The rising cost of meeting stricter anti-money laundering (AML) compliance standards has claimed another casualty in Kenya’s digital asset sector, with stablecoin payments provider HuruPay ending its USD banking services for customers in the country. HuruPay, a Kenya-founded platform that helps freelancers, remote workers and businesses receive international payments, informed users that it would no longer support USD banking services for Kenyan customers. “We would like to inform you that HuruPay no longer supports USD banking services for customers in Kenya,” the company said in an email to users. “As a result, any payment sent to your SSB bank account…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
Kenya and Ethiopia have finalised a renewed power supply agreement meant to deepen East Africa’s integration and sustain the flow of clean hydro-electric power into the Kenyan grid. Signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Friday, July 10, 2026, by the Kenya Power Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Siror and Ethiopian Electricity Utility (EEU) CEO Getu Geremew, the new agreement will secure stable electricity imports and support the expansion of local power connectivity. According to the deal, Kenya will pay about Sh20 (0.15 U.S. dollars, or ETB24.07) per kilowatt-hour for electricity imported from Ethiopia, with an addition of a…
Indian beverage group Varun Beverages Limited (VBL) has signed an agreement to acquire the dairy beverages, juices and packaged drinking water business of Devyani Food Industries (Kenya) Limited (DFIL Kenya) in a transaction valued at $32 million (Sh4.14 billion). The transaction, expected to close on or before August 1, 2026, involves the transfer of DFIL Kenya’s business as a going concern for the $32 million consideration, with no change to DFIL Kenya’s own shareholding. DFIL Kenya is a promoter-group company controlled by the same family that controls Varun Beverages, making this a related-party deal that the company says was conducted…
Twenty-one-year-old Kenyan rally driver Michuki Hinga celebrated his birthday month in unforgettable fashion, delivering a dream debut on the continental stage by winning the Two-Wheel Drive category and finishing second overall in the NRC category of the 2026 Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally. Driving a Toyota RunX alongside co-driver John Ngugi, Hinga produced a remarkable performance on his first-ever rally outing at the FIA African Rally Championship event held from 10-12 July in the challenging hills of Rwanda. Competing against more experienced drivers in four-wheel-drive machinery and tackling demanding mountain terrain, the Nairobi-based driver showed impressive composure, consistency, and speed from…
Kenyan electricity consumers are set to dig deeper into their pockets after the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) published its monthly electricity adjustment charges for July 2026. Through the four adjustment tariffs, consumers will pay an extra Sh5.18 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) on their July bills, on top of the base electricity tariff. The adjustments include a Fuel Energy Cost Charge of 320 cents per unit, a Foreign Exchange Fluctuation Adjustment of 148.41 cents per unit, an Inflation Adjustment of 48 cents per unit, and a Water Resource Management Authority (WRMA) levy of 1.57 cents per unit. “Pursuant to Clause…
A bid by businesswoman Mary Wambui Mungai to regain control of Glee Hotel suffered a setback after the High Court allowed an administration process initiated by Equity Bank to continue. In a ruling delivered on Thursday, Justice Freda Mugambi found that the hotel had failed to provide sufficient grounds for the court to suspend the administrator’s mandate pending the hearing of the dispute over the debt. Justice Mugambi noted that the hotel had not disputed owing money to the bank and had failed to demonstrate that the administrator’s involvement had adversely affected its day-to-day operations. She also found that the…
Betting firms in Kenya could face suspension or licence revocation for repeatedly allowing self-excluded gamblers to place bets or encouraging them to return to gambling under new regulations aimed at strengthening consumer protection. The measures are contained in the Gambling Control (Conduct of Gambling Operations) Regulations, 2026, gazetted on June 30, which introduce third-party-initiated exclusion from gambling for the first time under Kenya’s gambling laws. Under the new rules, a family member or other interested party may apply to the gambling regulator to exclude a person where their gambling has caused, or is likely to cause, serious financial hardship, threatens…
Safaricom shareholders will vote on proposed changes that could require the Kenyan government’s approval before the company expands into new markets outside Kenya and Ethiopia. The telecommunications company has proposed amendments to its articles of association requiring government consent before any resolution to enter new territories is implemented. The changes will be presented at Safaricom’s 2026 Annual General Meeting, where shareholders will decide whether to approve the amendments. In a notice to shareholders, Safaricom stated that “any resolution relating to the expansion of the business of the company into new territories outside of Kenya and Ethiopia shall not be deemed…
Athletics Kenya has awarded 27 coaches with World Athletics Level One certificates after they successfully completed an intensive coaching course, in a move aimed at strengthening grassroots athletics development and safeguarding the future of the sport. The graduation ceremony, held at Gem garden in Nairobi, brought together senior athletics officials, elite athletes, development partners and diplomats, highlighting the growing international support for athletics development in Kenya. Among those in attendance were Athletics Kenya President Lt Gen (Rtd) Jackson Tuwei, H.E. Gideon Behar, Israel’s Ambassador to Kenya, representatives from Co-operative Bank, led by Francis Ngambi, and Aberdare Sports Club Director Georginah…
Starlink has halted new residential sign-ups in seven of Kenya’s busiest counties after reaching network capacity. The move means prospective subscribers in Nairobi, Kiambu, Mombasa, Machakos, Murang’a, Kirinyaga, and Kwale can no longer place new orders, signalling growing demand for the satellite internet service and raising questions about when additional capacity will become available. Since its launch in July 2023, Starlink has experienced exponential growth, with the number of subscribers increasing significantly as the company introduced repeated price reductions. The growth of the firm has been driven by the affordability of its internet service and lower equipment costs. The satellite…
