Category: Business Daily

At 44, many female fitness enthusiasts opt for Pilates classes, Zumba or yoga sessions, or light weightlifting exercises. Some do long runs or brisk walking. Not Dr Gathoni Kamau.

She has built her fitness life around heavy weights. In the gym, you will find her sinking deep into squats, picking loaded barbells off the floor, and pressing heavy weights from her chest. Deadlifts exceed her own body weight.

Gathoni is a Kenyan living in Wales, working full-time as a psychiatrist. This September, she will step onto a powerlifting platform hoping to lift a total of 285 kilogrammes across three lifts. If she reaches it, she will qualify for the National Masters Competition next year, where women over 40 compete against each other. It is a goal she has been building toward slowly for more than two years.

It started oddly, with a tennis injury. Gathoni played tennis for many years, and one day she hurt her lower back and shoulder. She went to see a physiotherapist about the pain. She was given simple advice: start strength training to get stronger and protect her body. The goal was not to become a powerlifter. She just wanted to get back on the tennis court, stronger.

She went looking for a new gym.

‘I didn’t know it was a powerlifting gym,’ she said. ‘I tried it for fun.’ The second time was harder. Her muscles burned. Her body strained. But she kept going.

What appealed to her was how simple it was. ‘Powerlifting has only three lifts: the squat, the bench, and the deadlift. We do the same things again and again, and each week you try to lift a little more than before. I liked the simplicity,’ she says. ‘My life is very busy, and this was something simple.’

She also found something else in the gym, a feeling lifters call the pump, the rush of blood and effort that comes after a hard set. ‘I felt this pump and a sense of accomplishment,’ she said.

She laughs when she talks about how much she hates running, one of the reasons powerlifting suits her so well.

‘I hate running and moving fast, so powerlifting is for very lazy people,’ she said. ‘I only get to train for a squat, bench, and deadlift.’

Gathoni, whose job involves caring for elderly patients, sees the effects of muscle loss every single day at work, and it shapes how she thinks about her own training.

‘Strength training is very important for people as they age, because in my line of work a lot of people I see are old and very frail,’ she explains. ‘Basically, frailty is just a lack of muscle mass.’

Besides building strength and muscles, powerlifting has given her a community.

‘We go for competitions. Travel around to compete, meet amazing people who become friends,’ she says. Before every competition, the lifters gather for a meal together. Since competitors must weigh in and often cut their food strictly for 12 weeks beforehand, that shared meal afterwards becomes something she looks forward to.

Four to six eggs a day

Getting ready for a competition means training hard and eating clean. Gathoni eats about five times a day. She eats between four and six eggs a day, sometimes more. For breakfast, she eats three eggs, an avocado, and one slice of bread. Mid-morning, she might have protein yoghurt or a protein shake, or two more eggs. Lunch is protein, vegetables, and a small portion of carbohydrates. In the afternoon, she eats a small portion of carbohydrates with more protein, again maybe two eggs or a protein snack. She stops eating by 8pm, making sure her last meal has protein in it.

How strictly she eats depends on her goal. If she wants to lose weight before a competition, she goes on what lifters call a cut, eating less than she burns, while still eating enough protein to protect her muscle. Gathoni does not enjoy shedding weight. ‘I only need to lose about three kilogrammes, which can happen in a week. The rule of thumb for eating proteins is simple. Take your body weight in kilogrammes and multiply it by 2.2. If you weigh 100 kilos, you should eat around 200 grammes of protein a day.’

Opening doors

She credits powerlifting with opening doors she might never have found otherwise, from knowing a good plumber to simply feeling like part of a neighbourhood rather than an outsider passing through.

‘If you are someone who just hangs out with Kenyans all the time, you wouldn’t know these things,’ she said. ‘It sort of opens your eyes to where you are. It opens you up to the local community.’

The sport has become a family affair too. Gathoni’s mother now trains alongside her. ‘I’ve made my mother do it,’ she says proudly.

She points to one word first when asked what she has gained the most.

‘Confidence,’ she said. ‘And it has really helped with my diabetes control. It has helped me have some discipline, a routine, and work-life balance. To powerlift, you have to have discipline, and this spills over into your work, into your life.’

During competition season, Gathoni trains four times a week, fitting sessions carefully around her demanding job as a psychiatrist.

‘During competitions, I train four times a week.’

Monday is her day off work. ‘I go in the afternoon, and we have a coaching session with the trainer. And then I find another evening during the week to go,’ she says.

Outside of competition season, she scales back to two or three sessions a week, giving her body time to rest and recover.

Night at work, daytime at gym

Still, the road has not been smooth. Balancing a demanding medical career with a sport that requires strict eating, proper sleep, and consistent training has tested her again and again.

‘Trying to balance it all and making the time is the toughest challenge, because to be good, you have to be consistent and committed. Sometimes life can be very busy and exhausting, and as I get older, it is much harder to get over a night shift.’

She describes the particular struggle of working through the night as a doctor, then somehow finding the energy to lift heavy weights days later. Eating properly becomes its own battle when hospital shifts eat into mealtimes.

‘You eat about four or five times a day, so you have to prepare meals. If I’m going to work, I don’t know what’s going to happen. Am I going to have time for lunch if I’m having a very busy day? If you don’t eat well, you get fatigued, and you don’t train well. I’m just trying to balance it all. The most important thing is just to show up.’

Squat with 120kg

That mindset, showing up even on hard days, has carried her from barely lifting an empty barbell to chasing serious numbers on the platform. When she started two and a half years ago, her bench press struggled to move at all.

‘I could barely lift the bar on its own, 20 kilos. We kept joking, ‘It’s my small Kikuyu hands,’ she said, laughing. In her most recent competition, she bench-pressed 45 kilos. Her deadlift has grown even more dramatically, from under 100 kilos in her first competition to 125 kilos in her last one, a competition she completed while struggling with an injury.

Her squat, which she calls the hardest of the three lifts because of how low she must go, has climbed to nearly 80 kilos.

