Category: Business Daily

Many Kenyans have a complicated relationship with seafood. We love the idea of it, order anything from calamari to octopus to squid fish, especially when at the coast, and proudly post photos of it online.

But when we get back home, many of us stare suspiciously at a prawn, wondering where exactly to begin cooking it. Is it peeled? Is it supposed to look like that? How long do you cook it for? And why does everyone else seem to know what they are doing?

Unlike Tilapia, which has long earned its place on our tables, prawns still feel a little fancy, the kind of thing you’d expect to find on a restaurant menu rather than at your own dining table on a random Tuesday.

And what a shame that is, because they are surprisingly easy to prepare.

Hafswa Abdillahi from Haffy Craves shares her homemade Swahili-style crispy garlic prawn recipe, which delivers the kind of flavour that makes you wonder why you don’t cook seafood more often.

What you’ll need:

.500g fresh prawns, cleaned and beheaded

. 6 cloves of garlic, finely minced

. Ginger, finely minced

. 1 tsp dried oregano

. ½ tsp black pepper

. Salt, to taste

. 1 lemon, juiced

. Fresh coriander, chopped

. ½ cup cooking oil

What to do

Rinse the prawns well and place them in a bowl. Add the garlic, ginger, oregano, black pepper, salt, and lemon juice, then give everything a good mix. Leave it to marinate for about 10 to 30 minutes.

‘When it comes to prawns, it really depends on personal preference,’ Hafswa says. ‘I prefer to cook mine with the shell on because it gives them a nice crispiness, but I remove the heads. Some people peel them completely, while others leave everything on, including the heads.’

Heat the cooking oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, carefully add the marinated prawns. ‘Keep the heat at medium to low,’ she cautions. ‘This is the secret to giving the prawns that crispy edge while keeping the inside soft and juicy. If it is too high, the marinade can burn before the flavours have a chance to develop and the prawns may end up tough and overcooked.’

Shallow-fry the prawns for about three minutes, stirring gently and continuously to ensure they cook evenly on all sides. ‘You’ll know they’re ready when they turn a bright pink and red-orange in colour,’ Hafswa says. ‘If unsure, you can also taste one. They should be crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside.’

She adds that prawns come in different sizes, with larger prawns typically requiring a little more cooking time than smaller ones.

‘The ones I use were medium-sized,’ she says. ‘There is a smaller size than that, and then there are larger ones, often referred to as queen, king, and jumbo, with jumbo being the largest. And generally speaking, the larger the prawn, the juicier it tends to be.’

Once the prawns are ready, garnish with the chopped coriander and serve.

‘You can pair them with French fries if you are going for a fun seafood vibe, or alongside ugali and kachumbari,’ Hafswa suggests. ‘They can also be turned into a stew and served with rice, although once stewed, they naturally soften and lose their crunchy texture.’

The High Court has allowed the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to pursue a fresh appeal against Unilever Kenya in a dispute involving more than Sh1.2 billion in customs taxes, reopening a battle over the taxation of royalty payments by multinational firms.

The case stems from a November 2024 tribunal decision that largely overturned tax assessments arising from Unilever’s imports, exports, and intellectual property arrangements.

The dispute concerns classification of a consignment imported by Unilever containing materials for manufacturing Chicken Flavour Powder, Beef Flavour Powder, Flavour Powder (Lovage), and Onion Powder.

The row also touches on the flavour powders and materials used in the manufacture of food seasoning products such as Royco Mchuzi Mix, Royco Cubes, and Knorr Cubes, among others.

At the centre of the case is whether royalty payments made by Unilever Kenya to the United Kingdom-based Unilever Global IP Limited should be included in the customs value of imported goods.

Outcome of the suit could shape future tax treatment of multinational companies operating in Kenya.

The High Court allowed KRA to proceed with the appeal after finding that an 18-day delay in filing was not inordinate and had been sufficiently explained by administrative lapses and work-related pressures.

The judge said the intended appeal raises valid questions on interpretation of tax laws and treatment of cross-border transactions. The court said the issues extend beyond interests of parties involved.

“Taxation is a matter of profound public importance, as it directly affects the revenue base of the State and the obligations of taxpayers,” the court said in the ruling.

It added that the dispute touches on the “proper interpretation and application of tax statutes” and carries implications for “fairness, certainty and accountability in the administration of public finance.”

The court extended the time for filing the appeal and deemed KRA’s memorandum of appeal properly filed, paving the way for the case to be heard on its merits.

The dispute originated from a customs audit conducted by KRA on Unilever Kenya’s import and export operations covering the period between 2018 and May 2023.

