Category: Business Daily

Across Africa, the conversation has shifted from “What is AI?” to “How can AI drive growth and profitability?” The answer is not more hype, generic training or simply deploying new software. It begins with leadership.

The organisations that will thrive will not necessarily be those experimenting with the most AI tools, but those that build AI into a core business capability.

That requires leaders to integrate AI into strategy, operating models, data readiness, cybersecurity, governance, talent, customer experience and measurable returns. These are executive decisions, not technology projects.

Success starts with asking the right questions. Which business processes should AI improve? Which decisions should it strengthen? What risks must be addressed before scaling? Most importantly, how will success be measured before an AI solution is deployed?

That final question is often overlooked, yet it distinguishes meaningful transformation from expensive experimentation. Launching an AI pilot is relatively easy; defining clear business outcomes in advance is much harder.

A finance team I recently advised illustrates the point. They wanted AI to accelerate invoice approvals and initially planned to automate the existing workflow. Before doing so, however, they examined where delays actually occurred. They discovered that many invoices passed through an approval stage created years earlier to address a risk that no longer existed.

The real solution was not AI but eliminating the unnecessary approval step.

Only after redesigning the process did the team introduce AI to automate a smaller, high-value task. Had they automated the original workflow, they would simply have made an inefficient process run faster while wasting time and money.

This is the lesson many organisations overlook. AI’s greatest value lies not in automating existing work, but in rethinking how work should be done. It forces leaders to question outdated processes, challenge assumptions and redesign operations around value rather than habit.

Ultimately, AI is not a technology conversation – it is a leadership conversation.

Organisations that approach it strategically, with clear objectives and disciplined governance, will achieve lasting competitive advantage.

Those that treat AI as just another software deployment risk spending heavily without transforming how they create value.

Insurer Britam plans to invest up to Sh1.9 billion ($15 million) in financial and insurance technology startups in Kenya and other markets where it operates, as it expands its venture capital arm amid increasing competition from non-traditional insurers.

Through its incubation hub BetaLab, the insurer plans to invest up to Sh1.9 billion in startups across the seven markets where it operates over the next four years, using a mix of equity and debt financing.

Kenya will inject an extra $40 million (Sh5.2 billion) into the African Trade and Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI), more than doubling its stake in the quest for greater influence in mobilising billions of shillings for critical projects.

The additional investment will raise Kenya’s capital subscription in the African guarantee platform from $25 million (Sh3.2 billion) to $65 million (Sh8.4 billion), President William Ruto announced on Tuesday.

‘We thank ATIDI for supporting Kenya’s development journey by over $7 billion in investments in energy, transport, manufacturing, agriculture, and trade sectors,’ President Ruto said in a post the X social media platform.

‘To deepen that partnership, Kenya will progressively increase shareholding in ATIDI from $25 million to $65 million as we strengthen the continent’s financial institutions to fund the future.’

The move strengthens Kenya’s position in one of Africa’s fastest-growing multilateral financial institutions as governments increasingly turn to regional lenders and insurers to finance development amid tighter global credit markets.

ATIDI insures investors and lenders against political, sovereign and commercial risks that often discourage financing for projects across African countries.

The guarantees reduce investment risks, allowing banks, insurers and development finance institutions to lend more confidently to businesses and governments undertaking large projects.

The role has become increasingly important as African economies grapple with rising borrowing costs, tighter international financial conditions, as well as reduced appetite for lending to emerging markets. Since its establishment in 2001, ATIDI has supported trade and investment transactions worth more than Sh1.2 trillion ($93 billion) across Africa.

Kenya has emerged as one of the institution’s biggest beneficiaries since joining the institution more than two decades ago.

Beyond buying additional shares in the organisation, Kenya’s increased investment also secures the country greater influence in a body playing an increasingly central role in determining how investment risks across Africa are assessed and financed.

The announcement comes as ATIDI itself expands rapidly through fresh capital injections from governments and international development finance institutions.

Last month, the African Development Bank approved a $125 million (Sh16.2 billion) equity investment to strengthen the institution’s balance sheet and expand its capacity to support investments across member countries.

Germany’s development bank KfW has also invested fresh capital as ATIDI broadens its shareholder base and underwriting capacity.

The additional capital enables the institution to guarantee larger transactions while supporting more investment projects across African economies.

It also reflects Nairobi’s growing ambition to position itself as a leading financial hub for African investment.

Despite being the heartbeat of local commerce and accounting for the vast majority of new jobs created annually, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) remain trapped in a severe credit crunch.

