The Land Rush: From Bypasses to Beachfronts

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The real estate market is booming beyond Nairobi, with satellite towns and coastal hubs recording double-digit land price growth driven by infrastructure and shifting buyer trends. Meanwhile, the country’s electricity demand has hit an all-time high, exposing the limits of an aging grid even as renewables carry more than half the daily load.

I am Brian from The Kenyan Wall Street and these are our day's business stories:

The Land Rush: From Bypasses to Beachfronts

Satellite towns boom, the Coast rises, and investors race to claim the next real estate frontier.

By Fred Obura

Kenya’s property boom is no longer just a Nairobi story. Satellite towns like Juja, Ruiru, and Ngong are morphing into urban magnets, spurred by expressways and sprawling mixed-use developments.

But the real twist? Tigoni now rivals the coast with land prices surging 80% in two years. Meanwhile, the beachside is turning from holiday postcard to investor dream, with Mtwapa and Watamu rising just behind Diani.

At the center of it all, Superior Homes is betting big with 250 new homes in Vipingo, and they’re selling fast. From Rosslyn to Redhill, from bypasses to beachfronts, the land rush is on. Read the full breakdown here »»»»»

Kenya’s Demand for a New Grid as Power Usage Soars

As demand soars past 2,300 megawatts, the race is on to modernize the grid and stay ahead of a booming, electrified economy.

By Harry Njuguna

Kenya’s electricity grid just hit a historic peak, clocking 2,362 megawatts in demand on a single evening. This is the result of years of industrial acceleration, a rapidly urbanizing population, and households steadily filling up with appliances, coolers, and lights that stay on later into the night.

Behind the scenes, Kenya has quietly doubled its installed capacity in a decade, with geothermal and hydro now providing the majority of the country’s power. But the wires that carry this energy are groaning: outdated infrastructure still loses one in every six units of electricity.

With 6,500 kilometers of new transmission lines in the pipeline and plans to add 1,500 megawatts of renewables, Kenya is betting it can stay ahead of its own growth. The question is whether the grid can keep expanding fast enough to match a country that is powering up in every sense. Read the full story here.

Capital Markets 

🏦 CBK’s Digital Gambit Rattles Bond Markets

By Harry Njuguna

The Central Bank has issued a tender for a full-service digital retail bond system, just days after the Nairobi Securities Exchange recorded an all-time high in secondary bond turnover. The timing has raised eyebrows: market turnover hit KSh 1.552 trillion on July 21, setting the pace to cross KSh 2.5 trillion by year-end. With retail bond holdings doubling to KSh 801.8 billion in two years, thanks to tools like CBK’s Dhow CSD, the tender’s scope suggests an ambition beyond mere digitization. Brokers and market intermediaries fear the new system could sideline the NSE, siphoning off billions in trading activity and reshaping Kenya’s bond infrastructure. Read more »»»»»

📈 A Financial Turnaround for Eaagads 

By Harry Njuguna

After years of volatile fortunes, Eaagads Limited has delivered a resounding financial comeback, with FY2025 pre-tax profit soaring 147% to KSh 17.4 million on the back of stronger prices and increased sales. Revenue jumped 45.5% to KSh 277.3 million despite an 11% dip in coffee production caused by scorching temperatures. Savvy cost control, demand-driven volume growth, and a 23% rise in average price per kilogram underpinned the recovery. While total assets dipped slightly due to revaluations, operating cash flow rebounded sharply, signaling operational resilience. Read more »»»»»

NSE Gainers & Losers 

Source : NSE

Insight 

☁️ Why Cloud Contact Centres Are the Future of African Business Communications

The African contact center is shedding its wires, server rooms, and costly IT baggage. In its place: cloud-native platforms like Telvoip, built for the continent’s fast-moving, mobile-first consumers. Businesses can now launch full-scale customer care operations in minutes with no hardware, no borders, no excuses. From Kilifi to Kinshasa, teams are engaging customers across voice, WhatsApp, and email, all from a single dashboard. As Africa’s digital economy matures, the new frontier of customer service is already online. Read more »»»»»

Also Read 

Opinion 

💱 Strengthening Africa-Caribbean Trade and Investment in an Era of Global Trade Disruption

By Benedict Oramah & Pamela Coke-Hamilton

Africa and the Caribbean are closer than they seem: culturally, commercially, and now, strategically. With bilateral trade stuck below 6% and US$2.1 billion in untapped potential, a new era of South-South cooperation is quietly taking shape. From fashion to film, from processed goods to fintech, both regions are aligning their strengths to outmaneuver global trade turbulence. But logistics, tariffs, and weak infrastructure still threaten the promise. As ACTIF 2025 kicks off in Grenada, bridging the Atlantic is on the spotlight. Click here to read the full article »»»»»

Last Friday's Poll Results

Do you believe it is necessary to do away with free education to fix Kenya's fiscal health?

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Yes (10%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 No (90%)

Stories you missed 

♦️ Companies. Cigarette maker, BAT’s gross revenue fell to KSh 18.5 billion, extending a three-year slide as the company’s sales are weakened by aggressive excise tax hikes and the surge in illicit cigarettes.

♦️ Policy. Kenya is preparing to impose a KSh 100 million capital requirement on online betting operators after the Senate approved the final version of the Gambling Control Bill

♦️ Telcos. Airtel Africa’s Profit after tax soared by over 400% to US$156 million in Q1 2026, with revenues up 22% to US$1.42 billion, compared to the same period last year.

On your watchlist

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