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Nairobi Becomes Africa’s Banking Chessboard
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It's Brian from The Kenyan Wall Street.
The Kenyan banking sector is in the midst of a transformative wave, as continental lending giants converge on the country’s financial markets.
Harry Njuguna writes…
Zenith Bank and Paramount Bank
Over the past two years, Nigerian and Egyptian lenders have moved aggressively to acquire local banks. One of Nigeria's largest banks, Zenith Bank, has been cleared by the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) to pursue its proposed acquisition of Paramount Bank. The clearance removed any material competition concerns, leaving the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) as the final step before the deal can close.
Read about it here »»»»»
Paramount Bank, a Tier III lender in Kenya has a minor market share and has been under pressure to meet the Central Bank’s phased capital reforms, making the timing of Zenith’s entry strategic. The Nigerian lender aims to rival Access Bank, which successfully acquired National Bank from KCB Group.
Meanwhile, South African banking institutions are also circling top local lenders, attracted by Kenya’s strategic position as an East African financial hub and its growing middle-class market. Nedbank Group has made a decisive move, launching a bid to acquire a controlling 66% stake in NCBA Group, Kenya’s third-largest listed bank.
The deal, structured as a combination of 80% Nedbank shares and 20% cash, has already secured binding commitments covering 71.2% of NCBA’s shares, significantly reducing execution risk. If completed, NCBA would become Nedbank’s primary East African platform, while the remaining 34% of shares continue trading on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).
Read more about it here >>>>>
Snapshot
Source : TKWS
StanChart : A Banker's Exit
Incoming StanChart Kenya CEO Birju Sanghrajka and outgoing CEO Kariuki Ngari
By Harry Njuguna
Standard Chartered’s leadership transition in Kenya marks a deliberate unbundling of power, with Kariuki Ngari stepping away as the bank separates country management from Africa-wide oversight. The move formalizes a shift that saw the Kenyan unit prioritize profitability, capital discipline and digital execution over balance-sheet sprawl. Birju Sanghrajka’s elevation from within signals continuity rather than reinvention, anchoring the bank’s strategy in institutional memory. What stands out is not the retirement itself, but the bank’s decision to redesign authority as carefully as it redesigned its earnings.
Read the article here >>>>>
KenGen Tests New Governance Framework
KenGen Managing Director and CEO Eng. Peter Njenga
By Harry Njuguna
KenGen is asking shareholders to approve a consequential rewrite of its governance rules, as the state-owned utility moves to formalize board composition, director rotation, and appointment powers. The proposals, to be voted on at an extraordinary general meeting, also lock in digital-era practices such as virtual meetings and electronic voting. The outcome will signal how far Kenya’s listed state firms are willing to codify power-sharing between the state and minority investors without reopening ownership itself.
Read the full article here »»»»»
When the Wealthy Decide What's ‘News’
By Fred Obura
Billionaires are rewriting the rules of our global information ecosystem. According to Oxfam, a handful of ultra-wealthy individuals now control much of what we read, watch, and scroll, shaping public debate while silencing dissent. Social media platforms, once hailed as democratizing tools, are emerging as new gatekeepers of speech, their opaque algorithms deciding which voices matter. As the Kenyan protests over cost of living and taxation showed, the stakes are local too: when media ownership concentrates, the watchdogs lose their bite.
Read the article here »»»»»
Heads Up
Briefs
💻 The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) has confirmed that World Coin deleted all biometric data collected from Kenyan citizens.
📺 Sony Corporation and TCL Electronics Holdings Limited have signed a memorandum of understanding to pursue a strategic partnership in home entertainment.
🇪🇹 Ethiopia will impose a 5% levy on all mobile airtime and data purchases from February 8 to finance its National Disaster Risk Response Fund.
Source : NSE
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Today in History
The Zulu warriors annihilated the British troops at the Battle of Isandlwana, delivering one of the empire’s worst battlefield defeats and shattering the assumption of European military invincibility in colonial Africa.