Following the audit, KRA issued a demand for additional taxes amounting to Sh1.8 billion. After objections and reconciliation meetings, the authority revised the assessment to Sh1.24 billion.

The assessment was based on three key findings. KRA argued that royalty payments made by Unilever Kenya to Unilever Global IP Limited in the United Kingdom should have been included in customs values. It assessed Sh773.4 million in additional taxes on that issue alone.

The authority also claimed that four imported flavour powders had been wrongly classified under customs tariff codes, leading to a further tax demand of Sh109.4 million.

In addition, KRA assessed taxes on export consignments for which it said certificates of export had not been issued.

Unilever challenged the entire assessment before the Tax Appeals Tribunal. The company argued that royalties paid under trademark and technology licensing agreements were linked to use of intellectual property in manufacturing and marketing finished products rather than the importation of raw materials.

It told the tribunal that most of its imports consisted of raw materials sourced independently from third-party suppliers and used to manufacture products such as Royco, Knorr, Omo, Sunlight, Geisha, and Vaseline in Kenya.

The company further argued that the disputed flavour powders were industrial inputs used in food manufacturing and were correctly classified as raw materials rather than finished food seasonings.

Unilever also maintained that KRA had previously issued tariff rulings classifying the products under the same customs code used by the company, creating a legitimate expectation that the classification was correct.

In November 2024, the tribunal largely sided with Unilever. Before delivering its final judgment, it had already entered a partial consent order that vacated Sh353 million in VAT and excise duty linked to export transactions.

On whether royalty payments made to Unilever’s UK intellectual property affiliate attracted additional customs duties, the tribunal found that they were not dutiable because they were neither related to imported raw materials nor a condition of their sale.

It found that imported goods in question were raw materials and that the royalty payments were linked to trademark and technology licence agreements rather than the imported goods themselves.

The tribunal further held that KRA had failed to show that payment of the royalties was a condition for the sale or importation of the raw materials. It noted that the licence agreements neither tied royalty payments to the importation of raw materials nor prohibited imports where royalties remained unpaid.

On tariff classification, the tribunal sided with Unilever. It found that the four disputed products were raw materials. It accepted Unilever’s position that the products were ingredients used to manufacture Royco and Knorr products and therefore properly classifiable under a code which covers flavouring as raw materials.

It also noted that KRA itself had issued tariff rulings in 2017 classifying the same products under that code, creating a legitimate expectation that the classification was correct. The Tribunal therefore rejected KRA’s reclassification and the resulting Sh109.4 million tax demand.

KRA now hopes to overturn those findings at the High Court.

The appeal is likely to be closely watched by multinational corporations, tax advisers, and manufacturers because it could clarify when royalty payments made to overseas intellectual property owners become part of the customs value of imported goods.

The Business Daily spoke to David Rogovic, Vice President and Senior Credit Officer at global ratings agency Moody’s on the shape of Kenya’s macros amid the shock resulting from the US-Israel war on Iran.

Moody’s upgraded Kenya’s credit rating from ‘Caa1’ to ‘B3’ with a stable outlook in January, noting that the country’s near-term risk of default had fallen. Mr Rogovic reckons that factors giving rise to the ratings upgrade have provided strong buffers against the new shock.

The biggest macro-event this year has been the US-Israel-Iran war, to what extent do you think this has weakened Kenya’s macro? When we upgraded Kenya to ‘B3’ with a stable outlook in January, one of the key drivers was a reduction in near-term default risk because of the increase in reserves that we’d seen over time. Partly tied to that was the government having access to the Eurobond market and taking advantage of this market accessed to issue Eurobonds, not just to help finance deficit, but also push back the next big maturities.

Since then, we’ve seen a marginal deterioration in growth outlook which is not uncommon for countries that are commodity importers. We have also seen a pickup in inflation. The fiscal deficit is marginally wider than we anticipated but the overall credit profile is still with the ‘B3’ rating. The cumulative effect of the strong starting position has really helped Kenya to buffer this shock so far.

The international capital markets have remained open to Kenya with yields moving lower despite the raging war. Why have we not seen a deterioration?

Market yields are consistent with the improvement in the fundamentals that drove the upgrade to ‘B3’. There is also a sense that this shock would be temporary, at least initially when the conflict broke out.

Market access remains important for Kenya given its sizeable external financing needs and reliance on external financing needs and reliance on external sources to finance part of the fiscal deficit.

Is it opportune time for Kenya to return to the markets as we hear discussions on potentially conducting another liability management operation targeted at 2031 Eurobonds?

