Category: Business Daily

The countries that will lead the 21st century will not simply be those whose people live longer. They will be those whose people stay healthier for longer – able to learn, work, innovate, care for their families and participate fully in society. That is why the next frontier of development is not lifespan alone, but healthspan: the number of years people live in good health.

This is no longer a niche public health idea. It is fast becoming a global economic imperative. The World Health Organisation has shown that scaling up primary healthcare interventions in low- and middle-income countries could save 60 million lives and increase average life expectancy by 3.7 years by 2030, while most projected health gains under the Sustainable Development Goals could be achieved through primary healthcare.

The World Bank Group has made the same point in economic terms: investing in a healthy workforce, infrastructure and technology, is central to growth, jobs, and resilience.

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Kenya attracted an estimated $3.2 billion (Sh413.6 billion) in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2025, marking its strongest performance ever as investors poured money into the country’s digital economy and renewable energy amid business-friendly reforms.

Numbers released Tuesday by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) showed FDI inflows rose 37.7 percent, or $876 million (Sh113.22 billion), from revised $2.32 billion (Sh299.9 billion) in 2024.

This helped Kenya cement its position in recent years as East Africa’s fastest-growing investment destination despite a fierce global race for capital.

The report says multinational companies are channelling investment into digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and selected energy projects, creating winners and losers as governments compete for high-value industries instead of traditional manufacturing.

Unctad says global FDI remained resilient in 2025, rising six percent to $1.6 trillion (Sh206.8 trillion), but warns that the recovery disguises a fundamental shift in how companies choose investment destinations.

‘However, investment activity became more selective, with growth concentrated in a limited number of host economies and in capital- and technology-intensive sectors,’ Unctad wrote in World Investment Report 2026.

Investment flows into 11 East African countries rose 12.1 percent to $14.6 billion (Sh1.89 trillion) during 2025 from $13.02 billion (Sh1.68 trillion) a year earlier. Unctad analysts estimated Kenya contributed $876 million (about Sh113.22 billion) of the region’s $1.57 billion (Sh202.92 billion) increase in FDI.

The country generated more than half of East Africa’s additional foreign investment and increased its regional market share to 21.9 percent, from 17.9 percent in 2024, the highest level recorded in six years.

Kenya’s performance outpaced neighbouring economies, suggesting investors favoured the country despite heightened regional competition and persistent global uncertainty over cross-border investment flows.

Uganda’s inflows rose 7.8 percent to $3.36 billion (Sh434.28 billion), Tanzania recorded 3.7 percent growth to $1.72 billion (Sh222.31 billion), while Ethiopia’s inflows declined 4.7 percent to $3.8 billion (Sh491.2 billion).

Unctad attributes part of Kenya’s performance to policy reforms that strengthened its attractiveness to investors.

‘Kenya reduced corporate income tax rates and introduced dividend tax exemptions for companies accredited under the Nairobi International Financial Centre, while also extending investment allowances in telecommunications to spectrum licences,’ the report states.

Unctad also identifies Kenya’s clean energy advantage as a key factor behind growing investor confidence, particularly among global technology firms seeking reliable and low-carbon electricity.

The report notes ‘Kenya has a renewable-heavy electricity system, with nearly 90 percent of generation coming from renewable sources, led by geothermal power’.

This gives Kenya ‘both a cost and a credibility advantage in attracting digital infrastructure investment’, the report says.

Unctad says Kenya has secured ‘a $1 billion investment package that includes a geothermal-powered data centre,’ highlighting how renewable energy is becoming a competitive investment advantage.

The report also highlights Kenya’s investment in digital innovation infrastructure. It says, ‘Kenya has focused on digital innovation infrastructure and regulatory experimentation,’ with Konza Technopolis being developed into an innovation hub supporting investment in the digital economy.

Unctad also credits Kenya’s use of a regulatory sandbox in the ICT sector, allowing emerging technologies to be tested before entering the wider market.

The report, however, suggests the country’s record inflows do not eliminate bigger questions about its long-term competitiveness.

Unctad says countries attracting the largest investments are increasingly those capable of supporting strategic industries through industrial policy, advanced infrastructure and technological capability, rather than relying mainly on tax incentives or low labour costs.

