Category: Business Daily

The High Court in Eldoret has dismissed an application by Mediheal Hospital and Fertility Centre to block the auction of its properties over a Sh701 million debt owed to Bank of India (Kenya).

The court ruled that the hospital and its director, Swarup Ranjan Mishra, had failed to prove that they had not been served with statutory notices before the bank initiated recovery proceedings.

The court also found no merit in the claims that the suit was frivolous or that the lender had violated auction rules.

In May 2023, Mediheal Hospital secured banking facilities totalling Sh1 billion from Bank of India, using multiple properties as collateral.

The properties tied to the loan include 17 parcels of lands in Eldoret, Iten and Kisii, which are registered in the names of Mr Mishra and the hospital.

However, Mediheal defaulted on the loan, accumulating arrears of Sh701 million by October 2024.

The bank issued statutory notices, including a 90-day default notice, a 40-day intention-to-sell notice and redemption notices, before scheduling auctions.

‘Despite several reminders by the bank to the borrower to make repayments and regularise their account, the borrower continued to be in default and failed to pay the outstanding amount,’ said the lender’s Eldoret branch chief manager.

Mediheal contested the process, arguing that they had never received the notices and that Bank of India had failed to provide account statements.

The company sued, seeking to block the bank from proceeding with the intended auction. It claimed that the requisite notices had been served to a former employee whose interests were opposed to those of the hospital at the time of service.

Also read: Who holds the hammer? Inside ruling on auctioneers, banks turf war

But, the court dismissed Mediheal’s claims, noting that there was proper service of notices. The bank presented stamped acknowledgment copies showing that Mediheal employees had received the notices, and that Mr Mishra himself acknowledged the debt in an April 2024 letter requesting a repayment extension.

‘This (service of statutory notices) was also evidenced by the signatures of their employees and the stamps of the office on the dates the notices were received. The court is therefore satisfied that service was properly effected,’ it ruled.

Since the statutory notices had been validly issued earlier, the court ruled that the bank was not obligated to restart the process after a related injunction was lifted in an earlier suit filed in 2024.

The judgment found that Mediheal had failed to demonstrate irreparable harm or provide evidence of loan repayments. The judge emphasised that injunctions require strong proof of wrongful conduct by lenders.

‘The applicants have not made out an unusually strong and clear case to warrant the issuance of a permanent injunction at this interlocutory stage,’ ruled the court.

Mediheal’s lawyer had argued that auctioning the hospital’s properties would disrupt healthcare services.

However, the court noted that financial disputes must be resolved through repayment, not injunctions, especially when lenders follow due process.

The court upheld the rights of lenders under Kenya’s Land Act, ruling that banks are not required to restart recovery processes if initial notices were lawfully served. It also highlighted the risks faced by borrowers who delay repayments despite receiving clear default warnings.

Listed carbon dioxide manufacturer, Carbacid Investments, is set to cut its use of electricity supplied by Kenya Power by 50 percent in two years as it steps up its investment in solar power.

The company, which is among those investing in solar energy in search of cheaper and more dependable supply, had already reduced its reliance on the national grid to 42 percent as of July after installing a 700 kilowatt-peak (kWp) solar plant.

“With the commissioning of our third solar power plant, renewable energy now contributes a substantial share of our operations, reducing reliance on the national grid by over 40 percent,” Carbacid says in its latest sustainability report.

“This shift enhances both cost competitiveness and environmental performance. Our goal is clear: achieve 50 percent renewable energy usage by 2027 and drive continuous reductions in our environmental footprint.”

The firm revealed that it plans to commission a further 750 kWp solar plant next year to meet this goal.

Reduced power costs saw the company report a six percentage point increase in operating profits, despite failing to disclose the size of its power bills and the amount invested in the solar panels.

‘Gross margin improved significantly from 59 percent to 65 percent, attributed to enhanced operational efficiency, notably from reduced power costs following substantial investments in solar energy infrastructure’ Carbacid said in its latest annual report.