It’s always a trade-off between the cost of funding, the level of reserves in place and access to other sources of financing.

We have seen government act pragmatically, in terms of timing and accessing the market. When in a position where they don’t need to access the market at that time, they have used the opportunity to borrow and to refinance maturities falling in the near-term.

Kenya is finally unlocking funding from the World Bank DPO at the end of the month but discussions on a new IMF facility continue, do you see a funded facility from the fund as a necessity?

We don’t provide policy advice, rather we assess the government’s ability to repay debt. At a very basic level, an IMF programme is about the policy anchor.

We are still looking at what the medium-term fiscal trajectory is, and we have a slightly weaker fiscal trajectory than we did earlier in the year with deficits around seven percent of GDP. The IMF programme itself is secondary to the reforms and to the commitment to fiscal consolidation that we can foresee as a path forward where Kenya’s deficit narrows and where the debt stock stabilizes.

There are multiple ways to get to that point, and one is with the help of IMF. Our view on the fiscal trajectory is that it hasn’t changed too much. The deficit has widened in part because the effect of the conflict and some of the measures to support low fuel costs. Some of it is due to a slightly weaker growth outlook and higher inflation.

We continue to see fiscal slippages as spending pressures persist and revenues underperform; do you believe that Kenya has a credible fiscal consolidation process in place?

If you look at the revenue performance up through May of this year, with one month remaining in the fiscal year, there will be a shortfall relative to what’s projected. That shortfall this year is going to then create a lower base for next year.

We look at what was presented in the budget and what was passed through National Assembly, some of the measures were not approved by Parliament.

There will be spending pressures next year, being an election year. In addition, there is always unexpected spending needs, whether it’s from weather related events or to respond to commodity price or other types of shocks. We are looking to see whether the deficit will be at a level consistent with debt stabilising. The key will be what the deficit and the financing mix means for debt affordability.

June 25 was the anniversary of the Gen-Z led protests in 2024 and a reminder that the government can no longer go for aggressive tax measures. How else can fiscal consolidation be achieved?

The willingness to pursue a strategy that involves the upfront revenue-led consolidation has eased. The path forward is really a more moderate pace.

There are efforts geared at improving or enhancing tax compliance and tax collections that can help. This is going to be a much more gradual consolidation pace.

The Kenya shilling has held firm despite the evolving external shocks, where is the local currency finding this support?

I would not say whether the exchange rate is at appropriate level or not. I would look at the overall external position for Kenya. We see a current account deficit that has narrowed. We have seen inflation coming down and at one point, close to the lower end of the target range.

This is now coming back up but is being driven by external factors, not by the exchange rate, loose monetary conditions or overheating domestically. There are also strong reserves, most importantly.

Kenyan SMEs are increasingly able to sell beyond their borders. A fashion brand in Nairobi can reach customers in London through Instagram, while a software developer in Westlands can invoice clients in New York. Market access is expanding faster than ever before. The harder part is getting paid.

For many small businesses, the biggest threat to growth is no longer finding customers. It is payment friction. Businesses are losing money through foreign exchange spreads, settlement delays, intermediary banking charges and opaque transaction costs embedded in cross-border payment systems.

A company can close a deal worth thousands of dollars only for part of that value to disappear before the money reaches its account. Payments often arrive days late and, in many cases, businesses receive less than expected after multiple deductions along the payment chain.

According to the World Bank, Sub-Saharan Africa remains one of the most expensive regions globally for cross-border transactions, with payment costs in some corridors exceeding 10 percent. For SMEs operating on thin margins, that directly affects hiring, pricing and expansion decisions.

The contradiction is that demand already exists. The African Continental Free Trade Area and digital platforms have opened global markets to African entrepreneurs. But trade agreements alone do not move commerce. Money movement does.

Today, a Kenyan business can sometimes receive money from Europe faster than from another African country. No trading bloc can scale efficiently while payments remain slow, fragmented and expensive.

The challenge extends beyond transaction costs. Compliance processes often delay legitimate commercial activity and increase uncertainty. Additional documentation requests become routine, while settlement timelines remain unpredictable.

As a result, many SMEs have adapted around these inefficiencies. Some build payment delays directly into pricing models, while others hold excess working capital to cushion settlement uncertainty.

Kenya has already demonstrated what happens when financial infrastructure responds to local realities. M-Pesa transformed domestic commerce by reducing friction and creating speed, trust and accessibility at scale.

But once money crosses borders, businesses are pushed back into an older financial system built around correspondent banking and fragmented settlement processes. That disconnect is increasingly constraining growth.

