Category: Business Daily

When jazz icon Kenny G performed in Nairobi recently, the event signaled how organisations are rethinking engagement with their clients. Clients across the region are demanding more exclusivity, cultural connection, and lifestyle immersion, seeking service providers that are not just transactional, but entrenched in their day-to-day experiences.

For decades, client management in East Africa focused on products and solutions. These remain important, but a new dimension is reshaping the client relationship. Cultural experiences, art, travel, and wellness now define value for individuals, with a focus on brands that understand and cater to clients’ aspirations.

The numbers underscore why this shift is significant. With globalisation and exposure to shared experiences, many clients now have a global outlook and compare their in-country experiences to those abroad. For institutions therefore, the real differentiator lies in intertwining experiences with products or solutions.

In East Africa, weaving cultural capital into client relationships matters. For instance, a seat at a Kenny G performance, offered through a private invitation, signals recognition and appreciation in a way that standard reports or statements never can.

By drawing intersections between work, culture, and leisure, brands are better positioned to leave an impression that deepens loyalty far more than a quarterly statement ever could. The creative industry, which often evokes a sense of belonging and cultural appreciation, can enable this.

The creative economy offers a natural platform for this shift. Kenya’s film industry already contributes about $130 million (Sh20 billion) annually to gross domestic product (GDP), with potential to reach $260 million (Sh40 billion).

Policymakers aim to double the sector’s share of GDP to 10 percent by 2025. Tanzania’s arts and entertainment sector grew by 17.7 percent in 2023, making it the fastest-expanding industry in the country.

Uganda’s film festivals are gaining continental recognition, while Rwanda’s fashion sector is attracting international partnerships. These industries remain underfunded and underexposed.

When organisations underwrite performances, festivals, and exhibitions, they not only delight clients but also strengthen sectors that create jobs and shape national identity.

The benefit flows both ways. Sponsoring cultural events enhances reputation, associating institutions with sophistication, creativity, and global ambition. It demonstrates that living joyfully is not just personal, but collective.

By celebrating the arts, organisations help communities thrive, create spaces of pride and inspiration, and show that progress can be measured in both prosperity and joy.

This approach also responds to a growing risk. Clients who feel unrecognised can easily switch to international firms or move onto digital platforms that provide global access and concierge-style services.

Local institutions risk losing not only deposits but also reputation if they fail to adapt. The cost of inaction is therefore rising in step with the expectations of clients who have more choices than ever before.

Competition in East Africa is heating up. Financial institutions, consultants, and multinational firms are all chasing the same circle of decision makers and entrepreneurs.

Those who move beyond traditional hospitality to offer meaningful cultural connections stand out. They do not just manage finances but also enrich the lives of those who create them.

As Kenny G’s saxophone filled the Nairobi night, the real message was not in the performance but in what it represented.

Organisations that design distinctive experiences across the region, from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam, Kampala to Kigali, will capture and retain clients who define East Africa’s future and help them live joyfully and share that joy widely.

The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has unconditionally approved French infrastructure investor Stoa’s $27 million (Sh3.5 billion) bid to acquire Atlas Tower Kenya Limited.

Atlas, owned by Kalahari Capital LLC, has been operating in Kenya since 2019 with more than 450 telecom towers to date, providing key connectivity infrastructure to local Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom.

Stoa, meanwhile, is an impact investment firm incorporated in France, specialising in investment in infrastructure and energy projects in emerging and developing countries.

The company, through Stoa Africa Limited, is acquiring a 31.03 percent minority shareholding with veto rights in Atlas Kenya to provide it with access to additional capital to expand its Kenyan operations.

According to the mobile and wireless infrastructure community TowerXchange, there were 12,555 telecommunication towers in Kenya as of January 2025.

Safaricom leads the market with 58.94 percent of the tower infrastructure footprint, followed by ATC Kenya with 32.64 percent, while Atlas Kenya has a 3.25 percent market share.

The CAK approved Stoa’s acquisition of Atlas, saying it will not affect the structure and concentration of the Kenyan telecoms market because the French firm is not engaged in a similar business.

‘The authority determined that the transaction is unlikely to lead to a substantial prevention or lessening of competition in the market for provision of telecommunication infrastructure in Kenya, nor elicit negative public interest concerns,’ said the competition watchdog.

Telecommunication towers are fitted with antennas, transmitters, and receivers to support cellular networks by enabling voice, data, and broadband connectivity.

