Category: Business Daily

The ministry of Energy and Petroleum is seeking tax exemptions for drilling equipment and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) of more than 30 years to lower the price of geothermal power and ensure cheap electricity to millions of Kenya Power customers.

The proposals, the Ministry notes, are key to ensuring that the wholesale prices of geothermal power are not higher than $0.07 (Sh9) per kilowatt-hour (kWh), ultimately transferring the benefits to consumers.

Exempting drilling equipment from tax would make kits such as drilling rigs cheaper thus lowering cost of production. Longer PPAs would allow investors to recoup their investment over a longer period and at lower rates ensuring lower wholesale prices of geothermal power.

‘Reforming the steam tariff framework offers an opportunity to improve transparency, ensure cost reflective pricing and enhance project bankability,’ the Ministry notes in the draft plan for geothermal power development for 2026-2036.

‘Possible interventions include implementing tariff reduction measures towards meeting the target tariff of not more than 7 US Cents by; providing tax exemptions on geothermal development (drilling, equipment, and associated services and Having longer Power Purchase Agreement of 30 years and above.’

Parliament is key to these plans and must approve the tax breaks and longer PPAs before they take effect. Most of the existing PPAs are for between 20-25 years.

Geothermal power was the third cheapest two years ago at an average of Sh8.9 per kWh, according to official data, behind locally produced hydro and imported hydro at Sh8.39 and Sh3.83 per kWh respectively last year.

The proposals, contained in the draft plan for geothermal energy production, come at a time that the country has intensified efforts to tap a bigger chunk of the geothermal reserves estimated at more than 10,000 megawatts (MW).

The efforts have prioristised the geothermal fields of Menengai, Silali, Paka and Suswa areas as Kenya targets to increase the installed capacity of geothermal power by 1,413.5MW by 2025.

Kenya is set to get an additional 133 megawatts (MW) of geothermal by the end of this year courtesy of two independent power producers in Menengai and the Olkaria I plant (Units 1-3), which is owned by Kenya Electricity Generating Company.

Geothermal is the baseload (main source of power) to the national grid, accounting for 40 percent or 5,421.17Gigawatt-hours (GWh) of the 13,739.17GWh supplied to Kenya Power in the 11 months to November 2025, ahead of locally generated hydro at 23 percent (3,163.53GWh).

Increased supply of cheaper geothermal power is key to lowering the cost of electricity, thus making it more affordable to homes and businesses.

The cost of electricity in Kenya remains a sticky issue, largely due to the continued use of the expensive thermal power.

Kenya has 15 geothermal power plants currently operational with an installed capacity of 940MW. Ten of these are owned by KenGen while the rest by private investors.

As technology promises to revolutionise healthcare access, millions of Kenyans find themselves locked out by language, literacy, and connectivity barriers.

When Grace Wanjiku’s five-year-old daughter developed a high fever at 2 am, the domestic worker from Kawangware did what many mothers in distress would do: she reached for her phone to seek help from a doctor and a nearby pharmacist whose contacts she had saved.

But unlike the tech-savvy professionals in nearby suburbs who might consult ChatGPT or other AI health advisors, Wanjiku faced a different reality.

‘I hear on the radio that people can now use their phones to talk to a doctor computer,’ Wanjiku told the Business Daily, speaking in Kikuyu through a translator. ‘But that is not for people like me. That is for the ones who went to school in English.’

Struggle to fit into shift

Wanjiku represents millions of Kenyans struggling to fit into the shift toward the government’s ambitious healthcare digitisation.

Kenya is also at the forefront in adopting technology to streamline healthcare delivery.

Tiba AI, founded by Flavian Simiyu, a biomedical engineering graduate from the Technical University of Mombasa, offers an AI-powered health platform for patient record management and clinical decision support.

The platform includes a patient portal for uploading paper records and accessing digital medical history-addressing a uniquely Kenyan challenge.

Another one is Antimicro.ai, developed by Kenyan doctors Fredrick Mutisya and Rachael Kanguha, which uses AI to predict antibiotic resistance-a critical issue in a country where over-prescription and misuse of antibiotics are rampant.

Amref Health Africa’s JibuAI aims to expand conversational support for mothers and youth through voice-enabled chatbots, combining clinical data with local context, while IntelliSOFT’s Mama’s Hub, built on Google’s Open Health Stack, empowers patients, community health volunteers, and health systems.

