Category: Business Daily

October in Kenya is awash in pink. Companies sponsor walks, social media lights up with survivor stories, and “awareness” becomes the buzzword. But sitting across the table from women in my clinic, I see a slightly different reality. They’re not just grappling with cancer, sometimes they’re being rushed through life-changing decisions without adequate support and context.

Let’s be honest: we’ve mastered the marketing of breast cancer awareness, but we’re stumbling at the actual care. According to GLOBOCAN 2022, approximately 7,243 new breast cancer cases are diagnosed in Kenya annually. This comprises 16 percent of all new cancers diagnosed.

Yet, for all our pink ribbons and awareness campaigns, access to comprehensive care and surgical options remains very limited.

Time and again, women will share with me how they were given just days to make massive decisions about their bodies. Remove part, or all of their breasts? Immediate reconstruction or wait? Implants or using their own tissue? These aren’t just medical choices; they touch the core of a woman’s identity, her sense of self, her intimate relationships.

I’ve also held hands with countless women who broke down not because of their diagnosis, but because they felt pressured to make snap decisions without fully understanding their options. I’ve watched them choose mastectomies when they didn’t need to, simply because no one took the time to explain alternatives.

Some of my patients only learned about reconstruction possibilities after their surgery.

Here’s where the system gets it wrong: breast cancer surgery is classified as urgent, not emergent. International guidelines recommend initial treatments or surgery within 4-6 weeks of diagnosis. This window exists for good reason. It’s not just about emotional readiness.

A breast cancer diagnosis usually prompts additional tests and imaging that need to be performed and a multidisciplinary team discussion that is needed to develop a personalised treatment plan.

Once surgery is deemed to be the initial option, additional time might be needed to control for other conditions that the patient might have. This may involve correcting raised blood pressure, stopping blood thinners safely, controlling diabetes to ensure the best possible surgical outcomes and minimise surgical complications.

Breast cancer surgery is elective, meaning it is planned. We can, and should therefore, take time to get it right. However, women have been scheduled for theatre within 48 hours of hearing they have cancer. The shock hasn’t settled. They haven’t processed what’s happening. They’re making permanent decisions about their bodies while still in crisis mode.

The irony? This rushed approach often creates more problems than it solves. I’ve counselled women experiencing severe psychological fallout after surgery because they didn’t have time to fully process their decision-making.

What’s missing from the conversation? Here’s something you might not see or appreciate in pink ribbon campaigns: breast cancer isn’t one disease. Each type is unique, requiring different approaches and treatments – just as Panadol and Brufen both treat pain but work completely differently.

Every case deserves review by a full team of specialists before any surgery or therapy happens. This isn’t fancy extra care but basic best practice.

Women should know all their choices: Breast-conserving surgery can be just as effective as full removal, reconstruction can happen during the initial surgery or later, there are techniques to save skin and nipples, and various reconstruction options exist using their own tissue or implants. These aren’t merely cosmetic details, as they may help to enhance long-term wellbeing and body image perception post-surgery.

The real scandal isn’t really about awareness, but more about access. Sometimes medical factors limit some surgical options or make them unsafe. However, many times, the real issue is the patient’s ability to pay and insurance coverage. Unfortunately, breast reconstruction is often considered cosmetic, and patients frequently have to pay out of pocket to cover the costs.

In my practice, we do recognize that women need time to process. They may need repeat conversations, psychological support, the need to involve their families and additional information in order to arrive at a shared decision.

If we’re serious about improving breast cancer care, we need to adopt the following measures: Mandatory multidisciplinary review for every breast cancer case, protected time for decision-making optimizing the recommended window period to ensure the patient is prepared physically and psychologically, reconstruction as an essential part of the holistic management of breast cancer surgery and care and lastly, encourage shared decision making between multidisciplinary teams and patients.

This October, let’s move beyond pink ribbons. Let’s push for real change in how we treat women facing breast cancer and demand healthcare that respects their dignity and their right to make informed choices.