If Kenya and Africa are serious about building globally competitive SMEs, payments infrastructure must become an economic priority.

Faster settlements, transparent foreign exchange pricing and interoperable payment systems are no longer optional. Africa cannot build a continental trading economy on payment systems that still treat cross-border commerce as an exception rather than the norm.

The share of investor wealth at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) concentrated on the banking segment has climbed to a record 42.5 percent after a price rally in the past year and the addition of Family Bank through a new listing.

Banking stocks are now collectively valued at Sh1.56 trillion, having seen their value rise by 70.4 percent from Sh913.4 billion a year ago.

They have raced past Safaricom, which is now valued at Sh1.32 trillion.

Twelve months ago, Safaricom had a market value of Sh967.6 billion, meaning it was valued more than all the banks combined.

Although the telco’s share price (and valuation) has gone up by 36 percent, banks have grown twice as fast on a mix of acquisition announcements, higher profits and dividends. Between them, Safaricom and the banks account for 78 percent of the NSE’s total market capitalisation or investor wealth of Sh3.679 trillion.

The energy segment is the third largest with a valuation of Sh283.6 billion, accounting for 7.7 percent of the NSE’s total, followed by manufacturing at Sh280.4 billion or 7.6 percent of the market. All the other segments including commercial, insurance, agriculture, construction and investment each account for between 0.2 and 2.7 percent of the market.

This rising prominence of banks at the NSE has now increased the concentration risk at the market, which has been dominated in recent years by a few large blue chips including Safaricom and large banks.

Family Bank’s listing by introduction on Tuesday has added Sh37.2 billion to the banking segment market cap. The tier two lender listed 1.66 billion shares at an entry price of Sh18 each, but the stock had climbed to Sh22.40 by close of trading on Thursday.

Other listed banks have in the meantime all recorded double-digit percentage gains on their share prices in the last year, led by Co-operative Bank of Kenya whose stock is up 104.7 percent to Sh34.80 in the period. The lender’s valuation has thus doubled to Sh204.2 billion from 99.7 billion a year ago.

Equity Group, which is the largest listed bank by market capitalisation, has seen its valuation rise by Ksh120.4 billion to Sh298.12 billion in the past 12 months after recording a 67.7 percent jump in share price to Sh79.

KCB Group’s valuation has gone up by Sh96.6 billion to Sh239.4 billion, thanks to a 67.6 percent rise in share price to Sh74.50 in the period.

Absa Group’s market cap is up Sh74.1 billion to Sh175.4 billion on a 73.2 percent jump in share price to Sh32.30.

Among the other listed banks, DTB’s valuation has risen by 87.5 percent to Sh38.9 billion, I and M Group by 79.7 percent to Sh105.3 billion, NCBA Group by 58.2 percent to Sh151.16 billion, and Stanbic Holdings by 79.8 percent to Sh114.6 billion.

Others are Standard Chartered Bank Kenya with a gain of 14.3 percent to Sh126.5 billion, BK Group at 64.6 percent to Sh48.2 billion and HFCB Group at 35.4 percent to Sh17.86 billion.

The sharp gains in the share prices has been attributed largely to the banking sector’s rising profitability and dividends.

In the year to December 2025, the sector recorded a 20 percent or Sh51.8 billion growth in pre-tax profits to Sh311.8 billion, rising on reduced cost of funding as interest rates came down in the economy. This was the first time the banking sector’s annual profits crossed the Sh300 billion mark.

With record profits in the bag, listed banks announced larger dividend payouts for the year, making their socks attractive to investors, including offshore buyers who tend to concentrate on big blue chips when trading in the Kenyan market.

The nine tier one banks distributed a combined Sh111.2 billion in the 2025 financial year, marking an increase of Sh26.7 billion from the Sh84.5 billion paid for the prior year.

The sector has also seen heightened interest from foreign multinationals that are seeking a larger slice of the East African market, which has added to the positive investor sentiment that has driven share prices higher.

Most notable is the bid by South Africa’s Nedbank for a 66 percent stake in NCBA for a total consideration of Sh110 billion.

The cash and stock deal that was announced in January 2026 has contributed significantly to NCBA’s 12-month share price gain of 60 percent. For the sellers qualifying for the cash option for their shares, Nedbank will pay a premium price of Sh105 per NCBA share.

Absa Group of South Africa announced last week that it is bidding to raise its stake in its Kenyan unit (Absa Bank Kenya) from 68.5 percent to 85 percent in a deal valued at Sh30.9 billion.