‘I’m very proud of those achievements. Every week I add one kilo, two kilos. That is the thing with powerlifting. It is about progressive loading. That is why consistency and showing up is important. Over time you see the benefits.’

Now she is aiming higher than ever. Her September competition marks her first since her injury, and she is hoping to hit a combined total of 285 kilos across her squat, bench, and deadlift.

Her favourite

Powerlifting divides athletes by age group, something Gathoni sees as fairness.

‘If you are over 40, you compete in the master’s group, because as you age you lose muscle mass, so it is not fair to compare someone who is 50 to someone who is 30,’ she explains. ‘I’m going to compete in the masters age group, between 40 and 49. I’m trying to qualify for the nationals next year. I need to do a total of 285 kilos. But if I miss it this time, I will go for the competition next year in November, so it gives me time to prepare.’

Among her three lifts, one stands out as her favourite, and it happens to be the one she picked up fastest.

‘Ooh, I really enjoy deadlifting. It was the one I learnt the quickest,’ she said. The bench press, by contrast, has demanded far more technical work. Many gym goers assume the bench press is simple, lying flat and pushing a bar upward, but Gathoni explains there is far more to it.

‘If you lie flat on the bench, that means you are just using your biceps and triceps. For you to engage your pecs and traps [muscles found in the upper body], you need your upper back off the bench. You have to learn to arch your back, because that engages more muscles; therefore you can lift heavier, and it protects your shoulders.’

Even the deadlift, which looks straightforward from the outside, carries its own hidden techniques.

‘You just pick the weight up off the floor, but it is not as easy as we make it sound. It is also about learning the techniques, and that has been quite challenging too.’

Gathoni also draws strength from someone close to home. The current African powerlifting champion in her age category is a Kenyan woman over 50 years old, who lifts more than 230 kilos. ‘She inspires me,’ Gathoni said.

Kenya cut annual repayments on Chinese loans by Sh21.61 billion in the financial year ended June 2026 after restructuring standard gauge railway (SGR) debts, easing pressure on the Exchequer as the country moved beyond the peak repayment period for Beijing-funded infrastructure projects.

Treasury data shows Kenya paid Sh107.74 billion to Chinese lenders in the year ended June 30, 2026, down from Sh129.35 billion a year earlier.

The payments were also Sh44.95 billion below the record Sh152.69 billion settled in the fiscal year ended June 2024, marking the second consecutive annual decline after repayments peaked.

The lower debt service bill of Sh107.74 billion came in a year when Nairobi secured a deal with Beijing to convert three dollar-denominated SGR loans into the Chinese renminbi, while also extending repayment maturities and obtaining additional grace periods to reduce annual repayment costs.

The restructuring replaced floating dollar interest rates linked to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) with fixed renminbi rates, shielding Kenya from elevated US interest rates that had pushed up the cost of servicing the railway debt.

“When the loan is in US dollars, then it is SOFR plus a mark-up, but in renminbi it is a fixed rate, which is almost half the rate if we were to apply US dollars. So there is a huge saving there,” Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said in an earlier interview with this publication.

Mr Mbadi said the dollar loans were attracting interest rates of more than 6.0 percent, comprising prevailing SOFR plus a margin of roughly two percentage points, compared with about a three percent fixed rate under the renminbi financing.

The loans, contracted during former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration, had initially carried floating interest rates of between 3.0 and 3.6 percentage points above the now-retired London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), exposing Kenya to rising global borrowing costs after benchmark rates rose in recent years.

Treasury figures show Kenya paid Sh74.74 billion in principal and Sh33 billion in interest to Chinese lenders in the 2025/26 fiscal year, compared with Sh88.61 billion and Sh40.74 billion, respectively, a year earlier.

The latest repayments indicate that Kenya has passed the most demanding phase of servicing Chinese infrastructure loans whose principal repayments have accelerated.

China remains Kenya’s largest bilateral lender, having financed the nearly 700-kilometre SGR from Mombasa to Suswa near Naivasha alongside roads, ports and energy projects. The Export-Import Bank of China financed about 90 percent of the railway’s initial construction cost of $3.75 billion (about Sh485.63 billion), excluding interest.

Servicing the SGR loans -paid every January and July- remains one of the biggest external debt obligations, accounting for more than three-quarters of Kenya’s annual repayments to bilateral creditors.

The easing in annual repayments, however, has not resolved long-running challenges surrounding the railway’s financing model.

The Treasury disclosed that it was negotiating with Beijing to revise escrow account terms tied to the SGR loans after the arrangement prevented operating revenues generated by the railway from being used to service the debt.

Under the financing agreement, all SGR revenue is deposited into a special account jointly managed by the Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) and the Export-Import Bank of China. The account must reportedly maintain a minimum balance of Sh25 billion before any surplus can be released for loan repayments.

Because that threshold has never been reached, none of the more than Sh100 billion generated by the railway since commercial operations began in 2017 has been used to repay the Chinese loans, despite freight services accounting for more than three-quarters of the revenue.

Instead, the Treasury continues to service the debt directly from taxes while KRC is supposed to reimburse the amount. The reimbursement mechanism has broken down, with arrears owed by the corporation swelling to Sh413.36 billion by the end of June 2025.

“This arrangement has effectively locked out loan repayments, resulting in the steady accumulation of arrears despite continued SGR operations,” the Treasury says in its latest annual debt management report, recommending that the escrow terms be renegotiated to allow debt service alongside operating and maintenance costs.

The report says the SGR arrears account for 80.8 percent of the Sh511.44 billion owed to the Treasury by State corporations through on-lent and direct loans as at June 2025, exposing the government to significant fiscal risk from a single infrastructure project.

The restructuring agreement with China nevertheless marks an important shift in Kenya’s management of its Chinese debt portfolio, offering the Treasury some fiscal relief after years in which Beijing-funded infrastructure loans represented one of the fastest-growing pressures on the national budget.