Because while surgery might take hours, the long-term decisions that shape a woman’s future should not be rushed.

Investment inflows into public-private-partnership (PPP) projects in Kenya, have reached a cumulative total of Sh145 billion since 2013, new disclosures showed, signalling the growing influence of the financing option.

Treasury documents show that Kenya netted Sh17.7billion into PPP projects in the year ended June 2025 alone, an indication of the rapid growth of the model.

‘Since inception of the public-private partnership in 2013, approximately Sh145 billion private capital investments in PPPs has been mobilised, Sh17.7 billion of which was mobilised in the financial year 2024/25,’ the PPP Directorate of the National Treasury said.

Kenya adopted the PPP model in 2013 in a bid to deliver huge infrastructural projects without tapping Exchequer funds or incurring direct loans amid a ballooning debt burden.

The PPP model has delivered five projects: the 27.1-kilometre Nairobi Expressway, roads totalling 170.57 km in 11 counties and the 35-megawatt Sosian Menengai Geothermal Power Plant.

In a PPP-funded project, the investor recoups their investment by charging user fees over a defined period, for example, the Chinese firm that funded the construction of the Nairobi Expressway is charging toll fees to motorists using the road until 2047. Currently, there are 36 PPP-funded projects at various stages of approval in Kenya, as the country targets to raise an additional Sh65 billion worth of private investor capital via the model in the current 2025/26 financial year.

However, the Treasury says that the PPP model is still facing bottlenecks that have led to the cancellation of deals.

‘The programme continues to face challenges, including lengthy project preparation timelines and limited technical capacity at some of the contracting authorities,’ the PPP unit says.

In 2021, Kenya amended the Public-Private Partnerships Act of 2013 to streamline the process of onboarding private investors by reducing bureaucracies involved in finalising deals.

The Public-Private Partnerships (Amendment) Act, 2021 repealed the previous Act of 2013, allowing public entities in PPP deals to single-source work in an effort to accelerate projects.

Kenya had previously struggled to attract private investors to PPPs, prompting the legal changes that were signed into law by former President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The subsidiary legislation on the PPP Act 2021, also introduced a raft of other sweeteners, including doubling the limit of fees payable to transaction advisors behind successful PPP projects.

In the changes, the Treasury set the success fee at one percent of the total cost of a PPP project-double the previous one.

A success fee is a conditional agreement whereby a consultant or advisor is paid a set rate if a PPP project’s outcome is positive. If the outcome is not positive, there is no obligation to pay the fee. It serves as motivation to the consultants or advisors to do their best and earn the maximum.

Rising smartphone ownership has lifted mobile banking uptake in recent years, with the share of banked Kenyans using the service growing from 25.3 percent in 2019 to 32.6 percent in 2024.

Commercial banks have expanded mobile applications and USSD platforms to keep pace with customer demand for faster and cheaper services, reducing reliance on branch visits and ATMs as the phone becomes the preferred point of contact for routine banking.

Industry data shows that nearly one in three adults now uses a phone to access bank services, affirming the growing role of digital channels in extending access to formal finance across both urban and rural populations.

The Central Bank of Kenya’s (CBK)’s 2024 FinAccess Household Survey shows that in towns, about 46 percent of adults bank through mobile applications compared to 27 percent in rural areas, reflecting how stronger internet connectivity and higher income levels have accelerated the shift to mobile in urban centres. The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) estimates smartphone penetration at about 83.5 percent of active mobile devices by June 2025, or 43.8 million devices, a prevalence that has expanded access to digital platforms, including formal banking services and other everyday transactions such as e-commerce and bill payments.

The growth has coincided with increased investment by banks in mobile infrastructure as institutions align with customer preference for self-service transactions and remote account management through mobile platforms, a shift that has also reduced operational overheads and improved service efficiency.