Data from the revised MSME policy review reveals that small businesses require roughly Sh4 trillion in market loans to sustain and expand their operations. Yet, commercial banks currently supply only Sh700 billion.

This massive funding gap highlights the persistent barriers that local entrepreneurs encounter when trying to access formal credit. The root cause of this deficit lies in an exclusionary financial framework.

Traditional banking models rely heavily on physical collateral and formal records, yet because many local enterprises operate in the informal or semi-formal sectors, they often lack fixed assets and extensive financial histories.

Consequently, traditional lenders mistakenly view these viable Kenyan enterprises as high-risk.

Without urgent policy interventions to correct this issue, the growth of the informal sector will remain constrained, ultimately stifling broader national economic progress.

A critical flaw in the current financial ecosystem is the tendency to treat all MSMEs as a single, homogenous block. Small businesses do not require uniform credit facilities; their needs vary drastically across sectors.

Retailers require rapid, short-term cash injections to secure inventory. Agricultural players need structured facilities tied explicitly to seasonal harvesting timelines. Logistics operators demand heavy asset-financing options to procure delivery fleets.

To bridge this operational divide, lenders must restructure how they evaluate creditworthiness. Financial institutions must adopt alternative credit scoring models, that assess real-time cash flows, mobile money transaction patterns, and localised consumer behavior instead of demanding fixed, physical assets.

For decades, banking programmes targeting small businesses were relegated to corporate social responsibility (CSR) departments or treated as charitable social initiatives. This patronising outlook must end.

Serving the informal and semi-formal sectors represents a highly competitive, highly lucrative commercial segment.

Lenders must shorten their loan approval windows so business owners do not lose time-sensitive market opportunities. In the fast-moving informal market, a delayed loan approval is just as damaging as a denial.

Beyond merely shortening disbursement timelines, financial institutions must bundle credit with digital accounting tools and targeted education in tax planning and debt management. This support is critical to helping small businesses formalise their operations and build long-term, verifiable bankability.

By coupling structural, sector-specific lending with robust mobile cash management infrastructure, we can effectively help Kenyan businesses transition from daily hand-to-mouth survival to sustainable, long-term growth.

Indeed, policymakers and financial executives must act now, as bridging the Sh3.3 trillion gap is no longer just an act of economic inclusion, but an absolute economic imperative.

Two days after leaving hospital, Hellen Atieno returns to her grocery stall in Mariwa trading centre in Migori County, with more than just the fatigue of a week-long illness. She is desperate to recover lost time.

The days she spent in the hospital meant no sales, no income, and no means of paying the Sh67 ($0.52) daily instalment for the phone she bought on credit about two months earlier, risking her ability to stay connected.

Then her phone buzzes. Sh7,000 ($54) has just been deposited in her mobile money wallet, enough to settle her debts for the week, restock her business, and begin again.

‘I was not working for a whole week, so I didn’t have any money when I left the hospital. The insurance money really helped me start again,’ she says, adding that she’d borrowed from a friend to prepay a week’s instalments for the phone to stay online.

Ms Atieno got the Sh7,000 payout because her financed phone comes embedded with a health insurance policy. It pays Sh1,000 for each day of hospitalisation, to cover medical bills, or to just help recoup lost income.

First introduced by a device financier in 2024 to solve biting defaults on hire purchase phones, the embedded insurance model is picking pace in Kenya, with more vendors and financiers now looking to take it up and expand it beyond devices.

Today, the idea that began as a way to reduce losses on the booming buy now pay later (BNPL) business is emerging to be one of Kenya’s fastest-growing channels for distributing insurance, helping lenders protect repayments while bringing first-time covers to thousands of people who’d otherwise never had any form of insurance in their lifetime.

Kenya, despite being among Africa’s most developed countries, has one of the world’s lowest insurance penetration rates, currently at 2.44 percent, according to the Insurance Regulatory Authority, compared to Africa’s average of 2.7 percent and the world’s 5.4 percent.

Insurance penetration is the total value of premiums paid as a percentage of GDP.

Expansion of access has been slow. In the decade to December 2024, access improved only marginally from 6.1 percent of the population to 6.3 percent. Even the State-sponsored Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) covers less than a quarter of the people.

Affordability and lack of awareness have historically been the main barriers, cited by more than 80 percent of the uninsured, according to the latest Financial Access Survey. Now, insurance coming with financed phones is attempting to hack both.

In Africa, Kenya has one of the most advanced device financing markets, and embedding insurance in financed phones could offer a replicable model to expand insurance access on the continent.

‘Many Kenyans have always thought insurance is for the rich, and for years it was reserved for the rich. This model is proving otherwise,’ said Nzioki Ndeti, a microinsurance researcher and head of Shield Assurance.

