The Price of Corruption

I am Brian from The Kenyan Wall Street…

In today's newsletter edition, we analyze the state of corruption in Kenya. How much is the average bribe Kenyans dish out to access a service in public office?

The Price of Corruption

The telco is testing whether minutes, not megabytes, can win back restless customers.

By Fred Obura

Kenya’s latest corruption survey suggests that while the size of the average bribe has fallen, the practice itself remains deeply woven into daily life. In 2024, the going rate slipped to under KSh 5,000, yet the numbers mask a system where certain services still demand eye-watering sums.

From pension desks to wildlife permits, the “facilitation fee” remains less a slip of the hand than an accepted price of entry. Geography matters too: in some counties, paying up sharply raises your odds of getting what you came for, leaving honesty looking like a losing strategy.

Jobs, tenders and public placements continue to command the largest bribes, with the shadow economy of connections out-muscling merit. What emerges is not just a catalogue of petty graft but a national barometer of mistrust, one that puts corruption just behind unemployment as the country’s most pressing problem. For all the drop in averages, the message is plain enough: money still talks loudest. Read more here >>>>>

Micro-Insurance : How Fintechs are trying to make the sector Digestible

By Fred Obura 

In Kenya, two unlikely groups — smallholder farmers and taxi drivers — are finding themselves bound by a new thread: insurance stitched into the fabric of their daily work. The Ministry of Agriculture now tucks crop cover into subsidized fertilizer bags, while a ride-hailing app quietly slices health protection into bite-sized, KSh 82 deductions from drivers’ earnings. It is fintech’s sleight of hand, making insurance feel less like a contract and more like a habit. South Africa still towers with 13% penetration, while Kenya lingers under 3%, but the micro-shifts are what matter. The question is whether this patchwork of digital fixes can outlast the shocks of climate and illness. Read more here »»»»»

COMESA Probes Plane Lease Deal

By Fred Obura 

The COMESA Competition Commission has turned its gaze skyward, probing a proposed aircraft deal that would shift two Kenya-leased planes from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise to U.S. lessor Azorra Aviation. At stake is whether the handover tilts competition in a region where Azorra already has a footprint from Egypt to Madagascar. The inquiry is part of a wider sweep that also covers private equity’s quiet march into Egypt’s specialty chemicals, with Delta Holdings drawing interest from a trio of investors — SPE Capital, Proparco, and Amethis. Taken together, the reviews hint at a regulator flexing its muscles across both aviation and industry. Read more here >>>>>

Banking & Credit

Prime Bank Profits Up 22% in H1

By Harry Njuguna

Prime Bank, the country’s largest Tier II lender and tenth overall by market share, has quietly turned in one of the strongest balance sheet showings this half-year. Behind its muted presence lies a 22% surge in net profits, proof that in Kenyan banking, size is no longer destiny.

Here is how the bank performed:

🟢 The bank’s net interest income rose nearly 39% to KSh 4.37 billion.

🟢 Loan-loss provisions dropped 39.5% to KSh 63 million.

🔴 Non-interest income fell 30% to KSh 930 million.

🟢 Operating income grew 18% to KSh 5.29 billion.

🟢 Profit after tax reached KSh 2.68 billion, up from KSh 2.19 billion a year earlier.

Read full financial analysis here »»»»»

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OPINION: What Corporate Boards Need to Focus On in a Fast-Moving, Uncertain World

By Nicasio Karani Migwi

Corporate boards everywhere, Kenya included, are navigating a world that feels less like a marketplace and more like a minefield. Wars, tariffs, inflation, and new technologies are reshaping the ground under their feet faster than governance handbooks can keep up. Advisory firms keep producing lists — five priorities here, nine there — but the theme is the same: resilience, technology, succession, and ESG are no longer optional luxuries. The Fourth Industrial Revolution and climate transition only add sharper edges to an already jagged landscape. In the end, survival will hinge not on tradition but on whether boards can stop reacting and start anticipating. Read this piece here »»»»»

Also Read 

Stories you missed 

♦️ Global Finance. President William Ruto has reiterated his support for the African Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA) to correct what he described as structural inequities in the global financial system.

♦️ Economy. Kenya’s economy may be on the mend, but two critical sectors; manufacturing and health, are buckling under financial strain, threatening to drag down the broader recovery.

♦️ Telcos. Safaricom PLC has launched B-Live, a new internet offering that charges customers based on time rather than the amount of data consumed.

♦️ Health. Kenya’s Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) has issued a sharp warning over the rising misuse of Ozempic, a diabetes medication increasingly sought after for weight loss.

♦️ Companies. Standard Bank Group has appointed Stanbic Kenya CEO Dr. Joshua Oigara as Regional Chief Executive (RCE) for East Africa.

♦️Gender Parity . Four in ten Kenyan women in rural areas report owning a house, compared to just two in ten urban women, according to a new report from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

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