However, mobile operators have recently been selling off much of their infrastructure to free up capital and lease towers from independent providers that own and manage their own infrastructure.

Through infrastructure sharing, tower companies can own and operate the passive infrastructure, then lease space, power, and other services to multiple MNOs and ISPs, reducing their capital expenditure on building their own infrastructure.

It also allows the network and internet service companies to deploy new services and upgrades quickly.

Providing tower infrastructure could also entail constructing a new tower at a specified site and within agreed timelines to meet a telco’s requirements.

In 2021, Atlas Kenya invested $48.9 million (Sh6.3 billion at current exchange rates) in the installation of 4G towers countrywide, with backing from the International Finance Corporation.

Now, with the Stoa acquisition, the tower company says it plans to boost its infrastructure portfolio and improve solar power and battery storage systems across its network.

‘We will scale our tower portfolio, strengthen the sustainability of our operations, improve power generation, and reach more communities with critical wireless infrastructure,’ said Randi Clendennen, Atlas Kenya Chief Strategy Officer.

Investors seeking higher returns have piled into the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), leaving the bourse on the verge of hitting a Sh3 trillion market capitalisation for the first time in history.

The Nairobi bourse on Wednesday closed at Sh2.991 trillion, up from Sh2.473 trillion in mid-July-offering investors a return of half a trillion shillings in the period under review.

The NSE has posted a return of 54.2 percent since the start of the year, beating other asset classes such as bonds, real estate and fixed bank deposits.

Gains in blue chips, including Safaricom, Equity and KCB, are behind the surge in the market valuation as small caps like Sameer Africa, Home Afrika and NSE have chalked gains of 572 percent, 253 percent and 244 percent, respectively.

Analysts say the 2025 market rally has ridden on the back of lower returns on fixed income assets, including Treasury bills and bonds, forcing investors to seek higher returns in alternative asset classes like equities.

‘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 reprofile their portfolios towards equities,’ said Wesley Manambo, a Senior Research Associate at Standard Investment Bank (SIB).

Kenya Power has led gains for the NSE’s 20 largest companies by market capitalisation, rising by 122.2 percent in the last six months to Sh14 per share from Sh6.30.

Electricity generating company KenGen has been the second highest growth counter, with its share price jumping 114.7 percent to Sh10.50 from Sh4.89 six months ago.

Other top grossing counters in the period have been NCBA, HF Group, Jubilee, Safaricom and KCB.

Investors’ paper wealth at the NSE has grown by more than Sh1 trillion (Sh1.05 trillion) since the start of 2025, the biggest jump ever.

The top five counters-Safaricom, Equity, KCB , East Africa Breweries Limited (EABL) and NCBA -accounting for 72.8 percent percent of the gains.

Safaricom has gained Sh513.9 billion since the start of the year ahead of Equity (Sh74.4 billion), KCB (Sh65.6 billion), EABL (Sh44.7 billion) and NCBA (Sh66.4 billion).

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 this stranglehold by the five firms.

‘By empowering investors with knowledge and information to make informed investment decisions, it will help reduce the inclination to concentrate investments in a limited number of dominant companies, thus having a more diverse and dynamic market environment which reduces the risks associated with excessive market concentration,’ the regulator said in a market soundness report last month.

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

The Nairobi bourse had been on an extended bear run from 2016 to the start of last year, marked with an initial public offering (IPO) drought, the fall of share prices and the exit of foreign investors.

An improved macroeconomic setting, including a low inflation rate and a stable exchange rate, has allowed the government to cut interest rates, dimming returns from the less risky Treasury bills and bonds.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has cut its benchmark interest rates by 3.75 percentage points since August of 2024, inducing the lower returns on government paper.

The return from government paper fell from a high of nearly 17 percent for the 364-day paper/one year Treasury bill to 9.3404 percent last week.

The single-digit returns on Treasury bills and bonds have prompted investors to shift and diversify away from the asset class to the stock market.

The NSE is closing in on a Sh3 trillion valuation for the first time ever, ahead of previous forecasts.

The CMA expected the bourse to reach the milestone next year, with the help of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC)’s IPO.

The government is seeking to sell a 65 percent stake in KPC in the race to raise Sh149 billion from the privatisation of State enterprises.

‘With the listing of KPC, this figure is projected to rise by at least Sh100 billion even before accounting for broader market reaction to such a positive development,’ CMA chief executive officer Wyckliffe Shamiah said in June.