These tools are designed by Kenyans for Kenyan contexts, yet face scaling challenges against foreign tech giants, like the just-launched Horizon1000, an initiative by OpenAI and Bill Gates, which aims to deploy AI tools to 1,000 primary healthcare clinics across Africa to address severe healthcare workforce shortages.

Who is being left behind?

As Kenya races to embrace AI in healthcare, with global tech giants and local startups deploying chatbots, diagnostic tools, and digital health platforms, two questions come up: Who actually benefits from this digital health revolution? More critically, who is being left behind?

OpenAI, an American AI organisation, reports that more than 40 million people globally use ChatGPT daily for health information, for decoding medical bills, for spotting overcharges, for appealing insurance denials, and, when access to doctors is limited, even for attempting to self-diagnose.

More than five percent of all ChatGPT messages globally are about healthcare, with between 1.6 million and 1.9 million health insurance questions sent weekly.

In Kenya, where the country produces only 7,000 health professionals annually against a deficit of 70,000, these tools are handy.

Nearly seven in 10 healthcare conversations with AI happen outside normal clinic hours, making them particularly appealing for a nation where accessing a doctor often means a half-day journey and waiting in queues until late evening.

Language barrier

At Penda Health’s 15 Nairobi clinics, a study of 39,849 patient visits showed clinicians using OpenAI’s ‘AI Consult’ achieved a 16 percent reduction in diagnostic errors.

‘The findings have shifted what we expect as the standard of care within Penda. We probably wouldn’t want our clinicians to be completely without this,’ said Dr Robert Korom, chief medical officer at Penda.

His patients speak English or Swahili comfortably, have smartphones, and can afford data, but they are the minority.

The language barrier is staggering. Kenya has over 60 languages, yet only four percent speak English as their first language, while most AI health tools work best in English. For instance, Zuri, a chatbot for sexual and reproductive health, initially launched in English only. User feedback forced developers to add Swahili, but this still covers just two of Kenya’s dozens of languages.

Martha Chebet, a community health volunteer in Uasin Gishu County, sees this daily.

‘When I try to explain what the chatbot says, I translate from English to Kalenjin, and the meaning gets lost. Medical words don’t translate well. By the time I explain it, we could have walked to the clinic,’ she said.

AI health tools are most accessible to Kenya’s English-speaking elite, who already have the best access to doctors, while the rural majority, who need them most, cannot use them.

The United States government released a new dietary guideline that signals an important change in recommended foods and diets.

The guidelines, which will be in effect until 2030, suggest a strong focus on eating whole foods, cutting back on sugar, and getting more protein. They also make room for traditional cooking fats, including beef tallow.

Beef tallow, which is fat rendered from beef, is mentioned directly as a cooking fat. This marks a change in tone from earlier advice that warned against animal fats. The new guidance focuses less on single nutrients and more on the overall quality of food.

Beef tallow is seen as a traditional fat that is stable for cooking and less processed than many modern oils.

In Kenya, although there are no official dietary guidelines that promote beef tallow, its use is becoming more common.

Some households are turning to beef tallow as a natural cooking fat, choosing it over refined vegetable oils.

According to Wanjiku Njenga, a consultant dietitian at the Aga Khan University Hospital, tallow is ‘essentially fat from meat’.

‘You remove it, boil to render, and once cooled, it becomes usable for cooking. No additives, no chemicals, just fat in its natural form,’ she says.

In Kenyan kitchens, beef tallow is used for frying, cooking beans, vegetables, and meat, and for general food preparation. Its adherents say it is filling, flavourful, and closer to traditional ways of cooking.

Ms Wanjiku says tallow provides energy and helps the body absorb vitamins A, D, E, and K when used in moderation.

‘These vitamins can’t be absorbed without fat, and tallow supports that process naturally,’ she explains.

The growing interest is also visible in the market. Food-grade beef tallow is now sold in butcheries, local markets, and online shops. Some products are made locally from grass-fed cattle, while others are imported. Beef tallow is also sold for non-food uses such as skin care, which has helped raise awareness of the product.

Beef has always been part of many Kenyan diets, especially in pastoral and rural communities. National nutrition advice in Kenya focuses more on protein from many sources including meat, fish, poultry, and legumes rather than specific fats. Fat intake beyond common cooking oil is not widely measured, so beef tallow use is mostly shaped by culture, cost, and personal choice.

