The Whispering Budget...

The Treasury is more cautious this year, trying to avoid protests that rocked the country in June last year. CS Mbadi is exploring alternative ways of acquiring revenue without topping up the already lengthy taxation list…

I am Brian from The Kenyan Wall Street. And these are our business stories today…

Main Stories.

🪙 The Whispering Budget 

Following last year’s tax-fueled unrest, Treasury CS John Mbadi has found a quieter path to revenue: KSh 30 billion through administrative reforms, not new levies. By streamlining tax laws and tightening the noose on Kenya’s ballooning tax expenditures, sitting at 3.4% of GDP, the state aims to bolster compliance without spooking the streets. The Finance Bill, 2025 leans on clarity and efficiency over coercion, as Mbadi trims giveaways and aligns with regional customs shifts that favor local assembly and cheaper inputs. This strategy, bolstered by East African Community duty breaks, signals a technocratic attempt to fix the roof without setting the house on fire. Read here »»»»»

💰 More Money for the Hustler Fund…

Treasury CS Mbadi has proposed an additional KSh 300 million allocation for the Hustler Fund, part of a broader KSh 2.4 billion stimulus for MSMEs starting July 2025. Reforms have included softening the CRB regime and adding sweeteners like government-matched savings, yet uptake among the lowest-income Kenyans remains underwhelming. The fund’s evolution from a political slogan to a technocratic tool may be measured less in outreach than in who actually benefits. Read more »»»»»

⏰ Reminder 

🌍 China Will Open the Tariff Gates, But Can Africa Leverage This?

China has flung open the tariff gates for African goods, but the continent stands mostly empty-handed, with too little to sell and even less capacity to scale. Kenya, like many of its peers, exports more hope than product; raw nuts and shrinking avocado shipments are no match for China’s industrial juggernaut. The imbalance isn't new, but the fanfare around “opportunity” belies decades of underinvestment, poor infrastructure, and policy lethargy. Read more here »»»»»

NSE Gainers And Losers

Also Read…

🌳Who owns the Climate Billions?

A climate dream worth KSh 20 billion is now locked in legal limbo, as a court freezes funds over a bitter turf war between a Swedish-backed financier and its sidelined local partner. The dispute, laced with accusations of betrayal, threatens to derail an ambitious land regeneration effort across Kenya. With donor trust wavering and community stakes high, the battle lines are drawn over who truly owns the mission. Read here »»»»»

Opinion 

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