The report says the 2025 increase was concentrated in economies with stronger capacity to attract large-scale and strategic investment, reflecting the growing importance of technology-intensive industries and industrial policy.

This signals that Kenya is staring at a new phase in the competition for global capital.

The country has for years marketed itself through its strategic location, expanding infrastructure, financial services sector, technology ecosystem and access to regional markets. Those strengths remain important, but may no longer be sufficient.

The report notes that announced greenfield investment remained near record levels globally, driven largely by mega projects in data centres, semiconductors, oil and gas, and strategic infrastructure.

That shift presents both opportunities and challenges.

Kenya’s expanding fibre-optic network, digital economy, renewable energy resources and ambitions for Konza Technopolis position it to compete for data centres and artificial intelligence investment. Its critical mineral deposits such as rare earth minerals, niobium, coltan and copper could also become valuable.

Competition for capital is, nonetheless, widening beyond East Africa as countries invest aggressively in semiconductor manufacturing, battery supply chains, clean energy industries and advanced manufacturing ecosystems.

Unctad says the world’s top 20 investment destinations attracted more than 80 percent of global FDI in 2025, illustrating how difficult it has become for developing economies to secure major international projects.

The report says although inflows into Africa fell to $69.5 billion (about Sh8.98 trillion) from an exceptional $94.3 billion (Sh12.19 trillion) in 2024, this still represented the continent’s third-highest FDI performance in 25 years after excluding one-off mega projects.

‘Downside risks are mounting. Real investment activity is likely to remain subdued, weighed down by geopolitical tensions, trade policy uncertainty and economic fragmentation,’ the report states.

Kenya became Africa’s second-largest importer of major arms in 2025, reflecting the country’s growing investment in national security amid rising regional instability and modernisation of its defence forces.

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A TIV is a unique unit developed by SIPRI to measure the volume of international transfers of major conventional weapons. Instead of using financial costs, it assigns a common numerical value to weapons based on their size, capability, and technical advancement.

The sharp rise placed Kenya behind only Morocco, which led the continent with 392 million TIV, while overtaking traditional military spenders such as Algeria, Angola and Ethiopia.

Sipri uses a unique pricing system, the trend-indicator value (TIV), to measure the volume of deliveries of major conventional weapons. The Sipri TIV measures transfers of military capability rather than the financial value of arms transfers.

Globally, Kenya is now among the top 50 arms importers, accounting for 0.3 percent of worldwide arms imports, underlining its expanding role in defence procurement.

The surge in imports coincided with a record Sh190 billion military budget in 2025, as the government stepped up investments in equipment, surveillance systems and military hardware to address emerging security threats.

Kenya’s defence spending represented 1.07 percent of GDP, remaining below the global average but reflecting a gradual upward trend in military investment over recent years.

The data further shows that between 2020 and 2025 Israel, Italy and the United States supplied about 90 percent of Kenya’s military imports, highlighting Nairobi’s continued reliance on its traditional strategic partners for defence equipment and technology. In 2025, transfers from Israel included Air-defence systems and missiles worth 45 million TIV and 49 million TIV, respectively.

Security challenges

The increase comes against a backdrop of persistent security challenges, including the fight against terrorism along Kenya’s Northeastern border, protection of critical infrastructure, maritime security in the Indian Ocean and participation in regional peacekeeping operations.

Across Africa, Morocco remained the continent’s largest arms importer with 392 million TIV, followed by Kenya (117 million), Algeria (108 million), Angola (84 million) and Mali (64 million).

The figures illustrate a broader shift in defence priorities across the continent as governments respond to geopolitical tensions, cross-border conflicts and internal security threats through increased military acquisitions.

For Kenya, however, the rising defence bill presents a delicate fiscal balancing act. While enhanced military capability is considered critical for national security and safeguarding economic assets, the higher expenditure comes at a time when the government is also under pressure to increase funding for healthcare, education and social protection.

The fastest-growing firms today are not waiting for the future. They are already using artificial intelligence (AI) to make better decisions, move faster, cut costs, and find new openings. AI is helping teams work smarter, respond quickly to market changes, and improve how they serve clients.

This should make us ask a serious question: how are we preparing young learners, especially STEM students in high schools, to use AI before they enter the job market? If these learners are future engineers, scientists, health workers, data analysts, innovators, and business leaders, then AI readiness must become part of their training today.