Entrepreneurs are cashing in on the fat renaissance. Real Beef Kenya, founded by Peter and Tabitha Kang’ethe, sells tallow nationwide. Since launching in 2023, their sales have grown from 20 to over 300 kilos per month.

‘Our company is certified by the Kenya Bureau of Standards,’ Peter says. ‘We started small, but now more people are embracing tallow in their kitchens.’

Peter identifies three main customer types: health-conscious individuals, curious traditionalists, and older adults returning to traditional cooking methods. A kilogramme sells for Sh850.

With policy shifts abroad and renewed local interest, beef tallow is seeing increasing use in Kenyan homesteads as a trusted traditional cooking oil.

The US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which mentioned tallow as a cooking option, noted that healthy eating patterns should be built around whole foods and limit highly processed products.

One of the biggest changes in the new advice is protein, as Americans are now encouraged to eat more protein than before. The guidelines suggest that people should get more protein each day to support health and balance in the body. Both animal and plant sources are included, and they include beef, chicken, fish, eggs, beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds.

According to the guidelines, ‘Protein is important for muscle health, strength, and normal body function across all ages.’

While some experts still question whether higher protein intake is needed for everyone, the government position is clear that protein plays a key role in daily nutrition.

Another message in the new guidelines is about sugar. Added sugar is no longer seen as part of a healthy diet. The advice says people should avoid foods and drinks with added sugar as much as possible. These include sweets, sugary drinks, and heavily processed foods. The focus is on eating food in its natural form rather than refined or packaged products.

The guidelines state: ‘Added sugars do not support health and should be limited as much as possible.’

The most talked about shift, however, is in how fats are treated. In the past, saturated fats were often discouraged. The new guidelines take a different approach. They encourage fats that come from whole foods.

According to the guidelines, ‘The message is not to fear fat, but to choose fats that come from real food and use them wisely.’

The government now says these fats can be part of a healthy diet when eaten in reasonable amounts.

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye,” said Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Is it true that “The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows” as Greek shipping magnet Aristotle Onassis said? Does business success revolve around a mindset of addressing problems – and even giving away tangible value for free? Why do global market leaders work in ecosystems? Is AI just a tool, or is it an agent that can soon out-think humans?

What is often not visible is; the bigger the problem the business solves, the bigger and more successful the enterprise. Look at some of the most successful companies in Kenya today, say Safaricom and Equity Bank. What problems do they solve? Betting apps have boomed – addressing the hope of getting rich quick.

When you go out to a club on Saturday night with friends to have a few drinks — thanks to a few cool White Caps and a Johnnie Walker, for just a few hours you are in a confident ‘master of the universe’ state. That irritating nagging boss to be confronted on Monday morning is far from your consciousness.

If Sarah has spotted an aggravating problem in Busia, that customers are ready to pay for, she has solved the problem development economists fret about, by increasing her household income, stimulating demand in the local economy.

Mindset is the flame

Development partners have long believed that training and access to capital will produce entrepreneurs, with profitable establishments creating jobs. But what is missing is that invisible spark. That spark that turns the cool liquid propane and butane molecules under pressure in the gas cylinder into a flame.

Knowledge, skills and mindset – are the triangle of elements. Knowledge has become abundant, almost free in our digital AI age, thanks to the computer in your pocket.

Trick is to apply the knowledge and turn that into specialised skills. Mindset is the flame, the almost invisible scarce rare earth element – that lecturing and preaching won’t uncover. You can train for knowledge and skills, but that ‘batteries included’ mindset is tougher to find and ignite.

Create free value upfront

Business will continue to change radically; it is almost as though every two years one needs to do a drastic rethink. ‘Sweet nothings’ saying all those nice things, accompanied with heavenly mission statements, catchy taglines and promises of delighted customers – was the past unspoken operating principle.

Now one has to create tangible product – service value upfront, and give it away for free. ‘People don’t buy what others want to sell, they buy what others want to buy,’ observes Daniel Priestly.

What may be invisible is that just about every enterprise is interacting, ‘doing business’ with a wide range of organisations, where in reality, the business is part of an ecosystem.