‘We have installed three solar plants. The commissioning of these three plants led to a 25 percent reduction in electricity consumption in 2025,’ added the company.

In March, the company installed a 250 kWp plant to add to its existing 450 kWp solar power capacity.

Carbacid said that it was using fewer units of power to produce a kilogramme of its product: 0.428 kWh in the year ending July, down from 0.434 kWh per kilogramme the previous year – underlining improved energy efficiency.

The company is also using technology to analyse the power consumed by equipment on its production line, identifying any wastage.

‘With this system, Carbacid can monitor power consumption and any wastage noticed is rectified immediately. This also guides on how to identify and address any degradation of the equipment promptly,’ said the company.

Carbacid is the major producer of carbon dioxide, which is used to make fizzy beverages like soft drinks, among other applications.

Large power consumers such as factories, universities, hotels and banks have been switching from Kenya Power to alternative power sources, particularly solar and biomass technology.

Companies that have recently installed their own solar plants include Mabati Rolling Mills, which commissioned a 2.9 megawatt rooftop solar system at its plant in Mariakani, as well as Nandi Tea and steel producer Abyssinia Group Industries.

The trend signals the quest by firms to cut energy costs and improve reliability of electricity supply amid continued inefficiencies in the national grid.

Kenya Power, the national electricity distributor, saw its revenues fall to Sh219.2 billion in the year ended June 2025, down from Sh231 billion the previous year, partly due to the impact of lower tariffs.

Meanwhile, Carbacid posted a net profit of Sh1 billion in the year ended July, compared to Sh843.2 million recorded a year earlier.

Safaricom has disclosed that it increased its stake in the Ethiopian subsidiary to 53.37 percent, from the previous Sh51.67 percent, after the converting a shareholder loan into equity.

In the six months to September, shareholders of Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia completed the conversion of a Sh2.3 billion ($18 million) loan into equity, contributing to Safaricom’s increased ownership.

The partners also injected a further Sh12.6 billion ($98 million) capital into the subsidiary during the same period.

The change in the shareholding structure means Safaricom now has a greater capital contribution than its partners, giving it a higher stake in the business.

The partners have contributed additional funding to support business operations, primarily centred on network expansion.

The other shareholders in the Ethiopian business are Vodacom Group (5.93 percent), Sumitomo Corporation (24.02 percent), British International Investment (BII) (9.71 percent) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) (6.97 percent).

The shareholding of Sumitomo has been diluted slightly from 25.23 percent in March, while BII’s and IFC’s stake have come down from 10.11 percent and 7.25 percent respectively. Vodacom’s stake has edged up slightly from 5.74 percent in the six months.

‘We put in money as a shareholder to later convert into equity. Total funding at the end of September 2025 stood at Sh319.5 billion ($2.473 billion). The shareholders injected an additional Sh12.6 billion ($98 million) in the period under review,’ Safaricom’s chief finance officer Dilip Pal said.

‘We continue to assess the funding needs of Safaricom Ethiopia more regularly to ensure that the business is well funded.’

Funding for the venture includes Sh16.4 billion in local currency debt and Sh25.8 billion ($200 million) foreign currency debt from the IFC and Standard Bank.

The foreign currency borrowings doubled during the review period, rising from Sh12.9 billion ($100) million at the end of March.

Safaricom’s cumulative funding contribution to the business now stands at Sh146.8 billion ($1.136 billion).

Safaricom Ethiopia’s expansion has seen a 9.9 percent annual growth in 2G/3G/4G base stations, reaching 3,306 at the end of September 2025, up from 3,008 a year prior.

The subsidiary reached 11.15 million 90-day active customers in the period, an increase of 83.7 percent over a year from 6.07 million previously.

The unit booked Sh6.18 billion in service revenues for the period, representing a growth of 136 percent.

Mobile data revenue stood at Sh4.12 billion, with voice and messaging at Sh1.3 billion and Sh74.2 million respectively.

