Category: Business Daily

Motorists know it as the place where long-distance trucks queue for hours, buses stop for meals, and travellers take a break before branching off to Machakos town or continuing to the Coast.

The settlement has long been defined by trailers, roadside eateries, open-air markets, budget lodges and a mosque where hundreds of truck drivers stop to pray before resuming their journeys.

Today, however, the transport stop is reinventing itself as one of the fastest-appreciating property markets on Nairobi’s eastern edge.

Driven by its strategic location on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway, proximity to Machakos town and growing interest linked to Konza Technopolis, land values in Kyumbi have risen sharply over the past two decades. Pioneer landowners who bought acreage for a few hundred thousand shillings now estimate their properties are worth tens of millions.

The shift is evident a few metres from the busy junction, where Serene Park, a gated housing development, is marketing four-bedroom houses from about Sh23.4 million for cash buyers and Sh23.76 million through mortgage financing.

The homes feature landscaped gardens, spacious compounds, private parking and space for servants’ quarters – a stark contrast to the roadside trading centre that once defined the area.

For long-time residents, however, the transformation began long before developers arrived.

Community leader Dishon Matolo recalls when his parents acquired land through a shareholding scheme back in the 1970s.

“They got the land for Sh525 per share, the size of two and a half acres with a quarter elsewhere,” he says.

Back then, he recalls, Kyumbi was largely farmland with few public services.

“When we moved here, there was nothing. Even for security we relied on Machakos town. Then gradually a toll station was set up, which later became a police post. We were the first people to set up a school around the area.”

The turning point

Although his family owned the land from the 1970s, Mr Matolo settled there permanently in 2003, just before demand began accelerating. He identifies 2007 as the turning point when people started flowing into the area.

“Land prices started shooting when we had demarcation in 2007. That was when also the population started rising.”

Improved road infrastructure, Nairobi’s eastward expansion and the launch of Konza Technopolis changed how investors viewed Kyumbi.

“In 1995 the same 2.04 acres that were given as shares was selling at Sh150,000. Currently a plot along the road measuring 50 by 100 goes for not less than Sh4 million.”

Land away from the highway remains relatively cheaper but is also climbing in value.

“Away from the highway, a three-quarter acre costs Sh2 million. If today I decide to sell the land I’m having, 2.04 acres, I will not take less than Sh40 million,” Mr Matolo says.

Population growth has also created a rental market that barely existed two decades ago.

“The rentals in Kyumbi go for Sh8,000 for a bedsitter, Sh12,000 for a one-bedroom and Sh18,000 for a two-bedroom.”

While rental rates remain below Nairobi’s, early investors benefit from significantly lower land acquisition costs, improving returns on development.

Leonard Musembi is among those who entered the market before prices surged. He bought 2.04 acres in 2007 for Sh1.7 million after concluding the location had long-term potential.

“The only place that had smaller land sizes was at the market area that had been divided into 50 by 100. When Konza City was launched in 2010 the prices spiked. I have a neighbour whose land is in the far end overlooking the river, still the same size as mine but he wants to sell it for not less than Sh20 million.”

Lagging infrastructure

Despite the capital gains, he says infrastructure has not kept pace with development.

“We have the challenge of water and roads. We don’t have enough boreholes to supply the whole area.”

Many investors are still holding onto their land rather than cashing in.

“The place has really grown although there is not much infrastructure around. Most of the people who bought land around are holding it. They have not sold, divided or built on the parcel. We see many of them just come regularly for inspection.”

Others are beginning to unlock value through rental housing and commercial developments.

“Personally, part of my land I have set up to put rental houses, but I am still in the progress of building.”

The property boom is also creating opportunities for businesses serving a growing residential population.

Joel Kithuka of Wanzuu Investments says the company identified the opportunity before many retailers.

“Some few years ago we opened this business after observing a niche in this market of Kyumbi.”

The business sells household goods, electronics and kitchenware – products increasingly in demand as more homeowners move into the area.

“We observed that there is a gap in terms of household consumption items… Whatever we have is really moving, showing us a good sign.”

Since opening its first supermarket in 2021, the business has expanded to three outlets. It also operates guest accommodation, a hotel and rental retail spaces.

Accommodation costs about Sh2,000 a night, while retail spaces rent for between Sh15,000 and Sh20,000 a month, with larger units attracting around Sh50,000.

Investor Ben Mutua represents another category of buyers – those purchasing land solely for capital appreciation.

“I bought a plot here about seven years ago for Sh500,000.”

He now estimates the property could fetch nearly Sh4 million.

“Maybe in the next two or three years, if I decide to sell it, it will be about Sh10 million. I did not buy it to settle, I wanted it for speculation purposes. The area was developing very fast, being on a highway, and also being on the transport corridor, and a junction that connects Machakos and Mombasa Road.”