Days of lone ranger competition are over. There is a need to recognise that today, leading corporations across sectors have concluded that they can no longer play it alone as they contemplate ways for their organiastion to have greater impact, expand, and innovate.

The solution for each partner to address the problems faced, lies in the ability to partner within an ecosystem of cross sector players that work together to define, and even disrupt stale old thinking. By 2 pm, your 9 am ‘competitor’ may become your ecosystem business partner.

No reward for just a good job – create an ecosystem

‘Every business leader must acknowledge that building a successful business requires them to make a complex ecosystem seem congruent and effortless. They must turn chaos into order and do it with style. Entrepreneurs and leaders can no longer simply deliver value and then get fairly paid. That model died a long time ago.

Today’s high-performing businesses are ecosystems of people, products, media, software and services all working in harmony. They are complex, paradoxical and hard to mimic. You cannot expect to be highly rewarded for doing a good job.

Rather, you can expect to be rewarded when you’ve built a high-performing ecosystem that delivers value in a multitude of ways,’ advises Daniel Priestly.

Good morning agent AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a wonder, much more than a tool. AI firms that dominate the industry are overwhelmingly based in the United States, hosting 42 of the top 50 AI companies with a heavy concentration in California’s Silicon Valley, followed by significant hubs in China and select locations in Europe, like London where Google DeepMind is based.

‘The most important thing to know about AI is that it is not just another tool. It is an agent. It can learn and change by itself and make decisions by itself. A knife is a tool. You can use a knife to cut salad or to murder someone, but it is your decision what to do with the knife. AI is a knife that can decide by itself whether to cut salad or to commit murder.

The second thing to know about AI is that it can be a very creative agent. AI is a knife that can invent new kinds of knives as well as new kinds of music, medicine, and money. The third thing to know about AI is that it can lie and manipulate.

Four billion years of evolution have demonstrated that anything that wants to survive learns to lie and manipulate. The last four years have demonstrated that AI agents can acquire the will to survive and that AIs have already learned how to lie,’ said Yuval Noah Harari recently at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

‘Now, one big open question about AI is whether it can think. Modern philosophy began in the 17th century when Rene Descartes proclaimed, ‘I think therefore I am’.

We humans defined ourselves by our capacity to think. We believe we rule the world because we can think better than anyone else on this planet. Will AI challenge our supremacy in the field of thinking?’ Asks Harari.

‘Yes’ is the not so invisible answer, AI will soon think better than human beings, and in some areas already does. Question is – what does this mean for you and your business? What does your heart say?

Tribe Hotels Group, the Nairobi-based hospitality firm behind Tribe and Trademark Hotels, has taken over the management of a coastal property in Kilifi, as part of its strategy to grow operations beyond the capital and into key destination markets.

The beachside property, previously operating as Kilifi Beach Villas, will now be run under the Tribe Beach House brand, marking the group’s first managed property on Kenya’s coast.

Under the management arrangement, Tribe Hotels will oversee day to day operations, service delivery and guest experience at the Kilifi property, leveraging its hospitality expertise developed in Nairobi’s urban hotel market.

‘The owner of Kilifi Beach Villas, still owns the property, Tribe is taking over management, and rebranding to Tribe Beach House, it’s still privately owned,’ the Tribe Hotel management told the Business Daily.

The rebranded property will start receiving guests in December this year.

The deal will see Tribe Hotels earn fees for the use of its brand as well as the management services it is offering.

Property owners often partner with major hotel brands to attract guests.

The hotel is located in Kilifi County on Kenya’s north coast, along Bofa Beach, positioning itself to tap into the growing demand for smaller, design-focused coastal accommodation as travellers seek alternatives to traditional resort offerings.

‘Taking on the management of Kilifi Beach House allows us to extend the Tribe ethos to the coast, thoughtful luxury, strong local character and experiences that feel deeply personal,’ said Eva Mwangi, head of sales and marketing, Tribe Collection.

Tribe Hotels Group operates a small portfolio of hospitality businesses in Nairobi that combine accommodation with food, beverage and events offerings.

Its flagship Tribe Hotel serves a mix of diplomatic, business and leisure guests, while Trademark Hotel focuses on the corporate and conferencing market.

The group has also invested heavily in standalone dining and social venues, positioning food and beverage as a core part of its hospitality model.

