Author: David Indeje

Safaricom shareholders will receive KSh 80 billion in dividends for the financial year ending 31 March 2026, a 66.7% increase on the previous year and the largest payout in the company’s 25-year history. Net income attributable to shareholders grew 67.3% to a record KSh 100 billion. Kenya crossed KSh 400 billion in service revenue for the first time. Ethiopia halved its startup losses. “Net income attributable to shareholders of Safaricom grew 67.3% to a record 100 billion Kenya shillings,” CEO Peter Ndegwa told shareholders, investors and media at the results presentation. “When you are a CEO presenting these numbers, you…

Kenya’s private sector contracted for a second straight month in April, squeezed by a sharp rise in fuel prices that eroded margins and kept consumers from spending, a closely watched business survey revealed Wednesday. The Stanbic Bank Kenya Purchasing Managers’ Index climbed to 49.4 in April from 47.7 in March, yet stayed below the 50.0 threshold that separates growth from contraction. March had marked the first sub-50 reading since August 2025. Fuel costs drive demand lower across key sectors The primary culprit was energy prices. In mid-April, Kenya raised retail fuel prices by up to 24.2% following a spike in…

Kenya leads the world in artificial intelligence adoption. It also leads in an inability to detect what AI produces. Those two facts, sitting side by side in separate reports released within months of each other, define the most consequential tension in Kenya’s media landscape right now. According to the 2026 Global Digital Report by DataReportal and Meltwater, 42.1 percent of Kenyan internet users aged 16 and above used ChatGPT in the past month, placing the country at the top globally, ahead of the UAE at 42 percent and Israel at 41.4 percent. Tech analyst Moses Kemibaro attributes the ranking to…

Standard Chartered Bank Kenya has placed its iconic Chiromo headquarters on the market, reclassifying the property as held for sale in June 2025 and carrying it on its books at KES 1.41 billion as at 31 December 2025. The move marks a sharp escalation from the previous year. The bank’s non-current assets held for sale stood at KES 215 million at the close of 2024, before the Chiromo transfer pushed that figure to KES 1.41 billion, a change driven almost entirely by the reclassification of the headquarters property. What the Chiromo Property Comprises Standard Chartered@Chiromo sits in Westlands, Nairobi, and…

The International Finance Corporation and Standard Chartered have launched a $300 million risk-sharing facility to accelerate supply chain finance across eight African markets — targeting the working capital gap that keeps smaller businesses locked out of regional and global trade. The announcement marks IFC’s first project under its Global Supply Chain Finance Program and the Africa Trade and Supply Chain Recovery Initiative, backed by the International Development Association Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility. It builds on a broader push by multilateral lenders to close a financing gap that commercial banks have historically left open in emerging markets. Eight Markets,…

The Kenyan government caps primary school capitation at KSh 1,400 per learner annually. National Treasury disburses these funds to the Ministry of Education each term in a ratio of 50:30:20, meaning the first term receives the largest share. The Ministry calculates each tranche against defined expenditure lines — known as vote heads — that reflect the estimated cost of educating a single child. When funds arrive from Treasury, the Ministry issues a circular that breaks down exactly how schools must allocate every shilling. What the Latest Circular Says On 23 April 2026, Principal Secretary Prof. Julius K. Bitok signed a…