Speculators’ market

Interest from prospective buyers continues to grow. “I’ve got people asking me if I can sell for them. People have been coming asking, ‘Can you sell for me?’ No, I’m not selling my properties off now.”

He says more professionals working in Nairobi are choosing to build homes in Kyumbi while commuting to the capital.

“Most people are constructing their homes here, even working in Nairobi. Some use the expressway to reduce commute time.”

Yet he argues that public investment must match the pace of private capital.

“The roads are not in good condition. The county administration should take note of the growth of the town, the investment opportunities, the revenue that they can draw from this area, and offer services to the residents because the population is growing very fast.”

That mismatch between rising property values and lagging infrastructure is becoming the defining challenge for Kyumbi’s next phase of growth.

Traffic congestion has worsened as queues of trailers and tankers along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway spill onto feeder roads, slowing movement within the town. Heavy commercial traffic is also accelerating road deterioration.

For now, however, those constraints have done little to dampen investor appetite. A settlement once known primarily as a truck stop is steadily emerging as a sought-after property market, where land bought for hundreds of thousands of shillings is today commanding prices of up to Sh40 million, and where many owners still believe the biggest gains lie ahead.

Over the past decade, Africa’s sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have quietly evolved from symbolic fiscal policy instruments into some of the continent’s most consequential institutional investors and new pools of development capital.

As commodity windfalls, diversified export revenues and disciplined fiscal reforms accumulate into permanent capital pools, African SWFs are beginning to rival pension funds, insurers, and country development finance institutions in their capacity to shape long-term capital allocation.

With more than two dozen African nations now operating or legislating sovereign wealth funds, the continent is undergoing a structural shift in how public wealth is stewarded, invested and deployed for social and economic development.

Leading African SWFs increasingly separate ownership, oversight and management functions, mirroring international best practice. A governing board or council sets strategy and risk appetite, an independent management company executes investment decisions, and a supervisory or parliamentary layer ensures public accountability.

Most funds have adopted tri-partite governance models with external auditors and published annual reports, while newer entrants are building similar architecture from inception rather than retrofitting it after governance failures elsewhere on the continent.

African SWFs generally fall into three categories: stabilisation funds that smooth fiscal revenue volatility from oil, gas, or mineral exports; savings or future-generations pension funds that convert depleting natural resources into perpetual financial capital; and strategic or development funds that channel capital directly into domestic infrastructure, industrialisation and strategic sectors.

A growing number of funds are hybrid vehicles combining stabilisation, savings and strategic development mandates within a single fund or institution. Current funding sources of most African sovereign wealth funds vary by resource endowment and fiscal structure.

Hydrocarbons and mineral royalties remain the dominant source for funds while non-resource-based funds rely on privatisation proceeds, budget surpluses, state asset transfers, dividends from state-owned enterprises (SOEs), donations etc.

An emerging pattern is strategic funds being capitalised with equity stakes in leading national and strategic entities, allowing governments to professionalise the management of existing state assets without new fiscal outlays.

African SWF assets under management currently total in the region of $100 billion to $200 billion, modest by global standards but growing rapidly as new funds are established and existing ones, scale.

With resource-rich or reform-minded African states entering the SWFs space, and with strategic funds absorbing state equity portfolios, cumulative African SWF assets are plausibly positioned to exceed $500 billion by 2035, or roughly double current levels, assuming continued fiscal discipline and successful capitalization of newly legislated funds happens.

Unlike passive global peers, many African SWFs are explicitly mandated to catalyse domestic development, financing infrastructure, agriculture, housing and industrial capacity that commercial capital alone would not underwrite.

This developmental orientation allows funds to act as patient, counter-cyclical anchor investors, crowding in private and multilateral co-financing for projects with strong development returns but longer gestation periods than conventional institutional mandates permit.

As anchor investors, African SWFs are deepening domestic capital markets by participating in local bond issuances, seeding private equity and infrastructure funds, and setting governance benchmarks that other institutional investors emulate.

Their entry as sophisticated, long-horizon allocators is helping build the institutional investor base that many African capital markets have historically lacked, improving liquidity and price discovery in local currency instruments and capital markets.

Additionally African SWFs are increasingly co-investing alongside Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), blending concessional and commercial capital to de-risk large infrastructure, trade and blended finance transactions.

These partnerships give SWFs access to rigorous project preparation, risk-sharing structures, and technical assistance, while DFIs and MDBs gain a permanent, aligned domestic co-investor that strengthens the sustainability of development outcomes beyond the life of any single project.

It is worth noting that the Santiago Principles, the voluntary framework of Generally Accepted Practices and Principles for SWFs, are central to legitimising African sovereign wealth funds in the eyes of international investors, rating agencies and citizens alike.