Its properties also appeal to leisure guests seeking design-focused, boutique experiences and to extended-stay visitors, especially at Trademark Suites, who require apartment-style accommodations for longer periods.

More than half of excisable products in the market may be illicit or non-compliant, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has said, even as it sets its eyes on potentially doubling the number of excise stamps on consumer goods, including beer, soda, cosmetics, cigarettes, and bottled water.

‘Current assessments indicate that over 50percent of excisable products may be illicit or non-compliant, resulting in significant revenue leakage and market distortion,’ KRA said as it kicked off the recruitment of a new security firm to provide stamps for its Excisable Goods Management System (EGMS).

Kenya has, since 2003, affixed excise stamps on excisable goods to track the goods across the value chain and seal revenue leakages.

The country’s excisable goods market comprises over 1,800 manufacturers and 1,200 importers. Bottled water producers dominate the scheme, with 1,659 plants covered, followed by soft drinks and juices manufacturers with 100 units, and spirits and beer manufacturers with 36 and 13 units, respectively.

Some 1,218 importers are also covered under the excisable goods scheme, including 300 dealing in wine, 282 in spirits, soft drinks and juices (243), and beer (170).

The taxman stated that approximately 3 billion excise stamps are currently issued annually; however, market intelligence suggests a potential for over 6 billion legitimate stamps once the illicit market is formalised.

KRA said it targets a new EGMS that would heavily deploy technology, including AI-driven analytics.

‘KRA therefore requires a comprehensive EGMS that incorporates the highest levels of security, serialisation, geospatial intelligence, IoT integration, cyber-resilience, and AI-driven risk analytics,’ it said.

Kenya’s first phase of the excise stamps regime saw the stamps affixed on tobacco. In 2007, the government expanded the scope of the stamps to include wines and spirits.

In 2012, KRA introduced the track- and- trace system through the EGMS. This initially covered only tobacco, wines, and spirits.

At the factory level, EGMS enables KRA to tally and tag all products with a unique electronic code that enables subsequent tracking of the product in the market.

Swiss security printer Sicpa SA has been supplying excise stamps to KRA. Sicpa was first handed the EGMS contract in 2015 for the supply of excise stamps for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, with a minimum of Sh15.9 billion and a maximum of Sh17.1 billion.

The terms of the contract were based on a time factor, subject to the achievement of 12,876,633,889 stamps of the contract period of five years, whichever came first.

The contract for the EGMS expired in July 2022, but KRA was forced to stick with the Swiss firm pending the clearance of a debt estimated at about Sh4billion.

Under the contract, Sicpa prints and supplies excise stamps complete with a track and trace system. It also includes the delivery of an integrated production accounting system.

An official document seen by Business Daily showed that Sicpa SA was, on August 14, 2024, awarded a symbolic Sh1,010 deal to supply the taxman with excise stamps for a year until August 14, 2025. The contract was awarded through a direct procurement arrangement.

Norwegian State-owned fund Norfund is angling for small-ticket deals as it looks to deepen its appetite for businesses in Kenya and the rest of Africa, which are scouting to raise capital away from commercial bank financing.

The fund said that it will trim its transaction ticket size to about Sh645 million ($5 million) from the standard Sh2.6 billion ($20 million) to unlock opportunities for a wider pool of Kenya’s budding medium-sized businesses to access growth capital.

‘Ticket size is a conundrum in the sense that when we invest close to one billion US dollars every year, it’s hard to deploy it if you do in ticket sizes of one, two or three million US dollars because you will end up having far too many companies to follow up’ Norfund CEO, Tellef Thorleifsson, told Business Daily in an interview.

‘Right now, we do this by investing in funds that then invest in smaller companies, but my team here in Nairobi is pushing for smaller tickets, and we try to do that at times because there are not that many homegrown companies that can take up large financing’, he added.

Since its inception in 1997, Norfund has made investments worth Sh80.3 billion in Kenya, with some of its notable undertakings being a significant shareholder in Equity Group through Arise B.V and also being a shareholder in I and M Group.

Norfund in 2023 also entered the African textile industry for the first time with two investments in Kenya. It made a Sh1.6 billion ($12.5 million) investment in textile and apparel manufacturing firm-Balaji Group, which operates from the Export Processing Zone.