‘If the initial public offering is successful and investor sentiment remains strong, market capitalisation could exceed Sh3 trillion by the close of the financial year [June 2026].’

The NSE has not had an IPO since the listing of the Fahari Stanlib real estate investment trust (Reit) in October 2015.

Beyond the return of IPOs, company earnings and the availability of disposable cash by investors are expected to sustain the current market rally amid profit taking from stock sales.

Safaricom, the largest firm on NSE, is expected to influence the market, with its corporate performance linked to its exploits in Ethiopia.

Bank stocks are also a big factor in driving the market, and analysts expect their profit and dividend outlook to continue powering the NSE.

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

Local institutional and individual investors have been the major drivers of the NSE market recovery, which began in 2024, as foreign investors largely sit out.

The allure of relatively higher returns from buying equities in advanced markets such as the US, the United Kingdom and Japan have seen the offshore investors ignore the more than 50 percent NSE gains.

The global equities market has remained potent in 2025, supercharged by artificial intelligence (AI) as the largest firms become vendors and buyers of AI infrastructure in a race for automation of everyday tasks such as computer programming, sales and even driving.

The US market observed the third-year anniversary of its current bull run in October this year, with the global rally

The concentration of software engineers relative to population in Kenya is Africa’s sixth highest, with 1,095 techies in every one million people, highlighting the country’s rising digital talent momentum.

Kenya’s concentration of techies is placed behind Tunisia, which has 4,120 developers per a million people, South Africa (2,234), Mauritius (1,345), Morocco (1,345) and Egypt (1,224).

The rising generation of software engineers is shaping Kenya’s innovation narrative as the digital layer becomes central to payments, logistics, agriculture, retail, energy and health delivery, among others.

Data from the Commission for University Education (CUE) shows that computer programming and software development contributed 4.6 percent of all graduates to the computing and ICT cluster during the academic year ended April 2024.

This signals that more students are moving into specialised technical workstreams that have high scalability and direct commercialisation routes.

Kenya currently has 18 institutions of higher learning formally teaching artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, amplifying deep tech capacity building at a time global capital is increasingly prioritising proprietary models and advanced applied research talent.

More developers are also opting for on-demand work rather than traditional employment, with Kenya’s gig share at 56.1 percent, signalling a structural shift towards more flexible digital labour models.

This has compelled software companies to increasingly compete globally for local engineers, driving more engagement with dollar-paying platforms and AI-first venture labs as talent supply structurally fragments.

The fast expansion of engineering talent places Kenya in a stronger regional competitive position to capture higher volume outsourcing value rather than remaining a consumption market for global technology systems.

Earlier this year, a Future of Jobs forecast by the World Economic Forum identified tech-backed careers such as Big Data specialists, fintech engineers, AI and machine learning experts, and software developers among the roles expected to post the fastest percentage growth globally this year.

The report noted that although broad-based AI use among enterprises remains relatively low compared to more traditional technologies, adoption momentum is rising across sectors- even though progress is uneven and largely anchored on early mover industries.

Kenya Power is rationing electricity due to reduced supply in what has forced the country to increasingly rely on Ethiopia and Uganda for its energy needs.

President William Ruto made the stark admission on Tuesday, revealing that Kenya Power has been forced to cut off electricity supplies to some regions between 5pm and 10pm as the country grapples with reduced local generation.

‘In Kenya, between 5:00pm and 10pm, we have to do load shedding. We have to shut off power in some areas to be able to power others because our energy is not enough,’ Dr Ruto said while addressing the United Nations Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha, Qatar.

‘Energy deficits hold back opportunities.’

The Ministry of Energy had not responded to queries on the regions most affected by the load shedding and the amount of additional electricity needed to end this crisis.

Kenya’s electricity reserves are under intense pressure amid rising demand.

The energy woes have been compounded by a freeze on new power purchase agreements (PPAs), which means that Kenya Power cannot bring more producers to the grid to supply clean and affordable electricity.

This had forced Kenya to increasingly rely on Ethiopia for its power needs, with imports jumping from 337 million kWh in 2022 to 1.53 billion kWh in the year to June.

Rationing of electricity is used to prevent overloads on the system and countrywide blackouts whenever supply is lower than demand.

Without Ethiopia’s power, Kenya would have been pushed into an electricity crisis that would have prompted blackouts and power rationing running for hours on alternating days.