Adherence signals commitment to transparency, sound governance, and purely economic and financial investment objectives, insulating funds from allegations of political interference and helping newer African sovereign wealth funds build the credibility needed to attract co-investment and favorable market access from day one.

A defining feature of African sovereign wealth architecture is its close relationship with central bank reserve management, since some funds are being seeded or partially capitalised from excess reserves once overall import-cover exceeds prudent adequacy thresholds under frameworks such as the IMF’s Assessing Reserve Adequacy metric.

Clear operational boundaries and coordination protocols between Central/Reserve Banks and SWFs are essential to preserve monetary stability while allowing the strategic layer of reserves to pursue higher-return and longer-horizon investment strategies.

Kenya’s passage of its Sovereign Wealth Fund Bill on July 8, 2026, positions the country well among recent African entrants, reflecting lessons learnt from earlier SWFs elsewhere on the continent.

The Bill embeds clear governance separation, defined funding sources and a three-tier mandate made up of a stabilisation fund, a strategic infrastructure fund and a future generations fund, while anchoring itself to global best practice norms of accountability, transparency and sustainability.

This design-first approach, rather than retrofitting governance after establishment, gives the upcoming Kenya’s sovereign wealth fund a credible foundation from which to attract co-investment and build long-term public trust.

Clearly, African sovereign wealth funds are transitioning from nascent fiscal buffers into consequential institutional investors capable of catalying domestic capital markets and national development outcomes.

Realising this potential fully will require continued adherence to strong governance norms, viable collaborations and sustained political commitment to insulate these funds from short-term pressures.

As more African countries launch new sovereign wealth funds, the continent stands to build a genuinely African institutional-investor-class, that is able to finance its own development on increasingly self-determined terms and style.

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) data show electricity imports reached 813.94 million kilowatt-hours (kWh), or units, between January and May, surpassing wind generation of 736.8 million kWh.

This emerged in a period when Kenya has witnessed increases demand for electricity amid a freeze on new power purchase deals.

Electricity imports rose 25.1 percent from a year earlier while wind output fell 4.8 percent, according to the official data.

North-neighbouring Ethiopia drove most of the increase, exporting 675.89 million kWh to Kenya, up 29.2 percent from the corresponding period last year and accounting for more than 83 percent of imported electricity. Uganda supplied another 137.02 million kWh.

The growing role of Ethiopian electricity highlights Kenya’s increasing reliance on regional power markets as rising demand narrows the cushion between domestic electricity production and consumption.

This comes despite Kenya producing a record 5,738.61 million kWh of electricity during the five months, a 6.2 percent increase from 5,401.33 million kWh last year. The increase was largely driven by geothermal generation, which climbed 18 percent to 2,778.74 million kWh, reinforcing its position as the backbone of Kenya’s electricity system.

Hydropower generation edged up to 1,458.26 million kWh from 1,429.49 million kWh, while thermal generation fell 11.5 percent to 559.84 million kWh as reliance on costly diesel-fired plants eased.

Wind generation, however, declined to 736.8 million kWh from 774.2 million kWh, making it the only major domestic electricity source to record lower output than a year earlier.

Unlike geothermal plants that generate electricity around the clock, wind farms depend on changing wind speeds, with output fluctuating throughout the day and sometimes falling sharply when wind conditions weaken.

Kenya Power Managing Director Joseph Siror has warned that low wind generation has repeatedly forced the near-monopoly utility to ration electricity because other generating plants cannot fully meet peak demand between 6pm and 10pm.

“There are many instances when we have been forced to load-shed the country when the wind generation is low because all the other generation sources without wind cannot serve the peak demand,” Dr Siror said earlier this year.

Rationing forces businesses to seek alternative power sources or scale down operations, underscoring its adverse impact on the economy.

Kenya Power rations electricity to avoid a trip of the network or blackouts triggered by an imbalance in supply and demand.

The wind and solar plants currently lack battery storage to store electricity generated during their peak production, when wind speeds and solar radiation are highest, triggering rationing during high consumption hours between 6 pm and 10 pm.

The drops in wind and solar generation have put pressure on local geothermal and hydro plants as well as electricity imports from Uganda and Ethiopia, forcing Kenya Power to cut off some areas to shield the grid and avoid countrywide blackouts.

He said Kenya’s installed wind capacity totals 435 megawatts, but actual generation can occasionally fall close to zero because of the intermittent nature of wind.

The resulting deficits are most pronounced during evening peak demand, when electricity consumption rises, but weak wind generation leaves the grid short of supply.

Kenya’s commercial wind fleet comprises the 310-megawatt Lake Turkana Wind Power project in Marsabit County, the 100-megawatt Kipeto Wind Power Station in Kajiado County and the 25.5-megawatt Ngong Hills Wind Farm.