Kenya’s debt restructuring has emerged as a potential template for other developing economies grappling with costly Chinese loans.

A June report by AidData, a research group at the College of William and Mary in the United States, identified Ethiopia, Mozambique, Zambia, Pakistan and Indonesia among countries that could seek Kenya-style changes to Chinese loan terms.

The relatively favourable terms include longer repayment periods, additional grace periods and conversion of dollar-denominated debt into renminbi as Beijing pushes wider international use of its currency.

Panama hat. Cream-on-cream monochrome aesthetic. A popular and expensive cologne that conveys, if not power, then success. It’s not a menswear line; it is how Nahashon Mungai strides in, looking anything but a banker. Success doesn’t always go to your head. Sometimes it shows on your belly. ‘I’ve always been very lean, and suddenly now, I’m puffy,’ he concedes his insecurity.

He talks about the philosophy behind creating Mansa-X, a special fund now worth Sh153 billion, at just 32. He loves horse racing, golf, fruit farming, not necessarily in that order. He speaks about parenting girls and how he teaches them about money. ‘My daughters crochet and paint,’ he says, ‘but I take my cut, agency fees.’

Do you come here a lot?

I joined Muthaiga Country Club because I needed a social but family-oriented place. I was born in a very small family. Dad, mum, elder sister, and I. We’re are still very tight. You met my wife Nancy; she’s a psychologist, and I like to joke I am patient zero [chuckles]. We have daughters aged 16 and eight.

You have access to the who’s who of society. How do you keep in touch with your younger self?

I come from Ndeiya, proper ushago, in Limuru. I have maintained many of the friends I grew up with.

Did success not cause a rift in the friendships?

The people you meet later in life are the ones who view you differently. You are this financier, this whatever. My friends still call me Nash, and I feel very relaxed around them.

What kind of friend are you?

A loyal one.

What does loyalty mean?

I take most of my friends as brothers because I never had one. If you need something, I will provide it to you, no questions asked. That has hurt me in some ways because some people view you as a resource.

What’s the best thing a friend has done for you?

I don’t have a lot of friends. Recently, one bought me a Montblanc pen, a very expensive pen, in fact, the John Lennon edition, because I love The Beatles.

How does a boy from Limuru cavort with The Beatles and not Kamande wa Kioi?

My parents were exposed. My mum worked for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. So she was well-travelled. My father was a civil engineer, and he also travelled quite a bit. I only grew up in the village because they chose to live there. My mum would play Abba, Bee Gees and all. But now I am gravitating towards Kamande wa Kioi, though [chuckles].

What do The Beatles say about you?

I didn’t say The Beatles are my favourite. It’s actually Dire Straits. I find that music absolutely fabulous. I think their lead singer, Mark Knopfler, is the best guitarist ever.

Not Jimi Hendrix?

Well, Jimi Hendrix was more of a rock and roll type; Mark Knopfler went with the folk type of playing the guitar. Jimi Hendrix’s versatility is unmatched, obviously. I think the guitars were made for him. That’s how good he was [chuckles]. I like to do things that are not popular, hence why I liked that kind of music.

Which song from that period best encapsulates your life now?

I like ‘One Song at a Time’ by Mark Knopfler. But I also like the ‘Sultans of Swing’ [starts singing]. I feel like I’m creating something unique and being talked about on the streets of Nairobi. I’m like a Sultan of Swing.

What’s a money lesson that has remained true for you over the years?

Always spend less than you would like. I’ve seen people say you only live once. But there’s a comfort that comes with knowing I can afford something, but I’m not buying it. Delayed gratification is something I really try to teach my children.

How do you ensure your daughters do not confuse your success with theirs?

Interesting you bring that up. Because when we were in Dubai, we went to the Burj Khalifa with my daughters and we saw a quote from the ruler of Dubai: ‘Hard times make hard men. Hard men make soft times; soft times make soft men. Then those soft men make hard times.’

I posted it in our family WhatsApp group and recently picked it up again with them, that they are growing up privileged. They must be very careful and continuously hungry and driven.

We talk about money openly in my house. My daughter is an artist, a painter, and during an affordable art show, she sold me one of her paintings at Sh100,000. As her agent, I removed my agency fees 15 percent, then the cost of materials (Sh31,000), emotional support for my youngest daughter Sh1,000, and transport for my wife Sh5,000. In the end, I paid her Sh46,000, and she was upset. But she learned how business works. You can make Sh100,000 and go home with nothing.

You mentioned that you lost a son in between your two children. What did that loss teach you about life?

Life is fickle. No sooner had the baby been born than we lost him. But it also made me very interested in healthcare and how it can be improved. I’m always asking myself questions like, was that handled the right way? Would it have been handled better? If that had happened, maybe my son would still be here. It wastough. I don’t think it’s something you can ever fully recover from. It’s always there at the back of your mind. That first year was really bad.

Nash, what wouldn’t one find in a parenting book?

Children can be pretty thankless, and I’m like, don’t you feel that these things you’re getting come with a lot of effort? I wonder if we were like that. Probably we were; we just never noticed.

Where do your daughters test your patience?

I’m not just praising them; I find that I have really nice watotos. I love my girls. But with their mother, they feel like they can just talk anyhow, and I have to remind them, that’s my wife you are stressing.

What’s your fatherhood flaw?

The whole sitting down, doing homework and academics with them. I’m always thinking, come on, it’s your homework, not mine. I don’t remember my parents ever wanting to do homework with me.

What’s a small thing you do to put a smile on your face?

Just being alone, so in all my houses, I always have a mancave. I like watching movies alone. And my wife has never interfered with that. It is where my creativity comes from. And when I am alone, I eat a lot of chocolate [chuckles].

How has the interpretation of the word wife changed over the years?

When you start, you’re lovers. Over time, you become partners in dealing with life, including raising children and building wealth, even when your perspectives are different. If you don’t break at that point, then you’re good. They say your wife is not your relative, but I disagree. They become a part of you. Which is why divorce is very tough. It’s like losing a part of you.