This had the potential to slow down economic growth, increase the cost of doing business as firms tap costly generators and make the country unattractive as a destination for foreign capital.

Kenya Power has not signed any new PPAs since 2018 following a freeze imposed by the Cabinet, which was later extended by Parliament. This has left Kenya in a situation where local generation lags behind the growth in demand.

The freeze on new PPAs was meant to allow for scrutiny of the existing ones amid concerns that Kenya Power was tied to expensive deals with electricity generators, ultimately denying consumers cheaper electricity.

Imports accounted for 10.6 percent or 1.53 billion units of the 14.38 billion units bought by Kenya Power in the year to June 2025, up from 4.87 percent in June 2023 and one percent in 2021.

Besides the reduced supply, an aging grid has also prompted power rationing in a bid to prevent the system from collapsing whenever demand surges.

The Ministry of Energy announced plans to ration electricity, especially in western Kenya from September last year as a short-term measure to reduce the electricity load and thus keep the grid stable whenever demand surges.

Inability of the aging grid to accommodate sudden increase in the flow of electricity has in the past thrown the country into blackouts, prompting the ministry to cut off some areas to protect the lines.

Kenya Power says that it needs billions of shillings to revamp the lines and ensure that they are able to accommodate the sudden load surges.

But it is the low local generation compared to a fast-rising demand which remains the biggest headache to the utility firm’s efforts to avert rationing.

Kenya recorded seven new peak demands last year alone, pointing to the rapidly growing appetite for electricity.

Peak demand for electricity- the time when energy consumption is at its highest point- grew by 243 megawatts (MW) between 2022 and August this year while local generation has increased marginally due to the freeze on new PPAs.

The highest peak demand remains the 2,392 MW that was recorded in August this year amid increased connections and economic activities.

Demand for electricity in Kenya is highest between 1900 hours-2100 hours, the time when Kenya Power is forced to cut off some regions in order to protect the grid.

Load shedding, also known as rolling blackouts, refers to scenarios where a power utility, in this case Kenya Power, is forced to cut off supply in some regions. This helps to prevent overloads on the grid whenever demand outstrips supply.

The forced power rationing explains why Kenya Power is seeking an additional 50-100 MW from Ethiopia to meet the surge in demand in the evenings.

Kenya Power opened talks with Ethiopia Electric Power in March this year for additional supply outside the 200MW being imported under the PPA that Nairobi penned with Addis Ababa in 2022.

The imports from Ethiopia will double from December 2026 in line with provisions of the PPA, which also allows Kenya Power to re-negotiate the prices.

It is black November. The Christmas and New Year festivities fever is once again here with us. And as usual, during these times, our consumption spending is rising sharply.

The increased spending is on celebratory purchases of all kinds, ranging from hosting ceremonies, gifts, food, decorations, and travel.

Unfortunately, we will spend money we don’t have. Studies indicate that many families will spend more than their monthly income in the next two months to fund festive activities.

Why is this so? Kenya, like many liberal capitalist economies, has gradually shifted from a market economy to a market society, where nearly every aspect of life is now transactional and commercialised.

Social interactions that once depended on community reciprocity now require money. This means we can no longer rely on relatives or neighbours for ‘free’ assistance.

The consequences are evident in the widening gap between the wealthy and the poor. The more things we need money to buy, the more severe the effects of inequality become. Rising inequality weakens social cohesion, diminishes trust, and undermines confidence in institutions.

Money is now the main determinant of enjoying social interaction, let alone fun opportunities, and is even a requirement for acceptance into relationships. Those without adequate resources during this festive season face serious isolation and loneliness.

Without money, life is hard. The festive season magnifies these hardships, especially for low- and middle-income households.

To deal with this, many families will have to go for very expensive short-term credit to meet the social expectations and personal needs, placing further strain on household finances and the credit market in the coming months. ‘Njaanuary’ always comes.

In this economy, low-income households are more disadvantaged. They are faced with limited access to affordable credit, which reduces opportunities for entrepreneurship and asset accumulation. Over time, inequality hardens into structural poverty.

Addressing these disparities requires institutions that distribute not only income but also opportunity and social capital. Kenya’s cooperative movement provides a credible response to these challenges.

Rooted in collective self-help, savings and credit cooperatives (saccos) embody economic democracy by pooling resources to serve members rather than external shareholders. They mitigate market failures through shared governance, risk pooling, and local knowledge, enabling small savers to access credit, lower borrowing costs, and promote inclusive growth.

