Author: David Indeje

Kenya’s foreign exchange reserves stood at USD 15,245 million as of August 13, 2026, providing 6.3 months of import cover. The Central Bank of Kenya said the position remains adequate, noting it meets the regulator’s statutory requirement to hold at least four months of cover, a threshold the country has now cleared by a wide margin for several weeks running. The figure caps a month in which reserves swung from comfortable to historic. What stands out is how the buffer has held near its peak rather than sliding back, a sign that the recent surge reflects a genuine step change…

The Central Bank of Kenya has trimmed its inflation peak projection by 40 basis points, signaling growing confidence that price pressures will ease faster than earlier expected. Policymakers now expect inflation to top out at 6.8% in January 2027, down from the 7.2% peak the bank projected for February 2027 in its June outlook. The revised path shows inflation easing further to 4.8% by August 2027. CBK projects the entire forecast trajectory will stay within its 2.5% to 7.5% target band, giving the Monetary Policy Committee confidence to hold its benchmark rate at 8.75% at its August 11 meeting, the…

Kenya’s electoral commission has done something political parties spent thirteen years avoiding. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission gazetted the Election Campaign Financing Regulations, 2026 on August 7, along with contribution and spending limits that will apply to candidates and parties contesting the August 10, 2027 General Election. What the gazette notice actually sets The notice, published as Gazette Notice No. 12251 in a special issue of the Kenya Gazette, caps presidential campaign spending at just over KSh6.1 billion. Political parties face a combined ceiling of KSh24.45 billion. The commission calculated these figures using a formula that weighs population at…

Kenya will import 25 million 90kg bags of maize to bridge a widening national deficit and shield the country from a shortage brought on by drought and climate related disruptions in major growing regions. Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe announced the figure on August 19 at the Fifth Joint Consultative Meeting of County Executive Committee Members, saying the government has already arranged the imports. “We will import maize. We have already made arrangements for that. We will manage the country. The country is not going to go hungry,” Kagwe said. The announcement marks a sharp escalation from August 11, when…

Kenya’s High Court has ruled that the next presidential election is constitutionally due on 11 August 2026, not August 2027 as currently planned, but stopped short of ordering the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to hold a vote this year. The Ruling Delivering judgment in Malindi, Lady Justice Mugure Thande held that Article 136(2)(a) of the Constitution requires the presidential poll to fall on the second Tuesday of August in the fifth year following the previous election, not after that fifth year has elapsed. Since Kenyans last elected a president on 9 August 2022, the fifth year began on 9…

DP World is deepening its stake in Kenya. The Dubai based ports and logistics giant has signed an agreement with GulfCap Africa to build a Special Economic Zone just outside Mombasa, betting that manufacturers and traders will pay for space next to East Africa’s busiest seaport. The Mombasa Industrial Park will cover 222 hectares, sitting less than 20 kilometres from the Port of Mombasa. Construction will roll out in phases, starting with a 40 hectare first stage. GulfCap Africa, the Kenyan investment and development firm behind the project alongside DP World, was founded by businessman and politician Suleiman Shahbal. Neither…