The Republic of Unpaid Bills

Hello 👋🏽 It's Brian from The Kenyan Wall Street. In today's newsletter edition…

• Pending bills stand at KSh 468 billion, according to the Controller of Budget. We break the numbers down…

• Centum Investments has finally closed its Sidian Bank chapter after two decades. We trail its arduous journey…

The Republic of Unpaid Bills

By Brian Nzomo

Kenya’s mountain of unpaid government bills, now standing at KSh 468 billion for obligations older than six months, has settled most heavily on the shoulders of state corporations, universities, and infrastructure agencies. Public universities alone account for more than KSh 83 billion, while road authorities, health institutions, and energy utilities together carry tens of billions more in delayed payments to contractors and suppliers. Though the overall backlog has edged down from the previous year, the scale of the arrears reveals a public sector ecosystem quietly financed by private vendors waiting, sometimes for years, to be paid. The result is a slow-moving fiscal gravity: a debt not always visible in headline budgets, but one that continues to weigh on businesses, contractors, and the broader economy.

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After Two Decades, Centum Exits Sidian Bank

By Harry Njuguna 

After 22 years of careful, sometimes tortuous stewardship, Centum Investments has finally exited Sidian Bank, turning a modest microfinance gamble into a long, labyrinthine tale of buy-ins, rebrands, and partial sales. What began as a speculative 1.66% stake in K-Rep Bank blossomed into controlling influence, only to unravel in a series of delayed divestitures, failed deals, and incremental piecemeal sales that tested patience and balance sheets alike. By the time the dust settled, the bank had quintupled in size, profits had finally ticked upward, and Centum’s cumulative returns, while modest in real terms, closed a chapter that had defined an era of Kenyan mid-tier banking.

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INTERVIEW: Africa’s AI Moment Hinges on Smart Regulation

By Fred Obura

Africa stands at an inflection point in artificial intelligence, where youthful talent and digital ambition collide with the slow grind of policymaking. For Salesforce Africa’s Linda Saunders, the continent’s AI moment hinges less on hype than on a careful choreography of regulation, infrastructure, and culture…balancing protection with competitiveness. Financial services are leading the charge, while public sector and healthcare lag, hampered more by misinformation and cultural hesitation than technical barriers. In Saunders’ view, success will come not from software alone but from a new ecosystem of trust, skills, and autonomous enterprise agents, where Africa’s digital natives could redefine innovation on their own terms.

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SBM Bank’s Rebound to Profitability

By Harry Njuguna

After two years in the red, SBM Bank Kenya finally closed 2025 with a turnaround that underscores how structural cost management and deposit growth can pivot a mid-tier bank from struggle to profitability.

Financial Snapshot :

🟢 The lender posted an after-tax profit of KSh 444.22 Mn, reversing a KSh 1.21 Bn loss in 2024.

🟢 Net interest income more than doubled to KSh 3.88 Bn.

🟢 Customer deposits jumped 20.1% to KSh 82.41 Bn, reducing reliance on costly interbank borrowing.

🟢 Loan loss provisions fell 26.4% to KSh 314.34 Mn, and gross NPLs declined 34.1% to KSh 11.29 Bn.

🟢 Total assets grew 5.5% to KSh 105.72 Bn.

Read the financial analysis here »»»»»

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