Kenya has long supported the UN and AU goals of industrial growth through STEM. The country has also set a target of having 60 percent of learners in senior school go through the pathway. This aim is reflected in the Competency Based Education model, where STEM is one of the three specialised pathways, and the only one that every senior school is expected to offer.

This is a good and necessary goal. STEM careers will continue to shape many sectors, including manufacturing, agriculture, health, energy, finance, education, and technology. However, the real test is not whether we have strong targets on paper. It is whether our learners are being prepared for a world of work that is changing fast.

Concerns around transition to CBE are already known. Many schools are still grappling with limited infrastructure, inadequate teacher training, and funding woes. These issues must be addressed. But beyond them, we must also ask whether our education system is keeping pace with rapid changes taking place in the workplace.

AI is no longer just a buzzword. It is quickly becoming a basic workplace skill. Many employers are now looking for people who can use AI tools to improve productivity, analyse information, solve problems, and support faster decision-making. It is no longer enough for a young person to say they can use a computer. Increasingly, they must show that they can use digital tools, including AI, in a practical way.

This is especially important for STEM students. A student interested in engineering should learn how AI can support design, testing, and problem-solving. A student interested in health sciences should understand how AI can help with research and data analysis. A leaner in agriculture should see how AI can support crop planning, weather prediction, and better use of resources. These are not distant ideas.

The biggest workplace gains will come from employees who can combine technical knowledge with AI tools. These are the people who will help organisations make quicker decisions, reduce delays, improve operations, and create better solutions. If our STEM students are not exposed to AI early, they may enter the job market with strong classroom knowledge but weak workplace skills. This is where our curriculum must go further.

Learners should not only be introduced to AI tools, but also taught how to use them well. They should learn how to ask clear questions, write good prompts, check the accuracy of AI responses, compare information from different sources, and protect confidential data.

Just as important, learners must understand that AI is not a replacement for thinking. It is a tool that supports it. Students must still learn the core principles of science, mathematics, technology, and engineering. They must be able to question AI-generated answers and use their own knowledge to judge whether the output makes sense.

Teachers also need to be supported. It is not enough to train teachers in basic ICT skills. They need practical training in AI use, data privacy, data management, critical thinking, and risk awareness. A teacher who understands AI is better placed to guide learners on both the benefits and dangers of using these tools.

By the time today’s high school learners enter the job market, AI skills may be as basic as word processing and spreadsheet skills are today. This means schools must begin preparing them now.

AI readiness

AI should not be treated as an optional extra or a skill reserved for university students. It should become part of how STEM learners are prepared for work, innovation, and problem-solving.

However, AI readiness should not be limited to technical skills. Our education system must also continue to build communication, teamwork, creativity, problem-solving, and ethical judgment. The future worker will not only need to know how to use AI. They will need to explain ideas clearly and work well with others.

They will also need to explain ideas clearly, work well with others, question results, and make responsible decisions.

Kenya’s STEM ambition is important. But ambition must be matched with delivery. If we want our young people to compete in a changing world, we must prepare them for the tools, skills, and expectations of the modern workplace.

The future job market will reward learners who can think, adapt, and use technology to solve real problems. STEM education gives Kenya a strong foundation. AI readiness can make that foundation even stronger. The time to prepare our learners is not tomorrow. It is now.

Betting firms that entice addicted punters who have sought to be barred from gambling risk having their licences revoked under new regulations aimed at curbing the country’s gambling craze.

The newly published regulations require betting firms to establish automated systems that reject deposits made by self-excluded punters throughout the exclusion period. The firms are also prohibited from sending promotional betting messages to gamblers who have opted for self-exclusion.

Under the Gambling Control (Conduct of Gambling Operations) Regulations, 2026, punters will be allowed to apply for self-exclusion for a minimum of six months. The exclusion period cannot be revoked or shortened before it expires.

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In many developed economies, self-exclusion is designed to protect gamblers from financial ruin and the addictive nature of betting. During the exclusion period, they are unable to deposit money into their accounts or place bets.

In Kenya, betting has been identified as a major financial risk, with many gamblers borrowing money to finance their habit or neglecting responsibilities such as meeting the daily needs of their dependants.