Most lenders now operate dedicated mobile applications alongside USSD services to accommodate both smartphone and feature phone users, widening the reach and cutting transaction costs associated with physical branches while responding to evolving customer expectations for convenience and reliability.

The FinAccess data shows that education and income remain key determinants of usage, with adults holding tertiary education more likely to bank through mobile channels than those without formal schooling, while men account for a higher share of mobile-bank users than women, reflecting broader access disparities.

The adoption of mobile banking has also been supported by competition among lenders to digitise credit, deposit and payment services as customers favour real-time transactions and 24-hour access through their phones, a trend that has forced banks to innovate faster to retain market share.

Over the past decade, mobile money usage has expanded sharply, with subscriptions rising from 27.7 million in June 2015 to 47.7 million in June 2025, while the number of active agents grew from 129,000 to 373,000, according to CA data, underlining the scale of Kenya’s digital finance ecosystem and the convergence between banking and payment platforms.

Mobile-bank usage has, however, been found to be limited by factors such as cost, trust and awareness among low-income users who continue to rely mainly on mobile money services, highlighting the need for deeper financial literacy and simpler digital products.

Formal financial inclusion reached 84.8 percent of adults in 2024, marginally higher than 83.7 percent three years earlier, underlining the role of digital channels in maintaining access as banks push more services onto mobile platforms and as smartphones become nearly ubiquitous.

The CBK has, over the years, encouraged digital innovation in the sector, noting that mobile banking has improved service reach and efficiency while reducing cash handling and branch congestion for both lenders and customers, an evolution that continues to redefine banking models.

The growing dependence on phones has also allowed banks to streamline operations, expand reach and reduce transaction costs, entrenching mobile as a key driver of Kenya’s banking model and a pillar of the broader digital economy that continues to shape how financial services are delivered.

October in Kenya is awash in pink. Companies sponsor walks, social media lights up with survivor stories, and “awareness” becomes the buzzword. But sitting across the table from women in my clinic, I see a slightly different reality. They’re not just grappling with cancer, sometimes they’re being rushed through life-changing decisions without adequate support and context.

Let’s be honest: we’ve mastered the marketing of breast cancer awareness, but we’re stumbling at the actual care. According to GLOBOCAN 2022, approximately 7,243 new breast cancer cases are diagnosed in Kenya annually. This comprises 16 percent of all new cancers diagnosed.

Yet, for all our pink ribbons and awareness campaigns, access to comprehensive care and surgical options remains very limited.

Time and again, women will share with me how they were given just days to make massive decisions about their bodies. Remove part, or all of their breasts? Immediate reconstruction or wait? Implants or using their own tissue? These aren’t just medical choices; they touch the core of a woman’s identity, her sense of self, her intimate relationships.

I’ve also held hands with countless women who broke down not because of their diagnosis, but because they felt pressured to make snap decisions without fully understanding their options. I’ve watched them choose mastectomies when they didn’t need to, simply because no one took the time to explain alternatives.

Some of my patients only learned about reconstruction possibilities after their surgery.

Here’s where the system gets it wrong: breast cancer surgery is classified as urgent, not emergent. International guidelines recommend initial treatments or surgery within 4-6 weeks of diagnosis. This window exists for good reason. It’s not just about emotional readiness.

A breast cancer diagnosis usually prompts additional tests and imaging that need to be performed and a multidisciplinary team discussion that is needed to develop a personalised treatment plan.

Once surgery is deemed to be the initial option, additional time might be needed to control for other conditions that the patient might have. This may involve correcting raised blood pressure, stopping blood thinners safely, controlling diabetes to ensure the best possible surgical outcomes and minimise surgical complications.

Breast cancer surgery is elective, meaning it is planned. We can, and should therefore, take time to get it right. However, women have been scheduled for theatre within 48 hours of hearing they have cancer. The shock hasn’t settled. They haven’t processed what’s happening. They’re making permanent decisions about their bodies while still in crisis mode.

