A Billion-Shilling Rubble

I am Brian from The Kenyan Wall Street…

In today's newsletter edition, Kenya spent KSh 1.2 billion building a sports ground only to bulldoze half of it for a new stadium. Meanwhile, Nation Media Group has slashed losses in the first six months of the year.

A Billion-Shilling Rubble

When a project meets the bulldozers after guzzling a fortune…

By Brian Nzomo

The State Department for Sports is facing sharp scrutiny after the Auditor-General flagged a KSh 1.2 billion project that was largely torn down less than a year after completion.

The Jamhuri Sports Ground, three football fields, a rugby pitch, access roads, and landscaping was meant to boost local sports, but much of it was demolished to make way for Talanta Stadium, a flagship venue for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

Inspectors found two brand-new pitches, restrooms, and roads reduced to rubble, along with vandalized fencing and dead streetlights. The audit called it a case of poor planning and disregard for value for money, an indictment sharpened by the fact that the Talanta project will cost billions and is now financed partly through a NSE-listed infrastructure bond.

Waste extended beyond the playing fields. The audit established that funds were channelled into partitioning three floors at the Maktaba Kuu Building for sports offices, which have sat empty for over a year as officials chose to work from Talanta Plaza instead. That choice alone has saddled taxpayers with millions in rent arrears for unused space, with no official explanation.

In a sector where infrastructure is often trumpeted as a legacy for the future, this audit paints a picture of public spending that shocks only a few Kenyans. Read more here >>>>>

No Relief for Gamblers

By Fred Obura

Kenyan gamblers just lost a high-stakes bet in court, where a Kakamega judge let stand the double punch of a 12.5% levy on wagers and a 20% cut from winnings, insisting it’s not double taxation. The ruling comes as Parliament sharpens its teeth on the industry, readying a KSh 100 million capital threshold that could sweep small operators off the table. Behind the velvet rope, a real-time surveillance system waits, promising to watch every wager like a hawk over a roulette wheel. And when the new Gambling Control Bill gets the presidential ink, the house will take more than ever, even as ads are muzzled and addiction funds swell. Read more here >>>>>

DT Dobie : End of An Era  

By Fred Obura

After 76 years on Kenya’s roads, DT Dobie has officially reached the end of the road. The High Court has appointed a liquidator, closing the books on the legendary Mercedes-Benz dealer. The move follows a 2023 CFAO Group restructuring that merged DT Dobie’s operations with CFAO Motors Kenya, bringing two heritage brands under one roof. Creditors now have until September 15 to file their claims with liquidator Mark Gakuru. While the DT Dobie name disappears from the registry, its brands and services roll on under CFAO Motors Kenya’s Toyota, Yamaha, and multi-brand divisions. Read more here »»»»»

Capital Markets 

Nation Media Narrows Losses in H1

By Harry Njuguna

In a media market still wrestling with print’s slow fade, Nation Media Group has found small solace in cutting deeper and going digital faster. Losses have narrowed sharply, but the share price still took the full daily hit, as investors weighed the optimism.

Here is how the media company performed :

🔴 Net loss after tax improved to KSh 41.7 million from KSh 260.2 million a year earlier.

🔴 Turnover fell 5.7% year-on-year to KSh 2.993 billion.

🟢 Cost of sales dropped 9.25% to KSh 972.8 million.

🔴 Cash and cash equivalents declined 13.6% to KSh 2.2688 billion.

Read full financial analysis here »»»»»

EXPLAINER : How To Monitor Your NSE Investments Daily

By Sylvia Jemutai

The first thrill of buying shares is quickly followed by the quieter question: now what? For many new investors on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, the uncertainty begins the moment the trade settles. Do you check the live tickers on the NSE site? Rely on your broker’s app for portfolio updates, alerts, and dividend notices? Or scan the business headlines for the moves behind the numbers? Here is how to do it »»»»»

NSE Gainers & Losers 

INSIGHT : The Future of Cross-Border Payments for African Fintechs

By Chelsy Maina

Africa’s digital economy still runs into old roadblocks when money crosses borders; fragmented currencies, high fees, and clunky compliance. Yogupay, a cross-border payments infrastructure fintech, is tackling this gap with real-time FX, multi-currency wallets, and connections to 20+ countries. Its back-end rails let fintechs, platforms, and digital banks move value across Africa, Europe, LATAM, and China without building their own systems. By working closely with regulators, banks, and global payment partners, it’s smoothing the flow of trade, remittances, and capital. In a continent pushing for integration under AfCFTA, this kind of infrastructure may decide how quickly that future arrives. Read about it here »»»»»

OPINION: Kenya’s Universities Can Diversify Funding Through Venture Capital Funds

By Nicasio Karani Migwi

Kenyan universities are drowning in debt, with the biggest public institutions carrying the heaviest loads. One proposed escape route borrows from Oxford and MIT: university-led venture capital funds that turn research into investable startups while opening new asset classes for pension schemes. Globally, these funds have backed everything from fusion energy to cell therapies, blending academia’s ideas with market capital. Kenya has dipped its toes, Meru University’s KSh 100 million innovation fund is a start, but scaling it would require partnerships with licensed fund managers and institutional investors. Done right, it could ease the sector’s fiscal crisis and seed a homegrown innovation economy. Read about it here »»»»

Also Read 

Stories you missed 

♦️ Banking. KCB Group’s has posted a KSh 32.33 billion profit after tax for the first half of 2025, an 8.05% jump from the same period last year.

♦️ Infrastructure. Parliament has shortened contracts of the director generals of key road agencies in what is engineered to promote good governance and ensure performance in the state corporations.

♦️ Companies. The High Court has thrown out a case by breakfast cereals processor, Proctor & Allan (EA) Ltd, that sought to halt KCB Bank’s takeover of the company through receivership.

♦️ Telcos. Airtel Africa and Vodacom Group have signed a multi-market infrastructure sharing agreement to extend coverage, lower costs, and accelerate high-speed network rollouts in Mozambique, Tanzania, and DRC.

♦️ Public Finance. Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury highlighted a critical annual funding shortfall of approximately US$2.4 billion (Ksh 336 billion) required to develop and maintain the country’s infrastructure.

♦️ Interview. Kristin H. Wilson, the Managing Partner at Innovate Africa Fund and Bold Angel Network discusses why proximity to the challenge a startup is trying to resolve is critical

♦️Banking. Absa Bank Kenya has reported a 9.05% year-on-year rise in profit after tax to KShs 11.68 billion in the first half of 2025.

♦️ Startups. Nairobi-based fintech startup, HoneyCoin, has secured US$4.9 million in a seed funding round led by Flourish Ventures.

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