Browsing: Kenya

• Sixth straight rate cut comes amid easing inflation, rising non-performing loans, and weak private sector credit growth.
• Kenya’s private sector credit grew by only 2% in May 2025, up from 0.4% in April and a contraction of -2.9% in January.
• Banking industry suffering loan defaults in trade, personal and household loans, tourism, and construction.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) on Tuesday lowered its benchmark lending rate to 9.75 per cent, down from 10 per cent, in a bid to boost private sector borrowing and stimulate economic activity in an environment marked by weak growth and falling inflation.

This latest adjustment marks the sixth consecutive rate cut by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), reflecting an increasingly pro-growth policy stance by the banking industry regulator. According to the CBK, the policy decision is intended to support a sluggish economy weighed down by subdued demand, high cost of doing business, and global …

• Tanzania launches platform to increase PwD inclusion in the workplace.
• Disability inclusion will expand national  business development.
• ILO urges private sector on disability inclusion policy.

Disability inclusion is a key element in any nations business development agenda. In this regard, Tanzania recently launched a National Business and Disability Network (NBDN) to promote workplace inclusion for persons with disabilities.

According to an update, the NBDN is to be handled by the Association of Tanzania Employers (ATE) and Sightsavers, with technical support by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

“The initiative encourages workplaces to adopt policies and practices inclusive of persons with disabilities and drive equal employment opportunities,” reads the media communique. 

Speaking at the launch event, Ms. Caroline Khamati Mugalla, Director of the ILO Country Office for Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, said; “This landmark initiative aims to foster greater inclusion of persons with disabilities in the labour market by promoting …

• AmCham Forum in Nairobi spotlights film, music, and sports as key growth sectors.
• Kenya’s youth-driven demand for music content creates massive synergy for cross-continental collaboration.
• AmCham Kenya announces formation of a dedicated task force to drive forward US-Kenya partnerships in the creative economy.

The inaugural U.S.-Kenya Creative Economy Forum concluded Friday with a bold declaration: Kenya is ready to take center stage as a global hub for creative investment, and American companies are invited to play lead roles in its success story.

Organized by the US Embassy in Kenya and the American Chamber of Commerce in Kenya (AmCham Kenya), the event—held under the theme “Powering the Future of the Creative Economy”—brought together top US executives, Kenyan government officials, and industry leaders. They sought to unlock Kenya’s booming creative sector as a dynamic engine of economic growth, job creation, and cross-border collaboration.

Creative economy takes the spotlight

As one of the …

• This expansion drive comes on the heels of Hyatt’s impressive 51 per cent rooms growth across Africa in the past two years alone.
• “Last year marked a breakthrough for Hyatt in Africa, and we’re just getting started,” states Stephen Ansell, Managing Director, Hyatt, Middle East and Africa.
• An outstanding feature of the hotel’s African strategy is the dual-brand model—a cost-effective and flexible solution for rapidly urbanizing cities.

As global hospitality brands sharpen their focus on untapped and emerging markets, one name is charting an ambitious course across Africa: Hyatt Hotels Corporation. The US-based multinational is betting big on the continent’s rising middle class, robust travel demand, and burgeoning business corridors—with plans to grow its footprint by a staggering 50 per cent by the end of 2030.

This expansion drive comes on the heels of the business’ impressive 51 per cent rooms growth across Africa in the past two years …

• Ai Everything Kenya x GITEX Kenya techshow is billed to position Kenya at the heart of Africa’s digital revolution.
• GITEX show continues to offer access to new markets, capital, talents, relationships, and investment opportunities.
• Event is also expected to inspire new public-private partnership projects, attract investment, scale technologies, and propel Kenya’s digital transformation.

Kenya is stepping boldly onto the global tech stage. As the nation doubles down on its strategic investments in digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, hyperscale data centres, and green industrialisation, a landmark announcement is set to propel its innovation narrative even further: the launch of Ai Everything Kenya x GITEX Kenya, the world-renowned tech expo’s inaugural East African edition.

Slated for 19–21 May 2026 in Nairobi, the event marks a powerful collaboration between KAOUN International—organisers of GITEX Global—Kenya’s Office of the Special Envoy on Technology, and Africa’s leading tech platform, dx⁵.

