- The Daily Brief, by The Kenyan Wall Street
- Posts
- Tightening the tax net for small traders
Tightening the tax net for small traders
Kenya's #1 newsletter among business leaders & policy makers
Register here»»»»»
Good evening 👋🏽. It's Brian from The Kenyan Wall Street. In today's newsletter :
KRA wants to shake up VAT by scrapping the threshold and pulling small traders into the tax net…
Dr. James Mworia turned Centum into a fascinating playground of big buys, bold exits, and the occasional flops.
Tightening the tax net for small traders
By Chelsy Maina
The taxman is coming for your corner kiosk. The KRA wants to scrap the KSh 5 million VAT threshold, which means even the smallest traders…selling anything from soft drinks to mobile phones…will now need to register, charge, and remit 16% VAT. It’s a masterstroke in revenue mobilization, but one that could squeeze businesses operating on thin margins and inflate prices on everyday goods. In a country where the informal sector is the heartbeat of the economy, the move highlights how fiscal policy is shifting toward compliance rather than decreeing new taxes.
Read the full article here >>>>>
Every Deal That Defined Dr. Mworia’s Centum
From R - L : Dr. James Mworia with the late billionaire Chris Kirubi
By Harry Njuguna
Dr. James Mworia didn’t just run Centum…he turned it into a deal machine. Since taking over at 30 with an asset base of barely KSh 6 billion, he has spent nearly two decades buying, exiting, restructuring, and occasionally writing off investments across everything from banks and publishers to energy and real estate. The numbers tell a story of constant capital recycling: more than KSh 35 billion in exits, billions lost in failed bets like coal, and a property portfolio now worth tens of billions on its own. Love the strategy or question it, this is one of the most aggressive investment track records ever built by a CEO of a listed company in Kenya.
Read the full article here >>>>>
Here Comes the Sovereign Wealth Fund…
By Brian Nzomo
Kenya is planning to set up a disciplined fund for money it doesn’t even have yet. A draft bill seeks to split future oil and mineral revenues into three tightly controlled accounts; one to stabilise the economy, one to fund infrastructure, and one reserved for future generations. The structure is unusually strict: the money must be invested abroad, can’t be lent back to government, and even election-year withdrawals are locked down. After years of debt pressure and stop-start resource projects, if the revenue boom ever arrives, this time the state wants rules before the cash.
Read the full article here »»»»»
Minimizing your M-Pesa Data
By Chelsy Maina
M-Pesa is finally giving your personal info a break. Starting March 24, anyone you send money to will only see part of your name and a masked phone number…enough to confirm the payment, but not enough to stalk you or harvest your data. The change is part of Safaricom’s broader push toward smarter, safer payments, where transparency stays for the transaction but your identity doesn’t wander into the wrong hands. In a country where mobile money doubles as a daily lifeline and a personal directory, this is privacy quietly catching up with convenience…
Read the full article here >>>>>
Heads Up
On Your Watchlist
Market Snapshots
For timely and insightful market updates, follow our Whatsapp page here
Keep up with what’s happening on our X and LinkedIn pages. Stay updated with the latest financial news on our website The Kenyan Wall Street.