The move toward a market society has intensified inequality and eroded social trust. Already, we see complaints of dire poverty amid economic progress and positive macroeconomics. The cooperative sector could ensure that prosperity is shared more equitably across society.

The telos of saccos is member empowerment. As households prepare for the festive season, saccos should step in and provide affordable loans, flexible repayment terms, and a culture of savings and accountability to its members to restore their dignity and welfare.

According to the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (Sasra), the sector’s total assets is now more than Sh1 trillion, equivalent to about 6.4 percent of Kenya’s gross domestic product. Total membership is approaching eight million Kenyans, nearly 30 percent of the working population.

Clearly, saccos are now vital channels for household savings and credit, especially low-income workers and small-scale traders. They finance housing, education, agriculture, and business development, areas often neglected by commercial banks.

It is time for government and regulators, including Sasra, the CBK and Treasury to recognize the impact and role of Saccos and the cooperative movement in addressing pressing social welfare concerns of Kenyans, including cushioning the vulnerable groups in our society from market shocks.

With the right policy support, Saccos can play a greater role in financing micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), facilitating agricultural value chains, and mobilising domestic savings for productive investment. As Kenya seeks to reduce inequality and sustain growth, the cooperative movement remains one of the most effective instruments for inclusive finance.

In the credit market, there are many tools and solutions that are already supporting Saccos leverage data and technology to drive sustainability in saving and credit risk management.

Already Sasra is doing a lot in strengthening of governance, expanding digital systems, and adopting risk-based supervision.

‘We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them,’ advised Albert Einstein.

Is it true that a well defined problem is 90 percent solved? How does one apply the martial art of jiu-jitsu to business problems? Why is it that managers like to use the words ‘challenge’ or ‘issue’? Who was born in Kampala in October 1991 that confronts Donald Trump’s thinking? Are our brains inherently lazy? Is not knowing helpful?

Problems define us. Declining profitability, making a loss, or even trying to sell a product that a competitor offers for free like WhatsApp, can be devastating.

Africa’s got talent

Aspiring problem solver Zohran Mamdani, 34, born in Uganda, was just elected mayor of New York City with its annual budget of $119 billion. Running on a platform of addressing affordable living for stressed New Yorkers, Mamdani’s success shows what imagination and focus can achieve.

Jiu-jitsu is a martial art that revolves around the concept that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend themselves against a bigger, stronger opponent by using leverage and weight distribution.

Quite simply, they use the opponent’s supposed strengths to their disadvantage. Both Mamdani and astute business leaders are able to reframe the problem to their advantage.

In business, the bigger the problem on your job description, the bigger the pay package.

Lazy, designed to conserve energy

‘The human brain is a fantastic piece of machinery. But it is inherently lazy. It’s optimised to save energy, and as such, it has some properties that make us work in a lazy manner.

The brain consumes about the equivalent of 20W of power within an order of magnitude more than existing supercomputers. Remember, the brain is lazy. Its purpose is not to be an analytical machine. Its main purpose is to go back to idle mode and to consume as little energy as possible,’ writes Alexander Winkler.

Our brains often find the most energy-efficient and least time-consuming solution to a problem. That’s why managers ‘cut and paste’ and love ChatGPT, yes, a useful tool, but not at the expense of critical thinking.

Easier to take business plans off the shelf, copy competitors, rather than come up with a distinctive [not the obvious] strategy, consuming time and energy.

Notice that for CEO’s, if something worked before, they are inclined to apply the same solution again and again, given the risk is perceived to be reduced. While reuse is not a bad thing by definition, to save energy, the brain uses a quick ‘down sampling’ of memories and removes outliers over time.

The truth is out there

Design thinking applied by start-ups, goes to the customer, observing the problems the user actually faces, not what one guesses they need.

Imagine Sarah the young tarmacking graduate who takes the time to diagnose a persistent problem Acacia company is having. Seeing the wisdom of her energetic thinking, she lands an internship, giving her precious job experience.

Can you fight reality? Helps to understand how the other person thinks. What influences them? How do they see the business marketplace? Somehow one has to notice the unnoticed, be able to connect the dots – and see patterns in what often seems chaos.