Revenue from M-Pesa continues to lag behind other business lines at Sh8.7 million, having fallen by 45.6 percent.

Safaricom Ethiopia’s bottom line improved during this period as its losses reduced from Sh19.4 billion to Sh15.2 billion.

The bulk of the subsidiary’s losses were due to sharp currency depreciation for the Ethiopian birr, which increased finance costs on foreign currency debt.

The total average revenue per user of 90-day active customers stood at Sh102.70, but fell by 28.1 percent from Sh142.77 last year, a factor of the currency depreciation.

Safaricom expects its Ethiopian subsidiary to break even by the end of the 2027 financial year in March.

The High Court has dismissed a petition filed by the widow of former Finance Minister Arthur Magugu, over a contested land worth Sh17 billion in Muthaiga North.

The court dismissed the petition saying issues raised by Margaret Wairimu Magugu, touched on land and should be handled by the Environment and Land court.

‘The matters raised in the petition are issues preserved for the Environment and Land court. The court is therefore, precluded from assuming jurisdiction in matters reserved for other courts,’ said the judge.

The widow had accused Karura Investment of illegally hiving off part of her 82.4-acre land in Muthaiga North and was in the process of subdividing and disposing the disputed land.

Karura Investments Limited, which claims to own the land, asked the court to dismiss the case arguing that it was a fresh attempt by Ms Magugu to litigate the matter after failing in previous occasions.

Evidence presented in court showed that Magugu obtained the title deed for a 101-acre piece of land in Muthaiga from Joreth Ltd on December 16, 1982. Magugu used the land, registered as LR number 12422/9, as collateral when his company Commercial Commodities Ltd borrowed Sh25 million from Grindlays Bank, now trading as Stanbic.

In November 1988, Magugu allegedly instructed his surveyor to initiate subdivision of the property into two parcels – one measuring 88.6 acres and another 12.9 acres. On October 25, 1993 the land was eventually subdivided into LR number 12422/203 measuring 12.9 acres and LR number 12422/204 measuring 88.6 acres.

But on the same morning, another application to subdivide the larger portion was made, and the subdivision process completed within three-and-a-half hours. The application was given the same computation number as Mr Magugu’s from five years earlier – 23380.

Ms Magugu said the family discovered the changes when she filed a succession case. The court, allowed Ms Magugu to appeal against the ruling.

Art lovers in Nairobi splashed nearly Sh30 million as they fought for a chance to grab some of the rarest artworks from the region and beyond.

When the dust settled, a 1968 painting ‘Baobab under the Red Moon’ by Tanzanian artist Francis Msangi, who died in 2003, emerged the most coveted item of the evening, fetching Sh3.5 million.

The painting sparked a six-minute bidding war, making it one of the night’s most fiercely contested lots.

With its auction value put at between Sh1 million and Sh1.5 million, the painting shattered the fences of its valuation as the bidding war raged on.

The Tanzanian artist also had the second most expensive artwork of the night. His 1961 oil-on-canvas painting ‘Lusiki’, which features a woman in the nude lying on her side, sold for Sh1.6 million after five minutes of topsy-turvy bids. This was the first time ‘Lusiki’ was up for grabs at the event.

The Art Auction East Africa, organised by the Nairobi-based Circle Art Agency in conjunction with South African auction house Strauss and Co, saw collectors and enthusiasts gather in Nairobi’s Kilimani for a night of cut-throat bidding.

With the auction generating more than Sh29 million, it became the highest-grossing art sale of the last three years. In 2024, the organisers said, the auction generated more than Sh27 million.

In 2023, the total sales were Sh23.3 million. Sales for 2022 were above Sh30 million while the 2021 auction netted Sh25.25 million.

During Wednesday’s auction, 66 artworks were up for grabs, with the sales target being Sh27 million. Not only was the target surpassed by at least Sh2.7 million, but also there was a surge in the valuation of some of the items available.

