilling makes Kenyan goods cheaper abroad, helping exporters recover, hence ‘absorbing’ part of the shock.

However, for most frontier economies such as Kenya, which carry large external debt obligations, allowing the exchange rate to adjust freely not only leads to a higher import bill but also increases debt servicing costs, since much of their borrowing is denominated in foreign currency.

Even countries under severe fiscal strain have been known to support their currencies artificially, despite being led by avowed free market advocates.

A case in point is Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei, who has intervened in the market to stabilise the peso despite his ideological commitment to minimal state interference.

Mr Milei, who inherited an economy battered by hyperinflation and chronic debt, has propped up the peso through market intervention, a strategy that has eroded foreign reserves but is intended to contain inflationary pressures.

Mr Mbadi said the government’s failure to proactively manage its liabilities ahead of the bullet repayment of a $2 billion Eurobond signalled to international markets that Kenya was at risk of default – a development that, he added, contributed to the shilling’s sharp weakening.

‘After managing the Eurobond of 2024, this year, we thought quickly and managed the 2027 Eurobond when the markets were open,’ he said.

Kenya’s monthly diaspora remittances from Saudi Arabia have dropped to the lowest levels in four years in the wake of the implementation of a new skills-based foreign worker permit system in the Gulf nation.

Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data shows cash wired back home by Kenyans in Saudi Arabia slid to $16.30 million (Sh2.11 billion) in August and $16.85 million (Sh2.18 billion) in September.

The flows in those two months have nearly halved (fallen by 46.83 percent) from an average of $31.17 million (Sh4.03 billion) in the first seven months of the year, falling to levels last seen in September 2021 at $16.61 million (Sh2.15 billion).

The inflows are also 50.67 percent lower than $33.59 million (Sh4.34 billion) monthly average for 2024, signalling a sudden break in a corridor that had previously been Kenya’s fastest-growing source of diaspora dollars.

Saudi Arabia implemented a skill-based work-permit system mid this year, with reclassification of existing workers starting June 18 and categorisation for new arrivals from July 1.

Enforcement of the new policy for existing workers, including thousands of Kenyans, kicked in on July 5, while new recruits were put on the new regime from August 3.

The new framework has placed foreign workers in three skill groups -highly skilled, skilled and basic- using a mix of academic qualifications, experience, technical capabilities, wage brackets and age.

The highly skilled tier includes doctors, engineers, IT specialists and corporate executives, requiring at least a bachelor’s degree and five years’ experience.

The skilled category covers technicians, mid-level supervisors and craftsmen with at least secondary or vocational training plus a minimum of two years’ experience.

The basic tier, on the other hand, covers entry-level and manual labour roles, with no formal education requirement, but is restricted to workers below the age of 60.

The shift has replaced the decades-old, one-size-fits-all iqama model under which all foreign workers- from janitors to surgeons- held the same residency and work permit category regardless of job description, education or work experience.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development enforced the reform to align talent deployment with the country’s economic transformation priorities, curb over-reliance on low-skilled staff and boost productivity.

But for Kenya, whose migrant flows to Saudi Arabia are dominated by basic and lower-skilled categories, the transition appears to have interrupted wages, contract renewals, onboarding schedules and cash transmission.

The slowdown cut the diaspora remittance flows from Saudi Arabia by 16.87 percent in the first nine months of 2025 to $251.33 million (Sh32.48 billion) from $302.35 million (Sh39.08 billion)-the first annual contraction since the CBK started publishing full-year country-level series in 2020.

That has allowed the UK to leapfrog Riyadh to become Kenya’s second-biggest source of diaspora dollars for the first time since the January-September 2022 period.

The CBK’s tallies show Saudi Arabia had been the single most significant driver of incremental remittances between 2021 and 2024, widening from $88.32 million (Sh11.41 billion) in January-September 2020 to more than $300 million in the same window last year.

That expansion, driven by domestic work placements, contract formalisation and rising Gulf wage floors, had turned Saudi from a fringe source into a macro factor in Kenya’s foreign exchange flows.