‘Material for our work surrounds us at every turn. It’s woven into conversation, nature, chance encounters, and existing works of art. When looking for a solution to a creative problem, pay close attention to what’s happening around you. Look for clues pointing to new methods or ways to further develop current ideas. These transmissions are subtle: they are ever present, but they’re easy to miss. If we aren’t looking for clues, they’ll pass by without us ever knowing. Notice connections and consider where they lead. When something out of the ordinary happens, ask yourself why? What’s the message? What could be the greater meaning?’ writes Rick Rubin.

Have a beginner’s mind

Taking on a beginner’s mindset is a difficult-to-get-to ‘state of being’ to dwell in because it involves letting go of what our experiences have taught us. Remember, our default thinking mode is ‘I am right’ always protecting our ego, trying to look good.

Business life is inherently unpredictable, tough to know what will happen by the end of the week. Sounds crazy, but imagine you are an alien from outer space who just landed on planet earth in Kiambu town, what would you see?

‘Beginner’s mind is starting from a pure child-like place of not knowing. Living in the moment with as few fixed beliefs as possible. Seeing things for what they are presented as. Tuning in to what enlivens us in the moment instead of what we think will work. Avoiding any preconceived ideas and accepted conventions limit what’s possible.’

‘We tend to believe that the more we know, the more clearly we can see the possibilities available. This is not the case. The impossible only becomes accessible when experience has not taught us limits. Did the computer win because it knew more than the grandmaster or because it knew less? There’s a great power in not knowing.

‘When faced with a challenging task, we may tell ourselves it’s too difficult, it’s not worth the effort, it’s not the way things are done, it’s not likely to work, or it’s not likely to work for us. If we approach a task with ignorance, it can remove the barricade of knowledge blocking progress. Curiously, not being aware of a challenge may be just what we need to rise to it,’ advises Rubin.

Switch the mode of thinking. Straight lines don’t exist in nature. Sometimes we need to take several steps back to move forward.

Kenyan agritech startup Farm to Feed has raised $1.5 million (Sh194 million) in capital to scale up its local operations and expand to other African markets.

Founded in 2021 by Claire van Enk, Anouk Boertien and Zara Benosa, the company’s B2B (business-to-business) platform aggregates produce from smallholder farmers, including items that are fit for consumption but are at risk of being wasted due to cosmetic issues such as size or shape.

By connecting farmers with businesses such as restaurants and food processors, the venture aims to boost farmers’ incomes, tackle food loss, and reduce methane emissions from rotting food.

The new funding comprises $1.27 million (Sh164 million) in equity investment, led by Delta40 Venture Studio and including the DRK Foundation, Catalyst Fund, Holocene, Marula Square, 54Co, Levare Ventures, and Mercy Corps Ventures.

It also includes some $230,000 (Sh29.7 million) in non-dilutive funding (where founders are not ceding shares) from the German development finance institution DEG’s DeveloPPP Ventures programme.

Farm to Feed says it has so far onboarded 6,500 farmers in five counties around Nairobi, and plans to put the new capital towards scaling operations across more parts of Kenya, where an estimated 40 percent of food produced is wasted before it reaches consumers.

‘This funding allows us to expand our reach, connecting more farmers to a market that is increasingly demanding sustainably produced food,’ Ms Enk, the CEO, told the Business Daily.

She added that they also intend to strengthen their digital platform, expand their new semi-processed product line and explore nearby regional markets.

‘We are using technology to defragment operations in the agriculture value chain and look forward to enhancing our systems to support expansion beyond borders and create an export market for local farmers,’ Ms Enk added.

According to a report by the World Resources Institute from September 2025, specific crops such as fruit, maize and potatoes in Kenya experience significant loss percentages due to poor infrastructure, substandard storage and high cosmetic standards for export.

Since 2021, Farm to Feed says it has grown 100 percent year-on-year, sold more than 2.1 million kilogrammes of produce and avoided 247 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent.

Delta40’s co-founder and managing partner, Lyndsay Holley Handler, said: ‘Whether through exports, B2B sales, or value addition, Farm to Feed is creating a true win-win-win for farmers, businesses, and the planet.’

The start-up’s latest funding follows a $1 million (Sh129 million) pre-seed (initial) investment in 2024 and brings to $1.7 million (Sh219.6 million) the total investment the venture has raised to date, as per its profile on Crunchbase, a business information provider.

Across East Africa, fuel is one of the highest operating costs for businesses, often accounting for 60 percent of a fleet’s entire budget.

Fluctuating global fuel prices create constant budgeting uncertainty, forcing companies to either absorb costs, which squeezes profits, or pass them on to customers, which can hurt competitiveness.

