Category: Business Daily

Fixed-income investors are scrambling for Treasury bills and cutting their appetite for Treasury bonds, hoping returns on government paper will increase and force the state to rely on short-term borrowing.

Three of the last four Treasury bill auctions have been oversubscribed. In contrast, bond auctions in May and June underperformed, reflecting the switch to shorter government paper as investors bet on the rates increasing.

Investors often avoid locking funds in long-dated papers such as bonds if they expect interest rates to rise, favouring the 91-day Treasury bill instead.

The shift comes ahead of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) policy meeting on Tuesday, which is expected to signal the general trend of interest rates in the coming months through the benchmark rate – which was frozen for the first time in April since June 2024.

‘As much as an investor has liquidity, one wants to restrict their tenure to the short end when there are expectations that yields will go up,’ said Christine Gatakaa, the Head of Fixed Income Trading at Capital A Investment Bank.

‘You don’t want to be underwater in a few weeks or months.’

Treasury bills were two times oversubscribed last week as investor bids topped Sh54.5 billion against a target of Sh24 billion.

The 91-day Treasury bill, the shortest tenure paper, marked the highest investor bids at Sh32.8 billion against a target of Sh4 billion.

T-bill subscriptions recovered from Sh16.6 billion in the previous week, affirming adequate liquidity in money markets even as investors wait for more signals on the interest rates direction.

‘The sharp recovery in demand suggests ample market liquidity and renewed investor appetite for government securities, as investors seek to lock in attractive yields amid rising inflation expectations and uncertainty surrounding the near-term interest rate outlook,’ analysts at AIB-AXYs Africa, an investment bank, said.

Returns on the shortest-dated government securities have risen since the start of April, mirroring the reversal in interest rates.

The 91-day T-bill return jumped from 7.4261 percent at the end of March to 8.5588 percent at present while interest rates on the longer-dated 364-day Treasury bill have grown to 8.7629 percent from 8.2815 percent over the same period.

Subscriptions on longer-dated Treasury bonds have underperformed in the past month, underlining falling demand for the high tenured securities as investors look to short-dated instruments.

The 15 and 25-year reopened bonds that sold this month, for instance, registered an 85.97 percent performance rate on Sh34.3 billion bids against a target of Sh40 billion.

Previously, two re-opened bonds – a 15 and 20-year paper – marked a subscription rate of 94.32 percent on Sh471.1 billion bids, against a target of Sh50 billion.

A 20-year Treasury switch bond issue also missed the mark, posting a performance rate of 76.14 percent on Sh7.6 billion bids received, but against Sh10 billion on offer.

The CBK, which serves as the National Treasury’s fiscal agent, faces the hard task of meeting the government’s domestic borrowing target while keeping interest payouts in check.

The bank is expected to ditch longer-dated securities for short-term issuances to ensure the government can meet its target even as payments to investors rise.

CBK has in the past indicated that it would rather pay high interest rates on short-term papers than offer premium payouts for longer durations.

‘CBK will have to yield to investor demands for higher rates if it is to hit borrowing targets. I expect to see switch bond auctions from longer-dated instruments to shorter-tenured papers. We have seen a lot more traction on bonds with tenures of less than five years in the secondary market, which informs where investor appetites are,’ Ms Gatakaa said.

Net domestic financing for the financial year starting July 1 is already expected to top Sh995.7 billion as Treasury bets on local credit markets to plug a Sh1.1 trillion budget deficit.

The US-Israel war on Iran is expected to have an impact on economic growth and revenue mobilisation.

CFAO Mobility Kenya has taken a controlling stake of 99.4 percent in Thika-based Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers (KVM) after investing Sh2.4 billion in the assembler.

The injection of new capital by CFAO resulted in a major dilution of its partners, CMC Holdings and the National Treasury, which now hold 0.3 percent each in KVM.

For decades, the assembler’s largest shareholder was the National Treasury with a 35 percent stake, followed by CMC Holdings (32.5 percent) and DT Dobie (32.5 percent).

DT Dobie and Toyota Kenya merged in April 2023 to create CFAO, which inherited the KVM stake and in 2024 took the first step to raise its ownership by investing Sh882 million in the assembler.

Driving control

‘We own a 99.4 percent stake in KVM. The government and CMC own 0.3 percent each,’ Arvinder Reel, the chief executive of CFAO, told Business Daily.

‘Our initial investment in KVM was Sh882 million. We then added Sh1.6 billion.’

CMC Holdings, which used to assemble some of its models at KVM, announced in January 2025 that it was shutting down operations after steadily shedding motor vehicle franchises to focus on agricultural equipment. Manufacturers whose products it distributed have since had to seek new distributors in the Kenyan market.