“A licensee who accepts a wager from a self-excluded person shall be liable to suspension or revocation of licence for repeated violations,” the regulations, gazetted on June 29, 2026, state.

In countries such as the United Kingdom, betting firms risk losing their licences if they fail to honour requests for self-exclusion or continue sending promotional material during the exclusion period.

Self-exclusion, also known as a “cooling-off period”, is intended to reduce or prevent the devastating effects of problem gambling, including financial losses, debt, bankruptcy and mental health crises.

Additionally, the Gaming Regulatory Authority of Kenya (GRAK) is expected to establish a centralised register by the end of the year containing details of all gamblers who have opted for self-exclusion.

All betting firms will have free, real-time access to the register, which will contain details such as the gamblers’ names and the duration of their self-exclusion.

“The Authority shall keep and maintain a secure register of persons excluded from gambling activities. The register shall contain the details of each excluded person, including…” the regulations state.

Gamblers listed in the self-exclusion register will not be allowed to place bets, open accounts or receive promotional gambling material from the relevant betting firm.

Kenya is introducing the new regulations in an effort to stem a gambling craze that has persisted despite increased taxation on both punters and betting firms.

The introduction of a 12.5 percent excise duty on betting stakes and a further 20 percent withholding tax on winnings has failed to deter gamblers.

Betting firms, meanwhile, pay a 15 percent tax on gross gaming revenue, a 30 percent corporation tax on profits and a 16 percent income tax.

Kenya has the highest proportion of gamblers in Africa, ahead of larger economies such as South Africa and Nigeria.

According to a 2024 survey by the Central Bank of Kenya, punters in urban areas spent an average of Sh2,125 a month on betting, compared with Sh1,481 among those in rural areas.

In many cases, the disease could have been detected years earlier through routine screening at a fraction of the cost.

According to a regional study on financing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in sub-Saharan Africa, this is largely due to the way the health system pays healthcare providers.

Although the Social Health Authority (SHA) introduced capitation for primary healthcare through the Primary Health Care Fund (PHCF), outpatient, specialist and hospital services in Kenya still rely heavily on fee-for-service reimbursement.

Under this system, providers are paid for every consultation, laboratory test, scan, admission and procedure that they carry out. The report argues that such payment systems reward the volume of services delivered rather than disease prevention or continuity of care provision.

‘This makes them poorly suited to chronic conditions such as cancer, diabetes and hypertension, which require regular screening, long-term monitoring and continuous care,’ read the report.

The study specifically identifies Kenya and Botswana as countries where reliance on fee-for-service reimbursement has proved suboptimal for non-communicable disease (NCD) care, as it fails to incentivise preventive services or efficient service delivery.

“Shifting towards payment systems based on performance or outcomes could significantly improve the alignment between spending and health outcomes,” said the report.

Meanwhile, Rwanda has been named the region’s strongest performer when it comes to purchasing NCDs. This is thanks to its results-based financing model, whereby facilities are paid based on their performance rather than the volume of work they carry out. This model is combined with a community-based health insurance scheme, which covers over 90 per cent of the population.

Kenya’s Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) levies a contribution of 2.75 percent of gross earnings, but enrolment has outpaced payment. Of the approximately 29 million Kenyans registered with the SHA by early 2026, only around five million were actively paying, with most of the shortfall being accounted for by the informal sector. Where the money actually goes

Although the SHA’s Primary Health Care Fund is intended to strengthen preventive care through capitation payments to primary healthcare facilities, private healthcare providers argue that the amounts disbursed are too low to support comprehensive screening.

In practice, the annual allocation of Sh900 breaks down to just Sh75 per registered patient per month for outpatient primary care at Level 2 and 3 facilities.

Private networks note that this tight monthly capitation leaves virtually no room to absorb the operational costs of proactive, aggressive disease testing.

Compare this with cancer treatment, which the SHA covers up to Sh800,000 under the SHIF oncology package. Patients can also access an additional Sh400,000 for catastrophic care through the newly expanded Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund (ECCIF).

In other words, the financial design of the system allocates significant resources once a disease has progressed, while severely restricting entry points for primary care intended to detect diseases early.

He pointed out that, although screening is listed in the Primary Health Care Fund’s benefit package, it has not yet been implemented. Without publicly funded screening, many patients either pay for tests themselves or delay testing until they notice symptoms, by which point treatment is usually more complicated and expensive.

