Breaking the NSE drought, a new listing

A quiet packaging firm from Imara Daima has done what no Kenyan company has dared in half a decade…break the listing drought at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and hint at a possible revival of SME confidence in public markets.

I am Brian from The Kenyan Wall Street and these are our day's business stories:

Leading Stories 

🧾 The Firm that will break NSE’s Listing Drought 

By Harry Njuguna

Nairobi's equities market is parched for fresh blood and Shri Krishana Overseas, a packaging firm, will break the five-year listing drought. The firm, once a modest operation in Imara Daima, is now betting big on the NSE’s SME board, listing a fraction of its shares in what feels more like a signal than a splash. Their expansion is already mid-flight, backed by bank financing and grounded in the sturdy economics of floriculture and manufacturing. With a new mega-factory nearing completion in Kajiado, SKL is set on building a bolder future.

But this isn’t just a story of growth curves, it’s a case study in how family-run resilience can meet public market discipline, an experiment in corporate evolution. Whether SKL inspires a fresh wave of SME listings or simply stands as a rare bloom in a doomed and barren terrain, it’s already redrawing the outlines of what’s possible. Read more here…

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NSE Gainers & Losers

🥑 The Avocado Panic : “Relax!” Gov't Says

By Fred Obura

Kenya’s avocado industry found itself at the centre of a storm this week after whispers of a fresh export ban rippled through the horticulture world. The Agriculture and Food Authority was quick to deny the claims, insisting the country’s green gold is still bound for global markets. Behind the panic lies a deeper push for a national strategy to squeeze more value from every fruit. Even as exports rise, quality concerns loom, sharpening Kenya’s competition with Latin American giants. Read more…

☁️ Konza City : The Sky Experiment Begins

By Brian Nzomo

In the silence above Konza, Kenya has carved out its first airspace for drones. It’s a bold bet on a future where medicine, data, and parcels fly without pilots. The corridor, cleared for long-range and out-of-sight flights, is slated to one day be the circulatory system of a smart nation. For now, it is a zone of possibilities, tethered tightly by regulation. Read more…

📑 The Civil Registry : A Costly Dinosaur 

By Chelsy Maina

Kenya is chasing digital dreams but its civil registry remains stuck in the past, costing not just time, but millions in public funds. Births go unrecorded, marriages are buried in paper files, and death registrations lag far behind, making social services as blind as they are expensive. Fraud thrives in the shadows of manual records, while millions remain locked out of the financial system altogether. A new government report reveals that the price of neglect is paid not in headlines but in squandered opportunities. Read more…

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