Economics

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.