The lender plans to purchase an additional 895.99 million shares in Absa Bank Kenya at a price of Sh34.50 each, taking its ultimate holding to 4.62 billion shares.

Standard Bank of South Africa -which trades locally as Stanbic Bank- is also said to be in the market for an East African acquisition, having explored a bid for NCBA before Nedbank swooped in with its offer.

At 87, Liz Campbell has gone full circle. She has outlived three of her husbands, seen the gains made by the first civil rights movement in the US by her first husband and his friends watered down by an intolerant regime, picked back up her maiden name.

But what has remained undisturbed in all the years of her life is that her paint brush is still unsettled. She remains unbowed, beautiful and spotting the most radiant shoal of grey hair you will ever see as she sits in Ngara Gallery at Heltz House in Nairobi where her show called Where Trees Dance currently is being held at.

The show pays homage to the last three years of her life where she has been living in Kenya with her son Salim, a Capoeira instructor in Kibera.

Her colourful works are a lifelong conversation not only with landscapes but also with nature itself, the stillness and the movements of trees and until recently, the shared rhythms between the elegance of swaying trees and human motion.

Self-discovery

At 87, her show is far from what would be considered the conclusion of a master’s journey.

On the contrary, it opens up a new portal of self-discovery where an octogenarian artist dabbles with new subjects and materials garnered from her three-year stay.

‘I came here because my son and his family lived in Nairobi and it was a good time to leave America for all the right reasons. My friends tell me that I am so brave to have made the move and I tell them that I needed to see my son and I have visited Kenya long enough to know that I could live out my life here,’ she says.

Apart from Geraldine Roberts and Theresa Musoke, Liz remains to be the only other octogenarian artist still in the practice. Her brilliant use of mixed media to etch dazzling colours on paper capturing the grace and rhythm of colour and movement of humans and trees suggests that her artistic journey is nowhere near a close. I enquire on what keeps her going.

‘Ego,’ she says.

Her painting journey started when she was seven years old. It was a journey grounded in her connection with her father who was a famous illustrator but Liz wanted a different path rom her father. She wanted to be her own person, different from his famous umbrella.

‘If you remember Esquire Magazine, they had a logo of a man with big eyes, that was my father’s illustration, he was a contributor for Esquire, we would draw together but I didn’t want to be under his tutelage. If he said let us draw that tree, I would pick my own tree. His influence is in me but from me there is perhaps competition because I wanted to be my own self,’ she says.

She adds,’The worst thing parents can do to their children is to give them colouring books because there are lines and designs and children are taught not to colour beyond lines. All those are restrictions, let a child have a piece of paper and crayons and let them paint freely,’she says.

Key lessons

Her eight decades of practicing art across different jurisdictions have come with key lessons.

‘You should not criticise your work; you should let it be. It is okay to have favourites and love others less. I had an artist friend who would tear down things when she was unhappy with them but I think I want to learn from my mistakes, from what I don’t like, and improve but if I tear things up, there is no history to learn from. I keep a lot of my work because there are days when I sit down and have a look at them just to learn,’ she says.

Reflecting on her artistic path, her life is not one without regrets on the nature of the course she took and the decisions she made and given the chance, there are things she would do differently.

‘I was always procrastinating. I started becoming serious with what I express probably in my 50’s. My work and my thoughts shifted during this time and I became more serious because I started curating works that I was happy with. Art for me is food for the soul,’ she says.

She adds,’I have been married three times, all my husbands were journalists. I look back at my paintings 25 years ago when I was using my husband’s name and I would tell myself that that wasn’t my name, I had to revert to my maiden name because of having been married three times. I wake up in the morning every day and I always ask myself how did I get to be 87, how did time just shoot by? Now I am my most serious self when I am drawing and painting.’

Her show includes an installation that is composed of her sketches, one a sketch of famous jazz saxophonist John Coltrane which she drew while attending one of his concerts. Jazz for her has been a major influence whenever she is making her compositions and where she goes, a sketch book is always at hand.

‘I used to always take a sketchpad with me to concerts. In Kenya I always attend the concerts at Geco Restaurant with a sketchpad because you don’t have to see music to draw it, you just have to hear it. I prefer raw sketching as opposed to using photographs because it is how I communicate with my subjects,’ she says.

On what she would change about her life if she had to, she is quick to respond.

‘I probably shouldn’t have imposed my style on my friendships on my marriages, I should have let them just develop naturally,’ she adds, ‘I should have accepted my failures with humor,’ she says chuckling.

Being in Nairobi

For Liz, the best part about being in Nairobi is being surrounded by people of all colour especially sepia, brown and black.