How has she changed your life?

She’s a cheerleader. That has helped because my ideas are radical. Eddie, she has never said no or slowed me down by doubting me. That’s her superpower. I hope my children grow to be kind, and I believe kind people also tend to be very smart. If you’re kind, a lot of people will open doors for you because everybody is going through something.

Speaking of, what bad habit have you failed to kick?

[long pause] Overthinking. It makes me see things as more perilous than they actually are. Sometimes it will even give me anxiety. But I think I get it from my mother.

Does success feel like how you thought it would when you were growing up?

I suppose. Life imitates art. One of the things I did a lot growing up was reading books and watching documentaries about successful people. A lot of the things I see in my life now are very similar to the things I saw and read about. What you don’t anticipate is the feeling, especially of betrayal, when it happens.

Success is a moving target; how do you know when you hit it?

I guess you never know [chuckles]. Success is multifaceted. When I started with my wife, I just wanted to afford a car because I had a family, and that was success then. I started as a cashier, and I just wanted to be a proper officer, which is another success, or to attain a certain level of money. This is the human condition: if you stop swimming, you sink.

What matters more than you thought it would?

Peace of mind. That is the one thing you eventually come to discover is more important than anything. So, you step away from conflicts and unnecessary excitement.

What’s life’s simplest pleasure?

Laughing. Because you can get it anywhere. And the biggest superpower is to be able to laugh at oneself. Some people are too stuck up, too concerned, too self-important. Even my team selection is very much based on characters who know how to first be very kind and take themselves lightly.

What’s your insecurity now?

I’ve started having protrusions from certain parts of my body that I didn’t have. I’ve always been very lean, and suddenly now, I’m puffy [chuckles]. My friends started getting big in their early 30s, and it’s happening to me now at 42.

What’s a small thing people do for you that makes you feel loved?

Saying thank you. I don’t have a lot of people who say thank you, as people might think. In fact, it even changed my relationship with God, because when I’m praying, I like to focus on saying thank you before anything.

If I were to read any chapter from your life, which one would you recommend?

25 to 35. That’s the age when I learned to be a father, a husband, and learned to dream and actualise those dreams at the same time. I created Mansa X when I was 32, when I left banking, when everyone thought I was crazy. I look at the young version of myself, and I’m really proud of him because he just never knew the limitations, and that has also helped me to be very careful with my children. No matter what they choose to be, I will be proudest of them if they become the best versions of themselves.

What’s an investment cliché you’re tired of hearing?

The higher the risk, the higher the return. It annoys me. There is a lot of low return that comes from mediocre investing, not because you took lower risk. Just because you’re doing something in a mediocre way does not mean that it’s less risky, and just because someone else is having a higher return doesn’t mean they necessarily took on more risk.

What do you do that’s not for money at all?

Golf. I’m very enthusiastic about it, but I’m not a very good golfer. Golf is a lot like life and business. I am also into horse racing, and here, we have a syndicate of 10 who own three horses. I can ride, but I cannot ride a racehorse. I also work a lot on my fruit farm in Limuru. Let’s not talk about whether it makes money or not [chuckles].

What’s your weekend plan?

I’ll go see my dad, who is a bit sick. Later I’ll take my girls to Naivasha for the weekend and play some golf. I got them a teacher for Kikuyu lessons too [chuckles].

Why is it important for them to learn Kikuyu?

It’d be ridiculous to abandon your heritage. My great-grandfather is Chief Waiyaki wa Hinga. And he was the first freedom fighter, killed by the British before it was fashionable to be killed by the British [chuckles]. I took them to watch a play about him in Kikuyu, and this is to make it cool for them to know your language.

What does money mean to you now?

It is the best validator in the world I live in. First, it is intimidating, but the same way Sh10 hits you psychologically is the same way a million dollars hits you. It becomes a number you take care of. Money accumulates toward people who respect it, so spend less than you make.

Give us some good advice.

In life, ‘And this too shall pass.’ But in trading, the theory is simple. If it is bad, it can always get worse haha! Take your losses early. The best traders tend to be very pessimistic. Luckily, in life, unlike markets, bad things tend to get better [chuckles]. Remember to be playful. Don’t let life dictate who you are.

For years, companies have listed in the stock market to raise capital, expand operations, invest in new opportunities or strengthen their balance sheets. While these remain important motivations, they are not the only reasons a company may choose to enter the public market. A key but often overlooked benefit for listing is institutionalisation.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has shown renewed momentum, reporting a 134 per cent increase in profit after tax in 2025, with the total revenue surpassing Sh1 billion for the first time.

Family Bank rang the bell at the NSE, marking the largest private sector listing at the bourse in more than 17 years. This is a milestone not just for the institution but also for homegrown corporates, raising a question that calls for greater attention: why have few Kenyan companies chosen to follow that path?

Kenya is not short of successful businesses. Over the past two decades, Kenya has seen ordinary ideas grow into extraordinary enterprises. Entrepreneurs and family-owned businesses have built companies that have stood the test of time, creating jobs, driving growth and proving that resilience and innovation can transform dreams into lasting economic impact. Despite this, relatively few have made the transition from private enterprises to publicly listed institutions.

Their hesitation is understandable. Listing is associated with increased scrutiny, heightened bureaucracy and concerns about dilution of ownership or control. In some cases, there is no pressing need to raise additional capital. If a business is profitable, growing and adequately financed, the incentive to pursue a listing may appear limited.

This perception, however, misses the deeper purpose of public markets. Building a successful business is one thing; building an institution that lasts is another. Many businesses begin with the passion and vision of a founder. But for a company to endure, it must grow beyond one person, anchored by strong governance, accountability and systems that carry the vision forward for generations.

Building a company takes vision, courage and persistence. Ensuring it thrives beyond its founders is a greater test. Many businesses reach a point they must navigate leadership transitions, ownership changes and the challenge of scaling without losing their purpose.

