Author: Korir Issa

KCB Group, Kenya’s largest bank by assets, is acquiring a 22.23% stake in payments firm Pesapal, according to a notice from Tanzania’s Fair Competition Commission that discloses the size of a deal KCB has kept under wraps since 2025. The FCC notice, published on August 21, marks the first public confirmation of the exact stake KCB is buying. It gives the bank indirect control of Pesapal Tanzania Limited, the payments company’s licensed subsidiary in the country. The value of the transaction remains undisclosed, and the deal still requires regulatory clearance. Regulator Opens Review, Invites Public Comment The FCC said it…

Kenya’s listed banks grew their core earnings per share by 16.3 percent in the first half of 2026, nearly double the 8.4 percent pace recorded a year earlier, according to Cytonn Investments’ H1’2026 Banking Sector Report. The improvement came alongside a sharp drop in bad loans, positioning the sector for its best half year performance since the current interest rate cycle began. The report, titled “Digital Momentum and Improving Asset Quality,” reviews all 11 banks listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange and marks the first comprehensive comparison of their H1’2026 results against a common set of metrics, filling a gap…

Kenya’s energy regulator has removed the consumption ceiling that limited how much power electric vehicle charging stations could draw under the country’s special e-mobility tariff, a move industry players are calling a turning point for EV adoption in the country. The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) published the change in Gazette Notice No. 15188 on 18th September 2026, amending the Schedule of Tariffs it first issued in 2023. Under the previous framework, e-mobility customers fell under the same consumption bands as small commercial users, where charges rose once a customer crossed 15,000 kilowatt hours in a month. The new…

Kenya Power grew profit for the year to June 2026, but the gain came from the financing line rather than the trading floor. The utility reported profit after tax of KES 24.99 billion, up KES 522 million or 2.13 percent from KES 24.47 billion a year earlier. Profit before tax rose KES 639 million to KES 36.01 billion. Earnings per share edged up to KES 12.81 from KES 12.54. The board recommended a final dividend of KES 1.20 per ordinary share. Added to the interim dividend of KES 0.30 already paid, that takes the full year payout to KES 1.50,…

Kenyans working abroad sent home USD 451.8 million in August 2026, the highest monthly figure the Central Bank of Kenya has recorded. That total marks a 6.0 percent rise from the USD 426.1 million logged in August 2025, and it pushes the twelve month trend line to its steepest point since the current data series began. Diaspora money remains Kenya’s largest single source of foreign currency, ahead of tea, coffee, and tourism combined. Every dollar that lands in a Kenyan bank account or M Pesa wallet feeds directly into the shilling’s strength and the country’s ability to pay for imported…

Karakuta Fresh Produce Ltd, a Kenyan exporter of avocados and fresh organic herbs, said Thursday it intends to list by introduction on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, pending approval from the NSE and the Capital Markets Authority. Founder and CEO Grace Ngungi said the listing would let more investors, including smallholder avocado farmers, take part in and benefit from the agricultural value chain. “Karakuta has spent eight years building what most companies in this sector only aspire to: a packhouse with one of Kenya’s few high precision grading lines, and export channels into Europe, the Gulf, Asia and now China,” Ngungi…