Even with record local generation, electricity sales by Kenya Power climbed faster, reaching 5,249.21 million kWh, or units, between January and May from 4,754.46 million kWh a year earlier.

The surplus between local generation and Kenya Power sales narrowed to 489.4 million kWh from 646.9 million kWh, indicating that electricity demand is growing faster than domestic supply.

That shrinking margin has increased the importance of imported electricity, particularly Ethiopian hydropower, in maintaining reliable supplies during peak demand and periods of weak renewable generation.

The growing dependence on imported electricity is emerging as a strategic challenge for policymakers seeking to sustain industrialization while maintaining affordable and reliable electricity supplies.

Recognising mounting pressure on the power sector, the National Treasury has announced plans to add 10,000 megawatts of generation capacity over the next seven years through geothermal, wind, solar, hydroelectric and nuclear energy projects.

The expansion is intended to support manufacturing, agro-processing, green industrialisation, e-mobility, data centres and artificial intelligence as electricity demand continues to accelerate.

“Reliable and affordable energy supply remains central to powering manufacturing, promoting agricultural value addition, and enabling digital transformation across all sectors of the economy,” the Treasury wrote in the 2026 Budget Policy Statement in February.

The government argues Kenya’s abundant geothermal, hydro, solar and wind resources provide a strong foundation for expanding domestic generation while reducing dependence on imported electricity over the longer term.

President William Ruto has also pledged to substantially expand electricity generation and transmission infrastructure before the end of the decade to support industrial growth and the country’s digital transformation.

Kenya serves as a shining example of the fact that Africa is no longer a market of potential alone. The country is deploying a multi-alliance approach to economic growth and national security, setting it on course to make the most of the continent’s rising industrial scale, cross-border capital flows and homegrown corporate ambition.

On the sidelines of the G7 in June 2026, Kenya and the United States signed a preliminary agreement enabling the country to refine its critical mineral resources domestically.

Also in June, Kenya signed a $1.2 billion agreement with the China Road and Bridge Corporation to expand and modernise Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Several other infrastructure projects in ports, roads, rail and energy have also been announced.

A visit from French President Emmanuel Macron in May produced 11 bilateral agreements valued over $1 billion, focused mainly on transport, logistics, renewable energy and technology infrastructure.

As the East African bloc’s largest economic contributor, Kenya has also been strengthening regional ties by eliminating non-tariff barriers and increasing bilateral trade with neighbouring Tanzania.

The Dangote Group serves as an example of Africa’s tremendous corporate ambition. A measure of its scale is the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos, Nigeria, which has a nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, making it Africa’s largest refinery and the world’s largest single-train refinery.

It commenced fuel production in 2024 and reportedly plans to expand capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day within 30 months. The Group is now reportedly considering investing in a new petroleum refinery in East Africa.

The Dangote Group is one example of the rise of large Pan-African corporates with the scale and sophistication to compete globally.

In the financial services sector, institutions like Standard Bank, Equity Bank, Nedbank, Access Bank, Zenith Bank and Ecobank are aggressively pursuing cross-border acquisitions and building integrated platforms that connect African economies.

In the technology sector, companies like Flutterwave and Paystack are building the digital payments infrastructure needed for cross-border transactions. Safaricom’s M-Pesa platform has transformed financial inclusion across East Africa, and Jumia continues to pioneer African e-commerce.

These are not start-ups waiting for validation, they are established enterprises generating the complex, multi-jurisdictional transactions that define a maturing market.

Development finance institutions are deploying record volumes into energy, transport and digital infrastructure. Submarine cable projects and data centre investments are expanding Africa’s digital backbone.

Cross-border rail and road projects and investments in airports, especially in East Africa, are connecting landlocked economies to regional and global markets, while renewable energy developments are opening investment opportunities across the Sahel, East and southern Africa.

Global supply chain disruption is also creating new avenues for African countries that are well positioned to benefit from changing trade and manufacturing networks.

For example, Africa holds roughly 30 percent of the world’s mineral reserves, including critical minerals, and its countries are increasingly focused on developing the infrastructure needed to economically benefit from these minerals domestically, rather than exporting them in raw form.

Realising this vast potential requires that volatility be managed while improving productivity and deepening cross-border integration. The continent’s structural challenges demand urgent, workable solutions, including addressing rising debt levels, infrastructure gaps and regulatory complexity.

In this volatile market where deals increasingly span multiple jurisdictions, regulatory regimes and cultures, legal advisers must be able to contribute meaningfully to a client’s growth, not merely react to instructions.

The most successful African law firms are focused on long-term value rather than the billable hour. They are immersing themselves in their clients’ decision-making processes, specific operations, industry dynamics and market pressures.

Legal advisers must now understand both the formal legal and regulatory frameworks and informal practices of all African jurisdictions in which their clients operate. No single law firm, however large, can achieve this through remote desk research; there must be genuine on-the-ground collaboration among local firms.

