Category: Business Daily

Electric vehicles (EVs), once dismissed as a far-fetched dream for Africa’s chaotic matatu industry, are now carving a niche and redefining the systems that have sustained Kenya’s public transport for years.

Today, it is not unusual to spot electric matatus gliding through Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD) and along major commuter routes, a clear testament that electric mobility is slowly but steadily reshaping Kenya’s public transport landscape.

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By restoring payment discipline and clearing Sh526 billion in pending bills, Kenya may be activating one of the most powerful-and least costly-levers for SME growth, job creation and financial-sector stability.

Recent Treasury actions, including the clearance of Sh123 billion in verified arrears and a planned Sh175 billion bond to settle outstanding bills, have drawn attention to infrastructure suppliers.

However, the most far-reaching effects are likely to be felt in manufacturing and trade. These sectors sit at the heart of Kenya’s employment base, domestic value chains and regional commerce. They are also the most exposed to delayed payments, thin margins and high working-capital demands.

The Central Bank of Kenya’s plan to pilot instant payments to government suppliers through the bank-to-bank PesaLink platform strengthens this shift.

Together, these measures signal a structural change with implications well beyond public finance management. If implemented consistently, they could unlock SME liquidity, reduce systemic credit risk and create a new growth engine for banks as the country heads into an election year marked by slowing economic momentum.

The reforms matter because SMEs account for nearly 98 percent of all businesses in Kenya, generate about 30 percent of new jobs annually and contribute an estimated 30-40 percent of GDP.

Yet their greatest constraint has not been demand or entrepreneurship, but unreliable cash flow-especially from public-sector contracts.

As at mid-2025, national government pending bills stood at roughly Sh524.8-526 billion, rising further when county obligations are included. This amount rivals more than half of annual development spending in some sectors. Unlike stimulus financed through new borrowing, these are funds owed for goods and services already delivered.

Regionally, Kenya is an outlier. In South Africa and Nigeria, government suppliers typically face payment cycles of 30-60 days, supported by time-bound e-procurement systems.

SMEs have often waited 90-180 days-sometimes years-forcing them to borrow expensively, delay payments to workers and suppliers, or exit the market altogether. Auction notices in Monday’s newspapers, some tied to unpaid government work, underscore this reality.

The macroeconomic environment has amplified the strain. GDP growth slowed to 4.7 percent in 2024 from 5.7 percent a year earlier. Private-sector credit growth was just 0.9 per cent in 2024, improving to 4.4 percent by mid-2025.

Credit to the private sector remains about 32 per cent of GDP, while non-performing loans hover at 16-17 percent. This cycle is familiar: delayed payments weaken SMEs, defaults rise and banks tighten credit, further slowing growth.

Clearing arrears and settling new invoices promptly breaks this cycle. For SMEs, the difference between being paid in 120 days and two days is transformative. At the macro level, releasing Sh526 billion injects liquidity directly into the productive economy without adding public debt.

Handled well, timely payment reforms represent a rare win-win-strengthening SMEs, protecting jobs, improving bank asset quality and restoring fiscal credibility.

The money bouquet orders are piling despite the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK)’s warning against damaging the Kenyan currency for decorative purposes.

Entrepreneurs who create money bouquets say the trade is unlikely to die out, though they are tweaking their designs to meet high Valentine’s Day demand.

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Africa stands at a crossroads and as Peter Drucker observed, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” The rise of artificial intelligence and automation promises new efficiencies and growth yet also risks deepening inequality and unemployment.

The challenge is not only technological but structural. Africa’s labour force, education systems, and digital infrastructure remain misaligned with demands of the machine age. Governments, educators, and the private sector must act urgently to redesign future-proof skills.

Across sub-Saharan Africa, young people face a difficult labour market, with youth unemployment still high at around 8.9 percent in 2024 despite a fast-growing population. Millions are entering the workforce just as work changes.

AI and automation are opening new opportunities, from precision agriculture to telemedicine, but they require digital skills and problem-solving abilities many young people lack.

Progress is slowed by limited internet coverage, low access to smartphones and computers, and shortages of local datasets and language support.

Read: Inclusive skilling: How Africa can tap 230 milllion AI-powered job opportunities

As of 2023, about 37 percent of Africans used the internet, underscoring the scale of the challenge.

Connectivity across Africa remains uneven, deepening the digital divide despite progress in countries such as Kenya. Mobile access adds another layer of complexity.

Kenya has more mobile connections than its population, yet many are feature phones or low-end devices unable to support AI-intensive applications.

So, what should Africa and Kenya in particular do? First, reskill for resilience, not just for today’s jobs.

Ajira Digital is already reskilling young people nationwide with essential digital skills. Curricula must prioritise digital fundamentals such as data literacy, basic coding, and systems thinking, alongside soft skills such as critical thinking, communication, and adaptability.

Training programmes should be modular and local, blending classroom learning, apprenticeships, and employer-recognised micro-credentials.

Upgrading digital infrastructure is essential for unlocking Africa’s innovation and entrepreneurship potential. Affordable broadband, lower data costs, reliable energy, and access to low-cost computing especially in rural areas, create the foundation for people to learn, build, and experiment. But infrastructure is only the starting point.

