Author: Korir Issa

Sudan lifts ban on Kenyan tea imports, reopening a market that bought about 35 million kilogrammes a year, valued at about US$70 million (Sh9 billion). Kenyan exporters and the smallholder farmers who supply them can now seek orders from Sudan again. Sudan’s Ministry of Industry and Trade issued the order on November 8, 2026. Minister Mahasin Ali Yaqoub signed it. Titled Lifting of the Ban on Tea Imports from Kenya, it revokes the restriction and directs all relevant authorities to implement the decision. It took effect on signing. Sudan’s Sovereignty Council and Cabinet approved the lifting The Sovereignty Council approved…

Kenya’s competition regulator and its retail lobby pressed the sector on Wednesday over two questions: how supermarkets treat suppliers, and where shelf stock comes from. The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) warned retailers against unfair commercial terms. The Retail Trade Association of Kenya (RETRAK) asked enforcement agencies to trace smuggled and counterfeit goods to their source. CAK targets cost shifting, rebates and slow payment CAK Director General David Kemei said supply agreements must rest on genuine negotiation and mutual engagement. Buyers, he said, should not dictate terms because they hold the stronger bargaining position. The authority says it has found…

Ugandan professionals and entrepreneurs in Kenya heard a clear message in Nairobi this week: send less money home for daily upkeep and put more of it into assets that last. The appeal came at a Diaspora Investment Forum on Monday, November 9, hosted by Equity Bank Uganda with the Uganda Network (UGNET). Speakers urged the audience to buy property, fund farms and expand businesses in Uganda rather than treat remittances only as household support. Why diaspora money matters to Uganda The Bank of Uganda and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) launched a remittance dashboard on April 1, 2026.…

The Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) has launched a roadmap that directs bank lending toward climate and nature projects between 2027 and 2037. The plan asks banks to change how they lend and assess climate risk. It also asks the National Treasury, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and other regulators to change rules and incentives. The Banking Industry Sustainable Finance Roadmap came out of KBA’s Centre for Sustainable Finance and Enterprise Development, with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and WWF Kenya as partners. It aims to move banks from voluntary sustainability commitments to measurable changes in financing and risk management.…

Kenya expects its factories to produce 900,000 tonnes of sugar this year. That compares with about 650,000 tonnes last year and puts output within 100,000 tonnes of the one million tonnes the country uses annually. The Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) says output from January to September already reached 690,521 tonnes, up 56.7 per cent from 440,652 tonnes a year earlier. Prices have responded. The average retail price fell to Sh155 per kilogram in September from Sh171 a year earlier, which cuts the cost of two kilograms from Sh342 to Sh310. Households facing pressure on the cost of living feel that…

East African Breweries PLC (EABL) posted double-digit net revenue growth in each of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in the quarter ended 30 September 2026, measured in local currencies. The growth added 0.8 percentage points to the 1.4% organic net sales growth of Diageo plc, its majority shareholder. EABL gave no revenue or volume figures, so the size of the gain stays unknown until 29 January 2027. Beer and spirits volumes drove EABL growth in three markets EABL said in its 5 November statement that volume growth in both beer and spirits “drove this performance”. It said the quarter sustained the…