The Frontier Gold Mines for Kenyan Banks

I am Brian from The Kenyan Wall Street…

In today's newsletter edition, Kenya’s biggest lenders are discovering that in East Africa, profits can grow even as branches vanish.

Meanwhile, the government says it is winning the war on healthcare fraud, but to the country’s private hospitals the campaign feels more like a slow suffocation.

The Frontier Gold mine : Kenyan Banks in the Regional Sphere

Kenyan lenders opt for fewer branches but bigger fortunes abroad…

By Harry Njuguna

Kenyan banks have been quietly pruning their regional branch networks, yet the paradox is that profits are swelling, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which now anchors much of their cross-border growth.

The latest Central Bank of Kenya data shows that even as deposits and asset values slipped under the weight of currency swings, the Congolese market alone accounted for nearly half of earnings, cementing its role as a frontier goldmine.

Rwanda and Tanzania, too, pulled their weight, with subsidiaries there turning in double-digit profit growth despite balance sheet pressure. In a curious twist, staff numbers expanded even as branch doors shut, suggesting that digitization rather than retrenchment is guiding this strategy.

The picture is of banks learning to operate leaner, more efficiently, and more profitably in high-growth markets that often appear riskier on the surface. What emerges is not just a regional play, but a signal that Kenya’s lenders are fast becoming continental actors, testing how far their balance sheets can travel. Read full article here >>>>>

More on Banking…

PUBLIC FINANCE : A New Era of Discipline - CS Mbadi 

By Fred Obura 

Treasury CS John Mbadi has issued a pointed warning: ministries and agencies that ignore citizen engagement risk losing funding as Kenya pivots to zero-based budgeting. Under this approach, every expenditure must be justified from scratch each year, ending the automatic rollover of historical budgets and forcing a fresh evaluation of priorities. Parliament is backing the shift, instructing sector working groups to unbundle devolved functions and eliminate duplication, particularly in health, agriculture, and water. Pending bills from 2020–2022 are under scrutiny, with verification committees ensuring past obligations do not undermine liquidity for small and medium-sized enterprises. The message is clear: in Kenya’s new budgeting era, transparency and citizen input are no longer optional but a currency for survival in the public finance ecosystem. Read more here >>>>>

The Tug-of-War Between Gov't And Hospitals Escalates…

As Kenyans lament that SHA has been hijacked by rogue hospitals to embezzle funds, the state is saying it is winning the war against healthcare fraud. Private hospitals call it a bluff…

By Brian Nzomo

The Social Health Authority (SHA) insists it is finally cracking down on fraud, boasting of billions in rejected claims and the closure of hundreds of questionable facilities, but private hospitals see a broken system that is starving patients of care.

The Rural & Urban Private Hospitals Association (RUPHA) argues that digitized oversight without human enforcement has gutted accountability, leaving overworked staff and rural counties dangerously exposed.

Meanwhile, social media sleuths have only heightened the drama, unearthing disbursement records and sparking allegations of favoritism toward politically connected hospitals, even as the government brands such claims exaggerated. The shutdown of the Master Health Facility Registry website has added to suspicions, obscuring a detailed picture of SHA’s payouts just when transparency matters most.

Meanwhile, unpaid reimbursements running into tens of billions have left hospitals reeling, many stripped of bed capacity on paper and effectively cut out of payments. What was billed as a flagship reform to secure universal care is instead mired in mistrust. Read full article here »»»»»

More on Insurance…

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INSIGHT : The Hidden Dividends of Foreign Investments in Kenya

By Chelsy Maina

Foreign-owned companies in Kenya are proving that their impact extends beyond the hard cash of capital inflows, quietly reshaping jobs, gender balance, and innovation. The latest Foreign Investment Survey shows employment rising past 224,000, nearly all of it held by Kenyans as the number of expatriates shrinks. Women, still a minority, are inching closer to parity, particularly in services and manufacturing where foreign money flows strongest. Most investors are arriving through greenfield projects, building businesses from scratch and betting on Kenya’s skilled workforce and gateway status despite hurdles of power costs, bureaucracy, and politics. The real dividend may be less about inflows and more about how foreign capital, with all its imperfections, is quietly remaking the contours of the country's growth story. Read full article here >>>>>

Stories you missed 

♦️ Aviation. Parliament has introduced a bill that could change how proceeds from the country’s aviation levy, charged per passenger, are distributed.

♦️ Companies. BOC Kenya Plc profit after tax rose 170% to KSh 166.7 million in the first half of 2025.

♦️Startups. HewaTele Limited, a Kenyan medical oxygen producer, has secured US$10.5 million from AfricInvest’s Transform Health Fund to build a large-scale plant.

♦️ Companies. WPP Scangroup Plc reported a half-year net loss of KSh 208.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2025.

♦️ Industry. Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers, the country’s oldest vehicle assembler, has restarted the production of Volkswagen models at its Thika plant.

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