The dilution of the Treasury’s ownership in KVM indicates that the government intends to let the private sector take a leading role in the industry, which it is supporting through incentives and the anticipated National Automotive Policy.

CFAO plans to make additional investments in KVM to make it the centre of its assembly operations, reducing its reliance on Mombasa-based Associated Vehicle Assemblers (AVA), which is owned by rival Simba Corp.

CFAO produces multiple models at AVA, including the Toyota Hiace and Toyota Fortuner. On Friday, the dealer commissioned a new Toyota Hiace assembly line at KVM, marking a second production site for the van after AVA, which started rolling out the model in December 2021.

‘KVM … officially commissioned a new Toyota Hiace assembly line at its Thika manufacturing facility, marking a significant milestone in Kenya’s automotive industrialisation journey and reinforcing the country’s position as a leading vehicle manufacturing hub in East Africa,’ CFAO said in a statement on Friday.

‘The new assembly line forms part of a broader modernisation and expansion programme supported by a Sh2.4 billion investment by CFAO Mobility Kenya in KVM. The project underscores a long-term commitment to local manufacturing, technology transfer, skills development and job creation while supporting Kenya’s industrial growth agenda.’

The new assembly line signals growing demand for the van, which is popular among public service transport operators. The vehicle is also used by traders to transport light cargo and by tourism operators to ferry visitors.

CFAO sold 1,176 units of the van in the year ended December 2025, a 65.1 percent increase from 712 units a year earlier, according to data from the Kenya Motor Industry Association (KMI), which represents new motor vehicle dealers.

The Toyota Hiace is among several models assembled locally by the dealer. Others include Hino trucks, Toyota Hilux pick-ups and the Toyota Fortuner sport utility vehicle (SUV).

Market growth

CFAO’s increased investment in KVM is expected to boost output in the medium term. The plant’s capacity utilisation had declined to a low of two percent in 2017, according to data from the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

Isuzu East Africa operates one of the busiest assembly plants at its Nairobi headquarters, where it exclusively produces models from its Yokohama-based parent company, Isuzu Motors Limited.

However, all assemblers are still operating at capacity utilisation rates of less than 30 percent, with most vehicles imported fully built, including used cars from markets such as Japan.

Local vehicle assembly has been supported through government incentives, most notably exemptions from import duty (35 percent) and excise duty (25 percent to 35 percent) levied on fully built imports.

Assemblers import completely knocked down (CKD) kits, which they assemble locally, while also sourcing some components such as batteries, suspension parts and upholstery from domestic suppliers.

These incentives have spurred new investments in vehicle assembly and parts distribution by both established and new players.

Besides Kenya, assemblers have increasingly sold their vehicles to neighbouring markets such as Uganda and Tanzania.

Kenya is the largest new vehicle market in East Africa, with KMI data showing that sales by formal dealers reached 13,295 units last year.

Sales in Tanzania are about half of Kenya’s, according to statistics from the Tanzania Motor Traders Association (TMTA).

Uganda ranked third with sales of 3,284 units, according to data from the Uganda Motor Industry Association (UMIA).

Total new vehicle sales in each of the three markets are slightly higher than industry statistics indicate because some dealers are not members of the respective associations.

Kenya Power will close its payment counters by June 2027 as the utility embraces the increased usage of digital channels by customers.

The counters in Nyeri, Thika and Kisii will be shut by the end of this month, followed by those in Nakuru, Eldoret and Kisumu towards the end of the year.

Closure of physical counters -which facilitate payment of bills and other services – is part of company’s efforts to match the surge in the use of its digital channels by most of its 10 million customers.

The closure of the counters puts at risk the jobs of more than 1,500 customer-facing employees. The utility has, however, downplayed the fears.

Kenya Power says it records an average of five million customer interactions on the digital platforms every month, underscoring the urgency to fully shift to online systems.

‘Since the introduction of these digital skills, we have witnessed a 70 percent reduction in customer traffic in our banking halls. This is an indication that customers are ready and willing to transition to digital service channels,’ Kenya Power said.

Payment counters at Electricity House and Stima Plaza in Nairobi and the one in Mombasa will be the last to shut, by June 31, 2027.

Kenya Power had 10.216 million customers at the end of December 2025, with most relying on digital platforms for services such as settling bills, reporting outages and getting receipts.

Doing away with the counters is part of Kenya Power’s bigger goal of enhancing efficiency by riding on technology, to cut costs and boost revenue.

Kenya Power is also deploying smart meters to enhance billing accuracy and seal revenue leakages.

In its latest annual report, Kenya Power says it remains exposed to the risk of digital and technological disruptions, particularly from the accelerated adoption of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Kenya Power is at the moment enjoying a good run, marked by growth in customer numbers, electricity sales and profits.

