Author: Kevin Odero

Kenya has awarded $1.2bn JKIA modernization contract to China’s CRBC, with the deal signed just weeks after the tender closed, but transparency questions linger over the procurement process. The project will expand JKIA from 7.5 million to 22 million annual passengers, with a new 10-million-capacity terminal and rehabilitation of existing facilities, positioning Nairobi to fend off regional rivals Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania. Consumer lobby COFEK has filed a constitutional petition challenging the procurement’s transparency and public participation, leaving the government’s ambitious 36-month construction schedule hanging in the balance despite assurances of full regulatory compliance. Kenya has formally awarded the KSh154.2…

After losing three separate bids to block Asahi’s $2.3bn EABL takeover in Nairobi courts, deal opponents scored an ex parte injunction in a separate court 60km away on the same day the latest suit in a Nairobi court was dismissed. Brewer EABL warns that “forum shopping” across different High Court stations in Kenya is creating conflicting orders and legal chaos, sending a “damaging signal” to foreign investors about Kenya’s judicial predictability. The stalled deal would deliver up to KES 42 billion ($327 million) in capital gains tax to Kenya’s government, money now frozen by a single judge’s order obtained without…

Family Bank marks largest private-sector listing on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) in more than 17 years. On Tuesday, the lender debuted trading with a market capitalisation of nearly KSh30 billion or $231.7 million. NSE hopes listing will trigger a new wave of private companies entering public markets. Family Bank on Tuesday became the largest private-sector company to list on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) in more than 17 years, in a landmark transaction that market participants hope will reignite corporate listings and deepen Kenya’s capital markets. The lender listed approximately 1.66 billion ordinary shares on the NSE’s Main Investment…

Kenya’s FY2026/27 budget rules out new taxes on already weary ordinary citizens, relying instead on administrative efficiency and broadening of the tax base to raise an additional Sh98.9 billion, while running a deficit of 5.5 percent of GDP financed by heavy domestic borrowing of Sh1.03 trillion. Recurrent expenditure (Sh3.57 trillion) dominates the budget, with a combined security allocation of Sh567 billion, more than three-quarters of total development spending (Sh750 billion), underscoring how wages, security and debt obligations are squeezing productive investment. Surging oil prices from the Middle East conflict have pushed inflation to 6.7 percent and forced a downward revision…

In Kenya, profitable agri-enterprises cannot access credit. Poultry delivers 108% ROI, cage aquaculture 135% and fish trading 257%, yet up to 53% of these enterprises cite lack of collateral as the primary barrier to scale, new FSD Kenya report reveals. Persons with disabilities are entirely absent from agricultural value chains. Survey shows zero representation across all sampled sectors, with 70% reporting workplaces that do not accommodate their needs. Fixed monthly repayment schedules ignore 7-to-12-month aquaculture cycles and biannual honey harvests, forcing viable enterprises into arrears, pain and collapse. Every year, Kenya faces a food supply gap of roughly five billion…

Floriculture sector players are in Nairobi for the IFTEX 2026 showcase. Kenya’s floriculture industry has evolved into a key pillar of the East Africa’s country’s economy. Today, Kenya is Africa’s largest flower exporter, the world’s leading exporter of rose cut flowers to the European Union, and the third-largest exporter of cut flowers globally. The sector generates approximately $850 million (KES 110 billion) in annual export earnings, supports more than 200,000 direct jobs and sustains millions of livelihoods. Kenya has cemented its position as one of the world’s leading floriculture exporters with key industry leaders, government officials, regulators and international trade…

The DRC has faced Ebola virus before, 16 times, and has ended every outbreak, observes WHO boss Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus on seeing first-hand the intervention efforts in disease-ravaged Bunia city, East of the country. “This is the seventeenth. That history gives me real confidence… You are not alone in this. We are here, we are with you, and we will see this through together.” The Bundibugyo Ebola virus strain outbreak continues to evolve rapidly, with over 1000 cases reported and nearly 250 confirmed deaths, including one in Uganda. In DRC, WHO is working with communities, local leaders, radio stations and…

To combat the spread of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus that has caused at least 246 deaths, U.S. funding has exceeded $162 million. In the DRC, U.S.-funded partner UNICEF has deployed 1,300 health workers and mobilized 100 motor bikes for use by contact tracing personnel on the ground. S. has committed $13.5 million toward Kenya’s Ebola preparedness efforts even as Washington builds an isolation centre for American citizens in a Kenyan military base. The U.S. support to economies across East and Central Africa to combat the spread of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus that has caused…

Token unlocks are triggering rapid market volatility, liquidity shifts, and infrastructure stress. D24 Fintech says major unlock events associated with networks such as Ethereum and Polygon demonstrate how supply shocks can ripple across exchanges. Rapid price swings are increasing settlement risks, due to trades placed under rapidly changing valuations. This includes added liquidity risks, with order books struggling to absorb dramatic surges in sell orders. Token unlock events are becoming structural volatility triggers in digital asset markets. Unlocks worth $4.6 billion hit crypto markets from the 9th to the 16th of March, with WBT unlocking $4.34 billion, a massive 81.50 million…

Nairobi is increasingly becoming Africa’s most ambitious technology capitals and Governor Johnson Sakaja believes the city has the opportunity to become a leading force in the continent’s artificial intelligence future. Speaking during the opening of AI EVERYTHING KENYA X GITEX KENYA 2026 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Sakaja positioned Nairobi as more than just a host city for a major tech event. Instead, he framed the Kenyan capital as a growing innovation hub ready to attract global AI investment, infrastructure, startups, and talent. His remarks came at a time when countries across Africa are competing to position themselves…