Tanzanian artists bagged the top three slots of the most prized artworks of the night. With Francis claiming the first two, the third spot was taken by Sam Joseph Ntiro with his oil-on-canvas painting ‘Working in the Fields’ estimated to have been done in the 1970s. Sam, who died in 1993, posthumously saw his painting fetch Sh1.3 million.

Francis, on the other hand, studied art at Makerere University, where he was awarded the Trowell Prize for top performance.

He taught art at Nairobi and Kenyatta Universities from 1968 to 1973 before moving to California for 12 years to study on a scholarship. Studying art up to PhD level, he later returned to Kenyatta University where he lectured at the arts department.

The fourth most prized artwork was ‘Still Life’ by Ugandan artist Geoffrey Mukasa, who died in 2009. It sold for Sh1.2 million.

According to the auction organisers, Geoffrey is a Ugandan royalty. He spent part of his childhood in the King’s palace in Buganda. Following the coup of Idi Amin, Geoffrey left Uganda to study fine art at the Lucknow College of Arts and Crafts in India.

Coming fifth was the 2021 acrylic-on-canvas artwork ‘The Movement of Daisies’ by Sudanese artist Miska Mohammed that fetched Sh1.1 million.

The top four top-grossing artworks were in the ‘rare works’ category.

Speaking to the BDLife before the auction, Strauss  and  Co managing executive director, Susie Goodman, said: ‘We’re hoping to sell about Sh25 million to Sh26 million worth of art.’

Alastair Meredith, a senior art specialist at Strauss  and  Co, said there has been little exposure of some of the artists whose works were on offer, meaning not all in the audience appreciated ‘what artists, what modernists they were’.

Danda Jaroljmek, the director of the Circle Art Agency, who established Art Auction East Africa in 2013 as a platform to cultivate a secondary market for East African artists, said in a press release ahead of the auction that the works on sale, especially those from East Africa, ‘underscore the breadth of artistic practices over the past six decades’.

While it had earlier been indicated that the oldest item at the auction would be ‘Lusiki’, buyers were treated to a surprise treat of three paintings from 1926 by South Africa’s Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, who died in 1957.

Two of his works did not meet the reserve price, but one of them, ‘Mombasa’, sold for Sh446,120. It was done with watercolour and pencil on paper.

Kenyan artists had a night of mixed fortunes at the auction. The Kenyan artist with the most sought-after item for the evening was Justus Kyalo, whose 2021 painting ‘More Light a Little’ fetched Sh1 million after three minutes of bidding.

Justus, who is trained as an illustrator, is a celebrated artist whose work can be found in many collections including KPMG, the French Embassy, Ford Foundation, Safaricom, and the World Bank in Washington.

The second most successful Kenyan was Beatrice Wanjiku, whose 2010 ‘We Are Who We Are’ snapped Sh938,200. Beatrice, an alumna of the Buruburu Institute of Fine Arts, has created works that have been exhibited and collected widely.

Another unique Kenyan project was a sculpture made collaboratively by Kenyan sculptor Gakunju Kaigwa and Zimbabwean sculptor Tapfuma Gutsa. Titled ‘Mami Wata’ and made just this year, it fetched Sh692,660, making it among the top 12 sellers of the night.

This was the first time that Strauss and Co was involved in the auction.

‘We are especially excited to deepen our engagement with artists, collectors, and institutions in East Africa. Strauss and Co has a global client base, and we are excited at the prospect of taking our clients on this exciting journey,’ said Ms Goodman ahead of the auction.

This year’s auction also saw the coming in of an art insurer – iTOO Insurance – that was brought in by Strauss and Co. Gail Bosch, the iTOO Artinsure Product Head, said in a press release that the firm is exploring the East African market.

‘With the worldwide popularity of African art, we are looking forward to offering our specialist cover for collectors and fine art dealers to the broader East African and African market and sharing our expertise,’ she noted.