Yet expanding insurance access was not the inspiration behind the idea. It was the pain of losing millions in non-performing device loans.

For a market where small economic shocks such as a short illness can mean zero income, the industry was forced to become creative.

‘Whenever we called defaulters to follow up on payments, they said, ‘I was sick, I couldn’t pay’; ‘my child was sick,’ or ‘I lost the phone’. So we thought, what if we added an insurance aspect to the devices?’ Recounted Martin King’ori, general manager at M-Kopa Kenya, the firm that pioneered the embedded insurance model in financed phones.

Defaults on device financing have been stark since the Covid-19 slump. While the model began to pick pace in the mid-2010s, several businesses that attempted it have since collapsed, and the ones that remain, including M-Kopa, struggled to break even or sustain profitability.

Lipa Later, for instance, which had raised over Sh2.1 billion ($16.6 million) to finance phones and other household items, collapsed last year after mounting defaults strained its operations. Shortly after, Wabeh, another BNPL startup, folded over the same challenge.

Often, these firms are helpless in the face of defaults.

In a tax dispute with the Kenya Revenue Authority in 2024, M-Kopa revealed that any attempt to recover devices on which customers had defaulted costs over twice the actual value of the gadgets.

Watu Credit, an asset financing firm focusing on motorcycles, three-wheelers, and smartphones, told Business Daily that it has recorded much higher default rates on phones than other assets it finances, but its only remedy is remote device locking.

Yet, rising phone prices and increasing costs of living have made device financing an evergreen market, and an essential one to Kenya’s digitisation goals.

Today, just 32 percent of the smartphones sold in Kenya cost less than Sh13,000 ($100), down from over 50 percent in 2019, according to tech market research firm Omdia. This has caused an affordability crunch for the crucial devices, pushing many towards financing options.

And amid defaults, embedded insurance has renewed hope to the country’s device financing model.

An M-Kopa spokesperson told Business Daily that since introduction of the health insurance aspect in January 2024, defaults have dropped dramatically, although they did not disclose specific rates.

‘Over 75 percent of customers who made claims report that the insurance helped ease their daily payment obligations during hospitalisation, precisely the moment when repaying a phone loan would otherwise be at risk,’ M-Kopa told Business Daily in an emailed response.

‘This has proved that insurance reduces the financial shocks that could push customers into default during emergencies.’

M-Kopa did to provide specific default rates before and after the insurance addition, saying it is trade sensitive. But users and vendors on the ground report a better repayment discipline. Ms Atieno, for instance, said the benefit of health insurance does inspire her not to default. ‘I know if I don’t pay I’ll lose the benefits. I’ve seen what it can do, I don’t want that to go away,’ she said.

Christopher Mwita, an agent selling financed M-Kopa devices, believes the insurance has given him an edge against competitors. Many of the customers he gets now are asking specifically for ‘phones with insurance.’

‘Selling these lipa mdogo mdogo (pay as you go) things is not easy, but the insurance has really made my work easy,’ he averred.

Sustaining the instalments coming is, however, not the be-all end-all of the embedded insurance. According to Mr Ndeti, what really matters is what happens after the phone is all paid up. ‘Does the user continue with the health insurance?’

When still paying for phones, the insurance premiums are invisible to the consumer because they are part of the daily instalments. Many of the customers don’t even know the insurer or the policy terms. Afterwards, it is upon Turaco, the microinsurance provider, to retain them.

‘With basic follow-up on WhatsApp, we manage to retain about 15 percent of these users, but with more intensive follow-up, through calls for instance, we realise a conversion rate of about 30 to 40 percent,’ said Rachel Levenson, Turaco’s chief commercial officer.

Ms Atieno is covered by SHIF, but over 75 percent of the M-Kopa users access insurance for the first time through the devices, according to Turaco’s internal review, and Ms Levenson reckons the conversion rate, is laudable given the nature of the market and the target.

‘It’s an added cost and the people we’re selling to are very price sensitive,’ she said.

Generally, the idea of microinsurance, especially for health, seems alien to Kenya – a market where less than 10 percent of insurers make profit from underwriting in medical segments. As a result, health insurance has become very expensive, and offering it at cheap premiums sounds impossible.

In addition to the small margins, fraud is a significant threat to the model. Turaco has invested heavily in artificial intelligence to curb fictitious claims and hasten settlements. But with premiums of only up to Sh50 a month, there’s only so much any insurer can do.