The net-profit of the monopoly for the half-year ended December 31, 2026 rose 4.34 percent to Sh10.4 billion from Sh9.9 billion the previous year as electricity sales jumped 10.5 percent to 6,086 Gigwatt-hours (GWh) on December 2025, pushing its total base to 10.2 million.

The number is expected to increase further before the financial year ends on June 31.

Old Mutual Holdings is seeking to restructure its balance sheet with the goal of clearing accumulated losses, a decision that will allow it to pay dividends.

The regional insurer plans to use its share premium of Sh4.66 billion to clear part of the accumulated losses, which stood at Sh7.06 billion by the end of 2025.

Share premium represents the amount investors pay above the assigned share value.

The Company Act bars an institution from paying dividends if it has accumulated losses.

If the transaction is approved, it will see Old Mutual’s accumulated losses drop to Sh2.39 billion, with the company saying it will take additional actions to clear the balance.

‘The board approved the commencement of a phased balance sheet restructuring designed to eliminate the accumulated negative earnings of Sh7,064,040,000 as at December 31, 2025,’ the insurer said a press statement.

‘In the first phase, the company will seek a court-approved reduction of its share premium account of Sh4,664,801,000 in its entirety.”

The share premium reduction has to be approved by shareholders in an annual general meeting scheduled for end of this month and regulators, including the Capital Markets Authority and a High Court order.

The insurer said the action would have no cash or shareholding impact.

The company, a subsidiary of South Africa’s Old Mutual Limited, has minority shareholders who trade on the over-the-counter market.

The South African financial services giant acquired UAP Holdings in 2020 and later merged the business with its existing insurance operations in Kenya.

The combined business, trading as Old Mutual Holdings Limited, posted losses from 2020 before turning a profit in 2025, resulting in accumulated losses growing to Sh7.06 billion last year.

The company did not disclose what the second phase of the restructuring will involve.

“The proposal supports our ongoing efforts to optimise the balance sheet, enhance financial flexibility and position the business for sustainable long-term growth and value creation for our shareholders,’ Old Mutual Group Chief Executive Officer Arthur Oginga said.

Old Mutual becomes the second insurer this year to use share premium to clear its accumulated losses.

Britam Holdings is in the process of a similar balance sheet restructuring, having received shareholders’ approval to use share premium to clear accumulated losses last month.

Britam had an accumulated loss of Sh5.8 billion in the year ended December 2025.

The insurer sought to clear the amount using the share premium, which stood at Sh13.2 billion. The share premium account is to be reduced to Sh7.3 billion.

Britam has lowered the accumulated loss in the last five years to Sh5.8 billion using dividend payouts from its subsidiaries.

The insurer has been relying on dividends from its subsidiaries to cut back the accumulated losses as it is not an operating entity.

If Margarita Nyambura could speak to her 12-year-old self, the girl who used to stop by a prison fence each morning to pick orange and yellow flowers, she would tell her to keep going.

Growing up in Embu, where her father was the auditor in charge of Eastern Province, Margarita lived a relatively privileged life. The family compound was tended by gardeners who maintained tidy, traditional plantings. The grass was always neatly trimmed, and her mother planted flowers, too-the common types that filled most homes those days.

What intrigued her even more were the improvised gardens created by police officers nearby. Old bathtubs had been transformed into planters, teaching her an early lesson that would stay with her for life: Almost anything could become a garden.

Without money to buy plants, she scavenged for cuttings from fences, rescued seedlings from roadsides and collected whatever neighbours were willing to share. Gardening was not yet a hobby.

It was play, discovery and a growing fascination with colour.

When her family moved to Wangige in Kiambu in 1997, she brought along just one money plant. From this, everything else grew. At first, some plants died due to incorrect lighting and insufficient or excessive watering.

Mapping the garden

‘To sustain a plant, you need to buy compost, containers and planters,’ she says.

Prayer plants, for example, are delicate and sensitive, and many people find them difficult to keep alive. She moved hers around the garden, testing different levels of light and humidity, until she found the right spot.

She learnt how to make her own compost, when to use goat manure versus chicken manure, and how to irrigate using inverted bottles so that the plants could survive during her working week. She invested in a water storage facility large enough to sustain the garden throughout the dry season.

Her profession took her across the world. She spent two years in Accra, Ghana, three in Lagos (Nigeria), then moved on to Sudan, Switzerland, Barcelona (Spain), Australia, Prague (Czech Republic), and New Zealand. From every country, she returned with a plant – a phormium from New Zealand, cuttings from Mexico and Paraguay, and bromeliads wherever she could find the right humidity.

‘I’ll show you the castle cactus I planted in 1998-it’s still there. Still tiny.’

