Africa is no stranger to wealth, but the distribution of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) across the continent is as uneven as its rainfall. Some countries have built deep pockets, others are still reaching for loose change. The new African wealth report reveals where millionaires and centi-millionaires (those with $100m+) call home—and it tells a story of economic concentration, legacy industries, and a dash of inequality.

Debt has always worn a suit of irony—designed to bring growth, it often ends up choking the very system it sought to elevate. Kenya, like several of its African peers, now finds itself not merely servicing debt, but practically hosting it as the guest of honour at the fiscal dinner table. A recent UNCTAD report has put it plainly: Africa’s most vulnerable economies are not just paying interest—they’re bleeding revenue into it.

When it comes to oil diplomacy, Iran is both a pariah and a powerhouse. Sanctioned, squeezed, and sabre-rattling its way through the...

In an era where smartphones are practically extensions of our hands and QR codes have replaced handshakes, one might expect financial services to have gone fully digital. But not so fast. SACCOs (Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations) are telling a different story — one with ink-stained passbooks and queues at the branch counter.

In the early 2000s Berlin teetered on the edge of insolvency. Burdened by reunification’s hangover—soaring unemployment, a creaking housing market and yawning budget deficits—the city risked collapse. Enter Klaus Wowereit, newly elected Mayor and master of the soundbite. In 2003 he quipped, “Berlin is poor, but sexy,” reframing municipal misery as a badge of creative freedom. He served from 2001 to 2014.

Yesterday, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi presented his first national budget under the Kenya Kwanza administration, unveiling a bold KSh 4.3 trillion spending plan for the 2025/2026 financial year. But with only KSh 3.34 trillion in expected revenue, the numbers reveal a clear tension: ambition is outpacing affordability. The nearly KSh 900 billion gap will be bridged by debt, a choice that underscores both urgency and risk.

Kenya’s public university system is approaching a financial cliff edge. Between 2021 and 2024, public university enrolment grew by 14%—from 448,000 to 522,000 students—while private university numbers declined by 5%. The shift signals growing reliance on public institutions. But as the number of students rises, the financial foundations beneath these universities are rapidly eroding.

If education were a product loaded onto ships and tracked at ports, America would be a top global exporter. Yet, in a political environment increasingly hostile to foreign students, the country risks undercutting one of its few enduring trade advantages. According to the Institute of International Education, the United States hosted more than one million international students in the 2022–2023 academic year, compared to just over 300,000 American students studying abroad.

In May 2004, the European Union witnessed its largest-ever expansion. Ten countries joined the bloc, gaining access to the EU’s single market—a transformative shift that enabled the free flow of goods, capital, services, and people. Among these entrants was Poland, a nation whose GDP per capita at the time stood at just $21,200, roughly half that of the EU average.

In much of Africa, agriculture is more than a livelihood—it’s the backbone of the economy. Countries like Ethiopia, Liberia, and Malawi see over 30% of their GDP coming from farming. In Burundi, it’s even more extreme: agriculture accounts for nearly 40%. But here’s the catch: these same countries cluster at the bottom of the GDP-per-capita scale, hovering around just $1,000–$3,700. And despite the sector's size, productivity remains low, often due to outdated techniques.

Since 2021, tourism for leisure has overtaken business as the dominant reason for visiting Kenya—a trend that continues to gain ground. In 2020, Kenya’s tourism industry—like most of the world’s—was brought to its knees by the pandemic. Visitor-days plummeted to just 4.7 million, with business travel (2.6 million visitor-days) narrowly ahead of holiday travel (2 million). But by 2021, as international mobility resumed, a shift emerged. Holiday-related visits jumped to 5.5

Despite a modest dip, investor confidence and facilitation reforms signal long-term gains. At first glance, a decline in proposed manufacturing investments—from KSh 24.5 billion in 2023 to KSh 17.4 billion in 2024—might cause some hand-wringing in Nairobi’s policy corridors. But read between the numbers, and a different story emerges—one of quiet recalibration rather than retreat. The Kenya Investment Authority (Ken Invest), the nation’s main investment promotion agency

Kenya’s economy has been on a remarkable journey over the last five years, but beneath the surface of headline growth lies a fiscal balancing act that few can ignore. How does a country with burgeoning revenues manage the relentless climb of public spending? More importantly, can Kenya steer this fiscal ship without capsizing under the weight of its own ambitions?

Between 2020 and 2024, the average retail prices of Petrol (Super), Diesel, and Kerosene surged. Petrol jumped from KES 103.25 to KES 191.76 per litre, Diesel from KES 93.91 to KES 168.38, and Kerosene from KES 84.55 to KES 178.32. In percentage terms, Kerosene prices more than doubled (up 111%), while Petrol and Diesel nearly doubled, climbing 86% and 79%, respectively.

Kenya's merchandise trade reached a new high in 2024, hitting KSh 3.82 trillion, up 5.5% from the previous year. But beneath the headline growth lies a persistent structural vulnerability: Kenya continues to import far more than it exports. Despite a 10.4% rise in exports, imports outpaced them in absolute terms, expanding by KSh 94.3 billion—effectively erasing much of the export gain. The result? A trade deficit of KSh 1.59 trillion, barely improved from 2023’s KSh 1.60 tri

Kenya has turned the humble act of wheat farming into a spectacle of modern economic irony. The latest figures from the Economic Survey 2025 reveal a curious case: while local wheat production dawdled at 312,200 metric tonnes in 2024, imports swaggered into the national pantry at a whopping 2.3 million tonnes. That’s right — Kenya imported seven times more wheat than it produced.

In the decades since the early 1990s, Kenya’s banking landscape has been transformed—not by revolutions, but by mergers. According to Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) records, 57 mergers and acquisitions have been approved between 1989 and 2024. These transactions tell a broader story of regulatory reform, economic cycles, and institutional adaptation.

While access to formal financial services has grown steadily for both men and women, the gender gap has stubbornly persisted—until recently. In 2024, the difference in formal financial inclusion between men and women fell to just 1.6 percentage points, down from 4.2 points in 2021, according to the latest national data.

For decades, Kenya’s floriculture industry has bloomed with pride, its signature roses and carnations gracing flower shops across Europe and beyond. But in a quiet revolution over the last five years, a new horticultural hero has been budding: fruits.

Kenya’s sugar industry closed 2024 on a high, bouncing back from a troubled 2023 with a remarkable 72.5% surge in production, according to new figures from the Kenya Sugar Board. Total output hit 815.5 thousand tonnes, up from 472.8 thousand tonnes the year before — the largest annual increase recorded in the past five years.