Safaricom reported a 52.1 percent rise in its half-year profit to Sh42.7 billion, helped by a smaller loss in Ethiopia and M-Pesa’s double-digit growth.

Its net profit grew from Sh28.11 billion the previous year, and it expects to declare an interim dividend in February.

The Kenya business continued to be the main profit driver on the back of M-Pesa, the firm’s largest unit and on course to generate half of the telco’s revenues.

Its reported loss in Ethiopia dropped by 59 percent compared to the first half of the previous financial year, which was heavily impacted by a depreciation of the birr currency.

The loss in Ethiopia that is attributed to Safaricom dropped to Sh15.2 billion from Sh19.4 billion in the same period a year earlier, translating to a gain of Sh4.2 billion.

Safaricom launched in Ethiopia in 2022 as the Addis government opened up the tightly-controlled economy to foreign competition and is hoping its presence in Africa’s second most populous country will power future growth.

Its diversification from the saturated voice and SMS business is paying off, with M-Pesa, mobile data and fixed internet emerging as sales drivers.

Revenue growth

Safaricom’s revenue rose to Sh199.9 billion in the six months to September, from Sh179.9 billion in the same period a year earlier, reflecting a 11.1 percent growth.

Revenue from mobile financial service M-Pesa rose to Sh88.1 billion from Sh77.2 billion previously, reflecting a growth of 14 percent.

‘In Ethiopia, currency reforms are starting to create a more liquid market and losses in our business have reduced by 20 percent as our business matures, even as current and pricing reform challenges persist,’ Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said at a briefing.

‘New areas like insurance and investment have allowed us to add more value to the M-Pesa base we have. So, if you have a boda boda rider with a connectivity solution, and then we provide insurance, they will see more value from Safaricom.’

At 2.30 pm, the firm’s shares were trading at Sh29.70 compared to Wednesday’s closing price of Sh29.90 at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, where it has gained 81.76 percent since the start of the year.

Safaricom is also ramping up its data business to offset a decline in mobile calls on increased investments in 4G and 5G networks, as voice saw a small revenue fall due to saturation and rivals like WhatsApp.

The voice business recorded a 0.5 percent decline in revenues to Sh41 billion, marking a big shift as mobile data for the first time overtook sales from calls.

The telco has, in the past five years, raced to convert millions of 2G and 3G users to 4G and some to 5G.

This has come through partnerships like the one with Google, where they are offering affordable smartphones, with customers paying as little as Sh20 a day for nine months.

Besides M-Pesa, data is one of Safaricom’s fastest-growing revenue lines, and it hopes that increased smartphone usage will boost it further.

Revenue from mobile data, where Safaricom has been aggressively fighting for market share, rose 18.2 percent to Sh44.4 billion, while fixed internet to homes and offices rose 10 percent to Sh9.1 billion.

‘We have seen a shift during the first half, indicating changes in customer preference where we have seen voice and messaging revenues drop, but this has been compensated by the growth in mobile data,’ said Dilip Pal, Safaricom chief finance officer.

‘Mobile data revenue has for the first time surpassed voice revenue and now accounts for 21 percent of total service revenue. The number to look at is 4G devices within our network and from that, the number of customers using more than 1GB (one-gigabyte) of data per month has increased.’

Revenues from SMS dropped 10.9 percent to Sh5.5 billion as messaging apps like WhatsApp continue to munch its market share.

The shifts in earnings reflect Safaricom’s alteration from a telecom firm to a technology and financial services company offering loans to insurance and unit trusts.

Safaricom expects to make a profit in Ethiopia in the year ending March 2027.

The Senate has asked the High Court to dismiss a petition by techies who are opposed to a law granting immunity to global tech firms such as Meta and Google, from prosecution for labour and human rights violations.

Senate says the case challenging the Business Laws (Amendment) Bill 2024 is speculative and premature.

The Bill, which grants tech companies immunity from being sued in Kenya for labour and human rights violations, has since been transmitted to the National Assembly for consideration.

