Sustainability in Financial Services | Business Redefined

Stanbic Bank Kenya closed 2025 having 'greened' 9.0% of its credit portfolio, 100.0bps higher than the previous year. In 2025, the bank disbursed Kes 4.5 billion worth of financing towards green buildings; Kes 2.5 billion towards climate smart agriculture & another Kes 273.0 million towards solar energy. The bank's Ag. Chief Executive Officer, Abraham Ongenge, argues that as far as sustainability financing goes, the tide has turned. The challenge is not any more so much the inadequacy of bankable projects, but rather whether one can find adequate patient & low cost capital to meet the pipeline of projects without an aggressive yield demand. In the recent past, Kenya has seen two issuers go to the capital markets & raised debt via green notes, both of which not only attracted strong over-subscription but also pushed the market on pricing. Notably, Safaricom Plc's 5-year note at 10.4% stretched the limits of what we'd consider tight credit spreads for issuers deemed to be of strong investment grade. I asked Ongenge whether Stanbic Bank Kenya, with a strong balance sheet & the backing of a strong parent entity, could be looking to follow this route as it scouts for low priced financing for its sustainability.  
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Episodes
ABSA Bank Kenya HY2026 Earnings | Business Redefined Absa Bank Kenya is the latest to join the high dividend tide at the Nairobi Securities Exchange having bumped its interim dividend 150.0% to Kes 0.50/share in its HY2026 earnings. A conversation with the bank's interim MD & CEO, Yusuf Omari for a deep dive into the HY2026 numbers. August 19, 2026
Kenya's Special Funds Market | Business Redefined Special Funds are the fastest growing class of Collective Investment Schemes in Kenya with assets under management having surged 134.84% y/y to close Q1 2026 at Kes 203.56 billion. Mansa-X by Standard Investment Bank dominates this space with four funds under its stable accounting for 75.23% of the market. We have a conversation with the man steering this >US$1.1 billion fund, Nahashon Mungai, to whip through the special funds landscape in general & Mansa-X in particular. On the agenda:
  • The fund's return profile, benchmarks used & underlying risk
  • Investment play & the strategies being deployed
  • Liquidity management in a >US$1.1 billion fund
  • Global macros, shifting tides & impact on the fund
 August 19, 2026
ABSA Bank Kenya HY2026 Earnings - | Business Redefined - CFO Chat Absa Bank Kenya believes that engaging the volumes play will be critical in helping the business tide through the tide of margins compression that is piling pressure of banking sector earnings as being revealed by HY2026 numbers. Julians sat down with the Interim Chief Financial Officer, Diana Wangari and asked her just how much the bank can play to the cost of funding advantage (down to 2.8%) visible in HY2026 earnings as it sweats its deposits to keep the volumes momentum going (loan-to-deposit closed HY2026 at 88.0%). She argues that the bank is ahead of target in terms of rejigging its deposit book (CASA now 75.0% of book from 64.0% a year earlier) hence ample room to keep the cost of funds on a tight leash. Julians challenged her about the sag in the bank's top & bottom lines, she argues that it is incomplete to focus on that while ignoring the 21.7% ROE. She says that the bank took advantage of this season to pass on the 150.0bps decline in yields to pass on to borrowers. August 19, 2026
Trends in East Africa's Investment Banking | Business Redefined Over the last 10 months, at least Kes 52.7 billion (US$407.39 million) has been raised via bond issuances in what makes for a strong resurgence of corporate debt in Kenya's capital markets. The issuances have been significant not just for the oversubscription registered but more importantly the pricing & how much they have pushed the boundaries on corporate debt pricing mechanics. We sit down with Absa Bank Kenya's Director for Investment Banking in East Africa, Daniel Odongo, to dig into this in greater detail & assess the state of play. August 13, 2026
Capital Raising & Deal Structuring | Business Redefined The capital markets have been abuzz with activity lately with transactions spanning corporate debt, divestitures, asset backed issuances & off balance sheet financing. A key architect on the advisory side has been KCB Investment Bank which has been behind the Kes 204 billion partial divestiture in Safaricom Plc, the Kes 45 billion Talanta asset backed issuance & the Kes 24.0 billion acquisition of Bamburi Plc by Amsons Group. We speak to the Investment Bank's MD, Maurice Opiyo, to unpack the latest in East Africa's deals landscape. August 11, 2026
Stanbic Holdings HY2026 Earnings | Business Redefined We have a conversation with Dennis Musau, Chief Financial & Value Officer, Stanbic Bank Kenya & South Sudan to comb through the HY2026 earnings. August 6, 2026
Scaling Digital Classrooms | Business Redefined We have a conversation with Samsung on their ambitions around modern learning frameworks that keep pace with rapidly changing tech capabilities & market demands. We will be digging into the 'Digital Classroom', a software suite integrating both hardware & software solutions including AI. On the agenda:
  • Balancing the need to embed advancing tech in learning amidst concerns around data security & privacy
  • Curating edTech solutions that are fit for the local context & market needs
  • Inclusion in edTech: Designing solutions that are cognisant of the digital divide as well as the reality of differently abled learners
  • Cost barriers in scaling these solutions & the place of public-private partnerships
  August 4, 2026
Evolving Customs & International Trade | Business Redefined The June 30th, 2026 East African Community gazette for duty rates within the Common External Tariffs framework revealed multiple requests for stay of application across the region. The signal here is member states grappling with the trade-off between protecting local industry & aligning with the pursued liberalised markets under the AfCFTA arrangement. We look into the latest developments around customs & regional trade including Kenya's customs collection inching closer to the Kes 1.0 trillion mark (Kes 988.0 billion in 2025/26). July 28, 2026
Unlocking Africa's Next Frontier | Business Redefined Seamless Technologies boasts of having the largest payroll aggregation in Africa & now wants, through Seamless Technologies, to leverage the capabilities enabled by that war chest to get the continent up to speed in deploying AI to accelerate development. We sit down with CEO & Co-founder, Dr. Emmanuel Okeleji, to discuss what's next for the company, its exploits into financial services & what it means for the continent.   July 22, 2026