Figures from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) show that between 2021 and 2025, fuel prices in Kenya have risen by more than Sh70 due to increases in global landing costs, freight charges, as well as taxes and levies.

Yet, while the fluctuating oil prices contribute largely to the spiralling fuel expenses for businesses, many companies are losing millions for a different reason.

Due to a reliance on manual systems that are easy to manipulate and inefficient, many companies are losing millions through fuel theft and are spending more time on data entry than on key functions.

Think of paper logbooks, endless phone calls to approve fuelling and conducting monthly reconciliations to match receipts that never quite add up; these manual processes lead to losses that quietly drain profits.

According to estimates, businesses lose nearly 30 percent of productivity every year due to disconnected systems and manual data entry.

While businesses cannot control global fuel prices, they can control their fuel management through technology, which offers a more efficient and transparent way to manage expenses.

Research shows that digital tools can help businesses cut fuel costs by roughly 24 percent through route optimisation, real-time driver monitoring, prevention of fuel theft, minimising idle time and reducing maintenance expenses.

This digital approach isn’t a new idea; it’s a globally proven model.

You only need to look at market leaders like Wex and Corpay that have built massive businesses by helping companies simplify their fleet operations. Locally, we have integrated platforms like Pesapal Drive, which leverage technology to facilitate seamless fleet fuel management.

As global fuel prices continue to spiral, such tools can play a major role in enabling businesses to manage their expenses; however, integrating them into company operations introduces obstacles, which must be addressed for successful implementation.

Focusing on communication, resource allocation, and security planning can help to strengthen implementation efforts, helping businesses maximise the benefits of technological advancements.

Continuous digital upskilling can also help to equip organisations with the knowledge and skills required to integrate new technology into their operations effectively.

In addition, creating a culture that sees change as an opportunity rather than a threat by proactively sharing the reasons for the change and the benefits it will bring to organisations could enhance the adoption of emerging technologies.

A recent Business Daily article – IMF raises alarm over static Kenya shilling versus dollar-has set off a fresh wave of commentary about the exchange-rate policy.

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) public posture and press coverage are important and deserve scrutiny.

However, before concluding that exchange-rate ‘stability’ is automatically wrong or costly, it is worth taking a clear-eyed, evidence-based look at the facts on the ground.

In short, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with a stable currency.

On the contrary, a stable foreign-exchange environment can be a sign of well-functioning markets and effective central bank policy. It helps traders, importers and exporters plan, reduces hedging costs, and limits the inflationary pass-through from imported prices. The suggestion that stability alone is a problem risks fixing what is not broken.

It is important to start with the IMF’s public statements. An IMF staff team visited Nairobi in late September or early October 2025 to assess Kenya’s macroeconomic position and discuss a possible Fund-supported programme.

The Fund emphasised the need for macroeconomic stability, debt sustainability and market-based exchange rate flexibility as routine elements of its advice.

At some public forums and press accounts, IMF staff and some media characterised the shilling’s behaviour as ‘too stable,’ implying that the exchange rate may not be responding sufficiently to market signals and could be complicating monetary policy transmission.

Nevertheless, there are important nuances that were either omitted or not sufficiently emphasised in this account. First, the IMF’s standard policy advice that exchange rates should be primarily market-determined is a general principle, not a one-size-fits-all edict.

Secondly, the mere observation that an exchange rate is stable is not, by itself, proof of harmful intervention or of lost competitiveness.

To find the underlying cause of it, one has to examine the reserves, market liquidity, the composition of capital and current account flows, and whether monetary policy is achieving its objectives. On the face of these metrics, you begin to see where that stability is coming from.

A few critical facts should guide any assessment.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) publications show usable reserves comfortably above four months of import cover.

For example, the CBK weekly and monthly bulletins report reserves and comment that usable reserves were around $12.1 billion, which is over five months of import cover in October 2025. Adequate reserves are a key buffer that allows the central bank to ensure orderly markets and to cushion shocks.

Recent government arrangements to secure oil on 180-day credit terms from suppliers materially reduce immediate dollar demand for fuel imports, which historically has exerted pressure on the shilling.

Such supply-side arrangements relieve short-term import financing stress and therefore contribute to exchange-rate stability without implying artificial suppression of price discovery.

Market quotes in 2025 repeatedly show the shilling trading in a narrow band around Sh129-130 per dollar at times, with small day-to-day movement.