The irony? This rushed approach often creates more problems than it solves. I’ve counselled women experiencing severe psychological fallout after surgery because they didn’t have time to fully process their decision-making.

What’s missing from the conversation? Here’s something you might not see or appreciate in pink ribbon campaigns: breast cancer isn’t one disease. Each type is unique, requiring different approaches and treatments – just as Panadol and Brufen both treat pain but work completely differently.

Every case deserves review by a full team of specialists before any surgery or therapy happens. This isn’t fancy extra care but basic best practice.

Women should know all their choices: Breast-conserving surgery can be just as effective as full removal, reconstruction can happen during the initial surgery or later, there are techniques to save skin and nipples, and various reconstruction options exist using their own tissue or implants. These aren’t merely cosmetic details, as they may help to enhance long-term wellbeing and body image perception post-surgery.

The real scandal isn’t really about awareness, but more about access. Sometimes medical factors limit some surgical options or make them unsafe. However, many times, the real issue is the patient’s ability to pay and insurance coverage. Unfortunately, breast reconstruction is often considered cosmetic, and patients frequently have to pay out of pocket to cover the costs.

In my practice, we do recognize that women need time to process. They may need repeat conversations, psychological support, the need to involve their families and additional information in order to arrive at a shared decision.

If we’re serious about improving breast cancer care, we need to adopt the following measures: Mandatory multidisciplinary review for every breast cancer case, protected time for decision-making optimizing the recommended window period to ensure the patient is prepared physically and psychologically, reconstruction as an essential part of the holistic management of breast cancer surgery and care and lastly, encourage shared decision making between multidisciplinary teams and patients.

This October, let’s move beyond pink ribbons. Let’s push for real change in how we treat women facing breast cancer and demand healthcare that respects their dignity and their right to make informed choices.

Because while surgery might take hours, the long-term decisions that shape a woman’s future should not be rushed.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the insurance industry by accelerating claims processing, reducing costs, improving accuracy, and enhancing customer experiences through automation, fraud detection, and data analysis.

This streamlining of workflows can help address deep-rooted skepticism toward insurers, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, where insurance uptake remains modest at 2-3 percent, far below the global average of 7 percent.

Globally, insurers are adopting AI for claims adjudication, fraud detection, and customer communication. However, in much of Africa, insurers remain tied to manual, paper-based systems. AI adoption faces infrastructural, regulatory, and cultural barriers despite gains in mobile penetration and digital innovation. Legacy systems, weak governance, and traditional perceptions of technology continue to slow progress. Outdated infrastructure is a key obstacle, with many insurers still storing records in file cabinets rather than in the cloud, making it difficult to produce the structured, high-quality historical data that AI models require.

In countries like Zambia and Uganda, insurers struggle with fragmented customer information stored across paper files, Excel sheets, and incompatible software. Without centralised, digitised claims data, automation remains out of reach.

Cloud computing, which is essential for scalable AI, remains underutilised, especially in rural areas where slow or unreliable internet hampers real-time AI processing and remote claims assessment. This digital divide limits access to modern insurance services for the very populations that could benefit most.

Even where infrastructure exists, regulatory ambiguity is a major hurdle. Most African countries lack data protection laws aligned with global standards such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), exposing insurers to compliance risks around privacy, consent, and cross-border data sharing.

AI introduces further complications as it can infer sensitive personal information, perpetuate biases, and facilitate intrusive monitoring through tools like telematics and facial recognition.

In Kenya, the Data Protection Act 2019 provides a solid legal base, but uneven enforcement creates uncertainty. Without clear rules on auditing AI-driven decisions, such as claim denials, insurers risk legal disputes and reputational harm.

The absence of AI-specific legislation limits oversight by bodies such as the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), causing insurers to proceed cautiously.

