Author: Lorine Otamo

Old Mutual Life Assurance Kenya (OMLAK) has revamped a range of life and savings solutions aimed at strengthening long term savings, education planning and financial security among Kenyan households. Access Has Grown, But Saving Habits Lag The revamp responds to a gap between financial access and financial behaviour. Formal financial access in Kenya rose to 84.8 percent in 2024, up from 83.7 percent in 2021, according to the 2024 FinAccess Household Survey, conducted by the Central Bank of Kenya alongside the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and FSD Kenya. Old Mutual’s own research points to a different problem. The company’s…

Africa’s largest gathering of pharmaceutical and medical device regulators moves to Nairobi this September, the first time the summit has been held in East Africa since it launched. AfriSummit 2026, now in its sixth year, runs from September 28 to October 2 at the Emara Ole Sereni Hotel. Kenya’s Ministry of Health hosts the event under the patronage of the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, a shift that follows five prior editions held in Cairo under the patronage of Egypt’s Drug Authority. Organisers expect more than 16 national regulatory authorities and notified bodies, over 100 speakers and 450 decision makers from…

Airtel Money is expected to file for a London stock exchange listing as early as this week, seeking a valuation of $8 billion to $9 billion in what would rank among the largest African fintech offerings to reach the market. The mobile money arm of Airtel Africa plans to raise at least $800 million from investors through the offering, according to people familiar with the matter. That figure marks a scaled back ambition. Bloomberg News reported last week that Airtel Money’s owners were considering trimming the deal from a previously targeted range of $1.5 billion to $2 billion, as the…

Minet Kenya has appointed Carole Nderitu as Chief Operating Officer, effective 1 September 2026, adding the role to her existing position as Group Chief Operating Officer at the insurance broker. The company announced the move in a leadership notice this week, describing it as recognition of her expanded remit across the business. The appointment lands three days after Minet Group elevated Sammy Muthui, Minet Kenya’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director since 2017, to Chief Executive Officer for the Eastern Africa Region on 28 August. Muthui keeps his Kenya role alongside the regional one, and Nderitu’s new title fills out…

Josephine Wawira has been appointed Chief Communications Officer at the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), taking the alliance’s top communications post after six and a half years with the organisation. Wawira moves into the C suite role from her position as Head of Corporate Communications, a post she has held since April 2024. Her promotion caps a steady climb through KEPSA’s communications ranks that began in April 2020, when she joined as a Communications Officer under the Sustainable Inclusive Business Program, a partnership between KEPSA and the Embassy of the Netherlands in Kenya. “Three days to my birthday, and I…

Kenya’s fund management industry is shifting toward a platform model, and Standard Chartered placed one of its biggest bets on the trend. The bank has secured approval from the Capital Markets Authority to launch its Signature Select Variable Capital Company in Kenya, joining a small but growing group of institutions that package multiple fund managers, strategies and asset classes into a single structure. For investors, that means one gateway into a range of global opportunities instead of separate accounts scattered across providers. Why Fund Managers Are Moving To Platforms A single fund used to mean a single manager and a…