There are ongoing court cases where workers including content moderators have sued Meta- the owner of Facebook, for alleged human rights violations and toxic work environment.

The techies are apprehensive that if passed into law, the Act will prevent future legal action against global tech firms, for similar abuses.

‘The orders sought in the application and the petition further violate the principle of separation of powers that requires each arm of government to carry out their roles independently and without interference from the other arms of government,’ the Senate said in response.

The Senate added it was not necessary to grant the orders stopping the processing of the Bill, as the court can still exercise its powers in the event it is passed into law.

According to the Senate, the lawmakers passed the Bill pursuant to their constitutional mandate and the orders being sought were therefore, an affront to the legislative role of Parliament.

The court directed the tech workers to serve the court documents on the National Assembly and set the case for mention on November 25, for directions.

The 34 tech workers stated that while the Senate had asked the public to submit memoranda on the Bill, no real effort was made to consider the documents.

Further, they said a public participation report was not presented to the Senate, and the tech workers were, therefore, denied an opportunity to meaningfully participate in the legislative process.

Tech workers said of interest to them is Clause 10 of the Bill, which provides that in cases where tech workers have been engaged through Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies acting as agents for tech companies, it is the BPO that would be liable for any claim raised by tech workers regardless of whether another party (the tech company) was responsible for providing the tools of trade and was the sole beneficiary of the tech worker’s labour.

The impact of the provision, argued tech workers, is to cushion tech companies from being held accountable for violations of Kenyan laws.

‘While the Business Laws (Amendment) Bill has yet to be considered by the National Assembly and therefore yet to become law, the harm addressed by this Petition has materialised, making this Petition one that is ripe for consideration by the court,’ stated the petition.

The petitioners pointed out that the extensive use of these technology services in Kenya and in Africa has created a huge appetite for tech workers to power their operations.

The High Court this week quashed the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (Sasra) guidelines that had compelled saccos to start making provisions on the billions of shillings invested in Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives (Kuscco).

The directive, issued mid-January 2025, came after a forensic audit revealed Kuscco suffered a Sh13.3 billion heist under the watch of former officials who have since been charged in court.

Sasra acting CEO David Sandagi spoke to the Business Daily on his reading of the court’s judgment and the way forward for the sector, given that the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are applied globally.

What is your reading of the court’s decision to quash Sasra’s guidelines on making provisions following the discovery of fraud at Kuscco?

That is the position of the law in interpreting our guidance note, and we respect it. At the end of the day, the Statutory Instruments Act requires statutory instruments, as defined, to be canvassed in a manner that befits what public participation ought to be.

Where does this judgment leave the sector, given that IFRS 9 is global and this standard is one of its guidelines to the accounting profession when making decisions and preparing financial reports?

Our guideline was just an emphasis of the IFRS 9-a standard which cannot be waived. We are talking about the standard on ensuring fair statement of assets in financial statements are made.

In the context of finance professionals, whose practice is dictated by standards and law, they cannot stop using the standard.

There is the interpretation through the courts about the accounting and reporting standards, and there is the expectation of directors in ensuring that the firms they oversee prepare and provide financial statements that reflect a true and fair view.

What are the next steps now?

Reporting standards go beyond just impairment. Even for comparison, when we want to compare how the sector in Kenya is performing versus Canada, we rely on IFRS for comparisons. Our engagements with saccos will continue. The standard exists, and the law exists. I don’t want to reinterpret a judgment, but I want to state that the financial reporting standards remain standard.

And maybe what that [court judgment] could imply is that whereas there was an agreed-upon period [from Sasra] where these impairment losses would be recognised, it would hit saccos a bit harder because they would now be required to make a one-off impairment provision in line with IFRS 9.

Sasra came under criticism for issuing the guidance for staggered provisioning as opposed to one-off provisioning in line with IFRS 9. Was your guideline a misstep right from the beginning?

Not really. That [one-off provisioning] would have left so many saccos in challenges if they were to do that.