With the cheaper premiums comes an added cost for customers – AI. Humans barely, if ever, intervene in the claims processing, a factor that has meant claimants sometimes try multiple times to convince the robot their claims are real.

‘To keep the premiums low, we have to invest in the technology to catch fraud and improve claims processing,’ Ms Levenson said.

Ideally, Turaco says its claims should take at most four hours to process, but users report turnaround times of at least two days, and sometimes running into weeks.

But beyond the claims challenges, critics say the added insurance might be masking what is ultimately very expensive credit. Typically, financed devices end up being as much as three times the cash price, a cost borne fully by the buyer. But device financiers say this is the price of the risk.

‘It’s not overcharging. There’s a clear risk attributed to this type of loan, which is part of the cost, and that’s why it’s not the same as buying in cash. Remember, we’re also borrowing from banks, and we need to repay our loans as well,’ argued Andrii Volokha, East Africa general manager at Watu Credit.

However, without enforced credit scoring, all borrowers are treated equally, leading to high interest rates for everyone despite their risk profile. Experts argue this has led to overpricing of the products.

‘No one disputes that lending to a daily-earning, thin-file borrower carries more risk than lending to a salaried customer, and that risk has a price,’ argued Duncan Motanya, chairperson of the Fintech Association of Kenya.

‘Our concern is narrower and more specific: in parts of this market, the borrower appears to be charged for that risk twice…many asset-financing providers appear to price financed devices fairly uniformly across customers, rather than offering visibly lower rates to lower-risk borrowers.’

But the concept of embedding insurance on financed assets targeting low-income households, including motorcycles, house electronics, and even agricultural equipment, is gaining traction fast in the country, and with it, breaking traditional barriers to insurance. Watu Credit, for instance, is now also considering it.

‘We’ve seen a lot of interest from asset financiers, and we’re open to rolling out the service beyond M-Kopa, and beyond device financing,’ said Ms Levenson.

As microinsurance also begins to pick up pace in the country, with traditional insurers venturing into it, embedment in credit facilities is proving to be the fastest way to spur uptake, although with risks.

‘The poor also need to be insured. They also face risks,’ argued Mr Ndeti.

‘The only way to insure them is through products like that one.’

For Ms Atieno, as she goes about her day serving customers who had long endured her absence, the phone she feared losing due to a default now buzzes constantly with client payments. As the sun sets, she pays her daily instalment, and with it, an insurance premium. For Kenya’s device financing industry, every rescued repayment like this carries the cost of keeping the model itself alive.

Consumption of kerosene has dropped by more than half in the past five years as more homes turn to cooking gas, boosting the government’s efforts to increase uptake of clean fuel.

An analysis of official data shows that the 44.1 metric tonnes of kerosene consumed last year marked a 60.3 percent decrease from the 111.3 metric tonnes used in 2021.

This coincided with a surge in the use of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), with homes and businesses consuming 475,950 metric tonnes of cooking gas last year, a 28.2 percent increase from 371,400 metric tonnes in 2021.

The increased use of LPG is a major boost to the government’s push to reduce consumption of dirty fuels like kerosene, which pose health risks.

‘The continued uptake of LPG is expected to further reduce dependence on biomass fuels and kerosene, contributing to improved environmental outcomes, enhanced health and increased household access to clean cooking energy,’ Petroleum Institute of East Africa (PIEA), the lobby for oil marketers in Kenya says.

The government has employed a raft of measures to spur usage of LPG for cooking, notably the scrapping of the eight percent Value Added Tax, the 3.5 percent Import Declaration Fee and the two percent Railway Development Levy.

The tax breaks on LPG contrast with the introduction of the Sh18 anti-adulteration levy on kerosene and the removal of subsidies on the commodity in order to make it costly and discourage its consumption.

The spike in usage of LPG in the five years has made Kenya the region’s pace-setter in the shift to clean cooking fuels.

At 475,950 metric tonnes, Kenya’s annual consumption is more than double the combined usage of the fuel in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. The total annual consumption in the three economies is estimated at 182,800 metric tonnes.

Tanzania has the second-highest annual consumption of cooking at an estimated 145,800 metric tonnes followed by Uganda at 25,000 metric tonnes and Rwanda (12,000 metric tonnes).

Kenya’s regional position as the leader in LPG consumption underscores the country’s status as the biggest economy in the region, with a Gross Domestic Product of $135.68 billion, ahead of Tanzania at $89.9 billion, Uganda ($66.01 billion) and Rwanda at $16 billion.

Affordability of LPG is largely linked to the purchasing power of consumers, according to the World Bank, highlighting why Kenya leads in the region.

