Author: Lynet Awino

After five consecutive years of losses, UBA Kenya closed 2025 in the black. The bank posted a profit after tax of KES 426.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, reversing a loss of KES 586.8 million recorded in 2024. The turnaround came on the back of income growth and a sharp reduction in operating costs. Metric FY2024 FY2025 Change Profit / (Loss) After Tax (KES m) (586.8) 426.8 Turnaround Net Interest Income (KES m) 469.3 487.1 +3.8% Non-Funded Income (KES m) 712.4 1,100.0 +54.4% Operating Expenses (KES m) 1,800.0 1,100.0 -35.3% Total Assets (KES b) 13.7 21.8 +59.1%…

As the African continent asserts its leadership position in the world, a core aspect of its identity is the storytelling that informs Africa’s evolving culture. The academies producing Africa’s next generation of storytellers therefore have a critical role to play. At Africa’s leading film and television academies, the MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF), this responsibility rests on the shoulders of three powerful women. Victoria Goro, Akaoma Onyeonoru and Mpimpa Moyo Mwenya are imparting critical creative skills leading the three MTF academies in Nairobi, Lagos and Lusaka, while also modelling executive excellence and championing sector transformation. Talent evolution All three share the…

“I Ran Away at 18 to Chase an Acting Career and Won a Kalasha With My First Film” — Rose K. Njoroge Her parents told her she was throwing her life away. They said art was a game for children. Rose K. Njoroge did not listen. From Kabuku village in Limuru to the front lines of Kenyan cinema, she has spent fifteen years building a career that moved between stages, film sets, and screenwriting desks — sometimes by choice, sometimes by necessity. In this conversation, she talks about the night she left home, what a Kalasha award actually does for…

Softcare earned Sh13.1 billion ($101.2 million) from Kenya in 2025, up 12% from Sh11.7 billion ($90.5 million) the previous year, making Kenya the company’s largest single market globally. The growth extends a four-year run: Kenya leads Softcare’s global markets Kenya outpaced every other country in Softcare’s portfolio, ahead of Ghana ($91.8M), Uganda ($51M), Tanzania ($50.4M), and Côte d’Ivoire ($46.2M). The company holds one of its nine factories in Kenya, with non-current assets of $25.8 million in the country, more than any other market. In 2025, Softcare launched a solar project at its Kenya facility it says will “reduce carbon dioxide…

I&M Group closed the year ended 31 December 2025 with net profit up 24% to KSh 19.8 billion, from KSh 15.9 billion a year earlier — driven by a 31% surge in non-interest income, a sharp fall in funding costs, and improving credit quality across all five markets where the group operates. Profit before tax reached KSh 24.2 billion (+22%), while total revenue grew 19% to KSh 60.3 billion. The board declared a final dividend of KSh 3.75 per share, the fifth consecutive annual increase, bringing total distributions to a record KSh 6.52 billion,  up 25% on the KSh 5.02…

Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) closed 2025 with pre-tax profit up 26% and profit after tax rising 21% to KShs 10.7 billion — results the Group attributes to deposit growth, a fast-expanding customer base, and controlled costs across its East African franchise. Total assets grew 15% while operating expenses rose just 7%, reflecting the cost discipline the bank maintained even as it scaled. Financial Results at a Glance Group Performance Metric 2024 (KShs 000) 2025 (KShs 000) Change Total Interest Income 59,311,745 60,997,356 +3% Total Interest Expenses 31,213,636 26,114,575 -16% Net Interest Income 28,098,109 34,882,781 +24% Total Operating Income 41,084,385 46,692,074…