Her favourite plant is the foxtail fern, which hangs from elevated planters. It is dense and green and thrives on neglect.

Starting again after an accident

‘It’s so lush. You don’t have to worry about it flowering excessively because it is a perennial plant,’ she says.

In 2021, her gardening story was interrupted. She broke her leg in a road accident, and while she was recovering, almost all of her plants died. Species sourced from four continents, plants grown since the 1990s, and varieties she would never find again withered away despite her best efforts.

When she could finally walk again, only a handful of plants had survived. These included the Monstera, which remained in its original 1997 pot; the castle cactus from 1998, which had barely moved but endured; and two snake plants-one green and one variegated.

‘What you’re seeing right now is a fresh collection,’ she says.

Margarita believes that plants are sensitive to the people around them and register presence and absence.

By 2022, she had started again. By 2025, she had amassed a collection of over 2,000 plants, including bromeliads, foxtail ferns, prayer plants, castle cacti and a pickle plant that had been growing since 2012.

Now aged 53, Margarita has never employed or sought the help of a florist.

‘That’s my therapy. I just do it.’

Enter the garden ‘rooms’

Unlike many homes with flat lawns, Margarita has divided her garden into ‘rooms’, and each section is assigned a day of the week.

‘You can’t do everything. I’ve had to divide it up.”

There is a bromeliad section beneath a wide tree where the canopy keeps things cool; a propagation workstation built around a repurposed stump; a butterfly corridor replanted with Eugenia hedging; a tropical section near the blue rainwater drums, and a Halloween corner where hollowed pots filled with succulents await October and candlelight.

The lawn is covered in Pemba grass, a drought-resistant variety that requires minimal water and thrives in hot conditions. She opted for it after trying Kikuyu grass, which requires moderate to high rainfall, and Arabic grass, which struggles in dry conditions and needs frequent watering-neither of which was suited to the water-efficient compound she had designed.

The 1996 cottage sits quietly within it all. She chose it for its low roof and compact size, allowing the garden to occupy most of the land.

‘I needed more garden than house.’ Having watched people her age build five-bedroom homes and live in just two rooms, she saw no need for a big house.

Plants dedicated savings account

Margarita knows exactly where every plant is, when each one arrived, and where the sun hits at 8am and where the shade falls by 4pm. She has mapped the light across the entire compound and positioned everything accordingly. She also has a dedicated savings account for her plants, covering pots, planters, fertiliser, tools and water storage.

‘You know how you register for a gold membership? I do the same for my plants,’ she says.

Her children, who used to complain that the garden received more attention than they did, now walk through the grounds and say, ‘We’ve created a home.’

Every evening, after watering and weeding, Margarita sits down with a glass of wine. ‘It is a heavenly feeling. I always give thanks.’

Lessons from the 40-year journey

Forty years of growing things have also shaped her attitude towards money.

‘I’ve learnt to be patient with money, just like I have to wait for the plants to grow and the seeds to flower,” she says.

‘Whenever a deal comes along, you must either take it immediately or miss it,’ she says.

The third is spreading her investments. She does not grow just one type of plant, and she does not put all her money in one place.

Margarita recognises a bad investment because she has made them in her own garden. The Duranta hedge has beautiful golden-edged leaves, but it spreads beyond its boundaries and attracts green snakes. She plans to remove it and replace it with Eugenia, which grows more slowly but has golden new growth that can be trimmed cleanly.

“Sometimes you plant something and realise you don’t like it, and you have to accept the loss,” she says.

More than six years after Covid-19 triggered the world’s largest work-from-home experiment, many Kenyan organisations are still struggling to function optimally.

Some jobs can easily be done from home, while others grind to a halt if the employee cannot get to the office.

Last month’s fuel strike exposed more than the country’s transport vulnerabilities. It revealed how unprepared many employers remain for disruption.

No framework, protocol or company guidance

Elsie Owino is a retail representative. Her job involves movement – going out into the city, finding customers, building relationships and hitting targets. The office is merely a starting point. It is in the field that her work actually takes place.

‘I have to go out and look for customers,’ she explains. ‘The two-day fuel strike, for instance, affected me greatly because I wasn’t able to achieve my target while working from home.’

The strike was abrupt and her employer didn’t offer any framework, protocol or company guidance on how to get work done. Her employer offered her no assistance during those two days. She turned to phone calls-only to find her airtime costs rising. At home, she also struggled to secure a suitable workspace.

‘My biggest challenge was the constant distraction from the children,’ she says. ‘If I work from home I have to lock myself in a room to work.’

The organisational gap

James Acholla, a human resource consultant, says that what played out across offices was not a surprise, but the result of preparation gaps that companies have repeatedly chosen not to close.

“The lesson from the strike is that most organisations still treat remote working as a crisis response rather than a legitimate way of working,” he says.

