JKIA’s Second Chance for an Upgrade

Good evening. It’s Brian from The Kenyan Wall Street.

Here are our day’s stories…

JKIA’s Second Chance for an Upgrade

By Brian Nzomo

Kenya has awarded a multi-billion shilling contract to a Chinese company for the expansion and modernization of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), the latest chapter in a relationship between Kenya and Chinese state contractors that has reshaped the country's landscape over the past decade. The award follows the collapse of an earlier deal with India's Adani Group, cancelled in 2024 amid political backlash and legal scrutiny of senior Adani executives in the United States. The urgency of the upgrade is real as regional rivals like Ethiopia and Rwanda are developing new airports that are projected to handle millions of passengers annually. 

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Family Bank Enters the NSE this month…

By Harry Njuguna

Family Bank will start trading on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on June 23rd through a listing by introduction, meaning no new shares are being issued and no fresh capital is being raised. The existing shareholders are simply getting a public market to trade in for the first time. 

The bank arrives on the bourse in good shape: 

• Profit after tax rose 55.4% in 2025. 

• First-quarter net profit grew 52.6% to KSh 1.6 billion. 

• Shareholders' funds stood at KSh 34.77 billion as at March. 

• A book value of approximately KSh 20.91 per share across 1.66 billion issued shares. 

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Imported Phones Win, Local Assemblers Lose Under Finance Bill 2026

By Fred Obura

The Finance Bill 2026 contains a proposal to exempt certain mobile phones from VAT, which sounds like relief. However, imported phones would see their effective tax burden drop from roughly 55% to 50%, while Kenyan assemblers, unable to recover VAT paid on components, packaging, electricity, and transport under an exemption regime, would see their production costs rise. As PwC Tax Partner Edna Gitachu explains, the result is a bill that would make locally assembled phones more expensive than imported alternatives in the same market. Kenya has spent years encouraging local assembly as a path to jobs, skills transfer, and reduced import dependence, and this single provision could undo that ambition. 

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