When connectivity enables digital productivity rather than mere consumption, it fuels new jobs, faster innovation, and locally built AI tools. Stronger infrastructure empowers communities to create fintech for informal markets, agritech for smallholder farmers, and AI solutions in local languages. In short, investing in equitable digital infrastructure transforms access into opportunity and turns Africa from a consumer of technology into a producer.

Additionally, investing in local data and language resources is crucial.

Supporting local AI labs and small firms to create domain-specific models in agriculture, health, and finance will produce tools that truly work for African users and generate demand for trained technicians, data stewards, and model auditors.

Finally, rethinking measurement and incentives. Donors and governments should fund programmes based on outcomes, job placements, business creation, and measurable productivity, not just attendance.

Read: Digital talent scramble: How Kenya can capitalise on global demand

National training strategies should align with industrial policy: where countries aim to grow fintech, agri-tech, or renewable energy, training must deliver the specific skills those industries require

Africa will not be digitally excluded due to lack of talent; the continent has abundant human potential. It will be excluded if policymakers, educators, and businesses keep training for the past while the future arrives.

Addressing this requires realism about internet reach and device capabilities, urgency in creating language-relevant data, and commitment to scalable, employer-aligned retraining. Done right, Africa can not only participate in the machine age but also shape it.

A temporary pause on sugar milling in western Kenya last year handed a windfall to factories in neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania, as traders turned to the regional market to fill a supply gap.

Official data show that Kenya’s sugar import bill from the two countries increased by more than sevenfold (708.01 percent) to Sh6.17 billion in the three months to September 2025, from Sh763 million in the same period a year earlier.

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Konza Technopolis is set to build a 50 megawatt (MW) solar plant via public-private partnership (PPP) to power the smart city and reduce reliance on the national grid.

John Okwiri, the chief executive officer of Konza Technopolis Development Authority, told this publication that the State entity finalised the concept note for the plant in December last year, paving the path for its submission to the PPP Directorate of the National Treasury.

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Onsongo grew up in a prolific farming family just outside Kisii town. The family’s patriarch was the chairman of the largest local agricultural cooperative, while the matriarch championed numerous social causes in the community.

Public service, helping others, really defined how the family viewed respectability and success. Both an uncle and an aunt of Osongo’s worked in the county government.

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Self-belief and performance have a reciprocal, circular relationship. This mastery flywheel is a self-reinforcing, virtuous cycle, where consistent, compounding investments in learning and skill development lead to higher competence, which in turn generate greater, more interesting opportunities, success and reputation.

As a model for career or personal growth, it goes beyond the traditional, linear career ladder, into a system that accelerates in speed and impact over time.

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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has undermined the effectiveness of infectious disease treatment since the advent of modern antimicrobials.

Despite these early warning signs, it was only two decades ago that the World Health Organisation formally raised the alarm. Through a resolution, the World Health Assembly outlined the potentially chilling global health consequences of unchecked AMR.

The resolution proposed a prescriptive, one-size-fits-all global action plan, triggering coordinated political, scientific and media engagement.

With endorsement from the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), this plan became the global blueprint for combating AMR. Yet despite these efforts, AMR continues to advance toward a post-antibiotic era in which common infections could once again be fatal. Africa is bearing a disproportionate share of this burden.

AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines. While resistance is a natural evolutionary process, it has been accelerated by practices in healthcare and agriculture.

Extensive use of synthetic fertilisers has degraded soils by reducing microbial diversity, allowing resistant organisms to spread through water systems and food chains.

Degraded soils have become incubators for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, transmitted from farms to consumers through food.

This farm-to-fork transmission pathway is well documented and accelerating, with particularly severe consequences in Africa. The continent records an estimated 4.1 million AMR infections annually, resulting in more than 250,000 deaths.

Africa, however, holds a strategic advantage. It possesses about 70 percent of the world’s remaining arable land, and many of its agricultural systems are not yet irreversibly locked into chemical dependency.

This gives the continent a critical policy choice: continue subsidising imported chemical inputs that exacerbate AMR-related externalities, or pivot toward regenerative, ecological agriculture that internalises these risks while delivering climate, health and productivity benefits.

The second path is both preferable and achievable. Realising it will require political will, moral courage and policy coherence to redirect subsidies toward organic and regenerative systems.

As Africa pursues sustainable development, its leaders must prevent human-induced ecological failures from eroding hard-won health and environmental gains. The future of Africa’s food and health systems lies in restoring, not exhausting, nature.

Kenyan technology startups are increasingly turning to debt financing as a primary source of capital, reflecting a broader shift in Africa’s venture funding landscape, where more young businesses are tapping credit.

New data from global tech investment firm, Partech, shows that in 2025, debt financing across the African tech startup ecosystem hit a record $1.64 billion (Sh211.72 billion), up 63 percent from $1.01 billion(Sh130.39 billion) in 2024 and higher than the $1.2 billion (Sh154.81 billion) debt raised in 2023.

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