These findings come as Kenya continues to struggle to achieve its own targets on non-communicable diseases. The country’s first National Strategy for the Prevention and Control of NCDs, launched in 2015, aimed to reduce premature deaths from these diseases by 25 per cent by 2025, in line with the WHO’s global ’25 by 25′ goal. However, an evaluation of the strategy found that only 17.5 per cent of its planned activities were fully carried out. Another 68.8 per cent were only partly completed and 13.8 per cent had not even started by the time the strategy ended.

Kenya’s follow-up plan, the National NCD Strategic Plan for 2021/22-2025/26, maintained this target. However, there is no published evidence that Kenya met the original goal by the 2025 deadline.

The scale of the problem

These findings come against the backdrop of a rapidly increasing NCD burden across the continent. NCDs accounted for 37 per cent of all deaths in Africa in 2023, up from 33.7 per cent in 2015 and 27.6 per cent in 2005. Between 1990 and 2021, regional mortality linked to diabetes and kidney disease increased by 134 per cent, while deaths from neoplasms increased by 119 per cent over the same period – one of the fastest-growing categories of death on the continent.

In Kenya, NCDs now account for around 39 per cent of annual deaths, according to the Ministry of Health’s National NCD Strategic Plan, up from 27 per cent a decade ago. The four leading NCDs – cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease – together account for 57 per cent of the country’s NCD-related deaths.

Cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions now account for over half of hospital admissions and around 40 per cent of in-hospital deaths in Kenya. This puts an unfair strain on a healthcare financing system that is still mainly geared towards acute illnesses rather than chronic conditions.

A few years ago, I sat in a cross-functional review where everything looked ‘green’ on the dashboard. Timelines were intact. Service levels were respectable. And yet, something was off, a ‘too good to be true’ kind of feeling. So asked with a smile, ‘Team, What’s the bad news we’re not hearing?’

Interestingly, the room went quiet. After the meeting, a manager pulled me aside and said, ‘Doc, people have concerns… but they don’t think it’s safe to say them aloud.’ That moment reminded me of a hard truth: many organisations don’t suffer from a strategy problem. They suffer from a conversation problem.

As industries navigate 2026’s uncertainties ranging from cyber threats and climate disruptions to supply volatility and shifting workforce expectations, effective communication is the compass that guides teams to trust and triumph. Leaders today operate under intense pressure to deliver results, accelerate change, protect reputation, and keep people engaged, often at the same time.

Too often, however, well-intentioned priorities encounter resistance, stall in execution, or fail to take root. Typically, this is not because they were wrong, but because communication was weak, unclear, inconsistent or misaligned with lived reality.

Research is increasingly unequivocal: trust is not a ‘nice-to-have’; it is a performance multiplier. The CIPD’s 2024 evidence review positions trust and psychological safety as foundational to teamwork, coordination, collaboration and learning, especially in uncertain environments.

Psychological safety, as widely described in contemporary workplace research, is the climate where people can raise concerns, ask questions, and admit mistakes without fear of humiliation or retaliation. It is strongly associated with better performance and wellbeing outcomes.

Here is the practical implication for leaders: communication is how trust is built, or broken, every day. In my experience, trust grows when communication consistently delivers three things:

First, transparency with context. People don’t only need decisions; they need the why behind the decisions. When leaders explain trade-offs, constraints, and reasoning, they treat employees as partners rather than spectators. In volatile settings, clarity reduces rumour, anxiety and cynicism. These are the silent enemies of execution.

Second, listening that changes something. Listening is not a ceremonial Q and A at the end of a townhall. It is a discipline of making concerns visible early, especially inconvenient ones. Contemporary trust research continues to highlight that ‘listening’ is not merely a tone; it is a leadership act that anchors credibility and reduces grievance.

The uncomfortable truth is this: if leaders mostly hear good news, it may not be because everything is perfect, it may be because people have learned that speaking up is costly. The absence of dissent is rarely a sign of alignment; sometimes it is a sign of fear.

Third, feedback loops and follow-through. Trust collapses when leaders ask, people speak, and nothing changes. Psychological safety is strengthened not by endless reassurance, but by visible responsiveness: ‘We heard you; here is what we are doing; here is what we cannot do and why.’