The World Bank Group has added Sh588 billion in securitised revenues and pending bills to Kenya’s debt stock, revealing a greater debt burden than that captured in official government data.

An analysis conducted by the World Bank in May 2026 shows that Kenya’s debt position has worsened, with the country’s public debt-to-GDP ratio of 71.3 per cent in 2025, up from 67.3 per cent previously.

The new assessment adds three parameters to Kenya’s debt assessment, including securitised future revenue streams, verified but unpaid pending bills and proceeds from privatisation programmes, which are treated as accumulated public liquid financial assets.

‘Kenya has securitised future revenue streams from three funds, raising approximately Sh383 billion, which has been included in the debt stock, though not yet in official statistics,’ the World Bank said.

‘Second, the Pending Bills Verification Committee has verified Sh255 billion in historic pending bills, of which Sh80 billion has been settled; the remaining verified stock is added to the DSA debt parameter. Third, approximately Sh350 billion in privatisation proceeds will seed the new National Infrastructure Fund (NIF) and is treated as an accumulation of public liquid financial assets.’

The National Treasury has committed future collections from certain revenue streams to help fund infrastructure projects and clear arrears to suppliers, including tapping Sh7 of every Sh25 collected from the sale of petrol and diesel through the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) and Sh9 out of every Sh10 collected from the Railway Development Levy (RDL).

Additionally, Kenya has ring-fenced part of the nearly Sh5 billion collected annually through the tourism levy to partly repay private investors financing hotels and commercial facilities for the ongoing development of the Bomas International Convention Complex.

The securitised proceeds from the Road Maintenance Levy are expected to repay bond investors providing Sh175 billion through a bond to clear pending bills in the road sector, while revenues from the Railway Development Levy will repay investors financing the extension of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Suswa/Naivasha to Malaba.

Kenya has previously disputed the categorisation of securitised revenue as part of debt, arguing that the special purpose vehicles (SPVs), which hold the proceeds from those revenues, are independent of the sovereign.

‘The issue of securitisation is not that the IMF thinks it’s the wrong idea. They are supporting securitisation, saying it is one of the most innovative ways of raising funds,’ said National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi.

‘The concern is an accounting matter on whether we should capture it as sovereign debt or not. Our position as the government is that once you sell a right to an SPV, there is no risk to the government at all.’

The IMF argues that the securitisation of future revenue should either be treated as a loan to the securitisation unit or as direct government borrowing.

The IMF also recommends that debt arising from financial leases and public-private partnerships (PPPs) be included in Kenya’s debt stock.

The IMF wants pending bills, infrastructure funds from securitisation and non-guaranteed loans by State corporations of more than Sh1 trillion to be included in public debt, continuing its disagreement with the National Treasury.

‘It is imperative that this scope of debt reporting is expanded to include a broader range of debt instruments; priority should be given initially to including other accounts payable, known in Kenya as pending bills,’ the IMF, which recently completed a review of public debt data, said in a technical report published in April.

‘Given that debt liabilities take different forms, and not just as loans or debt securities, it is imperative that the Kenyan government does not maintain only a narrow definition of public debt but establishes a clear mandate for the comprehensive reporting of all debt liabilities in line with international statistical standards.’

The World Bank assessed Kenya’s debt as high risk but sustainable in its May assessment, noting that the rating was contingent on the implementation of economically feasible policies.

‘Both external and overall public debt are rated at high risk of debt distress, in line with the mechanical signals,’ the World Bank added.

‘On external debt, the external debt service-to-exports ratio breaches its indicative threshold until the early 2030s, but solvency indicators remain below thresholds throughout the projection horizon.’

The multilateral lender lists downside risks to the debt assessment, including policy slippages ahead of the 2027 elections that could undermine investor confidence, geopolitical tensions, trade disruptions, volatile financing conditions, disease outbreaks and weather shocks.

Kenya’s official public debt stock stood at Sh12.83 trillion at the end of March, comprising Sh7.14 trillion in domestic debt and Sh5.68 trillion in external debt.

I and M Group founder and director Suresh Raja Shah and his two sons have seen the value of their shares in the bank double to Sh17.35 billion following a 94 percent rally on the stock to an all-time high of Sh69.50 in the last one year.

Mr Raja Shah holds a stake of 10.06 percent in the bank in his name, equivalent to 174.9 million shares, which are now valued at Sh12.16 billion, up from Sh6.25 billion a year ago.

Mr Sarit Shah, who also serves as an executive director in I and M, has seen the value of his 37.6 million shares or 2.16 percent stake in the lender jump to Sh2.61 billion from Sh1.34 billion in June 2025.

