Author: David Indeje

Kenya’s annual inflation rate rose to 6.8 percent in September from 6.6 percent in August. Core inflation drove the increase, climbing to 4.0 percent from 3.4 percent, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and NCBA Economics and Research. “Annual consumer price inflation was 6.8 per cent in September 2026,” KNBS said. The consumer price index rose to 156.47 from 155.85 in August, a monthly gain of 0.4 percent. What 6.8 percent means for a household An item that cost KSh 100 in September 2025 costs KSh 106.80 now. The government’s target range for inflation is 2.5 percent…

More than half of the Kenyans in a Nendo survey use AI every day. Seven in ten have turned to it for emotional support or a personal situation. Nendo, a Nairobi based research, marketing and training agency, published the findings on 29 September 2026 in “How Kenyans Use AI.” Its founder, Mark Kaigwa, discussed them on NTV’s Fixing the Nation. Kaigwa leads Nendo, which works across Africa and the Global South. The report rests on fieldwork by LOOKA in May 2026. Who answered the survey LOOKA interviewed 1,200 people online. A total of 1,161 who use AI completed the detailed…

Kenya’s electricity system recorded a peak of 2,514.28 megawatts on 29 June 2026, according to the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority’s statistics report for the year to June 2026. The figure exceeds last year’s record by 198 MW, a rise of 8.55 percent. Total generation reached 15,692.81 GWh, up 8.44 percent from 14,472 GWh. Renewable sources supplied 81.13 percent of that output, against 80.48 percent a year earlier. The mix shifted within that total: geothermal rose to 40.91 percent of generation from 39.51 percent, hydro fell to 22.65 percent from 24.21 percent, and solar fell to 3.0 percent from 3.27…

Aliko Dangote told Nairobi investors on 29 September that the planned Lamu refinery will list on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). Separately, Renaissance Capital outlined a plan that would let Kenyan investors buy into the Dangote Petroleum Refinery IPO in Nigeria through Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) traded on the NSE. Dangote spoke at the NSE at an investor engagement the exchange convened. Renaissance Capital attended for a transaction advisory consortium that includes G&A Advocates LLP, Stanbic Bank Kenya, Renaissance Capital Africa, Image Registrars, KSTB, Phanice Global and Newmark Group. Dangote commits the Lamu refinery to the NSE Dangote rejected a…

A group of 133 residents of Chandavai in Lamu County has asked a court to stop construction on land earmarked for the East Africa Refinery. The petition arrives two days before President William Ruto and Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote are due to break ground. The residents want the court to bar excavation, construction and related work on land they say forms part of LR No. 13061. They ask that the order stay in place until their community and customary interests are identified and determined. The groundbreaking is set for Wednesday, September 30. What the residents claim The plaintiffs say their…

Absa Bank Kenya has launched Absa Next, a digital financial app built around everyday spending, saving and borrowing rather than the account and branch model that defines its main banking app. The bank unveiled the product at an event in Nairobi attended by its board, its regional leadership and customers who took part in building it. A Product Built Through Customer Testing, Not a Boardroom Absa framed the launch as a departure from how it normally develops products. Instead of designing internally and releasing to the market, the bank says it spent close to three years running the idea past…