This groundbreaking event will position …

• Afreximbank posts strong net earnings of $215 million, a 21% increase year-on-year from $178 million in the prior period.
• Net interest income increased by 4.53% to $411.2 million compared to Q1 2024, attributable to growth in interest earning assets.
• Fee income from guarantees and letters of credit growth by 47% and 36% respectively during the quarter.

The African Export-Import Bank, widely referred as Afreximbank has reported a 21 per cent increase in its net earnings to $215 million for the first three months of 2025. According to an update on May 22, the lender said its performance for the period ended March 31, 2025, met expectations with solid profitability, strengthened liquidity and a resilient capital base.

“Our Q1 2025 results, which were in line with expectations, reflected a strong and resilient financial performance, notwithstanding continued macroeconomic challenges. With solid profitability growth, a strengthened liquidity position, and a well-capitalised balance sheet, …

• Kenya’s tea exports fell sharply by 20 per cent to 157,514 tonnes in the first quarter of 2025 owing to a prolonged dry spell in growing areas.
• Statistics show that between January and March, Kenya earned $356M from tea exports—down from $446M.
• Kenya’s tea has always found a steady market in Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Russia, Sudan and Chad.

Kenya’s tea sector, long a pillar of the country’s export economy, is feeling the sting of unpredictable weather patterns. According to the latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), revenue from Kenya’s tea exports fell sharply by 20 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, a downturn attributed to lower shipment volumes following a prolonged dry spell in tea growing areas.

Between January and March, Kenya earned KES46.07 billion (about $356 million) from tea exports—down from $446 million recorded during the same period in the …

• Live metrics show X (formerly Twitter) has become unreachable on major internet providers in #Tanzania.
• Blackout came shortly after claim that President Samia Suluhu Hassan had died—posted via a hacked account linked to the Tanzania Police Force (TANPOL).
• Earlier, President Suluhu warned activists from Kenya telling them not to “meddle” in her country’s affairs.

On May 20th, 2025, Tanzania’s digital sphere was abruptly silenced — again — for the second time in under 10 months, authorities in the East African country blocked access to X (formerly Twitter), as the ground heats up ahead of the general elections scheduled in October later this year.

According to global internet watchdog, NetBlocks, “Live metrics show X (formerly Twitter) has become unreachable on major internet providers in #Tanzania; the incident comes as a compromised police account posts claims the president has died, angering the country’s leadership.”

The claim that President Samia Hassan had died …

• Many of Kenyan women working in Saudi Arabia said their employers call them highly derogatory and racist names, including “hayawana” (animal), “khaddama” (servant) and “sharmouta” (prostitute).
• Kenyan woman: “Because of my dark complexion, I was always called a Black animal. The children would also come to my face to point and laugh, saying how I am a monkey.”
• Amnesty International details instances where women were sexually assaulted, and in some cases raped, by their male Saudi employers.

Kenyan women hired as domestic workers in Saudi Arabia endure grueling, abusive and discriminatory working conditions, which often amount to forced labour and human trafficking, Amnesty International said in a new report. The report highlights how employers subjected the women to extreme exploitation in private homes, often fueled by racism, and how domestic workers continue to be excluded from Saudi Arabia’s labor law and other limited reforms.

Locked in, left out: the hidden …

• Kenya’s wealthy are leading a strategic shift from luxury homes and foreign assets to energy-efficient, revenue-generating investments in 2025.
• Knight Frank report shows they’re they are turning their attention—and billions—on home-grown opportunities in technology, agriculture, data centres, and green energy.
• Nearly 77% of wealth managers surveyed said inherited assets represent less than 40% of their clients’ wealth portfolios. For half of them, that figure is under 30%.

Kenya’s wealthy individuals are fast redrawing the roadmap to riches. A new survey shows that East Africa’s largest economy is experiencing a bold departure from traditional wealth-building norms as High Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs) abandoning their fixation on foreign property and private residential rentals. Instead, they are turning their attention—and billions—inward, betting big on home-grown investment opportunities in technology, agriculture, data centres, and green energy.

According to the 2025 Kenya Edition of the Knight Frank Wealth Report, the country’s millionaires are increasingly self-made, …