The 2.14 percent stake held by his brother Sachit Shah, who serves as a non-executive director, is now valued at Sh2.58 billion, from Sh1.33 billion previously. I and M Bank’s market capitalisation-the measure of investor wealth- stood at Sh120.94 billion at close of trading on Tuesday.

The bank’s stock has emerged as the top gainer in the banking segment on the NSE over the past year, beating Co-operative Bank (up 91.6 percent), DTB (87.7 percent) and Stanbic Holdings (70.4 percent).

Bank stocks have been rallying due to positive investor sentiment after they announced higher profits and dividends in the 2025 financial year.

‘The segment was seen as undervalued from last year, trading below book value, even before adding the growth that has been driven by higher profits and dividends,’ said Wesley Manambo, a senior research associate at Standard Investment Bank.

‘For I and M, investors are also pricing in the bank’s agility in the region where it has a wide presence.’

The sector’s overall valuation gain of 67 percent to Sh1.58 trillion has handed major shareholders such as the Shah family handsome capital gains on their stocks, rewarding them for years of ownership they have maintained in the lender.

The Shahs hold their I and M Bank shares through various investment vehicles, primarily the lender’s three top shareholders Minard Holdings Limited, Tecoma Limited and Ziyungi Limited, whose directors include Mr Raja Shah.

By the end of May 2026, the three entities held a combined 54.93 percent stake with a market value of Sh66.43 billion in I and M.

The family’s Bhagwanji Raja Charitable Foundation also holds a 2.43 percent stake in the bank, which is currently valued at Sh2.94 billion at yesterday’s closing share price.

The bank’s other major shareholder is East Africa Growth Holding -an investment vehicle managed by private equity firm AfricInvest- with a stake of 15.14 percent or 263.4 million shares that are now valued at Sh18.3 billion. EAGH has made a gain of Sh7.6 billion on the price of Sh10.7 billion at which it acquired its I and M stake in two separate transactions in 2024.

The PE fund initially bought a 10.13 percent holding equivalent to 167.53 million shares from UK development finance institution British International Investment for a reported Sh6.5 billion in June 2024.

In this transaction, EAGH paid a premium to acquire the shares, which were valued at Sh3.01 billion on the NSE at the time.

Four months later, the PE fund bought an additional 86.5 million shares (4.97 percent stake) for Sh4.2 billion in what was a direct equity investment in the bank.

I and M Bank issued the additional shares to facilitate the transaction, in the process diluting existing investors including the Shah family.

The new units were priced at Sh48.42 each, representing a premium of 93 percent on the lender’s prevailing share price of Sh25.05 when the disclosure was made on October 13, 2024.

Besides the capital gains on their stock, the Shahs also banked Sh936.3 million in May from dividends for their shares in the bank, which raised its per-share cash distribution to Sh3.75 in the year to December 2025 from Sh3 in 2024.

Mr Raja Shah earned Sh656 million in dividends, while his two sons got about Sh140 million each. The family foundation was paid Sh158.5 million in the cash distribution.

The payout placed the family firmly on the list of the NSE’s banking sector dividend kings. They joined the likes of Equity Group chief executive James Mwangi, who earned Sh734.9 million from his 127.8 million shares in the lender, and Co-operative Bank of Kenya CEO Gideon Muriuki, who earned Sh337.5 million from his 2.3 percent or 135 million shares in Co-op.

NCBA Group chairman James Ndegwa and his brother Andrew Ndegwa, who is also a director in the bank, earned Sh543.1 million and Sh550.9 million respectively in dividends from their 76.5 million and 77.6 million shares in the bank.

‘My husband is a creative who loves collecting things,’ says Brenda, who co-founded Diecast Kenya, a business specialising in die-cast miniature cars and accessories, with her husband.

‘In 2021, he went on Amazon and bought some diecast cars for his personal collection. When they arrived, we got into diecast photography, creating different scenes and making the cars look life-sized against different backgrounds.’

Neither of them imagined that the hobby would one day evolve into a business. But as they shared the images on social media, fellow enthusiasts began asking about the models and whether they were available for purchase.

‘And that’s how we became a business,’ Brenda says. ‘We started with about 20 pieces that cost around Sh50,000, but it wasn’t until 2024, when we became more active on our TikTok page, that the demand really took off.’

Revving demand

What once required monthly restocks of about 200 miniature cars has since grown into a venture that brings in the same quantity every week to meet demand from customers across East Africa.

‘We started as a shop for collectors, but there are only so many collectors,’ Brenda says.

‘So now we present them as unique gifts.’

