Author: Muindi

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) will mobilize $2.6 billion by 2030 to finance businesses owned by women and agricultural value chains across Africa. The Lomé headquartered group announced the plan on September 24, 2026, during its 40th anniversary celebrations. The group will split the money between two programs. Ellevate, its program for businesses owned and led by women, will receive $2 billion. Agricultural small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and related businesses will receive $600 million. $2 Billion Loan Book for Women Entrepreneurs Ecobank plans to build a $2 billion loan portfolio under Ellevate by 2030. The group says it has…

Milk shortages on supermarket shelves now show up in Kenya’s official figures. Deliveries to processors have dropped for three months in a row through July as drought, scarce fodder and costly feed cut output. What the Kenya Dairy Board data shows Formal milk intake fell to 81.32 million litres in July 2026, according to Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) data. That is 3.7 percent below June’s 84.44 million litres and 5.8 percent below July 2025. The slide began after deliveries peaked at 90.27 million litres in April. Intake has since dropped 9.9 percent in three months. In a September 1 statement,…

Absa Bank Kenya has teamed up with two United Nations agencies to unlock financing for solar-powered cold storage, targeting a $2.1 billion gap that leaves nearly half the country’s food production vulnerable to spoilage. The bank announced a strategic portfolio guarantee arrangement with the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) on Wednesday, September 24, in Nairobi. The partnership will let Absa expand asset-based financing to businesses investing in cold chain infrastructure, addressing losses that have plagued horticulture, dairy, fisheries, and meat value chains for years. How the Guarantee Works A portfolio-sharing guarantee from UNCDF sits…

KCB Bank Kenya Limited earned Sh63.7 billion before tax in 2025. That was the highest profit among Kenyan lenders and 20.8 percent of the sector total, according to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Bank Supervision Annual Report 2025. The bank also held the biggest balance sheet, at Sh1.50 trillion, or 17.9 percent of sector assets. It grew gross loans by 18.8 percent to Sh1.01 trillion, while the sector grew lending by 6.8 percent. Asset quality remained the weak point, as gross nonperforming loans rose 9.0 percent to Sh192.8 billion. Profit and returns run ahead of the sector KCB Bank…

Bank of Kigali has become the first bank in Rwanda, and the first bank headquartered in East and Central Africa, to join China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System as a direct participant. The bank signed the CIPS Direct Participation Agreement in Xiamen, China, on September 8, during the second CIPS Cross-Border Bank-Enterprise Cooperation Event. The agreement gives Bank of Kigali direct access to the settlement network China built to clear payments in its own currency, the renminbi, without routing transactions through intermediary banks in other countries. “This milestone strengthens the financial connection between Rwanda and China, enabling faster and more direct…

Uganda’s industrial property market now delivers the highest yields anywhere Knight Frank tracks across Africa, at 12 to 13 percent, according to the firm’s H1 2026 Africa Industrial Market Dashboard released this week. Kenya and Tanzania trail but still outperform most asset classes on the continent, as a shortage of modern warehouse space keeps rents firm and pushes occupiers to compete for a shrinking pool of Grade A buildings. The report, which tracks ten African cities, found that prime industrial rents across the region held largely steady through the first half of the year even as older, poorly located warehouses…