This evolution also requires balancing the tension between the traditional law firm hierarchy and structure important for quality and governance, and the demand for flexibility in the workplace. Technology is facilitating these changes.

Artificial intelligence has already transformed how law firms research, draft and analyse information to improve efficiency and automate tasks. But the challenge is not simply adoption, successful integration of AI models is also essential.

This is achieved by training AI models on firm-specific data, embedding them into established workflows, and using them to enhance, not replace, critical human judgement.

While technology provides the baseline, the true differentiator will be the human capacity to read the room, build trust, form relationships and translate complex legal frameworks into strategic certainty for businesses.

Africa’s transition from a market of potential to a continent of true industrial scale demands a fundamental shift in how law firms operate.

As massive infrastructure, energy and critical mineral projects redefine the continent’s economic landscape, clients need long-term partners who understand their industry pressures, cross-border supply chains and regional ambitions.

For Africa’s potential to become a long-term strategic certainty, the true differentiators in the continent’s ‘relationships era’ will be strong partnerships built on trust, transparency and aligned incentives.

A technology firm has sued the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), seeking to block the roll out of a digital cargo pre-arrival declaration system amid claims of ‘copycat’ of a similar idea it had shared with the tax agency.

The tech company, Greenworld Big Data Limited, seeks urgent orders blocking the implementation of the Advance Cargo Declaration (ACD) customs platform from August 3, 2026, pending determination of the suit.

Alternatively, the company wants the court to compel KRA to pay it an ongoing royalty equal to 30 per cent of all revenue, gains, cost savings and efficiencies generated by the ACD platform if the tax authority is allowed to continue operating it.

The new ACD platform by KRA is a mandatory digital pre-arrival system requiring a 15-digit alphanumeric reference code for all containerised sea cargo destined for Kenyan ports before loading at the point of origin.

The company claims the taxman copied its proprietary cargo management system after the company shared the idea three years ago.

Court papers show KRA initiated its ACD system after receiving detailed presentations from the company about a similar programme dubbed the Advanced Cargo Information Declaration (ACID) platform in 2023.

Greenworld Big Data Limited alleged that KRA adopted key elements of the technology it presented to it in 2023 without its consent or compensation.

The company says the ACID platform was designed to digitise cargo movement by sea, air, rail and road, and to curb under-declaration and under-valuation of imports. The platform was also designed to improve cargo visibility before arrival, and recover an estimated Sh826 billion lost annually through revenue leakages.

It also says the system could save the government more than Sh23 billion in technology costs and generate an additional Sh150 billion annually through more accurate trade data, according to documents filed in court.

Greenworld Big Data Limited and its founder and director, Jacob Munene, filed the suit against KRA and the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning.

The plaintiffs say they independently conceived, designed and developed the ACID platform before approaching KRA in 2023 to market the technology. KRA and the National Treasury had not filed responses in the documents before the court at the time of publishing this article.

According to the court documents, the plaintiffs say they wrote to the then Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning, Prof Njuguna Ndung’u, more than once as part of their efforts to secure government adoption of the ACID platform.

The company engaged KRA officers between March 13 and August 15, 2023 through meetings, emails and presentations after conducting what it described as a forensic analysis of weaknesses within Kenya’s cargo handling and customs systems.

One of the key meetings took place at KRA headquarters on May 24, 2023.

The company says Mr Munene and fellow director Thomas Ngunyi presented the platform to nine senior KRA officials, chaired by James Ndege (a KRA Customs official), while Levison Kibet recorded the official minutes.

The affidavit claims the presentation disclosed “module by module, the entire architecture of the ACID System,” including the Big Data Hub, cargo consolidation, vessel manifest management, e-vessel booking, dashboard modules, inland cargo systems, smart gate technology, truck monitoring and satellite intelligence.

The company says KRA’s own minutes recorded that the presentation “highly impressed the members” and that the ACID system “is highly recommended by members through various user modifications.”

It says KRA officials also proposed another “technical team engagement” to “delve into the details of the ACID system and its solutions.”

Greenworld says communication then stopped. The company says KRA neither licensed the technology nor compensated it after receiving the detailed proposal.

Court papers show that the company wrote again on August 15, 2023, seeking a further 30-minute meeting with the Cabinet Secretary to explain the proposal, but never received a response.

The legal dispute emerged on July 14, 2026, when KRA issued a public notice announcing the rollout of its Advance Cargo Declaration (ACD) platform for all containerised cargo entering Kenya through its ports.

The tax authority said exporters would obtain an ACD reference code after uploading a draft bill of lading, commercial invoice, freight invoice and export declaration before cargo departed for Kenya.

The notice was addressed to all importers, exporters shipping goods to Kenya, ship owners, carriers, shipping agents, customs agents, and relevant stakeholders.