This strategy has helped them reach a broader customer base beyond hobbyists and automotive enthusiasts. While collectors remain its core market, Diecast Kenya now attracts many customers who purchase the miniature cars as gifts for birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, and other special occasions.

‘Most of our busy seasons are actually the gifting seasons,’ she says. ‘And while there are those who buy them for women, they are mostly gifts for men. A lot of our clients tell us we’ve made it easier to shop for men beyond the usual socks, ties, and perfumes.’

Beyond their sentimental value

The choice of model is often intentional, Brenda says. Some buyers select aspirational dream cars, while others look for replicas that mirror vehicles the recipient either already owns or has owned. This personalisation is part of the appeal.

‘We’ve actually expanded our offerings beyond the cars themselves to services such as customised number plates, as well as accessories such as miniature garages, display cases, and framed Formula One circuits. So, for example, if someone’s favourite Formula One track is Silverstone and they prefer a Mercedes Formula One car, we can mount the miniature car on a map of the circuit and present it as a framed display piece.’

These framed Formula One pieces have become some of their best-selling products. But even as the business strives to keep up with market trends and customer preferences, Diecast Kenya remains mindful of the commercial realities of stocking high-end products.

‘Some of the models that people ask about can cost as much as $330 (Sh42,000),’ Brenda explains.

‘Those are premium collector’s items. So, unless we know there is a customer who is willing and able to pay that price, we avoid stocking them. For instance, there’s a model we stocked back in 2023, the Land Cruiser 100 series, that should have been retailing at around Sh25,000, but we would sell it at Sh15,000.’

The catalogue

Still, their catalogue spans a wide range of models, from vintage and luxury cars to sports cars, commercial trucks, and trailers. They also come in different scales, from the smaller 1:64 replicas to the larger, more detailed 1:18 models.

‘The 1:64 models are the most affordable, retailing from Sh500,’ Brenda says. ‘The larger ones go for about Sh7,950. The accessories, however, like the garage, tend to be on the higher side. Depending on the size, they can cost around Sh10,000.’

Biggest hurdles

The couple imports their products predominantly from China and Japan, exposing the business to challenges such as cargo delays and fluctuating taxes. Yet Brenda says one of their biggest hurdles is educating potential customers about what die-cast models are and why they command the price points that they do.

‘Some people do not understand what we are selling and the price points we give them,’ Brenda says.

‘Die-cast cars are not like plastic toy cars. They are metallic and therefore durable, highly detailed, exact replicas of the real cars, only produced on a smaller scale.’

Size is another common area of contention. ‘Clients who are unfamiliar with die-cast models and how the scaling works often come to the shop expecting very large items,’ Brenda says. ‘Many people equate size with value for money, but that is not always the case, especially with die-cast models.’

Growth plans

Backed by a strong, loyal community and growing demand, Diecast Kenya is now looking to expand their offerings beyond miniature cars.

‘I believe there’s a miniature version of everything,’ Brenda says. ‘So far, we’ve introduced miniature planes as well as framed maps of local airports, and they’ve been doing really well.’

‘Someone once asked for a miniature CT scanner to gift a doctor they knew,’ Brenda says. ‘These are feel-good items that people enjoy displaying, so we are planning to introduce more options.’

LEGO car sets

Genuine Household Dealers has taken a different approach to the market. Rather than ready-made die-cast models, the enterprise specialises in LEGO car sets that customers can assemble before displaying them in their homes or offices.

‘We have been selling household items for about three years, but we only started stocking the display cars about a year and a half ago,’ says Isaac Andivi, store manager and sales correspondent. ‘In this business, you always have to find creative products that set you apart from everyone else.’

Imported from China, the LEGO car sets arrive unassembled, with hundreds of small intricate pieces, an LED frame, and an instruction manual. For many customers, putting together the model is part of the appeal, offering hours of entertainment before the finished product takes pride of place on a wall, shelf, or desk.

For those who prefer to skip the building process, however, the shop offers an assembly service.

For now, the business only stocks Formula One models, targeting the sport’s growing fan base. Each set retails for Sh25,000.

‘We stock four models; Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari,’ Isaac says. ‘People who follow Formula One racing are always interested in such items, while others buy them simply because they make for unique decor pieces.’

Best-sellers

Like Diecast Kenya, Genuine Household Dealers records its highest sales during the gifting seasons, notably around the end of the year, when companies hold office parties. During such peak periods, the business can sell up to 10 models, compared with as few as two pieces in quieter months.

‘The Mercedes is our best-selling model, with the Ferrari not too far behind,’ he says.

