Author: David Indeje

Centum Investment Company Plc has completed the sale of its remaining 50% stake in Bakki Holdco Limited, drawing a definitive line under a banking investment that spanned more than two decades, multiple failed transactions, and a hard-won exit strategy. Bakki Holdco was the holding vehicle through which Centum maintained a 27.2% indirect interest in Sidian Bank. With regulatory approvals secured from both the Central Bank of Kenya and the Competition Authority of Kenya, Bakki will cease to be a Centum subsidiary. The buyer has not been disclosed, though Centum expects to book a modest gain above the KSh 1.0 billion…

KCB Group on Wednesday reported an 11% rise in full year 2025 pre-tax profit to Ksh 90.9 billion, up from Ksh 82 billion the previous year, driven by growth in interest income across its seven East African markets. Profit after tax closed at a record Ksh 68.4 billion. Total assets grew 9% to Ksh 2.15 trillion. The board declared a dividend of Ksh 22.5 billion, the largest in the Group’s history, with the share price up 58% during the year. Group Chairman Dr. Joseph Kinyua said the results reflected a business holding steady through a testing environment. “The performance remained…

Africa’s public relations industry no longer treats artificial intelligence as a horizon. It has arrived, settled in, and begun rewriting the rules of influence, storytelling, and reputation management across the continent. The Glass House PR Report 2026: The State of PR in Africa, the most comprehensive pan-African study of its kind — makes one thing unmistakably clear: the age of AI-powered communications is not coming. It is already here. Speaking at the report’s launch in Nairobi, Ambassador Phillip Thigo, Kenya’s Special Envoy on Technology, put it directly: “AI is fundamentally disruptive, especially in an era where conversational technologies have become…

A landmark ruling has dismantled two of Kenya’s most weaponised digital speech laws, with the Court of Appeal declaring Sections 22 and 23 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act (2018) unconstitutional, a decision that reverses part of the 2020 High Court judgment and reshapes the boundaries of online free expression in Kenya. A three-judge bench — Justice Patrick O. Kiage, Justice Aggrey Muchelule, and Justice Weldon Kipyegon Korir — found that the provisions governing “false information” failed the constitutional test of clarity and violated the freedom of expression and media rights guaranteed under Articles 33 and 34 of the…

East African importers and exporters trading with Gulf countries are bracing for sharply higher shipping costs as global carriers impose emergency surcharges and reroute vessels in response to escalating conflict in the Middle East. The disruption strikes East Africa at a moment when the region’s three leading logistics operators, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, and FedEx, have been deepening their footprint across the continent. Carriers move to Protect Crews and Cargo CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd have introduced war risk surcharges on cargo moving to and from Gulf states, citing heightened security risks. MSC has gone further, suspending all bookings to the Middle…

Canal+, fresh from its $2 billion takeover of MultiChoice, has confirmed it will discontinue Showmax, the pan‑African streaming service once hailed as a homegrown rival to Netflix. The decision follows a comprehensive review of operations and reflects Canal+’s aggressive cost‑cutting strategy. Showmax’s End After 11 Years Launched in August 2015, Showmax was MultiChoice’s answer to global streamers like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video. Despite a relaunch in February 2024 with NBCUniversal’s Peacock technology and a $309 million equity injection, the platform failed to meet growth targets. Losses mounted, trading losses worsened by 88% in the last financial year before…