Cultural resistance adds another layer of difficulty, where insurance employees fear that AI will displace jobs, particularly in claims assessment, underwriting, and customer service. Despite evidence that AI is more likely to complement rather than replace human roles, this fear fuels resistance to digital transformation.

Financial barriers also loom large, as implementing AI-driven claims systems requires substantial investment in software, hardware, training, and cybersecurity. For small and medium-sized underwriters operating on thin margins in competitive markets, the return on investment is uncertain.

Additionally, many African insurers lack in-house expertise to manage complex AI systems, forcing them to rely on external vendors. This reliance raises concerns about vendor lock-in, accountability, and long-term sustainability, especially in the absence of a strong local InsureTech ecosystem.

On the consumer side, low trust remains a major challenge to insurance penetration. Many, especially older clients prefer face-to-face engagement and the reassurance of dealing with a human representative. In Ghana and Tanzania, customers have complained about automated claim follow-up responses, insisting on speaking to a ‘real person.’ Mistrust of algorithmic decision-making is especially high in emotionally sensitive cases such as health or funeral claims. As a result, AI adoption in customer-facing roles is slow.

That said, AI can bring significant benefits to consumers. It can analyze policy documents, align claims with coverage terms, anticipate potential objections from insurers, and ensure that submissions are complete and well-structured. This reduces back-and-forth communication, accelerates claim resolution, and boosts operational efficiency without sacrificing accuracy.

However, even the most advanced AI solutions can fail if end-users are not ready to adopt them. Digital literacy remains low in many parts of the region, particularly among rural and older populations.

Many lack access to smartphones or reliable internet, making full-scale digital claims processes difficult to implement. In Nigeria, for example, insurers that introduced mobile apps for claim reporting saw poor adoption among low-income clients, who preferred SMS or in-person visits.

This reality underscores the need to balance innovation with inclusivity. Without careful planning, AI could widen the gap between well-served urban customers and underserved rural populations.

Unlocking AI’s potential in claims management will require a multi-pronged strategy. First, insurers must digitize core systems to create centralized, high-quality data repositories. Governments need to develop and enforce AI-specific regulations that protect consumers while enabling innovation. Industry players should invest in capacity-building programs for AI, machine learning, and digital ethics across the insurance value chain.

Transparency and fairness must be central to AI deployment, while insurers should ensure algorithmic decisions are explainable and unbiased. Similarly, collaboration with local InsureTech firms can foster homegrown, scalable solutions tailored to African market realities.

The bottom line is, technology is no longer optional for the insurance industry, rather an essential driver for insurers, policyholders, and every link in the insurance value chain.

The writer is the Associate General Manager – Minet Risk Solutions, Claims, at Minet Kenyam

Privilege. This word is ingrained in Isaiah I.C. Wakindiki’s very being, shaping his identity. He does not play down his skills or blessings, but presents them as fully earned, while also identifying with the streets he grew up on in Irundini village, Mukothima, Tharaka Nithi.

He plays the greatest hits from that album. Growing up Methodist. There were lorries that would screen movies in the village square. ‘Every two weeks,’ he says, ‘We would have mobile library services and use our library cards to borrow books.’ Little wonder then, to reach for a trite metaphor, that his family is full of professors, he is the Vice Chancellor of KCA University himself.

Yet his younger brother is now the Deputy President of Kenya, and seeing that he, too, fiddled with politics, does he ever get jealous of him? After all, envy is the most prevalent human emotion. ‘No,’ he says, ‘How can I be jealous of God’s favour? It’s a privilege.’

For Prof Wakindiki, more than just a bean-counting vice-chancellor, life’s joy is walking around and people calling him, ‘Mwalimu.’ Teacher. You can tell because for every answer, he cites an example.

Prof, tell me something cool about yourself.

When I was young, I had measles. My mum took me to a hospital about 20km away, and by the time we got there, I was reeking. I was covered in flies, the nurse said, ‘This child is dead. Go and bury him.’ I was not dead. And that was my first resurrection.