‘Being honoured and respected as an elder is also a beautiful thing. In America, it does happen but mostly within the black community. I lived for about six years in Switzerland and I couldn’t wait to get back to America to be with my own people. Not only is Nairobi my home it feels like the kind of place I want to be in,’ she says.

On what she considers as the highlight of her life, she responds.

‘When I was in Oakland, California 17 years ago helping the midwife bring my granddaughter into the world. It wasn’t just the experience of seeing her in the crib but physically hearing her mother’s pain and experiencing life at its most vulnerable is a memory that is very clear and it brings me a lot of joy.’

Her life has not been without its fair share of lows but it is human intolerance to people of other races that despairs her spirit. It is this vice that necessitated her migration from America to Kenya.

‘Peoples intolerance makes me sad. My father had many friends in the civil rights movement but all that extraordinary work and suffering they did to be trampled and marched on by what America is experiencing currently makes me sad for my grandchildren because I say, what kind of world I’m I giving them where there is so much hatred and disruption?’

The award of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) modernisation contract to China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) has entrenched the Chinese firm’s grip on Kenyan infrastructure, adding to other landmark projects such as the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and the Nairobi Expressway.

The JKIA deal pushes the value of projects under CRBC to over Sh1.2 trillion and deepens the Chinese firm’s influence in Kenya’s infrastructure development.

Transport and Roads Cabinet Secretary, Davis Chirchir, on Tuesday said that CRBC won the deal, which will entail building a new terminal and upgrading JKIA’s existing infrastructure for Sh154.2 billion to increase the airport’s passenger handling capacity from the current 7.5 million to 22 million upon completion.

CRBC’s growing influence in the big money deals embodies Kenya’s Look East policy, where China has turned out to be key in the construction of major projects in East Africa’s biggest economy.

The projects under CRBC’s helm have been funded through a mix of loans, mainly from China, and the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, where investors fund and deliver projects, then operate them for a defined period to recoup their money.

On Tuesday, Mr Chirchir disclosed that CRBC had warded off competition from over 40 firms to win the JKIA deal, with the works expected to start in the coming months.

‘Today, I witnessed the signing of the contract for the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Modernization Project, a major National Infrastructure Investment,’ Mr Chirchir said on Tuesday.

The JKIA deal comes barely nine months after a CRBC-led consortium bagged a contract to build the 233-kilometre Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit toll highway, for Sh170 billion.

Some of CRBC’s PPP projects include the Nairobi Expressway and the Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit highway project, with the rest including the SGR, financed through loans that have mainly been tapped from Chinese lenders.

CRBC entered Kenya during the era of the late President Mwai Kibaki and has since rooted itself as the single biggest foreign company in Kenya’s multi-billion-shilling projects in the last two decades.

China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) is the parent firm of CRBC with a stake of 99 percent. The remaining one percent is owned by China First Highway Engineering Company (CFHEC).

CCCC opened its regional office for East Africa in 2014 as it sought to tap into the vast market for infrastructure projects in Kenya, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Madagascar, Rwanda, South Sudan, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda.

CRBC delivered the SGR – Kenya’s biggest infrastructural project- whose total cost was $5.08 billion (Sh658.1 billion). The project was fully funded by loans from the China Export-Import Bank.

The Chinese firm constructed the Sh86.8 billion Nairobi Expressway, whose completion in 2022 has since eased gridlocks from the JKIA to Westlands, along a span of 27.1 kilometres.

CRBC delivered the Eastern, Southern, and Northern Bypasses in Nairobi between 2012 and 2022. The costliest of these was the Sh18 billion Southern Bypass, followed by the Sh9.3 billion Eastern Bypass. The Northern Bypass, which links Ruaka (on Limuru Road) to Ruiru (on the Thika Superhighway), was built for Sh8.5 billion.

CRBC is currently finalising the Sh46 billion Talanta Stadium, which will be the biggest such facility in Kenya. The project is funded via an infrastructure bond that was issued through a special purpose vehicle dubbed Linzi Finco.

Talanta, located on Jamhuri Grounds along Ngong Road, is slated to host the final of the 2027 African Cup of Nations. Kenya will jointly host the continental football showpiece with Uganda and Tanzania.

CRBC’s grip on Kenya’s infrastructure has also spread to the agricultural sector, with the Chinese firm set to build the Sh38.8 billion Galana dam.

The dam was initially to be developed under the Public Private Partnership, but the government has since dropped this model in favor of the engineering, procurement, construction, and financing (EPCF) framework.