Regulators come in to guide the methodology of adopting standards. As regulators, we have the responsibility to assess the status of the industry and provide a certain path that does not expose the industry to many more macroeconomic risks.

It is our prerogative to ensure stability. So, it was about assessing the realities and making reasonable trade-offs. For instance, right now we are required to have adopted IFRS S1 (General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information) and IFRS S2 (Climate-related Disclosures), but it is phased.

What will be your take on any sacco that may deem this judgment as something that tells them not to make provisions as is required by IFRS 9?

The standard has not been waived. The judgment has nothing to do with the standard. It has everything to do with our guidance note. The standard remains. The law remains.

It is not just about Kuscco. It is about the impairment losses and the requisite accounting treatment that the industry ought to comply with in terms of standards, laws, policies and regulations.

Finally, provisioning does not mean that when saccos are eventually able to realise returns from their investments – such as inflows generated from those investments- they are forfeiting those assets. In other words, making a provision does not mean letting go of the investment.

There are activities that the ministry [of co-operatives] is pursuing to help bring back and steady Kuscco. It is not a lost cause. It’s not a write-off and forget situation. When conditions improve, saccos have a chance to book the money back in their books-again in line with the standard.

How will you handle saccos that read this judgment to mean no provisioning for the Kuscco hit?

The point is that the reporting standard, the legal requirements and the legal expectations of the board of directors are not as discretionary as they would be made to appear.

The sacco business is not a Shylock arrangement. There are very clear tenets, and they will guide how we interact beyond this judgment. At the end of the day, the law remains as is, and the standard has not been waived.

Some entities have already made 100 percent provisions, and their boards are comfortable with the decisions that they made from their level of assessment of the likelihood of loss from Kuscco and other transactions.

We are not opposing the judgment. This will accord us an opportunity to engage while acknowledging that the standard and the law remain. Some entities have made 100 percent provisions from their level of assessment of likely losses, and their boards are okay with it.

The judgment does not contradict the standard. It leaves it to the leadership of the board and management of each sacco to assess and make provisions in line with the standard. And the standard says ‘one-off.’

So it cannot be that saccos won’t apply it.

In Kenya, we are also guided by the Accountants Act, the Sacco Societies Act and the International Financial Reporting Standards.

The determination of whether an asset is likely to generate future cash inflows – and consequently, whether it should be impaired – is not a vague or subjective exercise. It is guided by clear criteria. An entity cannot continue to recognise an item as an asset for years when it no longer meets the definition of an asset, particularly in terms of its ability to generate cash flows and satisfy other recognition criteria.

Given the vibrancy of Kenya’s sacco movement in Africa and globally, what measures are being implemented to ensure the sector remains competitive and aligned with financial best practices?

We are coming to a place where, through the ministry and the guidance and leadership of the Cabinet Secretary [Wycliffe Oparanya], the focus is to strengthen the regulatory standing of Sasra as well as the compliance levels within the sector.

We are talking about a country with the largest sacco sector in Africa and the seventh in the world. We need to ensure we fully comply with all overarching reporting standards, including sustainability. As we head there, we have a roadmap through the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya.

The market value of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) closed above Sh3 trillion for the first time in the wake of a remarkable rally that began last year and was then turbocharged by Safaricom’s profit announcement on Thursday.

The value of all stocks at the Nairobi bourse rose to Sh3.044 trillion at the close of trading yesterday, up from Sh2.991 trillion on Wednesday.

Analysts say the 2025 market rally has ridden on the back of lower returns on fixed income assets, including Treasury bills and bonds.

This has pushed investors to pour cash into shares, with the NSE posting a return of 56.9 percent since the start of the year and increasing equity owners’ paper wealth by Sh1.1 trillion.

The return beats other asset classes like bonds, real estate and fixed bank deposits.

On Thursday, Safaricom and KCB helped lift the market above the Sh3 trillion mark after threatening for days to hit the milestone.

