Author: Muindi

One of Kenya’s most recognisable banking executives is moving across town. I&M Group has appointed Abdi Mohamed as Chief Executive Officer of I&M Bank Kenya, the group confirmed on 29 June 2026, subject to approval from the Central Bank of Kenya. Mohamed resigned from Absa Bank Kenya that same day, ending a three-year tenure at the helm of one of Kenya’s largest lenders and a 32-year career within the Absa Group. His appointment lands I&M Bank a CEO with deep institutional knowledge of Kenya’s financial sector at a moment when the group is posting record profits and accelerating its regional…

Africa’s money is not simply sitting in bank accounts. It moves, hedges, structures, and plans across generations and the people who hold it are far more disciplined than their public image suggests. The Standard Bank 2026 Wealth Report, produced with Business Day, draws on interviews with high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and wealth managers across the continent to map how African wealth actually works. The picture that emerges is not of extravagance. It is one of deliberate engineering. “Africa’s wealthy are less concerned with the optics of affluence than with the mechanics of control,” the report notes. In markets defined by currency…

Tala is cutting up to 10 percent of its Kenya workforce as part of a global reorganisation, a move that could remove between 90 and 100 positions from one of the US fintech’s most established markets. The announcement marks the second round of job cuts in just over a year. In April 2025, Tala declared 28 positions redundant, mainly in its customer service and collections department, representing about 3 percent of its Kenya workforce. This latest round goes further and targets a different driver: not a drop in customer queries, but a deliberate shift in how Tala organises itself globally.…

d.light has crossed Sh130 billion in cumulative purchasing capacity after African Frontier Capital closed a Sh6.5 billion public Green Bond, marking the first time the off-grid solar sector has raised capital through public bond markets using a PAYGo receivables securitization structure. The bond will list on the London Stock Exchange’s International Securities Market, placing d.light alongside a global exchange that has steadily become a destination for African green finance issuers who lack deep domestic capital markets but need access to international institutional investors. Six years in the making The $50 million bond is less a single transaction and more the…

African electric mobility company Spiro has closed an additional $55 million investment from NewTrails Capital, a Chinese growth stage fund. The new commitment pushes Spiro’s latest funding round to $270 million, just days after the company announced the round’s first close. For an industry still proving itself to global capital, that timing matters. It tells investors Spiro did not need to chase this money. The money came looking for Spiro. Gagan Gupta, the company’s founder, called the investment a signal rather than a transaction. “This is more than capital,” he said. “It is momentum building between Asia and Africa: Chinese…

Kenya signed the long-awaited Samurai bond on June 22, 2026, bringing JPY 25 billion — about KSh22.1 billion — into the country through a structured deal with Japan backed by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI). The signing took place at State House, Nairobi, and marks a concrete step in Kenya’s push to diversify its funding sources and reduce dependence on costly dollar-denominated debt. President William Ruto described the moment as the opening of a new chapter. “Today, Kenya and Japan open a new chapter in a friendship built over decades as we strengthen our strategic partnership through new commitments…