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Across Kenya, there is a strong sentiment that there is no money on the ground. Mama Mboga in informal markets, small business owners, and even salaried employees complain that they don’t have money.

On the contrary, economic metrics like gross domestic product (GDP) and money supply, that signal that wealth is growing and money is available, indicates that the economy is on a growth path. Why do we see this inconsistencies!

According to the World Bank, Kenya’s GDP growth rate averages 5.5 percent. On bank assets, this now stands at more than Sh7 trillion, and profits in the sector is growing steadily. If the economy is growing and liquidity expanding, why is there ‘no money on the ground’?

To answer this paradox, we need to look at the nature of money. Banks have the unique privilege of creating money from nothing. Under fiat currency and the fractional reserve system, central banks and commercial banks can create money.

The CBK issues base money, while commercial banks generate new deposits when they give out loans. Money supply and availability is influenced heavily by risk-return fundamentals and the monetary policy.

In 2016, Parliament forced interest rate caps on banks to protect consumers from high borrowing costs.

While this was well-intentioned, from a risk/return perspective, it was a wrong policy, and it quickly backfired.

Banks, finding capped interest rate lending unprofitable, shifted their credit portfolios toward government securities, which were both risk-free and lucrative. Private sector credit slowed sharply.

The caps were repealed in 2019, but the hangover remained. CBK later that year introduced risk-based pricing, allowing banks to vary interest rates depending on the borrower’s risk profile, unfortunately, the framework had some restrictions, and this too hasn’t worked.

In response to the above failure of transmission mechanism, CBK has issued a framework anchored on Kesonia + K to be used by banks in determining interest rates. Kesonia is short for Kenya Shilling Overnight Interbank Average.

At its core it allows capital allocation based on prevailing monetary policy dictated market rates, risk and return. Globally, Sterling Overnight Index Average (SONIA) is used in the UK and Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) is used in the US as anchors for pricing interest rates.

There are other pressures on money supply, like the current fiscal policy, where a heavy government borrowing is required to support servicing of old debt, which continues to crowd out private sector borrowers.

This shift offers hope in the economy. Transitioning to this new risk-based pricing framework will stimulate flow of money to the ground.

It will improve credit worthiness as a culture, which will give banks the confidence to extend more loans to MSMEs and other risky segments of the economy and will improve affordability for good borrowers. With that, we expect liquidity to flow more to households and businesses, strengthening the grassroots economy.

‘I am Wynton Marsalis. I am a musician from New Orleans. My father is a musician and I have three brothers who are also musicians,’ the iconic American trumpeter, bandleader, music teacher and scion of one of the most famous musical families in America introduced himself thus during a conversation with the BDLife in Nairobi early this week.

Marsalis and his ensemble, Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra, performed two shows in the city as part of the Bob Collymore International Jazz Festival Series. Nairobi was the second stop on their first-ever African tour, having performed at the Joy of Jazz Festival in Johannesburg last weekend.

Foreign investors are shying away from buying shares at the Nairobi Securities Exchange in the wake of rising returns from the US, United Kingdom, China, and Japan markets.

The foreigners have been net sellers-sold more shares than they bought-in seven of the nine months to September, reflecting their reduced appetite for the Kenya bourse.

The South Sudan government has called for a review of cargo handling charges and container deposits to lower the cost of doing business, with recommendations to set up empty container depots along the Northern Corridor.

The South Sudanese government wants a review of the current charge of $5,000 (Sh647,700) per container destined for its territory from the Mombasa port, saying that the fee is steep and harms business.

As classic plays often do, it was inevitable that Kaggia would return on stage. The first time the cast brought to life of Bildad Kaggia, a man often described as one who would rather die than sell his soul to the devil, theatre lovers didn’t get enough of him. The second time did little to quench their curiosity either.

Now, director Stuart Nash returns is preparing for the third rerun of the play written by John Sibi Okumu that offers an in-depth narration of one of Kenya’s unsung heroes.

In its earlier runs with the Phoenix Players, the play featured a cast of four. The late Harry Ebale played the lead role in the first production, a part now taken over by Martin Kigondu, a talented, prolific, and refined performer who has a unique gift for making the stage feel like his playground. ‘I took on the role of Kaggia to honour the memory of my brother, the late Ebale. And of course, this is John Sibi’s work; anyone would want to be part of it. This time, however, the play takes a different form. The cast is no longer just four as originally written. Stuart Nash’s superpower is bringing visual aesthetics and spectacle to life. I saw his vision and agreed to join the team,’ says Kigondu.

In this latest rerun, Kigondu is the only returning cast member, though he says that has not changed his approach to the role.

‘When you go back to a show you have done before, you always approach it with fresh eyes and maturity. The good thing is that Stuart and I have worked together for so long that we understand each other. The biggest challenge is that we are performing in both English and Kikuyu, with the same cast alternating across different runs. The exciting part is that each day brings a unique version of the play, rather than cramming both versions into a single day.’ For Stuart, directing Kaggia has been a profound learning experience.

