(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenya is seeking to shift forestry from mainly a conservation activity to a source of investment, jobs and economic growth, backed by new climate funding, commercial tree growing plans and forest restoration projects. The country has approved $229 million (KES 29.6 billion / GBP 173.3 million) in new external finance for forest and landscape based economic development, according to the Forest and Climate Leaders' Partnership (FCLP) 2026 Forest Finance Roadmap.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenya’s digital credit market has reached a new regulatory milestone after the Central Bank of Kenya licensed 29 additional Digital Credit Providers, bringing the total number of regulated lenders to 281. The latest approvals follow the licensing of 25 digital lenders in July 2026, as the regulator continues to formalise a sector that has grown rapidly over the past decade.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Monthly electricity bills for homes and businesses newly connected to Kenya’s national grid have fallen below KES 1,000 ($7.72), reflecting low consumption patterns among households recently linked to the network. Official data shows that customers connected by Kenya Power in the year ending June 2026 spent an average of KES 818.68 ($6.32) per month, down from KES 1,061.76 ($8.20) the previous year.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenya's Social Health Authority has extended the deadline for healthcare providers to sign contracts with the State agency to 14th October, allowing hospitals, clinics and medical practitioners to treat registered scheme members and claim reimbursements. The authority said Healthcare Provider Contracts that expired on 30th September 2026 will remain valid during the extended signing window. Providers who accept the extension will continue serving patients registered in the scheme, while those who decline must liaise with SHA county managers to transfer patients under treatment to other contracted facilities.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenya will increase its stake in the proposed KES 2 trillion ($15.4 billion / GBP 11.9 billion) Dangote refinery in Lamu beyond the 10% it has been allocated if other East African countries decline to take up their share, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has said. The regional governments have been offered up to 30% of the refinery, with Kenya's allocation set at 10% while Ethiopia and Rwanda have expressed interest in acquiring a stake.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenyan Eurobond yields have fallen in recent weeks, resisting pressure from rising interest rates on similar instruments in advanced economies such as Japan and the United States, in a sign that Kenya can raise funds cheaply in international capital markets. Yields on all but one Eurobond have declined since the US Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate earlier this month, the first increase since July 2023, preserving debt affordability for Kenya as it prepares to return to the markets later this year with a new KES 105.8 billion ($815 million / GBP 622 million) Eurobond.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenya's mobile money providers will be allowed to invest customer deposits in government securities and interest-bearing bank accounts under a new payments Bill, potentially generating significant returns from the KES 41.7 trillion ($329 billion / GBP 251 billion) moved through M-Pesa alone each year. The National Payments Systems Bill 2026 permits payment providers such as M-Pesa and Airtel Money to keep investing deposits in these securities, opening the way for returns from the trillions of shillings held in trust accounts.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenyan investors will be able to buy shares in the Dangote Petroleum refinery for as little as KES 490 ($3.80 / GBP 2.90) through the Nairobi Securities Exchange under a new investment vehicle awaiting regulatory approval. Investors will also be able to purchase shares valued at KES 49 ($0.38 / GBP 0.29) each through global depository receipts, instruments that allow investors to hold shares in foreign companies without trading directly on offshore markets or opening foreign brokerage accounts.

(LAGOS, NIGERIA) - Dangote Group has opened talks with Nigeria's securities regulator to increase the number of shares offered in its refinery initial public offering, as the issuance draws strong demand from retail and institutional investors. The IPO, Africa's largest, seeks to raise KES 207.5 billion ($1.6 billion / GBP 1.2 billion) and runs from 14th September to 13th October. It involves the sale of 4.1 billion ordinary shares, equal to about 3.4% of Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - The number of Sacco accounts holding deposits above KES 1 million ($8,500 / GBP 6,500) rose 10% to 154,000 last year, even as most savers continued to hold balances below KES 50,000 ($425 / GBP 325), highlighting persistent inequality in Kenya's savings sector. Data from the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (Sasra) shows accounts in the high-value category rose from 140,000 in 2024, extending an increase from 98,000 in 2023 and 50,000 in 2019.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenya's banking regulator has raised the minimum number of directors in banks and capped the tenure of board chairmen at nine years, in new draft rules aimed at strengthening board independence. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) proposed in draft prudential guidelines that chairmen must be independent non-executive directors, a requirement that would bar holders from having served as executives in the bank in the past five years, holding more than a 5% stake, or being associated with a significant shareholder.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenya's High Court has rejected a petition to liquidate the Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives (Kuscco) over an unpaid KES 108.8 million ($842,000 / GBP 648,000) debt, ruling that a co-operative society cannot be wound up under the Insolvency Act. The court found that Kuscco, registered as a co-operative society, falls outside the definition of a company under the Insolvency Act and must instead be wound up under the Co-operative Societies Act.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenya's banking regulator has proposed new rules requiring lenders to seek approval before transferring business, assets or liabilities between subsidiaries within a banking group. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) published draft prudential guidelines to govern hive-down transactions, where a bank moves a business unit, assets, liabilities or a specific operation to a newly created or existing subsidiary.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenyan commercial banks increased agricultural lending by a record KES 53.1 billion ($410 million / GBP 309 million) in the year to June 2026, as stronger farm incomes and improved cash flows made the sector more attractive for credit. Agricultural credit rose 35.1% to KES 204.2 billion ($1.58 billion / GBP 1.19 billion), making farming the fastest-growing major destination for private-sector loans, Central Bank of Kenya data shows.