By contrast, the diaspora flows from the UK have been gentler, rising from about $150.52 million (Sh19.45 billion) in the first nine months of 2020 to $262.53 million (Sh33.93 billion) in the same period this year. However, this year’s flows have fallen 2.97 percent from the record $270.58 billion in the January-September 2024 period.

The slowdown from Saudi Arabia has come in the middle of a policy transition window.

Since taking office in September 2022, President William Ruto has framed bilateral labour deals as a foreign-policy instrument to create offshore jobs for Kenyan youth and to raise remittance inflows.

‘It is my intention that every year we should be able to send 250,000 Kenyans to work in different parts of the world so that we can enhance and increase the number of people working abroad and enhance our remittances from abroad,’ Dr Ruto said in May 2024. ‘I am committed, and I believe that is doable because I can see that we are on the right trajectory.’

The United States has maintained the anchor, with flows in the January-September 2025 period crossing $2 billion for the first time, accounting for more than 54 percent of total flows.

Kenyans in the US sent back home $2.05 billion (Sh264.94 billion) in the review nine-month period, a rise of 5.70 percent, or $110.42 million (Sh14.27 billion), over $1.94 billion (Sh250.73 billion) a year ago.

The US stability has helped push Kenya’s aggregate inflows to more than $3.77 billion (Sh487.23 billion) in the first nine months of 2025 from $3.64 billion (Sh470.43 billion) last year -a growth of 3.70 percent.

African countries must heed to experts’ recent call for stronger collaboration between scientists, policymakers and communities to bridge the gap between research and implementation.

Lamentably, there is limited impact of African research on public health and community wellbeing. That is why the call made by researchers, policymakers and journalists at the recently held, first national science research translation congress, must be taken seriously.

According to African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), about 80 to 83 percent of research resources are wasted because they are not being translated into action.

Even as universities and institutions generate ground breaking research, a significant portion remains underutilised. They do not inform policy, not guiding programmes and do not improve lives as it should.

Research and innovation are indispensable for achieving universal health coverage and national development priorities.

That is why more should be done to produce, translate and apply research. Even more important is the need to measure research impact on people’s health and wellbeing.

From disease surveillance to vaccine introduction, to digital health and health financing models, research provides the evidence required to make informed decisions.

Technology should be used to bring interventions closer to the people. Scientists should use digital tools and artificial intelligence to speed up research translation and regulatory approvals.

As some experts have noted, sheer volume of scientific data regulators must review is major cause for delays in approving life-saving drugs such as heat stable carbetocin-medication used to prevent postpartum haemorrhage-which took years to be approved and registered.

Artificial intelligence can help scan through thousands of pages in minutes. It is important to leverage AI to strengthen healthcare systems. AI tools can improve supply chains, clinical decision-making, disease surveillance, and health information systems.

At the same time, more should be done to build capacity of policymakers on health research utilization. One of the key challenges to research utilisation in health policy is limited capacity of policy makers to demand and to uptake research.

Also, media must be a key ally in transforming research into public good. Scientists are not always the best communicators, but through the media, they can influence healthier behaviors. Collaboration with journalists is vital to ensure scientific information reaches communities in clear and relatable language.

Researchers, policymakers and journalists must work together to make science palatable to the ordinary person.

Equally important, Scientists should leverage digital media platforms such as Instagram, facebook, linkedin, X, YouTube and TikTok to make research more visible and understandable.

Digital branding and strategic communication should not be viewed as publicity but as an essential part of science communication that shapes how policymakers and the public use research evidence.

Scientists should stop speaking among themselves, and engage more with the people who need the solutions.

Partnerships that aim at solving real problems are essential. Scientists, government officials and media professionals must work hand in hand to ensure ground breaking discoveries made in laboratories translate into real-world benefits for communities.

It is not enough for research to exist in silos. It must be accessible, understood and implemented in ways that directly impact public health and wellbeing.

KCB Group, one of Kenya’s largest banks, is acquiring a minority stake in digital payments provider Pesapal, strengthening its position in the fintech industry.