From a culture professional’s lens, this is where many transformation efforts succeed or fail. Culture is not what we publish; culture is what people experience: in meetings, handovers, performance conversations, and decision-making forums. And as I’ve written elsewhere, the owner of meaning is the receiver. Communication is not complete when we speak; it is complete when others understand, believe, and act.

The cost of poor communication is always disproportionate. When communication breaks down, trust fractures quietly before it collapses publicly. This happens through disengagement, attrition, quality failures, labour tension, customer dissatisfaction, or reputational damage. Research continues to link psychologically safe environments to stronger collaboration and knowledge-sharing, while environments that suppress voice reduce learning and weaken performance.

This brings us to a leadership reality that deserves more attention: great cultures are built or broken in the middle. Gallup’s ongoing global insights consistently emphasise the outsized influence of managers on the employee experience.

And as commentary on Gallup’s findings has recently highlighted, declining manager engagement is a warning sign because managers are the ‘translators’ of strategy into daily meaning and motivation. If we want trusted teams, we must equip managers to run better conversations, not just better processes.

So, what should leaders practically do to build trust through communication in 2026 and beyond?

Start by building a communication system, not occasional communication events. This includes frequent check-ins, defined escalation paths, and visible leadership during uncertainty. It means investing in managers’ capability to hold high-quality one-on-ones, listen without defensiveness, and navigate conflict with maturity.

It means using digital tools to increase alignment and speed and never outsourcing empathy to technology. And it means celebrating progress honestly: not propaganda, but shared narratives of ‘what we learned, what we improved and how we will win together.’

Finally, remember that psychological safety is not comfort. It is the courage to tell the truth early, while there is still time to act. The goal is not a workplace where people are always agreeable; it is a workplace where people are truthful, accountable, and committed.

If we change the quality of conversation, we change the quality of culture. And if we change the culture, we change the game. In a world that rewards speed, resilience and learning, trusted teams are not just efficient; they are unstoppable. They confidently know that they are Winning Together! and Always Delighting the Customer! through their every move.

The upward pressure on interest rates is expected to ease after progress in peace negotiations between the US and Iran pulled oil prices to a four-month low, allaying fears of prolonged high inflation.

Analysts say that the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) now has a strong case to hold its rate unchanged in the next monetary policy meeting in August due to easing inflation, in the process capping the recent jump in short-term rates on government securities.

Since the war in Iran started on February 28, rates on the 91-day and 182-day Treasury bill have gone up by 1.4 and 1.2 percentage points to 8.83 percent and 8.96 percent respectively.

Bond buyers also demanded a return of 15.1 percent on a 25-year paper that was reopened last month, against its actual interest rate or coupon of 13.92 percent.

Investors demanded higher returns after inflation rose to 6.7 percent in May from 4.3 percent in February due to higher fuel prices. For investors in the government securities, higher inflation erodes the real returns from their assets, which come with a fixed annual interest rate.

The cost of living measure however dropped to 6.4 percent in June, with a further decline expected once fuel and food prices come down in the coming weeks.

Current spike in inflation

On Tuesday, Brent crude was trading at $72.78 a barrel, a price last seen on February 27. The price of oil had risen to highs of $120 a barrel at the peak of hostilities in Iran in March.

‘Overall, we project a lower inflation path in the near-term. Expectedly, earlier projected pressure on short-end interest rates is likely to be moderated by reduced inflationary pressures amid ample market liquidity,’ analysts at NCBA Investment Bank said in their latest weekly fixed income report.

In the last MPC meeting on June 10, the CBK kept the base rate unchanged at 8.75 percent, saying it needed to take stock of the evolving situation in Iran, in line with similar cautious stances by central banks in developed markets.

CBK Governor Kamau Thugge later said that the apex bank was optimistic that inflation would peak below the upper limit of its target range of five percent plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, due to an expectation of de-escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

By opting to keep its base rate unchanged, the CBK also considered the fact that the current spike in inflation is primarily driven by higher prices of imported fuel and consumer goods (imported inflation) rather than underlying demand pressures in the economy.

Global oil price relief

Analysts at Sterling Capital have backed the CBK’s view in their latest monthly fixed income report, projecting a hold in the base rate in the August MPC meeting.