(LAMU, KENYA) - Engineering and technology contracts worth more than $100 million (£78 million) have been awarded for Kenya’s $16 billion (£12 billion) oil refinery project in Lamu, as construction began on what will be East Africa’s largest industrial facility. India’s state-owned Engineers India Limited secured a contract exceeding $450 million (KES 58.3 billion / £350 million) to serve as project management consultant and oversee engineering, procurement and construction management.

Zimbabwe Tycoon Wicknell Chivayo Dies in Helicopter Crash at 43, Leaving Behind a $100 Million Fortune and a Trail of Unfinished Business (MARONDERA, ZIMBABWE) - Wicknell Munodaani Chivayo, the Zimbabwean businessman whose name became shorthand for government tenders, flashy gifts and a fortune estimated at more than $100 million, died on 30th September 2026 in a helicopter crash in Marondera, east of Harare.

Adsterra Exposed: The Expert Evidence Publishers Need to Read The central problem with Adsterra is not that it serves bad ads. It is that bad ads appear to be the business model. A decade of independent security research, from Check Point’s 2018 Master134 investigation to Infoblox’s 2025 Russia-Cyprus AdTech Nexus report, has documented a consistent pattern: Adsterra’s infrastructure is repeatedly used to deliver malware, exploit kits, phishing redirects, and fake security alerts to millions of users worldwide.

(LIMASSOL, CYPRUS) - A global advertising network generating an estimated $112.5M in annual revenue has become a case study in the gap between corporate positioning and partner experience, with its Trustpilot rating now unavailable due to a breach of the platform’s guidelines. Adsterra, founded in 2013 and headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus, operates a performance-based advertising platform serving what it describes as more than 30,000 advertisers and publishers across 248 geographic regions.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Shelter Afrique plans to raise $500 million (KES 64.83 billion / GBP 383 million) through a sustainability-linked bond for East Africa in the first quarter of 2027, with the largest portion to be listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The pan-African housing development bank will issue the multi-currency bond across four markets: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. A sustainability-linked bond ties the issuer's financial or structural terms to whether it meets specific environmental, social or governance targets.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Total Kenya has been ordered to pay KES 20.7 million ($160,000 / GBP 123,000) to a former dealer after the High Court found the oil marketer continued using his business name, tax identification number, telephone number and email address for about 230 days after their business relationship ended. The court found that Total Kenya Limited used David Kamau Ngure's credentials and trade name, Dasken Enterprises, without his consent or authority between 1st January and 18th August 2020.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenyan sugarcane farmers earned an estimated KES 33.5 billion ($258 million / GBP 198 million) in the seven months to July as cane deliveries surged, boosting domestic sugar output and easing consumer prices. Farmers delivered 5.94 million tonnes of cane during the period, up from 4.12 million tonnes a year earlier, with the increased supply lifting domestic sugar production to 528,874 tonnes.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenyan travellers returning home have accused immigration officers at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport of demanding bribes of up to KES 5,000 ($38.5 / GBP 29.6) to move passengers ahead of long queues, as congestion overwhelms the country's main international gateway. Multiple recent incidents have been reported in which travellers were moved up the queue at the immigration checkpoint after paying money to officials, according to accounts obtained by a major media publisher.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenyan businessman Peter Muthoka earned a profit of KES 2.5 billion ($19.3 million / GBP 14.8 million) from the sale of his airport services firm Transglobal Cargo Centre (TCC) to Turkish ground handling company Celebi, after selling the business for close to twice the value of its assets. The deal saw Mr Muthoka receive $40.1 million (KES 5.2 billion / GBP 31 million) from Celebi Ground Handling, highlighting the premium international buyers are willing to pay for established logistics operations at East Africa's busiest airport.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenya's digital financial sector faces sweeping changes under a proposed law that would require payment providers to connect with rival systems and allow customers to share their financial data with third parties, potentially opening a market that processes billions of dollars annually. The National Payment System Bill, 2026, introduces mandatory interoperability and open finance rules that would reshape how fintech companies build their products in East Africa's largest economy.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - The operator of a Kenyan investment scheme cited in court for fraud is recruiting thousands of investors into a new platform, asking them to deposit $400 (KES 51,800 / GBP 307) to unlock funds estimated at close to KES 1 billion ($7.7 million / GBP 5.9 million) frozen in the collapsed venture. Carl Grindan, who uses the alias "Prof Carl", has given more than 12,000 Kenyan investors until 25th September to deposit the money or forfeit cash held in accounts belonging to Quant Vest Stock Exchange (QVSE), according to notices sent through the encrypted messaging app BonChat.