‘It is fascinating to uncover so much about a historical figure people rarely acknowledge. During our research, we found that nobody under 25 knew who he was. Those who did, only remember that he was part of the Kapenguria Six and nothing more. Yet he lived such an extraordinary life, full of surprises and challenges, that people will be astonished at what he went through,’ Stuart said.

What can audiences expect from the play?

‘I think they will discover more about Bildad Kaggia than they ever knew. When I first watched the play a few years ago, I walked out of the theatre wanting to know more about him. I think John would love people to walk out of the theatre thinking of how Kenya would be now if they had followed Kaggia’s ideals. It is a thoughtful and sophisticated piece of theatre,’ Stuart said.

For John Sibi Okumu, choosing to write about Kaggia instead of the other five Kapenguria detainees was inspired by an encounter in a bookshop.

‘I came across Kaggia’s autobiography, which he abandoned midway. It was later completed by a Dutchman in collaboration with one of his children. I was vaguely aware of the Kapenguria Six from my schooling, but I found Kaggia’s story fascinating, especially because he was a man who truly walked the talk. He lived with integrity and a strong moral compass. He was detained alongside the others and even shared a cell with Jomo Kenyatta at one point. For me, there was a compelling contrast: what might Kenya have looked like if his ideals had guided its leadership?’ Sibi Okumu posed.

He added, ‘Bildad Kaggia was what we would today call a left-leaning figure, while Kenya has largely remained aligned to the right. His life offers a case study of what might have happened had the country taken a different political path. As a playwright, I am committed to exploring the evolution of Kenyan society before and after independence. My next play will focus on the pre-independence period of the 1950s.’

Kaggia will be staged at the Kenya National Theatre from October 11 to 19.

I live in an apartment where neighbours really don’t talk to – or know – each other. The typical 21st Century snobbery. A real tragedy really because what happens when you run out of salt at 9pm?

By chance we struck a conversation with the Indian fellow who lives below me; a younger outdoorsy fellow with a raggedy Mitsubishi that is always caked in dust of mud every Monday morning.

After a brief conversation we learnt that we both love the outdoors and whisky. After almost six months of planning (we are busy), a plan was hatched to share a whisky at the nearest haunt. It rained that evening. I arrived early and nursed a Fernet Branca as I waited, staring into the busy courtyard. Outside, music blasted from the nearby bar teeming with a younger crowd.

When he finally showed up he started with 12-year-old Aberlour while I did the 15-year-old Dalwhinnie. He orders his whisky by the single. One rock. He told me about his camping adventures on silent hills in Amboseli and northern Kenya.

For the second round we both settled for the 12-year-old Balvenie. We talked about our neighbours; who knew who. I don’t know anyone personally except my next door neighbour’s elegant cat that sits across on the kitchen windowsill each morning, staring at my son while he prepares his breakfast.

For the third round we wanted a specific Glenmorangie but it was missing. I settled for the same 12-year-old Balvenie while he tried something I don’t recall. He told me about his university days in the UK, and his gruesome MBA about to conclude.

I told him about my early career, working in a medical lab. ‘Did you know you could write?’ he asked, laughing. I said, ‘you always know but you are scared. Change is scary.’ Sierra seems to serve that kind of a drink up; a quick snappy beer, a bite to eat, a conversation that doesn’t get diluted by a long night.

A forged court order was used to lock out businessman Paul Ndung’u from participating in a dispute over the fight of betting firm SportPesa, placing a top lawyer under criminal investigations for forgery.

The details emerged in a judgment where the Court of Appeal reversed its earlier ruling that had blocked the businessman from participating in pending cases over control of SportPesa’s assets and shares.

The High Court has frozen the newly revised park entry fees by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), dealing a blow to the State agency, which banked on the higher charges to bridge a Sh12 billion annual budget deficit.

Justice John Chigiti issued the conservatory order following a petition by the Kenya Tourist Federation, representing tourism industry stakeholders, arguing that the move would affect the country’s global position as a safari destination.

‘I’ve been happy most, if not all, of my life,’ Ambassador Macharia Kamau says. ‘My dad always slipped a shilling under the pillow when the tooth fairy came. So I grew up believing in a magical world.’

Magical indeed-for few Kenyans have carried their flag into as many global rooms. Over nearly four decades, he has served for 14 years as Kenya’s top diplomat, including nine years as Ambassador to the United Nations and five years as Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

Eighteen saccos have converted Sh660 million worth of claims in Kuscco Mutual Assurance Limited (KMAL) into an undisclosed stake in the entity ahead of the planned sale of a majority ownership in the Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives Ltd (Kuscco)-owned insurer.

Kusccco managing director Arnold Munene said in an interview the sealing of a deal to dispose of a key stake of Kuscco Mutual Assurance to strategic investors is likely to conclude in November and saccos have been supporting this through the claims-to-equity transactions.