Author: Lorine Otamo

Wawira Njiru, founder and chief executive of Kenyan school feeding nonprofit Food4Education, appears on the 2026 TIME100 Next list. Comedian Trevor Noah wrote her profile, published September 30. Njiru said on X that the world does not always expect world-class organisations to come from Africa, especially in school feeding. “We’re changing that,” she wrote, and thanked Noah. Noah credits logistics and dignity Noah wrote that Njiru would be a business leader of note if she ran a multinational, and that she chose to apply her logistics skills to “making sure children can eat.” He said her operation coordinates thousands of…

Asked by NSE chief executive Frank Mwiti what he would tell business owners with large ambitions, Aliko Dangote drew on 47 years in business. He started in 1978 as a cement distributor selling four truckloads at a time. “Don’t go and try and do 100 different businesses,” he said. “Be very, very focused, and don’t go into any business that you don’t understand.” The lessons 1. Stay in one business you understand Dangote said a founder who enters an unfamiliar sector ends up relying on the people running it to explain it. His group learned this in banking. “We realised…

Simbisa Brands, the operator of Pizza Inn, Creamy Inn, Galitos, Bakers’ Inn and Chicken Inn, grew revenue in Kenya by 11 percent in the year ended June 30, 2026. Group revenue rose 20 percent, and the company raised its dividend 45 percent. In Kenya, more customers and a jump in home deliveries offset a drop in spend per visit. Operating profit rose 16 percent, ahead of revenue. The company added a net five stores and closed the year with 257 in the country. Simbisa published the audited results on September 29. Kenya Results at a Glance Measure (US dollar terms)…

Old Mutual Life Assurance Kenya (OMLAK) has revamped a range of life and savings solutions aimed at strengthening long term savings, education planning and financial security among Kenyan households. Access Has Grown, But Saving Habits Lag The revamp responds to a gap between financial access and financial behaviour. Formal financial access in Kenya rose to 84.8 percent in 2024, up from 83.7 percent in 2021, according to the 2024 FinAccess Household Survey, conducted by the Central Bank of Kenya alongside the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and FSD Kenya. Old Mutual’s own research points to a different problem. The company’s…

Africa’s largest gathering of pharmaceutical and medical device regulators moves to Nairobi this September, the first time the summit has been held in East Africa since it launched. AfriSummit 2026, now in its sixth year, runs from September 28 to October 2 at the Emara Ole Sereni Hotel. Kenya’s Ministry of Health hosts the event under the patronage of the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, a shift that follows five prior editions held in Cairo under the patronage of Egypt’s Drug Authority. Organisers expect more than 16 national regulatory authorities and notified bodies, over 100 speakers and 450 decision makers from…

Airtel Money is expected to file for a London stock exchange listing as early as this week, seeking a valuation of $8 billion to $9 billion in what would rank among the largest African fintech offerings to reach the market. The mobile money arm of Airtel Africa plans to raise at least $800 million from investors through the offering, according to people familiar with the matter. That figure marks a scaled back ambition. Bloomberg News reported last week that Airtel Money’s owners were considering trimming the deal from a previously targeted range of $1.5 billion to $2 billion, as the…