Do you think you’re a lucky person?

No, there’s no luck. But to sit here is a privilege. It’s not luck. My parents are alive, and that’s privilege, not luck.

What do you mean by ‘privilege’?

I’ve had privileges in life, not lucky. My family and my both my parents are still alive. Having gone to school and succeeded, I think that’s a privilege. So I see myself as a beneficiary of privileges.

On the subject of this office, what’s the least VC-like thing you’ve done lately?

I am not conventional, because, often, when we become too conventional, we miss the details. Currently, we are having student elections, and they keep calling me or getting my attention as VC, but I refuse to intervene because they have their own electoral body. Let them sort out their issues as students. My role is to facilitate.

What’s boring about being you?

Being forced to behave in certain ways, contrary to my beliefs. What did you ask me?

The boring part about being you.

Oh, yes. I get bored because of things like the many governance organs we have in the university. I’m not the ultimate. And there’s nothing ultimate in this world. Even the President is answerable to the people, so it’s a cycle.

I am impatient with people who condone mediocrity. As I’m saying, this is a position of privilege, and as vice-chancellor, my decisions should improve people’s lives and livelihoods. Not me.

When we think about the world you occupy right now from the outside, we only see academic gowns and suits. Where do you go when you want to be just Isaiah?

I like spending time with my family. My biological family. I also belong to a religious group called the Methodist Church. I’m a lay preacher there. In my neighbourhood, we have a third layer of family, and we meet once in a while, like presently we are working on the water supply in the area.

That’s a very media-trained answer.

Haha!

What are you secretly good at?

I’m a very empathetic person, despite my privileges. Because if it were not for some interventions in my life, I could be a resident of Mathare Area 4. There’s nothing I could have done about it. If it were not for the privileges I had along the way, I could be in Kibera. I hope that is not media trained [chuckles].

A union representing workers who served under the defunct National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) has accused the government of allegedly locking out its members from jobs at the new Social Health Authority (SHA), threatening to move to court if the recruitment format is not corrected.

The Kenya Union of Commercial Food and Allied Workers claimed more than 80 percent of NHIF’s former staff have been sidelined in the hiring of officers to run the new public health insurer, despite a law requiring that they be given priority.

The union’s acting Secretary-General Andrew M’Mukiri said the ongoing recruitment has ignored guarantees in the Social Health Insurance Act, which replaced NHIF with SHA under the government’s Universal Health Coverage plan.

‘There is a deliberate effort to kick out more than 80 percent of the workers of the defunct NHIF. This is a violation of the law and of promises made by the President during the reform process,’ Mr M’Mukiri said.

‘While the SHIF Act 2023 explicitly states that NHIF employees should be given priority consideration in the employment process, the ongoing recruitment process seems to be overlooking this provision, leaving many employees of the defunct NHIF feeling disenfranchised and uncertain about their future.’

The union accuses the SHA board of conducting a fresh hiring exercise that excluded experienced NHIF staff who had run Kenya’s health insurance for years.

On Thursday, the union gave the board 72 hours to halt the recruitment and review the process or face legal action.

‘… we are contemplating moving to court to seek to declare the whole process a violation of the law in the event we don’t receive a favourable response from the SHA Board within the next 72 hours,’ said M’Mukiri.

SHA was established last year to replace the troubled NHIF as part of sweeping reforms to deliver the UHC plan. The transition has, however, been messy, with questions emerging over how thousands of NHIF employees would be absorbed.

Several health sector unions have already raised concerns that the transition was rushed, warning that ignoring the existing workforce could lead to disruptions and legal disputes that delay implementation.

If the hiring standoff escalates into court action, it could stall staffing of the new authority and cast doubt on the government’s ability to deliver on its flagship healthcare reform.

The Central Bank of Kenya’s (CBK) introduction of the Kenya Shilling Overnight Interbank Average (Kesonia) as the new reference rate for variable-interest loans marks a pivotal moment for Kenya’s financial markets.