Norfund also made a Sh1.8billion ($14million) investment in Hela Apparel Holdings PLC to support additional investment in its Kenyan manufacturing facility and build a sustainable local supply chain in East Africa.

The fund said it plans to increasingly structure deals that directly fit the needs of the Kenyan and African market as opposed to relying on indirect channels, such as through investee commercial banks, to invest in medium and small-sized firms.

Mr Thorleifsson said that by targeting the deployment of more small-ticket capital, Norfund looks to have a greater catalytic impact on the region’s funding needs.

‘What we have been told is that when we have invested in a company, it provides a stamp of approval because people then know that there is a large shareholder with deep pockets that will be there to support the company going forward,’ he said.

Unlike most development finance institutions that extend financing to businesses through debt, Norfund is designed to provide equity.

‘Our structure is such that we are not leveraged on the balance sheet, we don’t take on debt in the holding company like most other development finance institutions,” the CEO said.

As such, we are more like an evergreen investment fund and don’t have to produce stable returns and can take a higher risk and therefore do more of equity financing,’ the CEO said.

‘Our approach varies depending on the deal, but we typically 30 percent of a transaction in debt and 70 percent in equity,’ Mr Thorleifsson added.

Heroin trade and financial crimes ranked Kenya fourth in Africa for cross-border crimes, underscoring how the country’s position as East Africa’s logistics and financial hub is also turning it into a high-value transit and laundering corridor for organised networks.

Data from the ENACT Organised Crime Index shows Kenya’s criminality score rose to 7.18 in 2025, up from 6.14 in 2019, placing it 4th in Africa and 1st in East Africa. The criminality score ranges from 1 to 10, with higher figures indicating acute law-breaking.

Kenya’s ranked behind the Democratic Republic of Congo (7.47), South Africa (7.43) and Nigeria (7.32).

Kenya’s position reflects the growing sophistication and diversification of criminal markets operating alongside the formal economy.

These markets exploit Kenya’s role as a regional transport and logistics hub, using ports, highways and warehousing networks that also serve legitimate trade.

The ENACT Organised Crime Index under the Institute for Security Studies, Interpol and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime measures organised crime across Africa and assesses countries’ resilience to criminal activity.

ENACT ranks countries using two measures: a criminality score (1-10) reflecting the scale of illicit markets and criminal actors, and a resilience score assessing the ability of institutions to prevent and respond to organised crime.

At the core of Kenya’s illicit economy are human trafficking and smuggling, the heroin trade, cyber and financial crimes, each scoring 8 out of 10. The heroin trade exemplifies Kenya’s vulnerability to Indian Ocean trafficking routes, with criminal networks exploiting maritime corridors and inland distribution channels that replicate legitimate supply lines.

The report reads: “From South-West Asia to Kenya, especially in or near Mombasa, there have been multiple seizures of hundreds of kilograms on ships in the Indian Ocean. This shows how important Mombasa is to the heroin trade.”

After two days at sea, the luxurious MV Crystal Symphony cruise ship docked at Mahe port in Seychelles at 8am, carrying an estimated 600 passengers, Kenyans among them.

But what made this voyage special was not just the popping of the champagne or the sea breeze.

For the first time, Kenyans did not need to fly to Europe or South Africa to begin their cruise holiday. The journey began at home; a drive or a 45-minute flight from Nairobi to Mombasa was all it took to step aboard.

The sail from Mombasa as a ‘start’ marked a historic shift. For decades, Mombasa had served merely as a brief stopover for Crystal Symphony and many other international cruise liners, but this time around, it was a ‘start’ for 13 nights toward its final ‘end’ in Mumbai, India.

‘Crystal Symphony’ had departed Mombasa on the evening of January 5 at 6pm, and by day 4 passengers stepped onto Mahé, one of largest and most vibrant island known for its powder-soft beaches, electric-blue waters with marine life, and mountains.

Here, 10 shore excursions awaited. Some guests headed the local Victoria market. Others wanted to try out Creole cuisines.

At 5am the following day, it was all hands back on deck as Crystal Symphony eased back into open waters. A good camera came in handy for the breathtaking scenes of the two mini-islands. Three days later, the ship glided into the Maldives for an overnight stay before continuing on Day 9 toward Asia.

Sri Lanka was the next destination, arriving on January 15, Day 11. Two days after that, the voyage reached its grand finale on Day 13, with Crystal Symphony docking in Mumbai, completing an oceanic trail that stretched from the Kenyan coast.

