It is a new era of health reforms as Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) officially becomes a Level C5 parastatal, a status previously reserved for public universities. During a visit to the facility, Principal Secretary (PS) for Medical Services Dr. Ouma Oluga said the shift from county to national status must be felt immediately, urging the management to embrace its new mandate. Dr Oluga explained that the elevation is meant to attract and retain skilled health workers while positioning the hospital for financial sustainability, noting that national referral hospitals will no longer receive tax-based funding within five…
Author: Victor Adar
Victor Adar
Victor Adar is a seasoned journalist with a Diploma in Mass Communication (Print) from the Technical University of Mombasa. He has previously worked with Reuters, Go Places travel magazine, and Aden Associates International. Since joining NBM in 2012, he has become a key member of the editorial team, covering enterprise, corporate affairs, HR, and technology.
African development financial institutions and major banks including KCB, Equity, Ecobank, AfreximBank, Africa50, and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat will mobilise up to $100 billion to accelerate the continent’s green industrialisation. On Monday, September 8, President William Ruto witnessed the formal signing of the agreement in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the Africa Climate Summit, marking a decisive shift from pledges to action. “In only a few months, we have moved from conversation to collaboration. United with our financial institutions, our energy systems, and our trade corridors, we can anchor inclusive and globally competitive green value chains,” Ruto…
Airtel Africa, through its data centre arm Nxtra, has broken ground for the construction of a data centre valued at Sh19.37 billion (150 million USD) at Tatu City special economic zone. The project is aimed at meeting the latest infrastructure requirements for cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) services. Scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2027, the data centre will have a power capacity of 44 megawatts and will host a new generation of servers capable of maintaining 99.999 percent uptime, with multiple redundant fibre paths to ensure connectivity. This development comes as rival telecom operator Safaricom pledges increased…
Last year, Kenya’s banking sector remained well-capitalized and strongly positioned to support economic growth even as some lenders continued to face the pressure to raise their minimum core capital to Sh3 billion up from Sh1 billion as per Central Bank of Kenya’s fresh rules. Latest data from the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) dubbed the State of the Banking Industry Report 2025 shows the lucrative banking sector maintained capital adequacy ratios well above regulatory requirements in 2024. The banking sector’s resilience and capacity to finance “inclusive development” was triggered by a sustained growth in total operating income in 2024, recording Sh990.46…
Kenya Airways has slipped into loss-making territory, posting a Sh12.15 billion loss in the first half of the year, a sharp reversal from the Sh513 million profit it recorded during the same period in 2024. The airline’s managing director and chief executive, Allan Kivaluka, has attributed the outcome to a sharp decline in capacity (passenger numbers dipped by 14 percent), the temporary grounding of three long-haul aircraft, and a shortage of spare parts. “In 2025, some of our wide-body fleet were grounded. We have nine Dreamliners—what we refer to as wide-body aircraft—designed for long-haul routes such as London and New…
Kenya’s entire economy has weathered many storms including quiet loans landscape, weak inflows of diaspora remittances as well as foreign borrowing that has in the past continued to put pressure on the demand for dollar. It is good news that as of mid this year, Kenya’s forex reserves stood at about $11.2 billion, powering the country’s exchange reserves. Nonetheless, a credit ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s (S&P), has upgraded Kenya’s long-term sovereign credit rating to B (from “B-”), speaking to a stable outlook. “The upgrade reflects our view that Kenya’s near-term external liquidity risks have receded,” S&P said in a…
Airtel Africa and Vodacom Group have signed a network-sharing agreement in Mozambique, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), pending regulatory approvals. The deal aims to accelerate the rollout of digital services by sharing fibre networks and tower infrastructure, which could reduce costs and improve coverage in these markets. “Our partnership with Airtel Africa is a proactive step forward in creating a sustainable, inclusive, and connected digital future for the continent,” said Vodacom Group’s CEO Shameel Joosub. He noted that infrastructure sharing will allow the companies to provide cost-effective services to more people faster, supporting their goal of connecting…
Kenyan private sector business conditions have deteriorated at the sharpest pace in a year, particularly in July, as weaker deal inflows, rising prices and disruption from protests continue to put pressure on business activities, Stanbic Bank Kenya says in its research. A Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) released on Tuesday, August 5, reveals that companies in Kenya also reported a quicker increase in input prices, with the pace of inflation climbing to a seven-month high. Stanbic experts noted that the contraction has led to a marked reduction in input purchases and a slight dip in inventories even as staffing numbers were…
Makini Schools, part of the ADvTECH Group, has expanded its offering by acquiring Regis Runda Academy. While welcoming Regis staff, students, and parents, Horace Mpanza, the regional managing director of Makini Schools, said Regis will be rebranded as Makini School Runda. He stated, “We plan to build on the strong foundations the founders of Regis have laid, and our intention is to take the school to the next phase of its development,” adding that the move will shape the future of learning in Kenya. Situated in the Ridgeways area, northeast of Nairobi, the school has a current capacity of 2,000…
A 30-day embargo on gambling adverts across all media platforms, including TV, radio, billboards, text messages, and celebrity endorsements, has not stopped the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) from recording a milestone performance of 117.2 percent in excise duty on betting services during the Financial Year (FY) 2024/2025, surpassing the set target of Sh11.288 billion. Commissioner of large and medium taxpayers, Rispah Simiyu, says excise duty from betting rose to Sh13.233 billion in FY 2024/25 from Sh10.598 billion collected in the last financial year. During the period under review, Ms. Simiyu adds, betting tax surpassed the set target after the taxman…