(LAMU, KENYA) — More than 130 residents of Kenya’s coastal Lamu County have filed a lawsuit accusing the government of forcibly displacing them from ancestral land to make way for major infrastructure projects, including a proposed $16 billion (KES 2.07 trillion / GBP 12.3 billion) oil refinery backed by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote. The case, lodged at the Environment and Land Court, comes just days before a scheduled groundbreaking ceremony for the refinery, which is being developed by Dangote Industries and is expected to transform Lamu into East Africa’s largest petroleum processing hub.

(KAMPALA, UGANDA) - Moses Matovu, co-founder and lifelong leader of Afrigo Band, Uganda's longest running musical group, was killed in an early morning attack in Kampala on 24th September 2026. He was 77. A forensic review of public police files, court registries, news archives and government records shows the saxophonist and vocalist left behind no verifiable net worth in the form of luxury property, sports cars or commercial real estate.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenya Airways is replacing the core technology that has powered its bookings, ticketing, inventory management and airport check in for more than two decades. This forms part of the national carrier's major overhaul of its commercial and digital operations. The airline has picked US based travel technology company Sabre to provide its new operational and commercial backbone, replacing the existing reservations and ticketing platform.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - The government's move to clear contractor bills and restart road projects has helped drive up new vehicle sales in the country, as eight month uptake hit a new high. Kenya Motor Industry Association (KMIA) industry data for August 2026, released yesterday, indicates new units sold in the year to August rose 27.3%, or by 2,435 units, to a total of 11,349 vehicles.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - The Central Bank of Kenya has raised alarm over a sharp rise in regulatory breaches by local lenders after 35 commercial banks were found to have broken the Banking Act and Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) prudential guidelines in 2025. This is a 318% increase in non compliance, up from 11 a year earlier. The CBK's supervisory report shows that the violations cut across lending, capital, liquidity, foreign exchange exposure and corporate governance.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenya is among 11 African countries expected to phase out 2G and 3G mobile networks by 2030 as operators accelerate the shift to faster 4G and 5G broadband. The planned switch off is part of a new roadmap by the GSM Association (GSMA) aimed at narrowing Africa's digital usage gap and connecting one billion more people to the internet by 2030.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenya's banking industry is undergoing a striking change in the way customers use their accounts, with tens of millions of deposit accounts disappearing from lenders' books in 2025. The scale of the change is captured in the latest Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Bank Supervision Annual Report 2025, which shows that the number of deposit account holders fell by 29.4%, from 114.24 million in 2024 to 80.68 million last year.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Equity Bank has the largest branch network and the most insured deposits among Kenyan banks, according to the Central Bank of Kenya's Bank Supervision Annual Report 2025. Equity Bank Kenya closed the year with 13.87 million deposit accounts. That is the second largest account base in the sector, behind NCBA's 36.31 million and ahead of KCB's 12.38 million.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenya could reintroduce the motor vehicle tax in a different form from the contentious 2024 proposal, where the levy was based mainly on road use. Tax lobby groups are now proposing that cars be treated as an indicator of wealth. The proposal by Oxfam Kenya and the Institute of Public Finance (IPF) seeks to revive the motor vehicle tax as part of a wider wealth taxation framework, nearly two years after a similar levy became one of the most contested measures in the 2024 Finance Bill.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenya risks missing a major opportunity in electric mobility unless demand for electric vehicles is tied to local assembly, component manufacturing and investment, the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) has said. According to KAM, the country is at a critical stage in building an electric mobility industry, with more than $400 million (KES 51.6 billion / GBP 298 million) already invested across vehicle assembly, battery technology, charging infrastructure and related services.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Record high crude oil tanker freight rates are building fresh pressure on fuel prices at the pump and household energy bills in Kenya as the fallout from the Middle East crisis widens. The cost of hiring oil tankers, known as maritime freight and charter rates, is a critical driver of Kenya's pump prices because the country relies entirely on seaborne imports for its petroleum products.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - The termination of major non-governmental organisation contracts by the United States government cut Kenya's cash outflows by KES 25.3 billion ($196 million / £146 million) last year, according to new Central Bank of Kenya data. Money sent from Kenya to individuals and households abroad through licensed remittance providers fell 27.5% to KES 66.57 billion ($515 million / £384 million) in 2025, down from KES 91.85 billion ($711 million / £530 million) a year earlier.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Quickmart's planned listing on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) will bring dividends back to the bourse's commercial and services segment, widening options for income seeking investors. The supermarket chain said it will pay at least 80% of net profit as dividends after listing, joining a small group of firms that return more than three quarters of earnings to owners.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenyan supermarket chain Quickmart will sell up to a 57.5% stake through the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), giving private equity firm Adenia and its founders a multi billion shilling partial exit. The owners, Sokoni Retail Kenya Limited (SRKL), will sell 2 billion shares equal to a 50% stake and may sell an extra 7.5% if demand rises.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Access Bank Kenya will close a KES 2.11 billion ($16.30 million / GBP 12.28 million) capital shortfall through its merger with National Bank of Kenya (NBK), as its parent firm consolidates Kenyan operations amid higher regulatory capital requirements. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) said on Wednesday it approved the transfer of all assets and liabilities of Access Bank Kenya to NBK, after approval on 17th August under the Banking Act and clearance by the Treasury on 21st September.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Local contractors and truck owners have sued the Kenyan government to force it to publish tax and duty concessions granted to Chinese contractors on infrastructure projects. The petitioners say the unpublished exemptions give foreign firms an unfair edge, creating a 25% to 35% cost gap in their favour and pushing local businesses into financial trouble. They want the court to rule that the continued use of tax and duty concessions embedded in contracts for Chinese financed projects is unconstitutional without published legal authority.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Passenger and freight traffic on Kenya's standard gauge railway rose in the first half of 2026, lifting combined revenue from the line's operations to KES 11.6 billion ($89.63 million / GBP 67.56 million). Passenger revenue grew 14.6% to KES 2.37 billion ($18.31 million / GBP 13.80 million) in the six months to June, from KES 2.07 billion ($15.99 million / GBP 12.05 million) a year earlier, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics data shows.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - The Central Bank of Kenya fined 33 commercial banks for failing to pass on lower loan rates to borrowers, in a record enforcement action covering most of the industry. The penalties followed on-site inspections of all 38 commercial banks, after which the regulator moved to force lenders to align lending rates with the reduced Central Bank Rate (CBR).