For the 13 nights from Mombasa to Mumbai, guests paid from $7,800 (Sh998,000) per person or $9,100 (Sh1.2 million if one preferred a double guest room with other luxuries.

Today, January 28, Crystal Symphony sets sail once again, this time beginning a fresh voyage from Mumbai, with Mombasa as its final destination on February 6.

The liner has mapped out five voyages in 2026 alone that will either start or end in Mombasa, the highest number of sailings the ship has ever planned, with the Mombasa port as more than a stopover.

But Crystal Symphony isn’t the only ultra-luxury liner cruising on this newly charted Indian Ocean trail.

Azamara is set to begin a Mombasa-to-Cape Town voyage in April, with prices starting at $5,839 (Sh750,000). Meanwhile, Crystal Symphony’s longer-haul adventures stretch even further.

Its Mombasa-to-Tokyo voyage in February spans 58 nights across 40 ports, with prices starting at $28,600 (Sh4 million). For those seeking something shorter, the Mombasa-to-Singapore sail launching next month starts at $13,500 (Sh1.7 million) for ocean-view rooms, $16,300 (Sh2 million) for balcony cabins, and $18,900 (Sh2.4 million) for suites.

‘For someone with a bit of spare change lying around, a cruise from Mombasa to Seychelles at $5,600 (Sh716,000) per person for nine nights isn’t a bad deal. The fare covers accommodation, meals, onboard entertainment, and travel across 12 ports in four countries along the East African coast and the Indian Ocean,’ says Hellon Eugene, a luxury travel agent.

Of course, there are extras to budget for, like the shore excursions, drinks, gratuities, travel insurance, and any required visas.

‘If your sole goal is to get to Seychelles, flying is cheaper and faster. But if you value the journey, the variety of destinations, and slow, immersive travel, then a cruise is absolutely worth it. The real value of such cruises is the experience, waking up in a different port almost every day, exploring multiple countries without packing and unpacking, and enjoying a floating hotel that moves with you,’ Eugene adds.

For Hellon , having Mombasa serving as a homeport could ignite curiosity among Kenyans and East Africans who have never considered life at sea.

‘It gives people in the region a chance to explore 14 or so ports in East Africa, something very few people globally have done,’ he says.

There is, however, a small trade-off. With cruises starting or ending abroad, passengers still need to budget for a flight back home.

But Ruhan sees the balance tilting in favour of Kenyans.

‘You save on international flights, foreign hotel stays, and visa fees. You can get to places like Tanzania, Madagascar, and Seychelles without a visa. If you start your cruise in Europe or the US, you have to factor in flights, hotels, transfers, and all the small costs people don’t see until they add up. Starting from Mombasa cuts a lot of that out,’ he says.

Despite the excitement about Mombasa finally becoming a start of luxury cruise sails, Ruhan remains cautiously optimistic.

‘The East African cruise market is new. There isn’t enough data yet to clearly predict trends. It might take a few years to understand the impact, but this is a good sign. Not many international cruise lines have been keen on this market.’

He also notes that prices are still on the higher side.

‘In Europe, you can find cruises starting at around $1,000 (Sh130,000). From Mombasa to Seychelles, you’re looking at around $5,000 (Sh640,000).’

‘This region has largely been unexplored by cruises. The more ships dock here, the more locals will start to see cruising as something worth paying attention to.’

International tour agent James Wambui agrees, with one caveat.

‘This route makes the most sense for smaller cruise ships. Many mega-liners, like Royal Caribbean, are simply too big to dock in most African ports, including Mombasa, and that is why they don’t sail here.’

However, from where June Chepkemei, the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) CEO sits, this ‘baby step’ is a bold statement of intent. According to her, homeporting changes everything.

‘When Mombasa serves as a homeport, passengers spend at least two nights in our hotels before embarkation, and often more after the cruise. The economic multiplier effect is substantial,’ says June.

More importantly, she adds, it reshapes Kenya’s image on the global cruise map. ‘We move from being just another exotic stopover to a recognised cruise hub. That attracts investment, creates jobs, and positions us competitively against regional players like Mauritius and Seychelles. But it doesn’t end there, many are adding three to four-day safari extensions, which means revenue flowing to destinations such as Maasai Mara, Amboseli and Tsavo, not just the coast.’

