Lowering the Toll on Mobile Money

Hi 👋🏽 It's Brian from The Kenyan Wall Street

In today's newsletter, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK’s) is attempting to rewire the economics of mobile money.

Brian Nzomo writes…

The draft National Financial Inclusion Strategy sets a bold target: cutting the average transfer fee by more than half within three years. The regulator argues that the very tool once hailed as Kenya’s great financial equalizer has grown too expensive for the households it was meant to serve.

Penetration is stuck above 80%, yet most users remain confined to basic peer-to-peer transfers, rarely crossing into savings, insurance, or investments.

By forcing fees down, CBK is betting that the market can be nudged into deeper forms of participation without breaking the telcos’ business model.

But the tension is obvious. M-PESA alone contributes nearly half of Safaricom’s revenues, and any reduction in margins will sting. The coming consultations will test whether digital payments in Kenya are treated as a public utility or a private cash cow.

Read more here >>>>>

Your Opinion 

When SACCO Deductions Vanish…

By Fred Obura

Kenyan SACCOs are quietly under siege as employers withheld KSh 3.5 billion in contributions last year, leaving members caught between payroll deductions and empty accounts.

Counties, universities, and state corporations dominate the defaulters’ list, highlighting structural gaps in oversight. Yet the sector hums along, surpassing KSh 1 trillion in assets, its growth fueled by digital channels from mobile money to agency banking.

The tension between innovation and accountability now defines the SACCO landscape, a test of resilience for an institution once rooted in community trust.

Read more here »»»»»

The Moroccan Gambit in Cairo : What it means for Kenya…

By Fred Obura

A Moroccan insurer is making moves in Cairo, but the tremors may be felt as far as Nairobi. Wafa Assurance, already a heavyweight in North Africa, is seeking to fold Egypt’s Delta Insurance into its portfolio, a deal that would push it deeper into both life and non-life coverage.

On paper, it’s a story about Cairo’s regulators and COMESA filings; in practice, it hints at a looming shake-up for Kenya’s crowded and underperforming insurance market. With penetration stuck at 2.3% of GDP and the regulator tightening rules, local underwriters could soon find themselves competing with yet another global player armed with deeper pockets and sharper products.

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Shri Krishana Overseas Issues Profit Warning

By Harry Njuguna

The Nairobi bourse’s newest entrant, Shri Krishana Overseas, has already discovered the perils of growing too fast. Its half-year profits fell by more than 70% as borrowing costs ballooned, a result of financing its ambitious Kisaju packaging plant.

Revenue slipped, margins thinned, and debt piled high enough to push leverage to uncomfortable levels. The company insists the expansion will pay off, with capacity set to multiply nearly sevenfold once the new facility is complete. For now, investors are left weighing the long-term promise of agro-export packaging against the short-term math of interest rates and strained cash flows.

Read the full article here »»»»»

Insight 

How to Create a Home Office That Inspires Work

By Lulu Kiritu

A desk is never just a desk. It’s a stage where the mind performs, for better or worse, depending on the light, the order, the objects within reach. A cluttered corner can sabotage a morning before the first email is opened, while a window view or a potted fern can redeem an afternoon. Comfort matters too. The right chair, a lamp that flatters both paper and skin, the rituals that ease you into and out of work. The point is not perfection but creating a space that makes labor feel less like duty and more like rhythm.

Read the full article here »»»»»

More Stories 

NSE Gainers & Losers 

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On Your Watchlist

In a market where traditional banks often shy away from risk, CIB Kenya CEO Abhinav Nehra is doing the opposite. He sits down to discuss the bank's bold new approach to SME lending and its plans to change the financial landscape in Kenya and beyond.

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