‘We feel that the recent easing of headline inflation to 6.4 percent, alongside anticipated global oil price relief from the US-Iran agreement, reduces the pressure for monetary tightening in the August 2026 meeting,’ said the Sterling Capital analysts.

The first test of the expectations of lower pressure on yields will come in the July 2026 Treasury bond auction, which will take place on Wednesday.

In the sale, the CBK reopened three papers with periods to maturity of between 5.8 years and 29.9 years, allowing it to gauge investor sentiment across the full breadth of the government securities yield curve.

The reopened papers include a 10-year bond first sold in May 2022, which comes with a coupon of 13.49 percent. The CBK has also reopened a 20-year bond from July 2021, which pays annual interest of 13.44 percent, and a 30-year paper first sold in March 2026 at a coupon of 12.5 percent.

The three bonds are targeting Sh70 billion, marking the start of the government’s borrowing for the 2026/2027 fiscal year in which it is seeking a net of Sh1.03 trillion from the domestic market.

Pension schemes minted a record Sh16.6 billion in gains from disposal of government bonds and listed stocks in 2025, cashing in on the higher prices of the assets.

The gains are the highest in at least five years and came against the backdrop of higher prices of bonds in the secondary market and shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).

Gains made from the disposal of quoted shares were backed by higher corporate earnings and improved macroeconomic conditions which supported the rise of stocks while gains from the sale of government securities were anchored on relatively lower interest rates.

The price of bonds in the secondary market usually has an inverse relationship with interest rates where prices soar as rates drop, allowing investors to realise profits from sale of bonds with higher coupons (interest rates). Gains on the disposal of government securities stood at Sh11.3 billion while profits from share sales by pension schemes were Sh5.3 billion, according to data from the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA).

Profits from the sale of government securities and quoted shares in 2024 were lower at Sh2.05 billion and Sh986.5 million respectively.

The gains from disposal of State securities and quoted shares in 2025 were enough to more than offset Sh456.9 million in losses from disposal of real estate properties in the year.

‘The increase was primarily driven by substantial gains from disposal of Kenya government securities and quoted shares, reflecting favourable movements in both the fixed-income and equity markets during the year,’ the RBA said.

‘However, the ‘other investments’ category recorded a net loss of Sh456.9 million, partially offsetting the overall gains realised in 2025. The category consists mostly of disposal in immovable property by schemes.’

The stock market offered investors the highest returns for a second year running in 2025, beating property, offshore investments and fixed income assets whose returns dipped due to falling interest rates.

The sustained growth was backed by low inflation, lower interest rates and a stable exchange rate, creating a favourable environment for growth in corporate earnings and participation by foreign investors.

NSE market capitalisation rose by 51.8 percent in the period as investor wealth rose by a record Sh1 trillion, doubling paper gains from 2024.

High-yielding Treasury bonds traded at a premium on the same bourse as interest rates on new and reopened securities declined to between 11.67 percent and 14.63 percent.

Tax-free infrastructure bonds offered the highest premium as investors raised their appetite for the existing high-yielding bonds with interest rates on new issuances in the primary market falling. Pension schemes doubled down on the same asset classes even as they made some disposal in a strategic portfolio rebalancing.

Investments in government securities by schemes rose to Sh1.38 trillion from Sh1.08 trillion in 2024 and made up 50.98 percent of the vehicles’ assets. Allocation to quoted securities rose to Sh277.4 billion from Sh189 billion to represent 10.2 percent of schemes’ assets.

Pension schemes, however, held more assets in guaranteed funds at Sh560.7 billion. Allocation to immovable property stood at Sh247.2 billion.

The schemes’ other major asset classes were fixed and time deposits, and offshore investments.

Schemes also invested in minor asset classes with allocations of under one percent to each category including cash and demand deposits, property unit trusts, unquoted equities, commercial and corporate bonds and private equity and venture capital.

‘Compared to 2024, most asset classes recorded growth, with notable increases in Kenya government securities, guaranteed funds, quoted equities, and offshore investments, largely driven by improved market performance, attractive returns, and continued portfolio diversification by retirement benefits schemes,’ RBA added.

Total assets under management by pension schemes rose by 26.84 percent to Sh2.82 trillion as of December 2025, driven by growth in contributions and investment income.