Greenworld argues that the similarities between the two systems extend beyond the names.

It says both platforms require cargo declarations before shipment leaves the port of origin, and generate shipment reference codes linked to bills of lading.

Both also rely on centralised digital processing, target importers, exporters, shipping agents and customs authorities, and seek to improve customs risk assessment while reducing revenue leakage.

“The striking similarity of the system is so resounding both in expression and system operation to the ACID System pitched to the Authority in 2023, including even the name that it only excludes the ‘I’ for Information,” the company states.

Developers, deployers, operators, vendors, and users of artificial intelligence (AI) models will share liability for their systems as Kenya seeks to reinforce accountability on the new technology increasingly adopted by Kenyan businesses, government offices and private users.

A new proposal by the ICT Ministry said that responsibility for AI models will no longer rest with one player.

“Recognising that AI systems are rarely designed, deployed and operated by a single organisation, the draft AI policy indicates that future implementing legislation will provide for allocation of liability, accountability, insurance, and redress across developers, deployers, operators, vendors, and users, supported by requirements relating to transparency, explainability and auditability,” analysts at law firm Bowmans said in a note.

“This marks a significant shift towards shared accountability, with organisations expected to understand and manage their role in the AI lifecycle while supporting regulatory oversight, enforcement and effective redress.”

The push for shared responsibility comes even as Kenya also seeks to regulate AI models used in the country or affecting residents, even when the companies that own them do not have local operations.

The ICT Ministry proposes to extend the government’s control to overseas tech firms such as ChatGPT maker OpenAI and Facebook’s parent Meta, whose AI systems are increasingly being adopted by Kenyan businesses, government offices and private users.

“This policy applies to any entity outside Kenya that provides AI or other emerging technologies systems or services whose outputs are used within Kenya, or which have direct and foreseeable effects on individuals, rights, or public interests in Kenya,” reads the draft AI policy.

The policy proposal gives the government powers to hold tech firms accountable if their products, services, or data systems are accessed or used in Kenya, regardless of where the company is headquartered.

The guidelines cover software vendors, cloud service providers, compute providers, AI model developers, data intermediaries, data annotation providers and public-sector technology suppliers used locally.

“This policy adopts an effects-based jurisdictional approach, consistent with international best practice in data protection and consumer protection law,” the policy says.

The regulatory model, technically referred to as extraterritorial jurisdiction, is similar to that adopted by the European Union (EU). The regional bloc routinely fines tech giants whose products infringe on Europeans’ privacy and safety.

Such an approach allows a government, regulator, or court to exercise legal authority over companies or individuals located outside its physical borders, as long as their action has direct consequences within the regulating country’s territory.

This means international AI companies whose products are used in Kenya – including OpenAI’s GPT models, Anthropic’s Claude and Meta’s Llama – could be required to comply with Kenyan AI rules even if they have no physical presence in the country.

Google, which owns the Gemini AI model, and Microsoft, the developer of the MAI series of models, already have offices in Kenya.

The challenge now is ensuring the sector scales into a commercially sustainable and mature industry. Achieving this will depend on reducing the commercial, regulatory and governance uncertainties that accompany every emerging market, creating the confidence needed for long-term investment, innovation and growth.

The next test for Kenya’s e-mobility sector will not be its ability to attract investment, but to translate that investment into commercially sustainable businesses.

Across the value chain-from vehicle manufacturing and assembly to charging infrastructure, battery-swapping networks and innovative financing-operators face a common commercial imperative: generating sufficient customer demand, operational efficiency and sustainable returns to justify continued expansion.

Ultimately, success will be measured not by the number of market entrants or the volume of capital deployed, but by the ability of commercially resilient businesses to scale and continue attracting long-term investment.

The energy transition is increasingly bringing together sectors that have traditionally operated within separate legal and regulatory frameworks, and e-mobility is one of its clearest examples.

While the National Electric Mobility Policy provides strategic direction, the sector’s continued growth will depend on how effectively the existing frameworks governing electricity, transport, environmental management, taxation and technical standards operate in practice.

The certainty businesses require comes not from reducing regulation, but from ensuring that regulatory processes are coordinated, predictable and responsive.

As the market evolves, new operational questions will emerge. Many can be addressed through coordinated regulatory guidance, measured refinement of technical standards and practical experience, allowing the regulatory framework to evolve alongside the market while preserving the flexibility needed for innovation.

As businesses seek larger and longer-term sources of capital, governance will become an increasingly important source of investor confidence.

Whether expanding an electric bus fleet, charging infrastructure or a Battery-as-a-Service platform, access to capital will depend on more than a compelling business model.

Investors increasingly look beyond innovation to governance, board oversight, risk management, transparent reporting and compliance as indicators of an organization’s long-term resilience.

