Author: David Indeje

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…

Kenya’s economy expanded 4.6% in 2025, barely changed from the revised 4.7% recorded in 2024, according to official data released on Wednesday by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). The figure falls short of the finance ministry’s earlier estimate, though KNBS described growth as broad-based, with every major sector of the economy contributing to the expansion. Agriculture, construction, and mining and quarrying all recorded positive performances during the year. Services remained the dominant force in the economy, accounting for 55.0% of GDP, while agriculture contributed 23.2% and industry 16.3%. The shilling strengthened against the dollar, trading at KSh 129.3…