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenya's Capital Markets Tribunal (CMT) has been unable to hear cases for close to five months because it lacks the quorum required to sit, leaving high value corporate disputes and regulatory appeals unresolved. Sources told The Daily Handle the Tribunal has been without the quorum needed to hear and determine appeals since mid May 2026. "We still lack quorum at the Tribunal.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenya has ordered an inquiry into the financial health and governance structures of the NHIF Sacco, following a warning over the possible liquidation of the troubled Metropolitan National Sacco over its poor cash position. Commissioner for Co-operatives David Obonyo told The Daily Handle on 22nd September the State intervention into the operations of the NHIF Sacco is meant to establish its true state of financial affairs and governance practices after its membership was broken up following the replacement of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) by the Social Health Authority (SHA) under the Social Health Insurance Act.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Banks and payment platforms such as M-Pesa and Airtel Money will be required to share customer data among themselves and licensed third parties under a new Bill, ushering in open banking in Kenya. The Treasury and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) have jointly prepared the Bill that seeks to introduce open finance, where customers give third party providers permission to access and use their payment account data held by banks and other payment providers.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - The number of Kenyan bank accounts holding more than KES500,000 ($3,870 / GBP2,870) rose by 5.7% last year, fresh central bank data shows, as top earners and firms increased their savings amid widening income inequality. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data shows high value accounts rose to 781,977 as at December 2025 from 739,803 a year earlier, reversing a decline of 2,753 accounts reported between 2023 and 2024.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Nairobi Hospital has told the High Court it remains financially stable, well capitalised and able to support its current operations and future growth, rejecting claims by petitioners that the institution faces financial collapse. The hospital made the submission in response to a petition by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah, Bernard Muchiri Muchere and Naomi Nyakerario Misati. The petitioners allege financial and governance failures and dispute the legitimacy of the hospital's register of members, which determines voting rights at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Standard Bank Group has set aside KES 166.7 billion ($1.03 billion / GBP 812 million) for investments across its African markets, as the South African lender seeks to deepen its presence in Kenya and the wider East African region. The funds were disclosed by Standard Bank chief executive Sim Tshabalala during a presentation of the bank's financial results for the first half of 2026.

(NAIROBI, KENYA) - Kenya received more diaspora cash from Tanzania than from Saudi Arabia in August for the first time, as new foreign worker rules in the Gulf kingdom cut earnings and transfers from one of Kenya's biggest remittance markets. Cash sent home from Tanzania reached a record $11.72 million (KES 1.52 billion / GBP 8.77 million) in August, Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data shows.