Others have found it difficult to attract new investors, professionalise operations or maintain momentum as they scale. The real journey is not just creating a successful business, but building an institution that can stand the test of time.

Listing can become an important step in a company’s journey from founder-led into a lasting institution. It brings greater transparency, stronger governance and accountability, giving investors confidence while helping companies build the systems needed to grow sustainably. Equally important, it provides a platform to raise capital.

For Family Bank, listing by introduction represents this next stage of maturity. Unlike an initial public offering (IPO), it is not about raising new capital or issuing more shares, but opening an institution to the discipline and visibility of a regulated market. It reflects the strength of what has already been built and a commitment to creating a bank that can serve future generations.

The conversation around capital markets often focuses on encouraging people to invest. Equally important is creating a pipeline of strong businesses ready to open their doors to public ownership.

Publicly listed businesses create opportunities for wealth creation by allowing ordinary citizens, pension funds, institutional investors and other stakeholders to participate in corporate growth. They contribute to stronger governance standards and help channel capital towards productivity. They also provide transparency.

Perhaps most importantly, they help transform private success stories into national economic institutions. That is why the significance of Family Bank’s listing goes beyond a single company joining the exchange.

The government plans to strip three agricultural parastatals of their lending powers, and instead consolidate State-backed financing for farmers under a single institution to curb misuse of public funds.

A Bill introduced in the National Assembly by Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah proposes to remove lending functions from the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro), the Tea Board of Kenya and the Kenya Sugar Board (KSB).

If passed, the Crops Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 will channel all agricultural lending through the planned Kenya Agribusiness Development Corporation (KADCO) Limited, which is being created through the merger of the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) and the Commodities Fund, the two State agencies that have traditionally provided agricultural credit.

‘This Bill removes those mandates and ensures that the relevant funds under the Sugar Act are channelled to KADCO for lending, completing the alignment of existing agricultural laws with the new institutional framework,’ Mr Ichung’wah says in the Bill’s statement of objects and reasons.

The proposed changes will remove provisions in existing laws that empower the three agencies to establish and manage lending schemes for farmers and other players in their respective value chains.

Traditionally, agricultural lending in Kenya has been undertaken by the AFC, which financed a broad range of farming activities, and the Commodities Fund, which specialised in lending to scheduled crop value chains such as coffee, sugar and coconut.

Read: Treasury purge fuels crash in banks’ lending to parastatals

The government has been consolidating the two institutions into KADCO as part of wider reforms aimed at reducing duplication among State corporations.

The AFC, Kalro and KSB were established primarily to regulate, promote and support the development of their respective agricultural sectors, with lending forming only one of several functions.

Kalro is responsible for agricultural research and the development of new crop and livestock technologies, while the Tea Board oversees regulation and promotion of the tea industry. The Kenya Sugar Board regulates the sugar sub-sector, including licensing, industry development and policy implementation.

Policymakers argue that concentrating lending under one institution will improve accountability, enhance access to finance and ensure public funds are deployed more efficiently in supporting agricultural production and value addition.

KSB currently runs a loans scheme through the Commodities Funds using the Sugar Development Fund(SDF), which is seeded through the Sugar Development Levy (SDL). The SDL is charged on both imported and locally produced sugar.

Every local miller pays four percent of the ex-factory price of the produce by the 10th day of the month immediately following the month when the sugar is manufactured. SDL is also payable at four percent on the cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) value of each consignment of imported sugar falling under the East African Community, Common External Tariff. CIF is an international shipping agreement that represents the charges paid by a seller to cover the costs, insurance, and freight of a buyer’s order while the cargo is in transit.

Repayment of loans through the SDL has, however, been challenging over the years, with official records indicating that borrowers had by 2024 defaulted on an estimated Sh3.7 billion. To curb the bad loans, the State has shaken up credit terms under the SDF-a development that is likely to slow down disbursements.

For example, individual sugarcane farmers tapping credit from the SDF face tougher scrutiny of their credit records as the State moves to tame runaway loan defaults running into billions of shillings.

Read: The truth about State-owned enterprises

The AFC currently issues loans to farmers at a fixed interest rate of 10 percent, making its facilities a key financing channel for small-scale and medium-scale agricultural producers.

The Bill is part of a broader government push to streamline the operations of State corporations by assigning specialised functions to dedicated agencies. By centralising agricultural lending under KADCO, the State hopes to create a single institution responsible for administering agricultural credit, improving oversight of public lending programmes and reducing fragmentation across multiple agencies.

KADCO is expected to serve as the government’s principal agricultural development finance institution, providing loans to farmers, cooperatives, agribusinesses and processors across various value chains.

Policymakers argue that concentrating lending under one institution will improve accountability, enhance access to finance and ensure public funds are deployed more efficiently in supporting agricultural production and value addition.

The State paid oil marketers Sh7.9 billion for the fuel subsidy scheme last month, helping ease cash flow woes that had hit the industry amid high operational costs.

Kello Harsama, the Principal Secretary in the State Department of Petroleum, said the money was paid to importers who will then pay the respective oil marketers based on the volumes lifted.

The payment, which was for the May 15-June 14 cycle, will significantly boost an industry that has in the past few months struggled due to cash flow hitches tied to the subsidy arrears.

A combination of the arrears and costly fuel in the wake of the US-Israel war on Iran made it difficult to lift sufficient volumes of fuel, leading to shortages, which were more pronounced in May.

‘Two weeks ago, we paid Sh7.9 billion for the subsidy arrears of the May-June cycle. We expect the importers to wire the money to the respective oil marketers,’ Mr Harsama said.

‘We now have an obligation to settle the arrears for the June-July cycle.’

This means that the unpaid subsidy money is the Sh10 billion for the current monthly cycle, which lapses on July 14.

Oil marketers had in May warned that the piling subsidy arrears had squeezed the industry’s ability to purchase fuel that became costly in the market shocks tied to the US-Israel war on Iran.