Governance should therefore be viewed not merely as a compliance requirement, but as a strategic capability that reduces investment uncertainty, strengthens investor confidence and positions businesses to scale sustainably.

Kenya has already taken important steps by establishing a supportive policy framework and strengthening the investment environment.

The next phase of the sector’s development will depend less on new policy interventions and more on creating the commercial, regulatory and investment certainty that enables businesses to invest with confidence, innovate responsibly and scale sustainably.

That is how an enabling policy environment is ultimately transformed into a commercially sustainable and mature market.

TelPosta Pension Scheme has dodged a Sh13.4 billion pension liability after the High Court dismissed claims by former members for additional payout, ending a 15-year legal battle that had threatened to plunge the fund into a massive deficit.

The dispute revolved around allegations by past members that their retirement benefits had been under-calculated, leading to a claim initially quantified at Sh7.2 billion and later projected to rise to Sh13.4 billion due to accrued interest and the passage of time.

In its latest rulings, the High Court agreed with the decision of the Retirement Benefits Appeals Tribunal (RBAT) delivered on October 2, 2025, upholding that the scheme had computed and paid benefits in line with its Trust Deed and the Retirement Benefits Act.

“I would agree with the 1st respondent (RBA Tribunal) and the interested parties that the instant application is an appeal disguised as a judicial review. It lacks merit, and it is for dismissal, and I hereby, accordingly, dismiss it. There shall be no order for costs,” said the judge in a July 27, 2026 decision.

The courts’ decision effectively shields the scheme from a potential financial shock that, according to actuarial assessments disclosed in its 2025 annual report, would have created a deficit of about Sh9.7 billion in its books.

“We welcome the High Court’s judgments, which bring further legal clarity and reinforce confidence in the governance and administration of the TelPosta Pension Scheme,” the board chairman of the scheme, Julius Cheptiony, said.

The case has undergone scrutiny across multiple legal and regulatory forums, including the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA), the RBA tribunal, the High Court and the Court of Appeal over 15 years.

The dispute was centred on whether the scheme had correctly applied its benefit calculation formula. Trustees maintained throughout the proceedings that all payouts were based on the scheme’s rules, arguing that any deviation would have breached contractual obligations and statutory requirements.

The favourable ruling provides certainty for the scheme, which operates as a closed defined benefit fund and has not received new contributions since December 2007. Such schemes are sensitive to large, unplanned liabilities due to their reliance on existing assets to meet future obligations.

Previous disclosures show that the scheme had already factored in the legal risk in its actuarial evaluations, warning that an adverse outcome would materially affect its financial position.

The scheme was established in 1997 to manage retirement benefits for employees of the former Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation and its successor institutions, including Telkom Kenya and the Postal Corporation of Kenya.

Most of the members are former employees and dependants of people who worked at East African Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (EAPTC) and Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC).

EAPTC and KPTC gave birth to Telkom Kenya Limited, Postal Corporation of Kenya and Communications Authority of Kenya, which later set up their own separate pension schemes, leaving Telposta as a closed scheme.

The Telposta scheme pays out an average of Sh11,895 every month to its members. Since becoming a closed scheme, it has paid out over Sh14.5 billion to its over 5,000 members.

The scheme, which currently has about 83 percent of its investment portfolio in properties, is eyeing about Sh10 billion from the sale of four strategic assets to the government as part of the move to cut exposure in properties to the permitted maximum of 30 percent.

The four properties are TelPosta Towers, Gilgil GTI staff quarters and two flats in Makande and Bombolulu in Mombasa.

Vodacom and the World Bank have wired a combined Sh337.6 billion into government accounts, helping lift Kenya’s foreign exchange reserves to a record $15.4 billion (Sh1.99 trillion), new data shows.

The government received $1.86 billion (Sh240.5 billion) from the sale of a 15 percent stake in Safaricom and a $750 million (Sh97.1 billion) from the World Bank after the multilateral lender unfroze the billions.

This increased the reserve from $13.9billion (Sh1.8 trillion) on July 23, translating to a $1.5 billion (Sh194.1 billion) weekly jump.

The reserves stand at an equivalent of 6.4 months of import cover, surpassing Central Bank of Kenya’s (CBK’s) statutory requirements and East African Community limit of at least four and 4.5 months of import cover, respectively.

Foreign exchange reserves represent liquid assets held by a country’s central bank and serve as a buffer against external economic shocks.

The forex buffer is a boost to the State, which uses the reserves to ensure that the country can meet its international payment obligations, including servicing external debt.

The reserves also provide the central bank with the capacity to intervene in currency markets to stabilise the exchange rate when necessary.

A higher reserve level is widely viewed as a sign of improved external liquidity and stronger ability to absorb volatility in global financial markets.