When employees are left without clear guidance or the right tools, the burden falls entirely on the individual. Output suffers, morale dips, and trust in leadership erodes quietly.

Supporting employees through periods like this, he argues, requires more than sending a message telling staff to work from home. It means ensuring people can access the documents and systems they need from outside the office, that managers are equipped to lead remotely, and that communication channels are clear from the start.

“A worker who cannot access what they need to do their job is not working from home. They are waiting at home, and that distinction matters.”

Managing remote teams during sudden disruptions also exposes how under-prepared most managers are. Without proper systems, they default to either micromanagement or complete disengagement, both of which damage morale and output.

“There is a middle ground, and it requires trust, clear expectations and regular check-ins. Most organisations have not invested in building that culture, and it shows the moment a disruption hits.”

Closing the gap

He recommends that every organisation should have a remote working policy that does not need to be written from scratch each time a crisis arises. Employees in roles that can be performed remotely should have the necessary tools and system access set up well in advance. Managers should be trained in remote team management as a standard competency, not an afterthought.

Communication protocols-who reports to whom, how and how often during a disruption-should be agreed upon and tested before they are needed.

“You cannot demand full output from someone sitting at a kitchen table with two children, no proper desk and an unreliable internet connection,” says Mr Acholla. “What you can do is set realistic expectations, check in regularly and make sure people feel seen rather than simply monitored.”

While Elsie found solutions in the form of more calls and an improvised work space, the structural limits of Emmanuel Adika’s role left him with little room to manoeuvre.

‘It ended up being a very sudden transition, and I had to adjust to it as it unfolded.’

Pleasant discoveries

In jobs where work is portable,employees find it easier to switch to emote work. Brian Mwangi discovered its advantages. Brian is a journalist with 11 years of experience. He continued to do what he does every day: write, report, edit and send articles to the newsrooms.

‘My entire job travels with me,’ he says. “All I need is a laptop and a phone. That is genuinely all I need. The story is never in the office.’

In 2020, so many sectors like newsrooms, law firms, financial institutions and tech companies operated remotely for 18 months, proving that a huge proportion of knowledge work can happen anywhere there is a laptop and an internet connection. But the moment the pandemic was over and restrictions were lifted, some returned to the old ways.

The psychological toll

Mwangi notes that the money not spent on commuting, lunches cooked at home and work clothes maintained to a certain standard goes a long way. For many workers on modest salaries, those savings cover rent and school fees.

‘Nobody talks about that seriously enough,’ he says. ‘The cost of the commute is treated as the worker’s private problem, but it is actually a structural tax on employment. Remote work, even partial remote work, partially lifts that tax.’

Annabell Gichure, a counselling psychologist says the psychological impact of sudden disruption is often the part that goes unaddressed.

“Sudden work disruptions trigger loss of control, and that is one of the biggest psychological stressors a person can face,” she explains.

Workers find themselves anxious about job security, mentally drained from constantly rethinking their plans, and frustrated by circumstances entirely outside their hands. Productivity drops not because people stop trying, but because so much energy is going toward managing the disruption itself.

Routine, she says, plays a bigger role in mental stability than most people realise.

“Routines are psychologically stabilising. When they disappear abruptly, people can feel unsettled in ways they struggle to explain. The morning commute, the walk to a desk, the rhythm of a structured day-these are not just habits. They are anchors. When they are removed suddenly, even capable and experienced workers can find themselves disoriented.”

However, not everyone loves working from home. Annabell notes that it can go either way. Some people find the quieter environment a relief.

Others find the home brings its own difficulties-loneliness, particularly for those used to busy, social workplaces; a loss of motivation in spaces not designed for work; guilt about not doing enough professionally while also feeling the pull of responsibilities at home; and the exhaustion that comes when work and rest occupy the same space with no clear separation between them.

Flower exporters in Kenya have lost an estimated Sh724.4 million ($5.6 million) over the past two months due to cargo delays, crop spoilage and declining market prices, as rising air freight costs and global disruptions continue to squeeze one of the country’s key export sectors.

Exporters say persistent delays have led to late deliveries of flowers in key European markets. Given the highly perishable nature of the product, even short disruptions result in wilting, rejection or downgrading of shipments, leading to significant spoilage losses.

At the same time, inconsistent supply has weakened exporters’ bargaining power, forcing some to accept lower prices in international markets, particularly in Europe, where buyers reduce orders or negotiate discounts when reliability is affected.

‘The industry has already recorded losses estimated at over $5.6 million due to shipment delays, spoilage and reduced market prices,’ Kenya Flower Council Chief Executive Officer, Clement Tulezi told Business Daily.

‘In addition, overall production costs have increased by 20-30 percent due to simultaneous increases in fertiliser and fuel costs.’