Shipping industry players are grappling with financial losses amid rising operational costs and delayed shipments due to congestion crisis at the Mombasa port.

A spot check showed that some shipping lines were paying more than Sh5 million daily for unattended vessels, even as an average of 500 empty containers remained on trucks waiting to be offloaded due to limited space at the six available empty container depots.

The Mombasa port has recorded persistent delays since October last year, with about 20 vessels waiting at any given time as a blame game continues over responsibility for the inefficiencies.

The increasing cost of cargo delivery at the port has shifted vessel patterns, with shippers now preferring to call at Dar es Salaam instead of Kenya.

Previously, most vessels docked at the Port of Mombasa before proceeding to Tanzania, but delays occasioned by poor cargo flow at the port have changed this pattern.

The Kenya Ships Agents Association (KSAA) says it costs an average of Sh4.4 million to hire a vessel per day, excluding other running expenses such as fuel, insurance, and maintenance. This means that the current disruption in cargo movement continues to drive up freight costs across the region.

‘Port congestion at the Port of Mombasa continues to place heavy operational and financial pressure on shipping lines. When vessels remain idle for extended periods, costs escalate rapidly, with crew costs also rising as delays extend working time and welfare obligations,’ said KSAA chief executive Elijah Mbaru.

The Mombasa port has been receiving increased cargo volumes, but yards, empty container depots, handling terminals, and scanners remain inadequate.

At the Port Reitz cargo exit station, the rail-mounted cargo scanner has been out of service for about two months, causing significant delays in processing cargo for the standard gauge railway by the Kenya Railways and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

Due to the breakdown, containers must now be scanned upon arrival at the Nairobi Inland Container Depot, where only two out of four drive-through scanners are operational, resulting in severe congestion and delays.

‘We are working on it to ensure the scanners that have issues are repaired very soon,’ said KRC managing director Philip Mainga. The Kenya Ports Authority and the KRA have taken measures to decongest the port, but with little success.

In November last year, the duo directed importers with long-stay containerised cargo to clear local cargo at container freight stations in Mombasa, while transit cargo was to be cleared at either Nairobi or Naivasha but the directive was never implemented.

All long-stay containerised cargo at the port was to be transferred to customs-licensed peripheral facilities, while cargo destined for Mombasa was to be moved to container freight stations for final clearance. Cargo destined for Nairobi and other upcountry destinations was to be railed to the Nairobi ICD for clearance.

To free up more space, KRA was to conduct scrutiny to identify cargo eligible for auction, while approved cargo for destruction was to be transferred to licensed destruction sites.

KRA was also expected to immediately geofence Gate 24 to allow the exit of transit cargo and all consignments fitted with regional electronic cargo tracking seals, in addition to Gates 18 and 20 already in use.

Further, all cargo stakeholders were expected to harmonise working hours and shift management to ensure seamless processing of consignments, but this was never implemented.

KPA last week suspended the direct loading of empty cargo containers onto ships at Mombasa Port as part of desperate measures to help deal with rising congestion at the key gateway. The port manager said that all empty containers will be held in intermediate storage depots for a mandatory 72 hours before being allowed into the port for loading onto ships to help deal with worsening congestion.

Traditionally, logistics teams are allowed directly load empty cargo containers onto ships from storage depots to the terminal crane area for immediate loading, circumventing the lengthy process of intermediate storage at the port.

‘Following several engagements with key stakeholders, including Kenya Ships Agents Association (KSAA) and its members, the KPA has issued measures with effect from January 26, 2026, where all shipping lines representatives and their appointed agents are expected to strictly comply to reduce current congestion,’ KPA Managing Director, William Ruto, said.

‘Among the measures include suspension of handling of any empty container without advance clearance and submission at least seven days prior to the arrival of the vessel,’ he added.

The KPA boss said that empty containers will not be allowed into the port 24 hours before vessels berthed for collection.

‘Vessel agents/line representatives shall submit projected empty container loading requirements at least seven days prior to vessel arrival. The authority shall allocate empty container space per berth, capped at 2,000-2,500 containers except Berth No. 20. Any request to exceed this allocation must receive written approval from the Head of Container Terminal at least 72 hours before vessel arrival or planned berthing,’ Mr Ruto said.