Read: Oil marketers protest over unpaid diesel subsides

Dealers who operate stations for Vivo Energy Kenya and Rubis Energy Kenya and dozens of small marketers were hit hard since April, with the erratic supplies triggering panic buying by consumers wary of missing out on fuel.

Prices of diesel, petrol and kerosene skyrocketed in March due to the supply and transport hitches caused by Iran’s attacks on oil refineries in the Gulf region and a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, where nearly a quarter of the world’s fuel transits.

Besides paying for costly fuel, oil marketers are also required to pay taxes upfront before accessing fuel from the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) system for sale in the local market. These two became increasingly difficult due to the cash flow woes.

The subsidy kitty is funded by the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) of Sh5.40 per litre of diesel and petrol and Sh0.40 per litre of kerosene.

Illegal diversions of money to cater for items outside those contained in the regulations governing the use of the PDL kitty and steep subsidies have nearly depleted the Petroleum Development Levy Fund (PDLF).

Read: New Sh10bn fuel subsidy piles cash flow pressure on marketers

The subsidy has been critical in preventing pump prices from rising by higher margins in the wake of the US-Israel war on Iran that led to record-high prices of refined fuel.

For example, diesel and petrol prices could have jumped by Sh64.92 and Sh33.37 per litre in the monthly cycle from April 15 had the State not subsidised prices and cut value added tax (VAT) from 16 percent to 13 percent. They rose by Sh40.30 and Sh28.69 per litre of diesel and petrol, respectively.

In the current prices to July 14, a subsidy of Sh34.07 per litre of diesel helped lower prices by Sh10 to Sh222.86. The State did not subsidise petrol prices.

Absa Group of South Africa will accept all offers of 10,000 shares and below for each shareholder in its purchase of an additional 16.5 percent stake in Absa Bank Kenya, sparing small investors the pain of rejected offers in case of an oversubscription.

The lender is purchasing 895.9 million shares through the tender at a fixed price of Sh34.50 per unit, valuing the transaction at Sh30.9 billion. If fully subscribed, the purchase will see Absa Group’s shares in the Kenyan unit rise from 3.72 billion shares to 4.61 billion units, raising its percentage stake from 68.5 percent to 85 percent.

The offer, which opened on June 30, will close on August 11.

Absa Group says in its offer document that the pro-rating in case of an oversubscription will kick in at 10,000 units, which at the offer price values the shares at Sh345,000.

In case of an oversubscription, all shareholders would first get the guaranteed minimum allocation, before those offering shares above the threshold are allotted shares in proportion to the size of their tender.

‘Each Shareholder who tenders 10,000 ordinary shares or fewer in the tender offer shall receive guaranteed acceptance in full for all such ordinary shares tendered,’ said Absa Group in the offer document.

‘Where a shareholder tenders more than 10,000 ordinary shares, the first 10,000 shares shall be guaranteed in full, and the balance shall be subject to pro-rata allocation amongst all shareholders who have tendered more than 10,000 shares.’

Read: Absa Group offers Sh31bn for extra 16.5pc stake in Kenya unit

The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed Absa Bank Kenya had 49,164 shareholders with holdings of 10,000 shares or less by the end of 2025, its latest annual report shows. They held an aggregate of 103.18 million shares or 1.89 percent of the lender’s 5.43 billion issued shares.

Another 16,501 investors owned between 10,001 and 100,000 Absa Kenya shares, amounting to a total holding of 475.6 million units or 8.76 percent of the bank. Those holding between 100,001 and one million shares numbered 950, with an aggregate stake of 4.81 percent or 261.23 million shares.

The bulk of the lender’s shares are in the hands of the 156 owners who hold above one million units each. This group, whose participation is key to Absa Group hitting its tender target, held 870.6 million shares.

The guaranteed uptake of small investors’ stakes is likely to encourage such shareholders to participate in the offer, especially if they are in line to make a significant capital gain on the stock whose price has gone up by 33 percent this year to close at Sh32.80 on Friday.

Absa Group noted that its offer of Sh34.50 per share represents a premium of 18.1 percent compared to the closing price of Sh29.20 on June 17, 2026 –the last day on which the Kenyan subsidiary shares traded before the bid by the multinational for extra shares was filed.

It also represents a premium of 39.7 percent to the December 31, 2025 traded price of Sh24.7 and 79.7 percent to the June 30, 2025 closing price of Sh19.20.

In raising its stake, the South African lender is eyeing a larger slice of the subsidiary’s growing dividend payouts, in addition to pushing its broad strategy of deepening its presence in high-potential markets in Africa.

Since the split and rebrand of the Kenyan unit from Barclays in 2020, net earnings have grown from Sh7.4 billion (in 2019) to Sh22.9 billion last year, allowing the unit to raise its annual dividend from Sh6 billion to Sh11.1 billion in the period.

It is the second major South African bank making a bid for enhanced presence in Kenya, with an eye on using it as a springboard for the larger East African market.

Absa Group’s rival Nedbank is spending Sh110 billion to buy a 66 percent stake in NCBA Group, Kenya’s fifth largest lender by assets, in a cash and stock offer that was filed on January 21, 2026.

In the transaction, NCBA shareholders can tender 66 percent of their holdings to Nedbank. Out of this pool of shares, 80 percent of the units will be converted into Nedbank shares at a rate of 4.02994 shares for every 100 shares. The Nedbank shares are priced at 250 rand (Sh1,928.5) using the deal’s exchange rate.

The remaining 20 percent of the shares will be bought in cash at a rate of Sh2,100 for every 100 shares or Sh21 apiece.

NCBA investors holding up to 7,519 shares will only receive a cash payout of Sh105 per share for the stocks they will sell, equivalent to a maximum of about Sh789,495.

Limiting small investors to an all-cash option makes it easier for them to realise the value of their shares, since converting a small portfolio of NCBA shares into Nedbank stock is likely to be uneconomical owing to the impact of taxes, commissions and bank charges on foreign income and transactions.