The losses come amid a sharp escalation in air freight charges, which have risen by up to 110 percent over the past 12 to 18 months.

Exporters are now paying as much as $5.30 (Sh685.82) per kilogramme, up from about $2.50 (Sh323.50) in January last year.

‘The conflict in the Middle East has resulted in flight rerouting, reduced cargo capacity, longer transit times and higher operational costs for airlines,’ Mr Tulezi said. ‘Exporters are facing delays of up to 48 hours for highly perishable products.’

Mr Tulezi attributed the surge to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which have disrupted major aviation routes, increased fuel consumption due to longer flight paths, and reduced available cargo capacity.

‘Air freight costs for Kenyan flower exporters have risen sharply over the past 12-18 months, with the most dramatic increase occurring since the escalation of the Middle East crisis and associated disruptions to global aviation routes,’ he said.

‘Historically, freight rates from Nairobi to Europe averaged between $2.50(Sh323.37) and $3.10(Sh400.98) per kilogramme. However, exporters are now paying between $5.00(Sh646.75) and $5.30(Sh685.55) per kilogramme, representing an increase of approximately 70 percent to 110 percent, depending on destination and carrier.’

He added that flower freighters, which rely heavily on Middle Eastern airspace and hubs such as Dubai, Doha and Saudi transit points, have been forced to take longer detours to avoid conflict zones, increasing both transit times and costs.

Some cargo is now rerouted via extended southern corridors, including detours around the Cape of Good Hope, adding thousands of nautical miles to journeys and increasing delays for time-sensitive shipments. Last year, flights moved more directly through Gulf and Red Sea routes.

The disruption has also triggered higher costs across the global logistics chain, with freight and shipping firms such as DHL and Maersk announcing price increases due to elevated fuel use, longer transit times and constrained capacity.

‘Middle East geopolitical tensions continue to disrupt Asia to Europe corridors and increase transit times and operational costs. Rates from Africa remain elevated due to persistent capacity shortages,’ DHL said.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), horticultural exports, including flowers, reached $1.11 billion (Sh143.8 billion) in 2025.

Cut flower export volumes rose from 102,500 tonnes in 2024 to 130,600 tonnes in 2025, while export value increased from $557.5 million to $628.4 million (Sh81.3 billion).

The flower industry remains one of Kenya’s top foreign exchange earners and a major employer, supporting thousands of jobs directly and indirectly.

However, stakeholders warn that sustained increases in freight costs could erode competitiveness against rival producers such as Ethiopia, Colombia and Ecuador.

Exporters are calling for urgent interventions to ease logistics costs and improve operating conditions, including expanded cargo capacity, reduced airport charges and faster processing of refunds and clearances.

The Court of Appeal has cleared a non-existent Spanish firm to pursue Sh10 billion from 17 bank accounts belonging to State-owned Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) despite warnings from the Attorney General.

The ruling escalates a legal standoff that now exposes Kenya to the risk of paying the same debt up to three times, as three separate Spanish entities lay claim to a single arbitral award.

The firms include a bankrupt and dissolved company, Instalaciones Inabensa, which the Court of Appeal has given the right to recover more than pound 62.6 million (Sh10 billion) from Ketraco’s accounts.

The appellate court declined to halt execution of the High Court’s December 11, 2025 garnishee orders granted to the dissolved company, reopening the path for it to pursue and retrieve funds in Ketraco’s accounts.

‘The applicant (Ketraco) has not satisfied us that it has an arguable appeal. In the premises, we do not need to consider whether or not the intended appeal will be rendered nugatory. Consequently, this application fails and is dismissed,’ said the three-judge bench.

The apex court in October 2022 ordered the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company to pay Spanish firm, Instalaciones Inabensa, pound 37.6 million for breach of contract after cancelling a contract for building a high-voltage transmission line and substations.

However, unknown to the Kenyan lawyers and judges, Inabesa was fighting for its life in the Spanish capital in a struggle that saw it declared bankrupt a month after the Supreme Court verdict.

In the end, Inabensa was reported dissolved, and some of its assets were tipped for sale to a firm called Cox Energy, with Ernst and Young tapped as the insolvency administrator, said a confidential brief from the Attorney General’s office.

Court documents reveal that on July 28, 2023, Inabensa transferred its rights to another Spanish firm, C.A. Infraestructuras T and I SLU, which is also pursuing payment in the decade-long dispute.

Now, the Attorney General reckons that Ketraco is at a loss on whom to pay the Sh10 billion, with the State law office warning that Kenya could end up paying Sh30 billion to three firms.

