Author: Muindi

Nike has opened its first flagship store in Nairobi, setting up at Sarit Centre in a move that signals the brand’s deepening commitment to Kenya and the wider East African market. The store brings together performance gear, sport culture and lifestyle under one roof, built around what Nike describes as an immersive retail experience designed to connect athletes and consumers with the future of sport. Kipchoge marks the moment Marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge attended the opening, joining a panel conversation with local athletes and members of Nairobi’s running community. His presence carried weight beyond ceremony. Kipchoge has spent years building…

Absa Bank Kenya has overhauled its asset financing offering, setting its sights on deploying KES 100 billion to businesses and individuals over the next three years. The bank says the move responds directly to what customers have described as the biggest barrier to growth: slow, bureaucratic lending. Faster Approvals, Fewer Steps The most immediate change is speed. Onboarding to approval now takes 48 hours, down from 10 days. Approval to disbursement follows within 72 hours. The bank also trimmed the number of pre-approval steps from 13 to six, removing the procedural drag that has long frustrated borrowers. These are not…

Kenya’s banks recorded their strongest customer satisfaction scores on record in 2025. Then customers tried to raise a complaint. The Kenya Bankers Association Banking Customer Satisfaction Survey 2025, which drew 40,854 responses — the largest sample in the survey’s history — reveals a striking contradiction: satisfaction with primary banks climbed to 84.6%, yet the share of banks that always resolve complaints within two days fell from 75.4% to 66.5%. One in three customers no longer receives timely, consistent resolution. Mobile banking now ranks first for 60.1% of customers. The industry Net Promoter Score, however, slipped from 44.0 to 42.6, driven…

Safaricom has upgraded its Home Fibre packages, delivering speeds up to 2.5 times faster at no additional cost. Every plan benefits from the boost. Entry-level packages now reach 15 Mbps, mid-tier plans move to 35 Mbps and 80 Mbps, and premium tiers climb to 400 Mbps, enough for households running multiple streams, video calls, and connected devices simultaneously. “As homes become increasingly connected, reliable high-speed internet is no longer a luxury, it is an essential service for modern living. With this upgrade, we aim to provide smooth multi-device streaming, buffer-free video calls, and reliable performance,” Peter Ndegwa, CEO Safaricom. Safaricom…

Equity Group Holdings is moving to acquire banks in Angola, Zambia, and Mozambique, Group CEO James Mwangi confirmed this week, as Kenya’s most profitable lender extends its reach along the mineral and trade corridors that now define sub-Saharan Africa’s economic geography. The expansion push follows the group’s strongest financial year on record. For the full year ended December 2025, Equity posted a 55 percent rise in profit after tax to KShs 75.50 billion. Regional subsidiaries outside Kenya generated 51 percent of banking profit before tax — a milestone that confirms the group’s transformation from a Kenyan lender into a genuinely…

I&M Bank has launched a public Medium-Term Note programme worth up to KShs 20 billion, opening one of its most significant funding rounds in recent years as it accelerates lending and expands across the region. The first tranche targets KShs 10 billion. A 30 percent greenshoe option — a provision that allows the bank to accept excess demand — could push the total raised to KShs 13 billion if investor appetite comes in strong. The offer opened on 30 April 2026 and closes on 15 May, with allotment scheduled for 18 May and listing on the Nairobi Securities Exchange fixed…