From 1 September 2025, all variable-rate loans have been priced as ‘Kesonia + K’, where K represents a margin based on the borrower’s risk profile, administrative costs, and other factors. By February 28, 2026 all existing variable-rate loans are expected to transition to this new structure.

For the first time, Kenya’s lending rates will be anchored to a transparent, market-determined benchmark that reflects the real cost of liquidity in the interbank market. Why CBK’s new loan model long overdueThis means that changes in monetary policy, whether tightening or easing, will now be transmitted swiftly and predictably through the financial system. In many ways, it represents Kenya’s most meaningful step yet toward establishing a market-based anchor for credit pricing.

However, the success of Kesonia will depend on how effectively the broader financial ecosystem supports it. For this new benchmark to achieve its full potential, Kenya must strengthen competition in the banking sector, enhance transparency, and improve credit information systems.

Borrowers should be able to move their loans between banks with ease, enabling them to benefit from more competitive pricing. Yet, today, the process remains cumbersome, particularly for loans secured by property.

The slow and often costly process of transferring property charges is a major obstacle to loan portability. Digitising the land registry would make it easier, cheaper and faster for borrowers to switch lender, driving greater competition and ensuring that rate changes are quickly passed on.

Transparency will also be critical. Every bank should clearly disclose both the prevailing Kesonia rate and the specific margin applied to each loan.

Borrowers deserve to know what drives their borrowing costs and to compare offers across lenders on an equal footing. Such openness would foster accountability and trust, two elements that have been missing in Kenya’s credit market for too long.

Equally important is the need to link pricing to credit ratings. Kenya’s financial system must evolve toward a model where individuals and SMEs can influence their borrowing costs through their own credit behaviour.

A borrower with a strong repayment history should enjoy a smaller margin, while higher-risk borrowers should pay more. This approach would reward financial discipline and provide a data-driven framework for lenders to assess and price risk fairly.

Kesonia also aligns Kenya with international best practice. Around the world, markets have shifted away from administratively set benchmarks toward transaction-based reference rates. Adoption of Kesonia places it firmly within that modern framework, where monetary policy is guided by real market signals rather than administrative directives.

The real challenge now lies in execution. Banks must embrace transparency and healthy competition. Borrowers must be empowered to understand and question the pricing of their loans. Regulators, in turn, must strengthen credit information systems, enforce disclosure standards, and maintain oversight to ensure that the spirit of reform is not lost.

If these elements align, Kesonia could finally deliver what the CBR never quite achieved, a clear, efficient, and predictable channel for monetary policy transmission, that benefits both lenders and borrowers. It would also restore confidence in the power of monetary policy as a genuine lever of economic stability.

Ultimately, this reform is more than a shift in interest rate calculation. It represents a cultural change, one that redefines how Kenya prices risk, rewards financial discipline, and ensures that CBK decisions are finally felt where they matter most: at the borrower’s desk.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) will partially buy back a Sh76.5 billion bond set to mature in May next year as part of initiatives to reduce pressure from domestic debt maturities.

The apex bank has invited holders of the paper to voluntarily participate in the early buyback offer targeting redemptions of Sh30 billion with the auction closing on November 17.

Investors may opt to sell-back part or the entire holding/face value in the bond.

This is the second domestic buyback by CBK after a February redemption of Sh50 billion on three bonds that were due to mature in April and May, easing the headache of heavy payments in the two months from the exchequer.

CBK is expected to foot the buyback bill from proceeds of an auction on re-opened 20- and 15-year bonds that seeks to raise Sh40 billion.

The paper targeted for the early buyback has a coupon or interest charge of 14.2280 percent, signalling lower debt service cost for the government going forward, when contrasted to the lower paying reopened bonds which have coupons of 12 percent (re-opened 20-year) and 13.9420 (re-opened 15-year).

