SOURCED FROM CURRENT NEWSPAPERS AND JOURNALS
Billionaire businessman and Equity Bank founder Peter Munga has won a long-running court dispute after the High Court dismissed a Sh150million against him by a long-time associate on claims of a botched TransCentury Limited (TCL) shares purchase deal.
Mr Munga had been accused of taking possession of TCL shares from a former friend-turned foe, Joseph Muturi Kamau but failing to pay for them.
Gulf Energy has submitted a revised plan on how it intends to commercially tap oil in South Lokichar, Turkana with the State racing to ensure that it approves it by end of December this year.
Mr Daniel Kiptoo, the Director General of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra), said Gulf presented a slightly amended Field Development Plan (FDP) on September 30, 2025.
Kenya is expected to continue its push for a new funded programme from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the lender’s annual meetings in Washington next week.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has retained optimism of unlocking new financing from the multilateral lender despite doubts from various market participants, who point to the termination of a previous arrangement in March and the near exhaustion of Kenya’s borrowing limit at the fund.
Despite ongoing investments in technology and steady premium growth, insurance penetration in Kenya remains low, stuck between 2.3 and 2.4 percent of gross domestic product. These figures point to deeper structural issues that continue to hinder the sector’s development.
One of the most visible symptoms of these underlying problems is growing customer dissatisfaction.
Delayed or rejected claims are becoming increasingly common, often due to technicalities such as late premium payments or incomplete documentation. Even when claims are paid, policyholders frequently describe the process as slow, opaque, and difficult to navigate. As a result, many still view insurance as an expensive product that fails to deliver on its promises. If these patterns persist, the industry risks losing further ground, not only with consumers but also with regulators.
Addressing this challenge requires, for starters, a fundamental shift in how claims are handled.
The first step is to move away from manual, paper-based processes. In today’s environment, a modern insurance system must be digital by default. Claims should be submitted electronically, tracked in real time, and settled quickly whenever possible.
Technologies such as artificial intelligence and automation can play a critical role, streamlining fraud detection and verifying documentation, while allowing genuine claims to move through the system more efficiently. This kind of transformation reduces operational costs and enhances the customer experience, all without compromising due diligence.
But improving the process is also about clarity as well as speed.
Language remains a major barrier, with most policyholders not speaking the language of ‘indemnity clauses’ and ‘force majeure’ exclusions. To build trust, insurers must adopt plain, accessible communication that clearly explains terms, conditions, and procedures.
Where technical language is unavoidable, explanatory tools and responsive customer support should be readily available to guide users.
It is only when customers understand what they are buying and what to expect when something goes wrong that insurance can fulfil its promise of protection. Personalisation is another crucial piece of the puzzle as different customers have different needs, requiring the industry to adapt accordingly. Insurers should offer multiple channels for claims reporting and assistance, accommodating policyholders who prefer to interact through WhatsApp, mobile apps, or call centres. Data analytics can help tailor support to each situation.
For example, sending proactive messages following a rainstorm to check on the customer and offer help can act as empathetic outreach that builds long-term loyalty and strengthens the insurer-customer relationship.
Equally important is the need to reframe how the claims process itself is perceived. Too often, customers experience it as an adversarial negotiation rather than a collaborative engagement. This dynamic breeds mistrust and adds unnecessary friction. A better approach treats the process as a partnership.
Claims handlers should be trained in technical procedures as well as empathy and conflict resolution. Embedding the treating customers fairly framework, long championed by the regulator, into everyday operations is essential and must move from a theoretical ideal to a lived reality.
Of course, fraud detection remains critical, but it should not come at the expense of genuine claims. With the right technology, insurers can differentiate between high-risk and low-risk claims, allowing them to focus investigative resources where they are most needed.
A system that assumes dishonesty by default only alienates honest customers and delays legitimate settlements. Instead, balanced risk management can protect the insurer and insured, while fostering trust rather than suspicion.
Finally, inclusion must also be at the forefront of any strategy to revitalise the sector. Most informal workers and low-income households in Kenya remain uninsured, often perceiving insurance as a product designed for the wealthy or formal sector employees.
Changing this perception requires targeted innovation. Insurers should invest in community-based distribution channels and micro-insurance products tailored to underserved populations. Crucially, the associated claims processes must be just as accessible, because a product is only valuable if customers can use it when it matters most.
Ultimately, the future of insurance claims in Kenya will not be secured by introducing new jargon or complex tools. Instead, it depends on a renewed focus on simplicity, fairness, and accessibility.
If insurers can stop treating claims as battles to be won and begin viewing them as opportunities to deliver value, they can rebuild public trust and unlock meaningful growth.
Kenya slipped out of the world’s top 100 most innovative economies, raising concerns about its ability to sustain a digital and knowledge-driven growth.
World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) uses roughly 80 indicators to assemble its Global Innovation Index (GII). They cover innovation inputs such as spending on research and development, and outputs such as patents and high-tech exports.
The value of payments made through cards fell to Sh521.3 billion in the 12 months to June 2025, compared to Sh594.2 billion in a similar period last year, cementing a trend of slumps attributed to an increase in mobile banking.
The use of bank cards for purchasing goods and services has declined over the last six years, with consumers increasingly opting for alternative payment methods such as cash and mobile money wallets.
‘Until the lion tells his side of the story, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.’ – African proverb
If the first ascent of the creative founder is survival, the second is recognition. It is when passion, once doubted, begins to attract attention, when resilience forged in scarcity is suddenly visible to the world.
Consumption of cheap electricity at night and weekends by industries dipped to a four year low in the period ended June 2025 with 180.1 Gigawatt-hours (GWh) used, signaling reduced economic activity by the businesses and exit of big firms from the special tariff.
Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) data shows that this was a decline of 19.9 percent from the 225 GWh used a year earlier by industries and electric vehicles (EVs) under the special tariff, commonly referred to as the Time of Use (ToU).
Increased importation of capital goods, including machinery and transport kits, pushed Kenya’s current account deficit to 2.1 percent of GDP at end of August 2025, compared to 1.6 percent a year earlier, indicating rising business activity and improving credit flows to the private sector.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) says deficit widened to $2.84 billion (Sh367 billion) in August from $1.82 billion (Sh235 billion) a year earlier, but it is expected to moderate to $2.39 billion (Sh309 billion) or 1.7 percent of GDP by the end of the year.
The Court of Appeal has ordered APA Insurance to pay a manufacturing firm Sh58.6 million as compensation following a fire that gutted the firm’s premises, hardly two months after the insurance took effect.
The award is a 28.8 percent reduction from the Sh82.33 million that the High Court had awarded the manufacturer-Britind Industries Limited- in February 2023 before APA appealed the decision, claiming that the fire was ‘deliberately or wilfully’ started by the firm.