NCBA had 11,912 shareholders with holdings of between one and 500 shares as of December 2025, while 13,389 investors had portfolios ranging from 501 to 5,000 shares. Another1,853 of the bank’s shareholders held between 5,001 and 10,000 shares.

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has launched the third cycle of its tax amnesty programme, offering millions of taxpayers a fresh opportunity to clear historical tax liabilities without paying penalties, interest or fines while helping the government recover much-needed revenue.

The six-month programme, which runs from July 1 to December 31, 2026, was reintroduced through the Finance Act, 2026. It grants a 100 percent waiver of penalties, interest and fines on tax debts accrued up to December 31, 2025, provided taxpayers meet the stipulated conditions.

The initiative builds on two previous tax amnesty programmes that enabled KRA to recover Sh80.9 billion in principal tax while regularising thousands of taxpayers who had fallen out of the tax system.

‘The amnesty window opens on July 1, 2026 and closes strictly on December 31, 2026,’ KRA said on Friday.

‘This builds on the success of the previous two amnesty cycles, which successfully recovered Sh80.9 billion in principal tax payments while regularising thousands of taxpayers.’

Who qualifies?

The programme comes days after the June 30 annual tax return filing deadline, offering relief to taxpayers who failed to file returns on time, partly because of intermittent disruptions to KRA’s iTax platform.

Taxpayers with no outstanding principal tax but who incurred late filing penalties will automatically receive waivers once they submit all outstanding returns.

Similarly, taxpayers who had fully settled their principal tax liabilities by December 31, 2025 will automatically qualify for a waiver of all related penalties and interest without submitting a formal application.

Those with unpaid principal taxes can still benefit by settling the outstanding amount during the amnesty period, after which the related penalties and interest will be written off.

Taxpayers unable to make a lump-sum payment may instead apply for a structured payment plan through the iTax system. However, all principal tax must be paid by December 31, 2026 to qualify for the waiver.

Tax liabilities arising on or after January 1, 2026 are excluded from the programme and remain fully payable.

Revenue boost

The latest amnesty is the third since Kenya introduced tax forgiveness programmes to improve voluntary compliance, widen the tax base and recover revenue that might otherwise remain tied up in disputed or dormant tax accounts.

While the immediate objective is to ease the financial burden on businesses and individuals with accumulated penalties, the government also views the programme as a key compliance tool.

Rather than relying solely on enforcement, the amnesty is intended to encourage taxpayers to regularise their affairs, update their tax records and return to the formal tax system, ultimately expanding future revenue collection.

The programme also comes as pressure on revenue collection intensifies.

Despite growth in collections, KRA has consistently fallen short of its ambitious revenue targets. By the end of March 2026, the authority had collected Sh2.038 trillion against a target of Sh2.122 trillion, leaving a shortfall of about Sh84 billion. Exchequer revenue stood at Sh1.834 trillion against a target of Sh1.921 trillion.

The latest tax amnesty is expected to complement KRA’s broader compliance strategy at a time when the government has avoided introducing major new taxes ahead of next year’s General Election.

KRA has urged taxpayers to take advantage of the six-month window rather than wait until the deadline, warning that penalties and interest will once again become payable in full after December 31, 2026.

The authority has also encouraged taxpayers involved in active disputes to use its Alternative Dispute Resolution framework to settle principal tax liabilities and qualify for the amnesty.

South Sudan has flagged illegal fuel shipments from the port of Mombasa as Kenyan oil marketers bypass its Government-to-Government (G-to-G) deal.

Correspondence seen by Business Daily shows that Juba warned oil marketers on June 24 that fuel shipped outside the G-to-G framework risks being impounded, while companies involved face licence revocation.

South Sudan currently imports fuel under a G-to-G arrangement in which Kenya’s Pacific Petroleum is the designated importer of petrol and diesel. The company then supplies licensed oil marketers operating in the country’s retail market.

Pacific Petroleum admitted that it imported more expensive fuel cargoes outside the G-to-G framework following supply disruptions triggered by the US-Israel conflict with Iran.

The costlier cargoes have prompted other oil marketers to divert fuel originally destined for the Democratic Republic of Congo to South Sudan in an attempt to sell cheaper products.

‘We would like to inform all OMCs (oil marketing companies) to comply and lift stocks nominated as per the signed SPAs from the supplier as we finalise the South Sudan Energy that will immediately take up the role and communications in future,’ Santino Dau, Undersecretary at South Sudan’s Ministry of Petroleum, said in a letter dated June 24, 2026.

‘We are working with all security apparatus to ensure the border is manned and regulated going forward. Any stocks not originating from the manifest of stocks imported for South Sudan shall be impounded at the border. Any sabotage to this arrangement will be met with legal action and licence revocation.’

A memo seen by Business Daily shows that one of the disputed cargoes was priced at $1,350 per cubic metre of diesel and $1,000 per cubic metre of petrol.

Kenyan oil marketers licensed to operate in South Sudan say those prices are uncompetitive, arguing that the premiums differ from those agreed under South Sudan’s G-to-G arrangement.

Logistics hurdles

A separate letter from Kenya’s Ministry of Energy and Petroleum shows that Pacific Petroleum has recently faced challenges evacuating products from the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) system and Gapco terminals. Gapco is owned by TotalEnergies Marketing Kenya.

The difficulties prompted Petroleum Principal Secretary Kello Harsama to convene a meeting with oil marketers to address the bottlenecks.

‘In the recent past, Pacific Petroleum has faced several challenges in the implementation of the import arrangement, notably slow evacuation of product from the Gapco terminal and the KPC system,’ Mr Harsama said in a letter dated June 22, 2026.

‘To this end, we wish to invite you (seven oil companies) to a joint SDP, KPC and Epra meeting to deliberate on the most efficient way of handling the RSS import arrangement without negatively impacting the Kenyan Government-to-Government import framework.

The seven companies invited to the meeting were Pacific Petroleum, Be Energy, Asharami Synergy, Galana Energies, One Petroleum, Oryx Energies and Gulf Energy, all of which import fuel under Kenya’s G-to-G arrangement.