The bank has announced its intentions to acquire an undisclosed minority stake in the Kenyan fintech, subject to regulatory approvals, including the Competition Authority of Kenya, and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

This marks its second acquisition of a fintech this year, after acquiring Riverbank Solutions Limited, a fintech firm associated with Nick Mwendwa, former president of the Football Kenya Federation, earlier this year.

‘The investment sets the stage for development of innovative payment and other related solutions for Kenya’s small and micro enterprises enhancing value for shareholders of both Pesapal and KCB,’ the lender said in a notice signed by company secretary Bonnie Okumu.

Founded in 2009 by entrepreneur Agosta Liko, Pesapal processes payments for thousands of businesses across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, operating under a payment service provider licence from the CBK.

The platform enables merchants to accept both card and mobile money payments-online and in-store-with integrations for Visa, Mastercard, American Express and M-Pesa.

Often described as a backbone of e-commerce and service payments in East Africa, Pesapal supports a wide range of industries including hospitality, education and transport.

KCB, which already runs one of Kenya’s largest agent and merchant networks, expects that its partnership with Pesapal will cement its foothold in the merchant acquiring and SME payments sector.

The move aligns with KCB’s broader shift towards fintech-driven growth, following strong 2024 results. The bank’s profit after tax rose 64.9 percent to Sh61.8 billion, buoyed by solid revenue growth across all segments.

Non-interest income increased by 16.5 percent Sh67.5 billion, driven largely by gains in foreign exchange trading.

The government has set up two steering committees to spearhead a two-year drive to revive coffee farming, in the latest official effort to arrest declining production and reverse years of shrinking acreage in traditional highland zones.

According to a latest gazette notice by Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya, the committees, a national and a county one, will design strategies to expand the crop beyond the core coffee belt, and specifically introduce the crop in emerging and non-traditional regions.

This, the notice indicates, will be effected through the cooperative movement as the State seeks to broaden production capacity and rebuild volumes lost to land conversions and crop shifts.

‘The County Steering Committee shall have similar functions to the National Steering Committee at the county level and shall report on progress and outcomes to the National Steering Committee,’ said Mr Oparanya in the gazette notice.

Most of Kenya’s long-established coffee areas have been shrinking as farmers in counties like Murang’a, Kiambu and Nyeri convert land to avocado, macadamia and real estate due to poor returns over the years, with Kiambu losing chunks of farmland to residential blocks and gated developments.

The push into new zones comes at a time when counties like Laikipia, Taita Taveta, Elgeyo Marakwet, Siaya and Baringo have recently recorded rapid expansion in acreage under coffee, pointing to visible early tests of diversification that the State now intends to formalise and scale more deliberately.

The committees will also coordinate various public agencies and key sector institutions to anchor the revival strategy within cooperatives, which remain the core mobilisation vehicle for smallholder farmers who produce the bulk of Kenya’s coffee output.

The State is banking on cooperatives to provide the aggregation scale required to make coffee viable in new regions where the crop has never been traditionally grown and where individual farmers would otherwise lack commercial leverage and market discipline.

The move adds to the ongoing reform track where the government has since February 2023 restructured regulation, including bringing the Nairobi Coffee Exchange under the Capital Markets Authority, and licensed brokers in place of marketing agents.

Recent official trade data showed an improvement in export performance and a lift in both volume and value of unroasted coffee shipped out of Kenya in the first half of this year, with exports nearly doubling to Sh35.4 billion, signalling renewed farmer attention and improved incentives.

Corruption is often described as a cancer that eats away at the very fabric of society.

From inflated procurement contracts to money laundering and the misuse of public resources, white-collar crime continues to undermine development, weaken trust in institutions, and deepen inequality.

As technology reshapes every aspect of our lives, one innovation-blockchain-is emerging as a potential weapon in this long-standing fight.

At its simplest, blockchain is a digital ledger technology that records transactions in a secure, immutable, and transparent manner. Once information is entered, it cannot be altered without leaving a trace.

