Nakumatt was Kenya’s blue elephant.
A retail empire that sold billions, owed tens of billions, and left creditors staring at a KSh30B crater.
The shelves did not empty because Nakumatt died.
Nakumatt died because the machine behind the shelves had already broken.
Thread 🧵👇🏾
Family Bank is coming to the NSE.
Is this an IPO?
No it is NOT an IPO.
Family Bank is listing by way of Introduction, a process that allows existing shares to begin trading on the NSE without the company issuing new shares or raising fresh capital.
So what exactly is the difference between a Listing by Introduction and an IPO?
@janetmachuka_ maybe the industry changed drastically? I definitely remember a time where creative agency work felt like it belonged to a tiny group of selected individuals
Hi sir Brian @brian_mwau . I would like us to finish what you started. I have been in touch with your Board of Directors at Centum, where I understand you are an esteemed employee.
Cc:
@DonaldKaberuka@MworiaJ@CentumPLC
Also I hope you will come to the shareholders meeting, see you then.
@_Keffa
nimepata idea mzuri mtapenda.
you see how ntsa can find your car going 51kph, take a hi-res photo that reads the plates and sms you instantly but cannot find a stolen car?
well, i figured out why and already got a solution.
Former Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, Micah Cheserem, reflects on the hyperinflation & FX crisis of 1992/93.
He speaks about the bungled export compensation scheme & the Goldenberg scandal, the liquidity mop up that was put in place to rein in inflationary pressures & the liberalisation of the FX regime.
Full recording - https://t.co/zgWgcFdUc1
Credit: Central Bank of Kenya (@CBKKenya)
I was invited to Kenya by @bharatthakrar (BT) to join his company @WPPScangroup in 2010.
BT and I disagreed on several issues over the years, but he was clear: keep the clients and the business growing, and he would not interfere but help you grow. He kept his promise. My team saw growth, I grew, and I worked the longest stint of my career at WPP Scangroup—13 long years. I made Kenya my home, made several friends, and built a life in Kenya.
I built this company. I've watched its value fall 62% in four years. Today its minority shareholders vote to hold the board to account, a vote we cannot win but will not stay silent on. Here's why. #WPPScangroup, @WPP
1/ 🧵 The Tatu City war is the ultimate textbook case study on counterparty risk in frontier markets.
-It wasn’t a real estate dispute; it was a grueling, decade-long corporate guerrilla war over 2,500 hectares of prime land. The Local Elite were defeated in battle
-Let’s look at how the local elite fell out. 👇
Wholesalers are killed by credit because of low margin.
Retailers are killed by overstocking.
Manufacturers are killed by importers.
Exporters are killed by geopolitics.
Paul Njuguna, a retired technical manager at the Agricultural Development Corporation, invested Ksh 16 million in 2019 to set up Elgon Pine, a refined oil and animal feed plant in Eldoret. At its peak, the plant processed 90 tonnes of canola, sunflower, and soya annually, with capacity for 300 tonnes. Njuguna contracted about 100 farmers who supplied raw materials, while he also farmed 10 acres himself.
The business also produced poultry feeds and soap from crop by-products.
The venture collapsed after Kenya Power slapped him with a Ksh 400,000 bill in August 2021, compared to his usual monthly bill of about Ksh 30,000. Njuguna disputed it as an error and filed a complaint, but Kenya Power claimed underbilling and refused to adjust. When he failed to pay, Kenya Power disconnected electricity to both his plant and home. Though EPRA ruled in his favour and ordered reconnection, the power was never restored, forcing him to shut down operations.
The shutdown affected the entire value chain - contracted farmers, suppliers, and employees - all of whom lost income. Njuguna now questions whether the disconnection was deliberate sabotage and why Kenya does little to protect small industrial ventures. His case has raised concerns about how utility billing errors and slow dispute resolution can destroy promising local businesses and the livelihoods tied to them.
Le vieux du quartier m’a dit : « N’oublie pas que la boussole a été inventée avant l’horloge parce que la direction est plus importante que le temps. »
When we write the history of the NSE, we obsess over high-profile CEOs and asset allocators.
But the real maturity of an ecosystem is built in the engine room.
Enter Rose Mambo: the quiet CEO who digitized capital ownership in Kenya. 🧵1/n
https://t.co/4G1wcTlHkr
I told @CentumPLC CEO, @MworiaJ, that in my thinking, the US$37.3 Million I-REIT should ideally have been a restricted offer or at least target institutional player.
So why the opening up to retail investors & how do they intend to mitigate secondary market liquidity risk for retail investors?
Mworia makes the following points:
· The design of the REIT targets the Kenyans who have hard currency deposits lying in banks fetching 3.0% - 4.0% return p.a.
· Worth pointing out here that the country’s banking system closed March 2026 at Kes 1.36 trillion worth of foreign currency deposits having grown from Kes 1.24 trillion in March 2025, posting a 9.7 percent increase y/y
· To address the secondary market liquidity risk, he says the issuer has partnered with Nabo Capital to set up a US$4.0 Millon (Kes 517.8 Million) liquidity pool to provide ready counter party in instances where an investor seeks exit but struggles to find a buyer
One thing about the just concluded Finance Bill 2026 stakeholder submissions, they were truly rich with simulations on the implications of the proposals.
A 🧵on some simulations that stood out for me.