Kenya’s diaspora sent home $397.8 million in April 2026, retreating 11.7 percent from the record $450.3 million recorded in March. The pullback touched every major sending corridor at once, pointing to seasonal cooling rather than a shift in underlying behaviour. The bigger story sits in the 12-month figures. Rolling annual inflows to April 2026 reached $5.053 billion, up 1.1 percent from $4.997 billion over the same period in 2025. For the first time, diaspora transfers have crossed the $5 billion mark, earning a place alongside tea and tourism as a foundation of Kenya’s foreign exchange earnings. North America Carries More…
Author: Muindi
Muindi
Experience working on communication and marketing departments and in the broadcast industry. Interested in sustainable development and international relations issues.
The Two Rivers International Finance and Innovation Centre (TRIFIC) opened a Sh4.8 billion green, US dollar denominated Income Real Estate Investment Trust on 13 May 2026, the first instrument of its kind in Kenya. The offer closes on 12 June 2026. The I-REIT is expected to list on the Nairobi Securities Exchange on 23 June 2026. The minimum investment is Sh129,000 ($1,000), open to both retail and institutional investors. What the Offer Covers The I-REIT comprises 29.83 million units priced at USD 1 each, representing 80 percent of the total 37.29 million units, with the promoter retaining the remaining 20…
Co-operative Bank of Kenya opened 2026 with its strongest quarterly performance on record, posting a net profit of Sh8.41 billion for the three months ended 31 March 2026, a 21.3 per cent jump from Sh6.93 billion in the same period a year earlier. The results, approved by the Board of Directors on 13 May 2026, cut through a difficult economic environment where many Kenyan businesses have struggled with rising costs and shrinking margins. What Drove the Growth Total operating income for the Group climbed 13.6 per cent to Sh24.05 billion, anchored by stronger lending activity and a meaningful contribution from…
United Bank for Africa (UBA) took a prominent seat at the Africa Forward Summit 2026 in Nairobi, using the platform to advance its vision of a continent built on enterprise, trade and purposeful global partnerships. The summit, themed “Africa–France Partnerships for Innovation and Growth” and co-hosted by Kenyan President William Ruto and French President Emmanuel Macron on 11 and 12 May 2026, drew approximately 30 African heads of state, more than 3,000 delegates, investors and business leaders from across Africa and Europe. Macron used the occasion to announce €23 billion ($27 billion) in combined investment commitments directed at energy transition,…
Consolidated Bank of Kenya faces a capital crisis that a KSh1.125 billion National Treasury bailout will not fully resolve. The state-owned lender closed December 2025 with a negative core capital position of KSh546 million, meaning its liabilities exceeded its assets before a single new regulatory requirement came into force. Then the Central Bank of Kenya raised the minimum capital threshold to KSh3 billion, effective 1 January 2026. That single adjustment widened the bank’s capital shortfall to at least KSh3.546 billion. The Treasury injection covers barely a third of that gap. A plan that raises more questions than it answers To…
France is rewriting its Africa strategy, one summit at a time. Accused of neo-colonial meddling across the continent where it once held decisive influence, Paris chose Nairobi — an English-speaking capital well outside its traditional orbit — to co-host the Africa Forward Summit, a deliberate signal that the old rules no longer apply. Speaking in the Kenyan capital on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron repeatedly reached for the language of reciprocity, invoking “co-investment” and “equal footing partnerships” as he addressed pressures that leaders on both sides of the relationship know all too well: regional insecurity, economic dependence and intensifying competition…