Like many import-dependent ventures, the enterprise grapples with shipping delays and damages incurred to the delicate LEGO pieces during transit, which add to the overall cost of doing business.

Despite these challenges, however, Isaac says the growing community of enthusiasts continues to fuel demand, with some purchasing multiple pieces at a go or coming back to expand their collections.

Chief Justice Martha Koome has been drawn into a fresh face-off over the growing number of court battles over the planned Sh340 billion sale of British multinational Diageo’s entire 65 percent stake in East African Breweries (EABL), as well as its holding in spirits maker UDV Kenya, to Japanese beverage firm Asahi Group Holdings.

Rival litigants have written to the CJ seeking administrative intervention while urging opposite approaches to managing multiple court cases challenging the transaction.

EABL asked for all cases touching on the transaction to be centrally managed by one High Court judge or court station, but JILK Construction and its co-petitioners urge the Chief Justice to reject the request, saying that such a move would unfairly disadvantage litigants pursuing earlier claims.

The latest exchange follows EABL’s June 23 letter asking the Chief Justice to coordinate all court proceedings linked to the transaction, arguing that parallel litigation in different courts has created a risk of conflicting rulings.

Days later, lawyers representing JILK Construction Company, Bertha Wanjiru, Mary Njeri Wanyutu and engineer Sammy Maina Kamau urged the Chief Justice to reject that request, saying it would prejudice their longstanding claims against Diageo and its subsidiaries.

The opposing letters expose sharply different views on how the courts should handle litigation surrounding one of the country’s largest corporate deals.

The legal dispute concerns the proposed sale of 65 percent of shares held by the United Kingdom’s Diageo PLC in EABL to Japan’s Asahi Group Holdings, a transaction valued at about $2.3 billion (Sh340 billion).

Under the deal, Asahi would take full control of Diageo Kenya Limited, the investment vehicle through which the British firm holds its EABL stake.

The Japanese company would also acquire Diageo’s 53.68 percent stake in UDV Kenya. EABL holds the remaining shares in UDV Kenya and also retains management control of the unit.

EABL advocates, in their letter to the Chief Justice, said successive lawsuits filed in different courts have undermined legal certainty after judges in Nairobi repeatedly declined to stop the deal only for the High Court in Machakos to later issue conservatory orders freezing its implementation.

The brewer cited earlier rulings dismissing applications by beer supplier Bia Tosha Distributors and JILK Construction, as well as another Nairobi decision declining interim orders on public interest grounds.

“Our client is concerned that persons desirous of hindering completion of the transaction are now engaged in forum shopping across separate court stations,” EABL’s lawyers, Iseme, Kamau and Maema Advocates, wrote.

They added that the practice “amounts to a clear abuse of the court process and offends the principle of judicial comity between courts of concurrent jurisdiction.”

EABL asked the Chief Justice to assign all current and future High Court proceedings relating to the transaction to one judge or court station, expedite the pending cases and consider activating specialised tribunals established under the capital markets and competition laws.

The brewer said the transaction, valued at about $2.3 billion, could generate Sh42 billion in capital gains tax while providing certainty for shareholders, employees, suppliers and investors across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

However, JILK Construction rejected those arguments in a June 26 response by Kinoti and Kibe Advocates, saying the request for administrative intervention overlooked disputes that began years before Diageo agreed to sell its EABL stake.

The firm said its claims arise from the construction of Kenya Breweries’ Kisumu plant between 2017 and 2019 and include arbitration, constitutional, commercial and criminal proceedings that remain pending.

It argued that those disputes should not be subordinated merely because Diageo has decided to dispose of its Kenyan investment.

“Our clients, however, appreciate to have all the cases involving Diageo PLC expedited and determined on priority in order to ensure that the substantive justice envisaged under Article 159 of the Constitution is achieved as Kenya bids goodbye to Diageo PLC,” the lawyers wrote.

The response also challenged EABL’s criticism of the Machakos conservatory orders, arguing that Kenya Breweries itself had previously obtained ex parte orders in December 2024 suspending publication of an arbitral award arising from the Kisumu dispute.

JILK said Diageo and its subsidiaries had benefited from interim court orders in the past and therefore could not fairly complain when similar relief was granted to other litigants.

The company further argued that the real issue before the courts was balancing the commercial interests of a multinational company seeking to exit Kenya against the rights of Kenyan claimants pursuing unresolved disputes.

Diageo announced the sale in December 2025 as part of a global strategy to streamline its portfolio and reduce debt.

The acquisition would give Asahi control of Diageo Kenya, EABL and Diageo’s majority stake in UDV Kenya, subject to regulatory approvals.