This unique feature can make blockchain technology particularly attractive to governments, law enforcement and regulatory agencies that want to tighten controls against fraud, bribery and illicit financial flows.

For instance, public procurement systems powered by blockchain could make every contract, bid and payment visible to the public and auditors alike. Land registries, another common source of corruption, could be digitised on blockchain platforms, preventing manipulation of ownership records or multiple claims on the same property.

Such applications would close loopholes that corrupt actors exploit and strengthen public confidence in government institutions.

But blockchain’s potential does not guarantee success. Its effectiveness depends heavily on transcending factors-such as digital infrastructure, robust legal frameworks and political commitment-that lie beyond the technology itself.

As highlighted in U4 Issue 2020:7, technology alone cannot root out corruption; it must be embedded in a system that values transparency, accountability and strong oversight.

Unlike traditional systems that place trust in individuals or institutions, blockchain shifts the balance of trust to data and code. In practice, this means that citizens no longer have to rely solely on officials to safeguard records; instead, they can trust the transparency and immutability of the blockchain itself.

This paradigm shift could be revolutionary in societies where institutional trust has been eroded due to corruption and political interference.

The transition is not without challenges. Implementing blockchain in governance touches fundamental societal values: identity, privacy, transparency and accountability. Striking the right balance is critical.

One of blockchain’s most powerful features is its transparency. Every transaction is traceable, every record verifiable. Yet this strength can also become a weakness when it collides with individual rights, such as the right to privacy.

Blockchain, by design, makes deletion impossible.

This tension raises important legal and ethical questions: How do we balance the need to protect privacy with the need to harness transparency in the fight against corruption? Policymakers must confront these dilemmas head-on, crafting frameworks that maximise accountability without eroding fundamental freedoms.

Another critical concern arises when blockchain is used to manage registries of physical assets, such as land or vehicles. While the digital record may be incorruptible, it is only as accurate as the information entered at the outset.

Trusted gatekeepers are therefore essential to ensure that the physical reality matches the digital record. Otherwise, corruption could shift from digital manipulation to fraudulent inputs, thus undermining the entire system.

Several African countries are already ahead of the curve.

Nigeria has established clear regulations for cryptocurrency exchanges, South Africa has moved forward with comprehensive guidelines for digital assets and Mauritius has positioned itself as a blockchain-friendly hub with dedicated regulatory sandboxes.

Kenya, on the other hand, is still in the process of finalising its regulatory framework, currently at the Third Reading stage in Parliament.

This makes commendable progress; however, timely implementation would be important to ensure that gaps are not left open for potential misuse in the rapidly evolving digital finance landscape.

For many developing countries, adopting blockchain faces significant hurdles. Digital infrastructure remains weak, with limited internet access in some areas. Digital literacy is uneven, meaning that even if systems are built, citizens and officials may struggle to use them effectively.

These challenges underscore the need for a comprehensive approach: building infrastructure, enhancing capacity-especially for law enforcement officers to be able to trace and recover stolen assets-and modernizing laws alongside technological adoption.

A nuanced understanding of the technology is crucial before deciding whether-and how-to integrate it into governance systems.

Yet hesitation also carries risks. With global adoption accelerating, countries that delay may find themselves struggling to catch up in a world where corruption has already migrated to new digital platforms.

The balance for policymakers is delicate: act too slowly, and the window of opportunity closes; act without foresight, and unintended consequences could erode rights or waste resources. Its success will depend not on the technology alone, but on the legal, political and social ecosystems into which it is introduced.

Blockchain is not a magic cure for corruption, but it offers unprecedented opportunities to enhance transparency, strengthen accountability, and rebuild trust in public institutions. For policymakers and regulatory experts, the choice is clear.

The future of governance will increasingly be digital. Investing today in the right frameworks, infrastructure, and skills could position nations to harness blockchain not only to fight cryptocurrency-enabled crime and white-collar fraud, but also to redefine the integrity of public service for generations to come.

If corruption is the disease, blockchain could be part of the cure-provided leaders have the courage and foresight to use it wisely. Writer is an enthusiast blockchain and crypto investigator.