Climate Millions Gone with the Wind

Kenya's #1 newsletter among business leaders & policy makers

March 19, 2025

Howdy! It's Brian from The Kenyan Wall Street. In today's edition, the cancer of financial mismanagement trails money meant for climate action.

Also, happy news for stakeholders in Stanchart Bank as it announces a handsome dividend payout after recording profits in its full year results.

🌳 Climate Millions Gone with the Wind

The Africa Climate Summit’s financial records are a mess, with the Auditor-General flagging mismanagement of donor funds, including a KSh 37 million tax payment that donors weren’t supposed to cover. Despite underutilizing its US$2.5 million budget, the summit’s organizers conveniently forgot to refund KSh 109 million, in blatant disregard of the grant agreement. To make matters worse, the event somehow overdrew its Central Bank account by KSh 4.9 million, raising more questions than answers. The summit, heavily championed by President Ruto, was supposed to set Africa’s climate agenda, but it seems the real climate issue here was fiscal fog. Instead of just influencing climate policy, the organizers may have pioneered new ways to stretch (or break) donor agreements. If financial transparency were a renewable resource, this summit would be in serious deficit. Here's what's the auditor has pointed out»»»»»

N.B : The Cabinet Secretary of Environment at the time is the current Cabinet Secretary for Defence, Madam Soipan Tuya.

🏦 Standard Chartered Cashes In: Profits Soar, Dividends Surge

Standard Chartered Bank Kenya announced a 55% increase in dividends to KSh 45 per share after reporting a 45% rise in net profit for 2024, driven by higher interest income and strong foreign exchange trading gains. Despite record profitability, the bank’s balance sheet contracted, with declines in total assets, customer deposits, and loans. Operating expenses remained controlled, while loan loss provisions and non-performing loans dropped significantly. The bank is focusing on digital transformation, corporate investment, and wealth management, with a strong push for self-service banking. Additionally, it sees Middle Eastern investment as a key opportunity and is preparing for potential geopolitical shifts, including a second Trump presidency. More details in this article »»»»»

📱Kenya’s Smartphone Takeover: Feature Phones Face Extinction

Kenya’s smartphone revolution is in full swing—41.4 million devices online, while feature phones fade away. Mobile penetration is at 139.8%, and Safaricom still rules the Telco playground. Finserve’s ‘Equitel’ just overtook Telkom Kenya like a sneaky underdog. Kenyans are still texting like it’s 2010, firing off 14.1 billion SMS, and talking more, because apparently, we still love a good phone call. If you're rocking a feature phone, congrats—you’re now a vintage collector. Here are more details»»»»»

Editor's Picks

♦️ Kenya shut down a meth lab in Namanga in September last year—based on US intelligence—uncovering the first confirmed large-scale operation by Mexican Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) in East Africa. Read more»»»»»

♦️ In a move aimed at rescuing the struggling state-owned National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOC), the government has handed over more than 99 fuel stations to French energy firm RUBiS Energy Kenya. Read more»»»»»

Insight : How Financial Worries Are Impacting Mental Health in Kenya

Money. It’s something we all think about sometimes more than we’d like to admit. For many Kenyans, financial struggles aren’t just numbers on a bank statement. They’re the sleepless nights, the missed meals, the stress of an unpaid school fee, and the constant worry of making ends meet. Here is the full report »»»»»

On your watchlist

Today’s episode is a special report on the state of Kenya’s National Debt. Our research has revealed that every Kenyan would need to contribute over KSh 205,000 in order to pay off the national debt.