Kenya imports fuel through State-owned suppliers Saudi Arabia’s Aramco Trading Fujairah FZE, Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC Global Trading Ltd and Emirates National Oil Company Singapore Ltd.

Mr Harsama did not disclose the reasons behind Pacific Petroleum’s difficulties in evacuating products from KPC and Gapco facilities.

The delays suggest that nominated cargoes for South Sudan are not being lifted as scheduled.

A memo circulated to oil marketers shows that South Sudan has frozen requests to amend quantities allocated under the import programme.

‘Kindly note that KRA (Kenya Revenue Authority) has received a memo that amendments relating to South Sudan should not be approved at this time,’ the memo said.

Regional shift

South Sudan is the third East African country to adopt a G-to-G fuel import arrangement in a bid to improve supply security and cushion consumers from volatility in global spot markets.

Kenya introduced its G-to-G framework in March 2023 through agreements with three Gulf suppliers. Uganda followed a year later with a deal involving Vitol Bahrain, while South Sudan adopted its arrangement in March this year.

Rwanda became the fourth country last month after announcing a G-to-G agreement with Oman’s OQ Trading.

South Sudan has said its State-owned South Sudan Energy will assume the importer role from Pacific Petroleum. Rwanda has also established a State-owned entity to manage its fuel imports, while Uganda imports fuel through the Uganda National Oil Company.

The regional shift has increasingly concentrated fuel imports in the hands of State-backed entities, replacing the previous system under which dozens of oil marketers competed to import cargoes through open tenders.

The long-running dispute over the planned sale of Nairobi’s 14 Riverside complex has taken a fresh turn after Synergy Industrial Credit sued I and M Bank and one of its senior executives, seeking Sh5.77 billion in damages for allegedly frustrating its efforts to recover a court-awarded debt.

In a suit filed at the High Court, Synergy accuses I and M Bank and its executive director, Sarit Suresh Raja Shah, of twice blocking the forced sale of the property, preventing the Synergy from enforcing a decree against Cape Holdings Ltd, the owner of the mixed-use development.

The claim is founded on the Marex tort, under which Synergy argues that the bank intentionally interfered with its ability to realise the fruits of a judgment that has remained unpaid since 2021.

According to the suit, I and M engaged in what Synergy describes as ‘abusive litigation’ aimed solely at delaying or blocking execution of the decree.

‘For a period of 1,652 days, the plaintiff was unlawfully hindered, delayed, stopped and prevented from enforcing and realising the fruits of the decree,’ the suit states.

Synergy argues that the delays denied it the benefit of the judgment and caused losses amounting to Sh5.77 billion.

The dispute stems from an arbitration award arising from a failed property transaction. Synergy says it paid Cape Holdings Sh750 million to acquire part of the 14 Riverside development, but the deal collapsed.

An arbitrator in 2015 ordered Cape Holdings to pay Synergy Sh1.6 billion plus interest. According to Synergy, the amount outstanding had risen to Sh11.3 billion as of June 30, 2026.

Court documents show that the decretal amount stood at Sh5.13 billion on October 12, 2021. By April 21, 2026, when I and M withdrew an application seeking a review of a Court of Appeal judgment, the amount had increased to Sh10.9 billion.

Synergy says the difference between the two figures – Sh5.77 billion – represents the losses it suffered because the bank unlawfully delayed execution of the decree.

Property battle

The latest suit is the latest chapter in years of litigation over the ownership and proposed sale of the 14 Riverside complex.

I and M Bank had initially stopped the auction after arguing that it held a charge over the property securing a Sh2.82 billion loan advanced to Cape Holdings. The bank maintained that the court first needed to determine which creditor had priority over the asset before any sale could proceed.

That case was eventually dismissed. The bank later sought a review of the Court of Appeal decision before withdrawing the application in April this year.

A November 2020 valuation by Knight Frank placed the property’s market value at Sh7 billion and its forced-sale value at Sh5.25 billion. The auction, however, never took place.

Synergy now claims that by placing Cape Holdings under administration in October 2021, I and M triggered the statutory moratorium under Section 560 of the Insolvency Act, freezing enforcement proceedings and preventing recovery of the debt.

Synergy alleges that the bank used the insolvency process as a litigation strategy rather than a genuine corporate rescue mechanism.

According to the suit, I and M relied on a debenture registered on January 8, 2021 after advancing financial facilities to Cape Holdings, before placing the company under administration.

Loan questions

Synergy also challenges the legitimacy of the lending arrangement.

It says the debenture was based on a September 23, 2020 letter of offer indicating that I and M was taking over existing facilities previously held by Co-operative Bank of Kenya for Nandlal and Company Ltd.

However, Synergy alleges that no genuine takeover took place. Instead, it claims the funds were disbursed directly to Cape Holdings in October 2020, contrary to the terms of the offer.

‘The plaintiff avers that the letter of offer dated September 23, 2020 clearly highlights there were no existing borrowing facilities that Cape Holdings had with the 1st defendant,’ the suit states.

According to Synergy, Cape Holdings had redeemed all its previous facilities with I and M in 2011 and had since banked with Co-operative Bank of Kenya, making the 2020 transaction a new loan rather than a refinancing arrangement.

The company further alleges that the delay in enforcing the decree allowed Cape Holdings and its directors to dispose of assets that could have satisfied the judgment.

It claims company assets were dissipated, properties transferred to directors, their spouses, children and other relatives, and company funds used to acquire additional properties.

Synergy says it is still pursuing recovery of the outstanding debt through the sale of Cape Holdings’ assets once the pending court cases are concluded.

The targeted assets include the 14 Riverside complex, valued at Sh5.4 billion in October 2025, and several properties in Kajiado County with a combined estimated value of Sh105.7 million.

The company argues that had I and M not delayed execution through insolvency proceedings and prolonged court battles, it would have recovered a substantial portion of the debt before interest pushed the amount owed beyond Sh11 billion.