In Kenya, Inabensa, which the Attorney General reckons was dissolved, has frozen part of Ketraco’s billions of shillings in 17 bank accounts in NCBA, Standard Chartered Kenya, Co-operative Bank of Kenya, Citibank N.A. Kenya, and KCB Bank Kenya.

Separately, Infraestructuras T and I SLU is seeking to wind up Ketraco over non-payment of the Sh10 billion award following the Supreme Court verdict.

The Attorney General has added a fresh twist to the spat after telling the court that the insolvency administrator in Spain, Ernst and Young Abogados, could still assert rights over the money on behalf of creditors.

The origin of the dispute is two engineering, procurement, and construction contracts awarded in April 2013 for the 400kV Lessos-Tororo transmission line and the extension of the Lessos substation.

The projects were valued at over pound 24.5 million (Sh3.6 billion) and Sh893 million, totaling more than Sh4.5 billion.

The claim for the botched contract has grown to Sh10 billion.

They were meant to facilitate electricity trade between Kenya and neighboring countries, but were terminated in 2016 following a fallout between Ketraco and Inabensa.

Ketraco terminated the contract on April 25, 2016, after it received a notice from the Spanish firm on April 12, 2026, that it was suspending works after the State agency failed to settle several invoices.

At the centre of the ongoing dispute is a 2019 arbitral award in favour of Spanish contractor Instalaciones Inabensa S.A., which was contracted in 2013 to build the Lessos-Tororo transmission line and extend the Lessos substation.

The tribunal found Ketraco breached the contract by failing to pay invoices and unlawfully terminating the agreement, awarding the contractor more than pound 30.8 million (Sh4.6 billion) plus interest and costs.

That award was adopted as a judgment of the High Court in 2021, making the debt final and enforceable.

But the amount has since ballooned to over pound 62.6 million (about Sh10 billion), including interest and costs.

Ketraco attempted to overturn the arbitral award through a series of legal challenges in the High Court, the Court of Appeal and later the Supreme Court, but all attempts failed, leaving it exposed to enforcement proceedings.

The dispute has now split into two competing claims.

On one hand is Instalaciones Inabensa, the original contractor seeking to recover the debt through garnishee proceedings.

On the other hand is CA Infraestructuras T and I SLU, which claims to have taken over the rights to the award and is now pursuing liquidation of Ketraco-creating confusion over who the utility should legally pay.

‘The magnitude of the award and the accruing interests far outstrips the applicant’s financial capacity and asset base, hence its immediate enforcement will bring the applicant’s activities to an abrupt halt,’ Ketraco told the courts.

The family, society and the nation at large celebrate a child who excels in examinations. Social media and news platforms light up with congratulatory messages. Parents proudly tell relatives about the achievement. In many homes, academic performance has become the ultimate measure of success.

But as Kenya grapples with cases of school arson, student unrest, rising youth involvement in violent demonstrations, cyberbullying, substance abuse and the disturbing cases in child abductions, a difficult question emerges: Are we raising successful children or merely raising high achievers?

For years, our education conversations have revolved around grades, rankings and examination results. We invest heavily in tuition, revision materials, and academic coaching because we want our children to secure a better future, yet in the process, we may be overlooking an equally important responsibility–to help them discover who they are.

Personal identity is the foundation upon which character, confidence, and purpose are built. A child who understands their values, strengths and responsibilities is less likely to be swayed by peer pressure, harmful influences, or destructive behaviours. When young people lack a strong sense of identity, they often seek belonging in places that don’t serve them well.

The consequences can be seen in acts of violence, indiscipline, online manipulation and decisions that place their futures and those of others at risk.

The challenge facing parents today is, therefore, much bigger than ensuring children pass examinations. It is helping them answer deeper questions: What do I stand for? What kind of person do I want to become? How do I contribute to society? And what values guide my decisions when no one is watching?

These are not questions that appear on examination papers, yet they determine the quality of leadership, citizenship, and professionalism we will see in the future.

The modern workplace increasingly values qualities that cannot be measured by grades alone, such as integrity, emotional intelligence, adaptability, resilience, collaboration and ethical decision making.

As artificial intelligence, automation, and digital technologies reshape industries at unprecedented speed, technical skills are becoming easier to acquire and, in some cases, easier to replace.

Today, a machine can write a report, analyse data, create a presentation and generate computer codes in seconds. What technology cannot easily replicate is human judgment, empathy, creativity, moral courage and the ability to build trust.

This reality presents a profound challenge for parents. We are raising children in a world where they are more connected than any previous generation, yet often more vulnerable to misinformation, online manipulation, cyberbullying, unrealistic social media pressure and digital addiction. A child’s digital footprint is now as important as their academic reports.

Their character is being shaped not only in the classroom and homes but also on screens, social media platforms, gaming communities and online forums.

