Author: Korir Issa

South Africa’s Absa Group is putting fresh money behind its East African business. The lender has launched a tender offer worth roughly KSh30.9 billion ($238.6 million) to lift its stake in Absa Bank Kenya from 68.5% to 85%, a move that signals growing confidence in Kenya’s banking sector and the wider East African growth story. The offer, announced on 19 June 2026, comes as South African banking groups increasingly chase faster growing markets north of their home base. Absa’s filing with the Capital Markets Authority frames the deal as a long term strategic bet rather than a quick portfolio shuffle.…

Shareholders of British American Tobacco Kenya have approved a final dividend of KSh60 per share for the year ended 31 December 2025. Combined with an earlier interim payment, the total payout climbs to KSh70 per share, a 40 percent jump from the KSh50 paid out the year before and the highest in the company’s history. The dividend lands against a backdrop that should have dented it. Illicit, tax evaded cigarettes now make up 45 percent of Kenya’s domestic cigarette market, up from 37 percent in 2024. That eight percentage point surge cost the government an estimated KSh12 billion in lost…

Family Bank steps onto the Nairobi Securities Exchange on 23 June 2026 at a reference price of KES 18.00 per share, ending a five-year journey to go public and completing its transformation from a building society founded in 1984 into one of Kenya’s largest mid-tier lenders. The listing will not raise new capital. Instead, existing shareholders gain a regulated public market to trade their holdings, giving them liquidity while protecting current investors from the ownership dilution that a fresh share sale would trigger. What the Listing Price Implies At KES 18.00 per share across 1,662,654,760 issued and fully paid-up ordinary…

Ufundi Savings and Credit Co-operative Society has formally invited buyers to bid for its 13-floor commercial building in Nairobi’s central business district, moving the long-running property sale from intention to open tender. In a notice dated June 11, 2026, the Sacco’s Chief Executive Officer announced the sale of Ufundi Co-op Plaza through a competitive bidding process, with sealed bids due by July 1. What Is on Offer The building sits at the junction of Moi Avenue and Moktar Daddah Street on Land Reference No. 209/2571. Beyond its 13 above-ground floors, the property includes three basement levels and approximately 49,000 square…

Stanbic Bank has put a greenfield entry into Ethiopia on the table, a move that would make it the first major African bank to bypass the acquisition route into the market. The bank says it is ready to build a startup operation in Ethiopia as it looks at ways around a rule that caps foreign ownership at 49% when a lender enters through an acquisition. Building from scratch carries no such restriction. A bank that constructs its own operation can own 100% of the entity.  Joshua Oigara, Regional Chief Executive of Stanbic Bank, made the statement in Johannesburg on the…

Construction at the Port of Mombasa is moving. Berth 19B, the Ksh 19 billion quay extension contracted to China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) in March 2025, has now reached 30 percent completion. Berth 19B is already under construction at 30 percent progress, while plans are also underway to construct Berths 23 and 24, whose combined completion will increase Mombasa’s capacity by 1.4 million TEUs. What the New Berth Adds The project involves a major quay extension. The new berth will add 240 metres of quay length and provide a 15-metre draft, allowing the port to receive container ships of up…