The PPP model has helped CRBC to lengthen its stay in the Kenyan projects, given that its subsidiaries have been operating the projects for over 20 years, enabling the firm to recoup its money.

Moja Expressway has been maintaining and collecting tolls for the Nairobi Expressway for 27 years before handing over the project to Kenya.

CRBC and NSSF will also incorporate a firm to collect user fees for the Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit highway for 30 years before relinquishing ownership of the highway to Kenya.

The Chinese firm’s growing influence was further exhibited when it snatched the Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit highway project from a consortium of French firms, highlighting China’s deepening reach in Kenya’s grand infrastructural projects.

Kenya had already awarded the Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit highway project to a consortium of French firms led by Vinci SA Highway.

But President William Ruto’s administration cancelled the deal in 2022, citing the Sh190 billion as costly. In October last year, a consortium of CRBC and the National Social Security Fund (trustees) was awarded the contract at a lower cost of Sh170 billion.

The growing foothold of Chinese firms, led by CRBC, has rattled contractors, triggering unsuccessful attempts by Parliament to change the law in a bid to protect Kenyan firms.

In October 2023, Parliament handed the Chinese firms a big lift after it rejected proposed changes that sought to limit the participation of foreign firms in the projects.

Lawmakers rejected the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal (Amendment) Bill of 2023 that sought to raise the limit for foreign firms bidding for contracts from Sh500 million to Sh20 billion.

The Bill that was aimed at protecting local contractors was shot down because few Kenyan-owned firms can afford to deliver high-value contracts.

Former Deputy President, Rigathi Gachagua, had, in 2020, while serving as an MP, sponsored a Bill that sought to only allow foreign firms to bid for contracts worth Sh1 billion and above. But the Bill was rejected, leaving local contractors with the huge task of competing with Chinese firms for the top-dollar contracts.

Projects worth Sh13.66 billion have stalled across counties due to inadequate funding, disputes, and contractors abandoning sites, denying taxpayers better services and exposing them to losses running into billions of shillings.

Controller of Budget, Margaret Nyakang’o, revealed that 237 projects had stalled across 32 devolved units as at March this year, with Nairobi and Isiolo topping the list with projects worth Sh2.9 billion and Sh1.47 billion respectively.

Dr Nyakang’o’s revelations on the stalled projects will bring under scrutiny the counties’ planning process, with questions over whether they ensure enough funds for the initiatives and their ability to resolve disputes with various contractors.

‘In total, these counties reported 237 stalled projects with an estimated value of Sh13.66 billion, of which Sh5.11 billion had already been paid,’ Dr Nyakang’o says in the latest review of counties.

‘The reported causes of project stalling included inadequate budgetary allocations, unresolved contract variations, contractor abandonment, contract termination, missing contract files, and projects under investigation.’

Baringo, Machakos, and Kitui counties complete the list with stalled projects valued at Sh1.33 billion, Sh1.13 billion, and Sh923 million, respectively.

Poor roads, inadequate water and sewer systems, and poor health facilities are some of the biggest struggles facing counties. This has, in turn, forced them to undertake projects to ease these woes.

Funding shortfalls are one of the biggest nightmares for counties largely due to dismal own-source revenue mobilisation and delayed disbursements of equitable share of revenue and other funds from the National Treasury.

The financing headache has left counties grappling to run day-to-day operations, besides settling pending bills, some of which have remained due for over five years.

The 32 counties had already paid Sh8.5 billion to contractors, exposing taxpayers to losses in case the firms do not return to the site. This could force counties to tap other contractors, further burdening taxpayers.

Kilifi has the highest number of stalled projects at 68, followed by Machakos at 54, while Nairobi is third with 36. This means that Nairobi’s projects have the highest value of all the stalled ones across the 32 counties.

The Sh13 billion stalled projects look set to heighten scrutiny on the counties’ preparedness to undertake them, mainly with regard to the availability of funds and also the dispute resolution.

Failure by the contractors to resume works could see counties lose billions of shillings besides incurring more expenses in tapping new firms to complete the projects.

Dr Nyakango says that the counties should give priority to the projects that can be funded and completed in the subsequent years, mainly the low-cost projects with small outstanding balances.

The National Treasury has repeatedly directed counties and the agencies of the national government to ensure the availability of funds before committing to a project. This is meant to avoid hitches and ensure timely completion to give taxpayers value for money.

I’ve never been one to sit in the VIP section of anything. It draws too much attention to one. People gawk. So it felt oddly surreal to find myself seated in the VIP booth at Ciel Lounge in Nairobi’s Westlands last Friday night. My friend – who also happens to be my dentist – and I were there at the invitation of Antony Owich, the proprietor. My first time at Ciel, French for heaven.