A narrow trading band is not evidence of suppression by itself – it reflects the supply/demand balance in the interbank market in that period.

Taken together, these facts suggest a mixture of adequate reserves, robust forex inflows (remittances and services revenues), credit arrangements for critical imports, and transparent CBK market operations plausibly explain the shilling’s stability. A stable exchange rate regime can be beneficial to the economy as a whole, presenting a win-win position.

Importers, exporters, and transporters can budget, price and hedge with more confidence when exchange-rate movements are moderate and predictable.

Frequent, large swings in the exchange rate are costly: they increase the need for expensive hedges, push up working capital requirements, and discourage long-term contracts. A stable shilling, therefore, reduces frictional costs for trade.

If the IMF’s message is that markets should be allowed to signal problems when they arise, that is a standard and fair point. If the IMF’s public statements imply that any period of low exchange-rate volatility is necessarily a problem, then that is an overreach that requires correction.

The public and market participants are best served when international institutions and local policymakers continue to publish the data that lets everyone judge for themselves.

Kenya imports a substantial share of its energy and intermediate goods.

Large currency depreciations translate into immediate increases in imported fuel and commodity costs that feed into domestic inflation. Stability supports the central bank’s inflation-targeting framework by limiting imported inflation shocks and making monetary policy more effective.

Financial institutions and corporates face lower costs for hedging and for cross-border settlement when currency volatility is low. That increases the economy’s operational efficiency and reduces marginal costs for firms that rely on imported inputs.

Investors, both domestic and foreign, prefer predictable operating environments. Exchange-rate stability reduces one source of macroeconomic uncertainty and improves the business climate.

These benefits are not abstract but tangible, measurable impacts on the cost of doing business and on macroeconomic stability.

Several plausible, benign explanations can account for the shilling’s limited movement.

Worker remittances, tourism revenues and services exports have strengthened Kenya’s external receipts in recent periods. When such inflows are sustained, they increase the supply of foreign exchange and dampen volatility.

The CBK’s published methodology for the exchange rates, which is a weighted average of registered trades, and frequent published bulletins improve price discovery.

The CBK may also conduct operations aimed at smoothing spikes that is an accepted practice in many emerging markets while leaving the market’s price-setting role intact.

The oil credit facilities and extended supplier credit terms reduce the immediate dollar demand for imports and therefore reduce pressure on the exchange rate. This is pragmatic import financing management.

Large usable reserves make it easier for the CBK to support orderly conditions during temporary shocks without making a long-term commitment to an official exchange-rate peg. The CBK’s weekly bulletins explicitly note that reserves remain adequate as alluded earlier in this article.

It is worth acknowledging where the IMF’s caution may have legitimate grounding.

If domestic policy is unsustainable, stability can be temporary and end in a disruptive depreciation later. The IMF’s caution is often framed as a preventive concern about long-term competitiveness.

Very tight management of the exchange rate can make it harder for monetary policy to control inflation or for the exchange rate to perform its shock-absorbing role.

These are sensible, technical points. However, the detail is in the data and the execution. Are reserves adequate? Is the stability supported by balanced flows and policy coherence? Is monetary policy achieving its inflation target? On those questions, the data point to a more favourable picture for Kenya.

For a country like Kenya, which is working to preserve macro stability while addressing debt sustainability, a constructive path would be to continue and deepen public reporting on Forex liquidity, usable reserves (and how they are calculated), composition of inflows (remittances, tourism, export receipts), and any exceptional operations the CBK conducts to smooth volatility.

The IMF and CBK should publish a joint technical note if the Fund’s staff have concerns about the transmission mechanism. This note should set out indicators, thresholds and recommended adjustments.

Kenya must continue to combine prudent fiscal consolidation with monetary discipline and structural reforms to enhance exports, widen the tax base and strengthen debt management. This will reduce the chance that ‘stability’ proves temporary.

From the evidence available in CBK releases and market reporting, the recent steadiness of the shilling appears to reflect a combination of adequate reserves, robust inflows, transparent market pricing practices and structural financing arrangements for key imports.

Those are not signs of policy failure. They are, instead, plausible reasons why the exchange rate can be relatively stable without impairing competitiveness or monetary policy.

This is not to say that Kenya cannot be complacent. Prudent fiscal management, ongoing transparency, and a clear dialogue with the IMF on indicators and thresholds are essential in ensuring that Kenya stays on course and sustains its forex markets stability.