Total contributions by both employers and employees tallied to Sh309.26 billion while investment income stood at Sh274.81 billion.

Almost every chart-topping Kenyan song released in the past decade has come with a signature dance style. Dance choreography has evolved just as rapidly, and many young Kenyans have built businesses around the art of movement. One of them is Audrey Mukwanja, who goes by the stage name Amuna.

Eight years ago, Audrey was involved in the dance ministry at Citam Thika while also teaching his fellow students at the Technical University of Kenya (TUK) how to dance. Although he was studying urban design, he had just completed an internship, which made him realise that the profession was not the career he was cut out for.

Amuna started by charging Sh50 per person for dance lessons. Soon, students from other universities began travelling to TUK just to attend his classes. As the numbers grew, young professionals also wanted to join, but they could not access the classes because they were held within the university.

In 2019, he decided to move his classes to Nairobi’s Central Business District, where he partnered with Premier Fitness Centre. He named them Artika Dance Studios.

He specialised in Afro dance, teaching popular African dance styles such as Azonto from Ghana, Amapiano from South Africa, Ndombolo from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, among others.

‘I also opened another class at Rosslyn Riviera Mall on Limuru Road to cater to clients coming from Ruaka. Then a friend of mine called Chiluba opened a studio in 2024, so I moved one of my classes to Westlands. They could only give me time slots on days when they didn’t run their own classes. In Westlands, I use the studio on Saturdays. Right now, the main market for the dance class industry is working professionals, so it’s an after-work activity,’ says Amuna, who opened the first dedicated Artika Dance Studios at Adlife Plaza in Kilimani, Nairobi, in 2022.

Anybody who can walk, can dance

Modern Afro dance is hugely popular. Amuna says that in Kenya, the most widely learnt dance styles today are Amapiano, Odi and dancehall.

‘Right now, most of our clients are women. The female dancehall style, particularly waist whining, started gaining popularity last year. Twerk classes are also springing up everywhere,’ says Amuna.

Amuna says he entered the industry at a time when dance classes outside salsa and kizomba were virtually nonexistent. But as the fitness movement has grown, more people have embraced dance as a form of exercise.

‘Anybody who can walk can dance. Over my eight years of teaching, I’ve worked with people who had absolutely no sense of rhythm. There was one Kenyan student who couldn’t keep time at all. I had to start by teaching her how to clap to the beat. Once she mastered that, I realised anyone can learn to dance. You just have to be passionate,’ he says.

He now teaches dance full-time, and his studio accommodates around 60 to 70 students.

Walk-in clients pay Sh1,500 per session, while those who book in advance are charged Sh1,200.

‘But many also opt for the monthly package at Sh8,000,’ he says. ‘The three-month package costs Sh18,000.’

She charges Sh2,000 per session

Antonate Aiko is a well-known Kenyan professional dancer, creative director and choreographer based in Nairobi. She has built a strong reputation in the local entertainment scene through her high-energy performances, distinct fashion sense and artistic direction.

She danced extensively throughout high school and, after graduating, joined a dance company called Art Zone Entertainment to pursue dance professionally.

‘I had to master a variety of dance styles, from ballet and hip hop to contemporary, to understand dance on a deeper level. The company required dancers to learn different styles because we worked on projects that demanded different forms of dance,’ says Aiko.

A professional dancer since 2016, Aiko specialises in African contemporary and street dance and is increasingly being booked for private lessons.

‘Most of the time, my clients are beginners who want to improve their dancing skills or simply ‘vibe’. Some want to dance confidently at clubs or events such as weddings,’ she says. ‘Most amateur dancers ask me to teach them the basic steps of Afro dance, African contemporary, Amapiano and Kenya’s Odi dance. The majority are women, while the rest are young dancers aged between 18 and 25.’

Aiko says women also enjoy learning sensual dance styles.

She charges Sh2,000 per session, with each lesson lasting up to 90 minutes.

Dance has opened many career opportunities for her, including working as a creative director with artistes such as Watendawili, Okello Max and Fena Gitu.

‘One of my biggest milestones has been contributing to conversations about elevating Kenyan dance and putting it on the map. Mentoring younger dancers who want to pursue dance professionally has also been incredibly rewarding. Getting the opportunity to perform on some of Kenya’s biggest stages is something I never imagined would happen so early in my career.’