There was already a full-blown party in motion. Ciel feels like the kind of place where a party is always in progress. It was bigger than it looked in photos, grander than I had imagined. A couple of brightly lit bars kept the crowd well lubricated. The place was packed, and people kept streaming in.

‘This isn’t even a busy night,’ Owich leaned over to say. ‘There are nights I can’t even walk down that path.’

He held court from the booth, facing the room. He was dressed in an all-black complete with sunglasses and sparkling earrings, like Boris Becker, the Belgian dancer and internet personality.

The crowd consists largely of people who have either always been cool their whole lives or have always wanted to be cool. And generally young, if not in age but in spirit. Lots of bottle service arriving at booths in a dramatic carnival. Hot babes. Lots. ‘It’s like a river of them,’ my friend said. If you stuck your leg in the aisle, your leg would be swept away by sheer beauty.

The music was excellent, with a deejay who knew the score. And the sound was especially terrific, loud enough for it to be a party but not for it to sound intrusive. Behind us, through the big windows, cars occasionally zipped past in the expressway.

Owich presided over this little kingdom, the night flowed around him. Calm, like a man watching his own fire burn.

Bottles of Glenlivet materialised from nowhere. Tequila flowed. Other cool people drifted by to kiss his ring and whisper in his ear.

A bouncer with an earpiece kept sentry outside our booth and, whenever Owich rose – even for a trip to the bathroom – the bouncer led the way.

Heaven, it turns out, needs someone to run it.

The High Court has overturned a Sh221 million tax assessment against East African Seed Company, handing the agribusiness a major victory in a dispute over value-added tax and withholding tax liabilities linked to a 2020 corporate restructuring.

The court set aside a decision by the Tax Appeals Tribunal and an earlier objection decision by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), finding that the company had provided sufficient evidence to support its position on several contested tax issues.

The dispute arose after KRA assessed East African Seed for Sh221.2 million in VAT and other tax liabilities following an audit covering the period between 2016 and 2020.

A major issue was the transfer of the company’s seed business to Agriscope Africa Limited in April 2020.

KRA argued that the deal attracted VAT because it was not adequately proven that the transfer occurred before April 25, 2020, when amendments to tax law made transfers of businesses as going concerns subject to VAT at 16 percent.

The tax authority questioned the timing of key documents and pointed to inconsistencies in invoice dates and transaction records.

It argued that the company had failed to prove that the transfer took place before the legal change took effect.

East African Seed maintained that the deal was completed on April 21, 2020, four days before the law changed.

The company told the court that it had transferred assets, liabilities, employees, trademarks, goodwill, and its business operations to Agriscope, and had promptly notified KRA of the transaction.

The court ruled that the company had sufficiently demonstrated that the business transfer occurred before the tax law change and that it qualified for VAT exemption. It added that KRA and the Tax Appeals Tribunal had failed to properly evaluate the company’s evidence on VAT, withholding tax, and customs-related assessments.

‘I find that the appellant discharged its burden with contemporaneous documents which all bore dates before the effective date and that the tribunal placed undue weight on minor anomalies while under-weighting the evidence before it,’ the court said in the judgment dated June 19, 2026.

It found that the transaction qualified as a transfer of a business as a going concern and was therefore exempt from VAT under the law then in force.

The court also faulted the tribunal for rejecting the company’s claims on input VAT apportionment.

In addition, the court said East African Seed had provided reconciliation schedules supporting its tax position and that neither the law nor KRA had required audited accounts as a condition for considering those records.

‘Since neither the law nor the Commissioner expressly required audited accounts for this purpose, the Tribunal and the Commissioner had no valid reason to reject or not consider the Appellant’s reconciliation schedule,’ it said.

The ruling further addressed disputes over import data variances identified through the KRA’s Simba customs system.

KRA had argued that discrepancies between import records, VAT returns, and financial statements justified additional tax assessments.

However, the court found that East African Seed had supplied supporting documents, including customs forms, tax records, and reconciliations, and that the evidence had not been properly evaluated.

It also overturned KRA’s withholding income tax demand for the period between 2016 and 2019.

The court held that the tribunal failed to address a legal gap that existed after Parliament repealed provisions allowing KRA to recover unwithheld tax from a payer before similar powers were reintroduced in 2019.

Further, the court rejected KRA’s attempt to impose withholding VAT liabilities for 2016, finding that the retrospective application of the law raised concerns about legal certainty and could expose taxpayers to double taxation.