Author: Lynet Awino

Safaricom has opened nine new mobile number prefixes for customers seeking new lines. The company announced the change on August 10, adding 0118, 0119, 0140, 0141, 0142, 0143, 0180, 0181 and 0182 to its numbering system. The expansion responds to a 07xx range that has served Safaricom customers since the company launched in Kenya but is now running out of numbers. Mobile and data use kept climbing, and that range started running low on space. Existing customers keep their current numbers. Nothing changes for them. The new prefixes apply only to people getting a new Safaricom line, whether they are…

The Ethiopian Securities Exchange has a new leader. Yodit Kassa steps into the Chief Executive Officer role after Dr. Tilahun Esmael Kassahun, the exchange’s founding CEO, resigned. The move marks the first executive handover at Ethiopia’s pioneer securities exchange since it opened its doors. A Founder’s Exit After Building the Market From Scratch ESX announced the transition in an official statement released Friday. The exchange credited Tilahun with carrying the institution through every early stage: from a project on paper to a fully functioning marketplace. Over four and a half years, he built the governance frameworks, raised capital, integrated trading…

NCBA Group Plc posted a 12.2 percent rise in profit after tax to Sh12.4 billion for the six months ended June 2026, a result the lender credits to lending growth, rising digital transactions and higher customer deposits, even as inflation and cautious monetary policy weighed on the wider region. The Numbers Behind the Growth Operating income rose 15.1 percent year on year to Sh40.7 billion, while profit before tax grew 14.3 percent to Sh15.5 billion, according to half year results the bank released on Wednesday. Customer deposits climbed 11 percent to Sh551 billion, and total assets rose 11.5 percent to…

Kenya’s private sector expanded in July for the first time since February, as businesses pulled in new orders at the fastest pace since January and hired staff at a rate not seen since early 2023. The Stanbic Bank Kenya Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 51.3 in July from 50.0 in June, according to the survey compiled by S&P Global. Any reading above 50 signals growth, so the move marks a real turning point after four months in which activity either stagnated or shrank outright. What lifted the index Stronger demand did most of the heavy lifting. Businesses reported the strongest…

Absa Asset Management has won regulatory approval to launch two funds that let Kenyan investors put money into global markets, a move that pushes the firm beyond a unit trust business where money market products hold 98.7 percent of members. The Capital Markets Authority approved the Absa Global Multi Asset Special Fund in both shilling and dollar denominations as additional sub funds under the existing Absa Unit Trust Scheme. The funds will invest across multiple asset classes internationally, giving investors exposure to markets beyond Kenya through a single regulated product. What the approval adds The two new funds expand Absa’s…

Airtel Money Kenya has introduced Bizna Wallet, a dedicated business wallet built to give the country’s small enterprises a clearer picture of their finances. The launch arrives alongside an upgrade to Airtel’s popular Rudishiwa rewards scheme, which now pays customers in cash instead of airtime. Together, the two announcements mark a deliberate push by Airtel to move beyond payments and into the daily financial lives of Kenya’s entrepreneurs. Why Kenyan SMEs Need a Wallet of Their Own Mobile payments have already won over Kenya’s business owners. The Mastercard SME Confidence Index found that 95 percent of Kenyan SMEs now accept…