Vodacom bought the 15 percent stake for Sh204 billion through a block trade on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), raising its effective holding in Safaricom to 55 percent while reducing the government’s stake to 20 percent. The transaction package rose to about Sh240.5 billion after an upfront dividend arrangement.

The government has been pursuing asset sales as part of efforts to raise resources while reducing reliance on additional borrowing.

The Treasury has disclosed that the World Bank further disbursed the $750 million under a Development Policy Operation arrangement that provides budget support alongside reforms in public financial management, governance and social protection.

The latest inflows came as the government closed one fiscal cycle and opened another, creating a concentration of payments around the transition into the new budget year as the Treasury settles obligations falling due.

The nearly Sh144 billion difference between the receipts and the weekly reserve increase points to significant foreign-currency outflows during the week. External debt service is a major call on the country’s reserves, with payments to foreign creditors made through the CBK.

The apex bank does not, however, provide a transaction-level breakdown in the weekly data showing how much of the difference was attributable to debt service. The latest reserve position follows a year of stronger foreign currency liquidity supported by Eurobond issues, diaspora remittances, tourism earnings and other inflows.

Diaspora remittances are Kenya’s largest source of hard currency ahead of tourism receipts and agriculture exports.

In April, CBK cut its projection of diaspora remittances for 2026 by Sh40.5 billion ($313 million) on the expectation of lower inflows from the Middle East due to the war and recently introduced transaction taxes in Saudi Arabia.

The apex bank expects diaspora remittances to total Sh660.3 billion ($5.1 billion) this year from an earlier estimate of Sh701.8 billion ($5.42 billion).

Inflows from the Gulf region account for roughly 10 percent of Kenya’s annual remittance inflows.

“We expect a slight deceleration because of the direct impact (of the conflict) on the remittances from the Gulf area where about 10 percent of our inflows come from,” CBK Governor Kamau Thugge said in April.

“But there are also potentially indirect effects arising from the possible economic growth slowdown in other countries, for example the US.

The Court of Appeal has allowed a Dutch firm to pursue a debtor in Kenya, overturning an earlier decision by a lower court which blocked it from doing so, because it wasn’t locally registered under the Companies Act.

The appellate court reinstated a debt recovery suit by Stichting Rabobank Foundation against AVA Chem Limited-reinforcing a ruling by a High Court in 2025 that foreign companies incorporated abroad can sue and enforce contracts in Kenyan courts without local registration under the Companies Act.

At the heart of the dispute was whether a foreign company that is not registered in Kenya is barred from accessing Kenyan courts and whether extending a cross-border loan to a Kenyan company amounts to “carrying on business in Kenya” within the meaning of the Companies Act.

“Parliament prohibited an unregistered foreign company from carrying on business in Kenya. It did not prohibit such a company from instituting proceedings, maintaining an action, recovering a debt or enforcing a contract. Had Parliament intended to impose such a litigation disability, it could easily have said so expressly.”

The court emphasised that enforcing an existing legal right through litigation is not necessarily the same as carrying on business.

The dispute arose from a financial support arrangement entered into in October 2016. According to court records, Stichting Rabobank Foundation, a Dutch entity, agreed to provide financial support amounting to $180,116(Sh23.31million) to AVA Chem Limited.

Under the Financial Support Agreement, Christopher Irungu Mwangi, a director of AVA Chem Ltd, executed a personal guarantee through a deed of suretyship to secure the company’s obligations. The Foundation told the court that AVA Chem later defaulted on its repayment obligations.

Mr Mwangi allegedly acknowledged the company’s indebtedness and agreed to honour the guarantee should the company fail to pay.

When the debt remained outstanding, the Foundation filed a suit in the High Court in September 2022 seeking recovery of $230,868.51(Sh2.98billion), together with interest and costs.

Ava Chem filed a preliminary objection, arguing that the Foundation lacked the legal capacity to sue because it was a foreign company that had not registered under Part XXXVII of the Companies Act.

The High Court agreed with that argument, holding that the Foundation lacked locus standi because it had failed to register as required under Section 974 of the Companies Act. The court consequently struck out the suit without hearing its merits.

The Foundation moved to the Court of Appeal arguing that while Section 974 prohibits an unregistered foreign company from carrying on business in Kenya, the provision does not state that such a company loses its legal personality or is barred from filing or maintaining court proceedings.

It further argued that whether it was actually carrying on business in Kenya was a factual issue that could not properly be determined through a preliminary objection.

The respondents, however, maintained that the Foundation was carrying on business in Kenya through the financial arrangement and, having failed to register, lacked the legal capacity to institute proceedings.

The Court of Appeal said foreign companies may legitimately approach Kenyan courts for a variety of reasons, including protecting property, defending claims, enforcing arbitral awards, obtaining conservatory orders or recovering debts arising from international commercial transactions.