Safaricom’s value grew Sh16 billion on Thursday to Sh1.213 trillion after its stock rose to Sh30.30 from Sh29.90 from Wednesday’s close on the day it reported a 52 percent jump in half-year profits.

Safaricom’s net income rose to Sh42.7 billion in the six months through September from Sh28.1 billion a year earlier after narrowing losses in its Ethiopian operations and double-digit growth in M-Pesa revenues.

KCB’s share price rose from Sh63.25 to Sh69 on Thursday, adding Sh18.5 billion to the market.

Gains in blue chips, including Safaricom, Equity and KCB, are behind the surge in the market valuation.

Small caps like Sameer Africa, Home Afrika and NSE have chalked gains of 515 percent, 205 percent and 236 percent, respectively.

‘It has to do with investors turning on risk as interest rates come down. As the returns from fixed income fall, investors seeking higher returns have had to re-profile their portfolios towards equities,’ said Wesley Manambo, a Senior Research Analyst at Standard Investment Bank (SIB), in an earlier interview.

Investors have taken advantage of long periods of market undervaluation to pile into stocks on the expectation of a recovery and higher gains.

Corporate earnings are expected to sustain the momentum of stocks into the end of the year and early 2026 in what could favour blue chip counters that are largely preferred by foreign and local institutional investors because of their profits and dividends track record.

Banks are expected to continue growing their profitability on the back of cost containment measures as they find efficiency in digital investments and lower their loan-loss provision costs.

‘For as long as there is liquidity in the market, the demand for stocks will always outstrip supply, sending share prices higher,’ Mr Manambo added.

The return of foreign investors who have remained net sellers for most of the year could also fuel the extension of the rally.

Of the Sh1.1 trillion gain, the top five counters-Safaricom, Equity, KCB, East Africa Breweries Limited (EABL) and NCBA -accounted for over 72 percent of the gains.

This reflects the outsized influence of the counters, which makes it difficult to gauge the performance of the NSE.

The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has raised alarm over the dominance of a handful of counters on the market and has been seeking interventions to ease their stranglehold.

My cousin’s job was winding down, so I met him briefly at Kettle House on Nairobi’s Muthangari Road to offer moral support-with a few beers, of course. He’s not one to lament, this cousin. Very stoic. He talks about losing a job the same way you’d talk about losing a sock-mild inconvenience, nothing personal. And those are the ones to watch; the ones who don’t show emotion.

I hadn’t been to Kettle House since pre-Covid. The last time I was there, a woman was beating a man with her purse outside by the roadside at 2am. That was fun to watch. The whole place has mutated.

There’s now a massive tented section that looks like another bar altogether, flashing lights and a deejay going by the name Me Super Fly. I found parking inside, a big mistake, as I’d soon learn. Cars were packed like sardines. [Pro tip: don’t park inside unless you plan to leave at dawn.

He comes here often, my cousin, and he’d warned me that the place doesn’t pick up until much later. At that hour, the deejay was just stretching, warming up, testing the limits of our patience.

Our waitress was a young Congolese girl with an opaque smile. ‘You are very far from home,’ I told her. She tried to talk us into ordering Ugandan food. The irony didn’t escape me, a Congolese selling Ugandan cuisine in Kenya.

Later, I spotted a friend I hadn’t seen in dog years. She was drinking cider with another lady. They joined our table. Mid-conversation, her friend leaned in and said, ‘That man over there looks familiar. I can’t place him.’

Four men sat at a table nearby. One had that kind of face that you are sure you have seen but can’t recall where. My friend squinted. ‘That’s Sudi,’ she whispered. Her friend groaned. ‘Oh boy.’

The music got better, or maybe it was the drinks. The crowd swelled with night’s usual suspects: everyone chasing something they wouldn’t find. Kettle House, I noticed, isn’t for the fainthearted. It’s for people who take fun seriously, who go home at sunrise, or sometimes, not at all.