The question is no longer whether our children can compete with technology; it is whether they can use technology responsibly and purposefully because character is no longer a soft skill; it is a strategic advantage.

The modern workplace increasingly values qualities that cannot be measured by grades alone, like integrity, emotional intelligence, adaptability, resilience, collaboration and ethical decision making. In a world where technology and artificial intelligence are rapidly transforming industries, character may become an individual’s most valuable asset.

As parents and educators. Care givers and leaders, we must redefine success. Let us celebrate academic excellence, but let us also nurture empathy, accountability, courage and purpose. Kenya’s future depends not only on children who solve complex equations but also on youth who know who they are and what they stand for.

Years from now, society will not remember every grade a child earned. It will remember the lives they touched, the values they upheld, and the difference they made. That is a report card that truly matters.

Foreign investors made net sales worth Sh10.17 billion on the five largest firms at the Nairobi bourse in the year to April 2026, locking in large capital gains after their share prices rallied in the period.

The foreigners were largely offloading their stock in Safaricom, Equity Group, KCB Group, EABL and Co-operative Bank of Kenya to local institutional investors, who increased their stakes at a time when the blue chips raised their full-year dividends.

The sales were part of overall foreign net outflows of Sh17.4 billion at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) over the one year.

Latest regulatory filings show that the foreign investors cut their stake in Safaricom by 268.77 million shares-valued at Sh8.53billion at the current price- to 2.55 billion units in the 12 months, reducing their share of the company’s issued shares from 7.04 percent to 6.37 percent.

In the period, the company’s share price appreciated by 69 percent to Sh29.70, handing investors who had bought their units at a lower price an incentive to sell up and lock in the capital gains.

At the same time, East African institutional investors raised their holding in the company from 88.55 percent or 35.48 billion shares to 89.37 percent (35.8 billion shares).

Institutional investors such as pension funds tend to have a longer investment horizon compared to their retail counterparts, with their stock picks often informed by factors such as consistent dividend payouts instead of short-term price movements.

‘We have seen foreign investors reallocating capital from the equities market to lock in gains, and they are also aware of a riskier investment environment due to rising inflation,’ said Melodie Ndanu, a research analyst at Standard Investment Bank.

On the KCB stock, offshore investors cut their stake in the bank by 42.78 million shares (valued at Sh2.97 billion) to 285.5 million units, bringing down their holding to 8.88 percent at the end of April from 10.22 percent a year earlier. The stock was among the top banking sector gainers in the period at 74 percent.

Local individual investors also cut their holding in the lender by 47.5 million shares valued at Sh3.3 billion to 785.1 million units, joining the foreigners in cashing in on a 74 percent rally in the bank’s share price to 67 in the one year.

Similar to Safaricom, the increased supply in the lender’s shares from foreigners and retail investors was absorbed by local institutional buyers, who increased their holding by 90.3 million shares to 1.5 billion units. The bank raised its full-year dividend to Sh7 per share in 2025, from Sh3 a year earlier.

EABL saw net sales of 5.98 million shares in the period, valued at Sh1.44 billion, while Co-operative Bank of Kenya saw foreigners reduce their holding by 4.52 million shares valued at Sh144.5 million. EABL’s stock was up 40 percent and Co-op’s by 117 percent in the year to April 2026.

The share of EABL’s shares in the hands of foreigners thus dropped to 9.5 percent from 10.26 percent, and that of Co-op from 0.32 percent to 0.25 percent.

Foreign investors reduced their Equity Group stock by 4.47 million shares, valued at Sh346 million, reducing their exposure on the counter to 1.566 billion units. Their holding accounts for 41.51 percent of the lender’s issued shares, down marginally from 41.52 percent a year ago.

The large blue chips tend to have a larger exposure to foreign investors due to high liquidity, which supports large ticket trades and consistency in paying dividends.

These large firms also enjoy visibility to offshore investors courtesy of their listing on global market trackers such as the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) frontier and small-cap indices.

Kenya’s NSE is represented by 18 companies on the MSCI frontier and small caps indices that are selected based on a number of metrics, including liquidity and financial stability, giving them the exposure to the foreign investors that boosts their price discovery.

Safaricom, Equity Group, EABL, KCB Group, Co-operative Bank and Standard Chartered Bank Kenya are listed on the MSCI frontier markets index, as at the most recent review of November 2025.

BAT Kenya, KenGen, Kenya Re, Kenya Power, DTB Group, Carbacid, Bamburi Cement, Jubilee Holdings, CIC Insurance Group, Williamson Tea Kenya, Centum Investment and HF Group are on the MSCI frontier markets small cap index.

The MSCI tracks the performance of selected large and medium-sized companies in 10 African frontier and emerging markets, as part of its global series of indices that are closely watched by foreign investors.