The auction for the re-opened bonds runs until November 5.

The early buyback of the Sh76.5 billion bond was initially targeted for September, according to the National Treasury 2025/26 annual borrowing plan.

Funding for the buyback was also to be made available from proceeds of bonds with tenures of between 10 and 15 years.

The Treasury bond issuance calendar for the 2025/26 fiscal cycle has planned for five additional domestic bond buybacks, including papers valued Sh103.4 billion with an August 2026 maturity and Sh144.5 billion maturing in September 2027.

The National Treasury is expected to deploy a mix of buyback and switch auctions to manage debt service costs.

‘The liability management plan via bond buyback and switch auctions on domestic debt will be part of the borrowing strategy in the 2025/26 fiscal year,’ the exchequer stated.

‘This will be implemented by selecting the optimal mix of instruments to replace maturing bonds with the aim of reducing maturity pressure and smoothening the redemption profile.’

The government says it is fully committed to proactive liability management, leveraging both market and non-market-based operations to reduce debt service costs, mitigate refinancing risks and ensure the stability and sustainability of the public debt portfolio.

A buyback allows the government to purchase its own debt from holders/investors before the maturity date in a move that saves on interest cost by replacing high-interest instruments that will lower paying papers.

Switch bonds on the other hand refer to transactions where an investor or bond holder rolls over their expected final payout to another instrument, mostly one with a longer maturity profile.

Kenya has previously taped switch auctions to move holders of shorter dated Treasury bills into longer-term bonds.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) will partially buy back a Sh76.5 billion bond set to mature in May next year as part of initiatives to reduce pressure from domestic debt maturities.

The apex bank has invited holders of the paper to voluntarily participate in the early buyback offer targeting redemptions of Sh30 billion with the auction closing on November 17.

Investors may opt to sell-back part or the entire holding/face value in the bond.

This is the second domestic buyback by CBK after a February redemption of Sh50 billion on three bonds that were due to mature in April and May, easing the headache of heavy payments in the two months from the exchequer.

CBK is expected to foot the buyback bill from proceeds of an auction on re-opened 20- and 15-year bonds that seeks to raise Sh40 billion.

The paper targeted for the early buyback has a coupon or interest charge of 14.2280 percent, signalling lower debt service cost for the government going forward, when contrasted to the lower paying reopened bonds which have coupons of 12 percent (re-opened 20-year) and 13.9420 (re-opened 15-year).

The auction for the re-opened bonds runs until November 5.

The early buyback of the Sh76.5 billion bond was initially targeted for September, according to the National Treasury 2025/26 annual borrowing plan.

Funding for the buyback was also to be made available from proceeds of bonds with tenures of between 10 and 15 years.

The Treasury bond issuance calendar for the 2025/26 fiscal cycle has planned for five additional domestic bond buybacks, including papers valued Sh103.4 billion with an August 2026 maturity and Sh144.5 billion maturing in September 2027.

The National Treasury is expected to deploy a mix of buyback and switch auctions to manage debt service costs.

‘The liability management plan via bond buyback and switch auctions on domestic debt will be part of the borrowing strategy in the 2025/26 fiscal year,’ the exchequer stated.

‘This will be implemented by selecting the optimal mix of instruments to replace maturing bonds with the aim of reducing maturity pressure and smoothening the redemption profile.’

The government says it is fully committed to proactive liability management, leveraging both market and non-market-based operations to reduce debt service costs, mitigate refinancing risks and ensure the stability and sustainability of the public debt portfolio.

A buyback allows the government to purchase its own debt from holders/investors before the maturity date in a move that saves on interest cost by replacing high-interest instruments that will lower paying papers.

Switch bonds on the other hand refer to transactions where an investor or bond holder rolls over their expected final payout to another instrument, mostly one with a longer maturity profile.

Kenya has previously taped switch auctions to move holders of shorter dated Treasury bills into longer-term bonds.