Kenya has struck a transformative financial and investment package worth roughly $1 billion with China, marking a bold step in deepening economic and infrastructural ties between the two nations. The landmark deal was reached during President William Ruto’s five-day state visit to Beijing—the third since taking office in 2022—and includes 20 agreements spanning rail, highways, agriculture, manufacturing, technology, and tourism. At the core of the package are high-impact transport projects. China has recommitted to extending the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Naivasha to Kisumu (Phase 2B) and onward to Malaba at the Uganda border (Phase 2C). The SGR, which already links Mombasa and…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
In a significant move aimed at boosting homegrown businesses, the Kenyan government has finalised plans to reserve all state tenders valued below Sh3 billion exclusively for local firms. This decision marks a substantial increase from the current Sh1 billion reservation limit proposed in pending legislation and responds directly to long-standing appeals from the domestic private sector. Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade and Industry, Moses Kuria, announced the new threshold. He revealed that while businesses had aggressively lobbied President William Ruto for a Sh5 billion reservation ceiling during recent consultations, the government deemed that level potentially too high. “We think that…
The satirical essay, The Battle of the Books, by Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver’s Travels, has once again become a buzzword, just as it has periodically over the past 300 years, serving as shorthand for debates on the value of classical or humanities education. This time, the backdrop is a near-global retreat of the humanities. Harvard College reportedly canceled 30 courses, many of them in the liberal arts, in 2024. The University of Kent in the United Kingdom, announced the phasing out of six disciplines, including art history, anthropology and philosophy. In China, a top-tier university reduced its traditional…
Business leaders have issued a stark warning that Kenya’s manufacturing sector faces collapse due to punitive taxes on industrial inputs, eroding competitiveness against regional neighbours Tanzania, Uganda and Egypt. The alarm comes amid parliamentary scrutiny of the contentious Finance Bill 2025, which proposes reducing the Export and Investment Promotion Levy from 17.5 per cent to 5 per cent—a move industry leaders dismiss as insufficient. Kenya’s industrial output has plummeted under the weight of raw material taxes: cement production nosedived to 8.9 million tonnes in 2024 (from 9.6 million in 2023); cement imports surged to 10.3 million tonnes (versus 148,000 tonnes…
Family, friends, former students, and dignitaries gathered at Nairobi’s Goan Gymkhana over the weekend to celebrate the launch of A Life of Service, the memoir of pioneering educator and missionary John Gomes, whose work in Kenya has transformed lives for over three decades. The memoir chronicles Gomes’s inspiring journey from his humble beginnings in Goa, India, to his decades-long mission in Kenya, where he served as a teacher, school principal, and community builder under the Diocese of Nyeri. Through vivid personal stories, Gomes shares the values, challenges, and triumphs that shaped his life and the lives of thousands he mentored…
A groundbreaking Sh18 billion education deal between the University of Nairobi and the French government, once hailed as a turning point for Kenya’s science and technology sector, is now entangled in delays, political wrangles, and leadership changes that have cast uncertainty over its future. In 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron visited the University of Nairobi and announced a strategic partnership to establish a world-class science and engineering centre. The vision: to replicate a facility similar to Harvard’s Science Complex, right at UoN’s Chiromo Campus. The proposed 30,000-square-metre hub was to include precision engineering labs, innovation centres, postgraduate hostels, and a…
The National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) has approved the government’s ambitious Sh4.24 trillion spending plan for the 2025/26 financial year. However, the approval comes with significant concerns over revenue targets, unsustainable debt levels, and critical underfunding in key economic sectors. The committee, after reviewing submissions from other parliamentary committees and the public, formally approved the budget estimates on Wednesday. While endorsing the overall expenditure framework, the BAC report tabled in Parliament delivered a stark critique of the National Treasury’s approach. One of the key concerns highlighted was the underfunding of critical sectors. The BAC found that the Treasury…
Caesarean section (C-section) delivery rates have steadily and significantly increased in Kenya over the last five years, reflecting changing dynamics in maternal healthcare choices and accessibility. The nation’s C-section rate rose gradually year on year, from 16.08 per cent in 2020 to 16.21 per cent in 2021, 16.91 per cent in 2022, and 17.55 per cent in 2023. Most recently, the rate increased to 18.25 per cent in 2024. This upward trend in surgical deliveries results from both improved access to healthcare and widening socioeconomic disparities. While C-sections are necessary and often life-saving when complications arise during childbirth, the rising…
Kenya’s Parliament faces another high-stakes clash over devolved funds after the Senate approved a Sh405 billion allocation to counties, directly challenging the National Assembly’s earlier decision for the same amount in the upcoming 2023/26 financial year. While the figures appear identical, a critical dispute over what constitutes the equitable share of national revenue threatens vital services in the 47 counties. The core disagreement: The National Assembly, led by Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, insists its approved Sh405 billion represents 25.8% of the audited national revenue from 2020/21. Wetang’ula defended this allocation, citing Article 217 of the Constitution and the need for fiscal…
Kenya’s contentious Finance Bill 2025 entered a critical phase on Tuesday as the National Assembly’s Finance and National Planning Committee launched nationwide public hearings. Following a week of stakeholder consultations in Nairobi, the committee is now taking its deliberations directly to citizens—starting with sessions in Busia and Migori counties today and moving to Trans Nzoia and Nandi on Wednesday. Plans include hearings in at least 10 counties overall. Committee Vice Chairman Benjamin Langat underscored the vital role of public input. “This is not an exercise in futility; it’s a very important exercise,” Langat stated. “This Finance Bill is a proposal,…