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News and Analysis
October 30, 2025
Hello and welcome to the Money News Roundup Newsletter, where we cover how the banks with the cheapest and costliest loans. We also cover the planned use of drones to deliver KCSE papers.
Habib Bank AG Zurich is currently the cheapest lender for a 12-month personal loan of Ksh100,000, while Sidian Bank is the most expensive, new data from the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) Total Cost of Credit portal shows.
A borrower would repay Ksh112,750 at Habib, which charges a 12.75% interest rate with no extra fees. In contrast, Sidian customers pay Ksh131,100, including Ksh16,220 in interest, Ksh12,400 in bank charges, and Ksh2,480 in third-party costs.
As reported in the Business Daily, Middle East Bank charges the highest interest rate at 23.98%, but with no extra fees, its total cost stands at Ksh123,980.
Here is what a borrower of Ksh100,000 would repay in other sampled banks; Guardian Bank (Ksh128,050), Access Bank (Ksh124,780), Equity Bank (Ksh123,785), Paramount Bank (Ksh115,380), StanChart (Ksh115,000), ABC Bank (Ksh114,750), and HFC (Ksh113,000).
The portal highlights wide pricing variations under the current risk-based lending regime, which will be replaced by a new model anchored on the Kenya Shilling Overnight Interbank Average (Kesonia).
KBA says all banks will roll out the new pricing framework by December for new loans and apply it to existing loans by February 2026.
The Central Bank of Kenya has urged banks to lower rates in line with benchmark cuts, with the CBR now at 9.25%. Lending rates remain high at 15.1% despite repeated policy rate reductions.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has reminded shareholders and market intermediaries to comply with shareholding limits, warning that breaches could trigger regulatory action.
As reported by Eastleigh Voice, under the 2016 regulations, individuals or private companies may hold a maximum of 5% of NSE shares, public companies 10%, while trading participants jointly are capped at 40%.
In the new directive, investors must notify the NSE and obtain written approval before executing transactions that may affect these limits.
Meanwhile, Kenya’s capital markets recorded their strongest quarterly performance in four years, with market value rising by Ksh360 billion in Q3 2025 to Ksh2.78 trillion.
Despite foreign outflows of Ksh3.9 billion and reduced foreign participation, domestic investors drove a 60% surge in market turnover.
The Ministry of Education is exploring the use of drones to distribute national examination materials in the future as a cost-cutting and efficiency measure.
Education CS Julius Ogamba told MPs that drones could replace expensive helicopter deployment currently used during floods or in inaccessible regions, noting that a policy paper is being drafted to guide their use.
As detailed in the Nation, the technology is expected to enhance security, ensure faster delivery, and reduce the recurring logistical costs of transporting exam papers to remote areas each year.
Ogamba revealed the ministry faces a Ksh3.7 billion budget deficit for the 2025 national exams, even after Treasury released an additional Ksh3.1 billion. He assured MPs that helicopters and 4WD vehicles will remain on standby this year as the drone plan is developed.
Construction input costs rose at the fastest pace in nearly two years in Q3 2025, driven by higher prices of key building materials.
KNBS data shows the Construction Input Price Index increased by 1.27% to 121.27 points, the sharpest quarterly rise since December 2023.
Business Daily documented that steel and reinforced bars saw the biggest jump at 5.2%, followed by electrical fittings at 5.1%, bitumen at 4.7% and sand at 3.6%.
Cement and timber prices eased slightly, helping cushion the overall increase. The Building Cost Index rose 1.48% while the Civil Engineering Cost Index climbed due to costlier petroleum-based products.
Safaricom has partnered with Naivas to sell its home wireless Internet routers, expanding its distribution network as competition in the broadband market heats up.
Naivas becomes the second retailer after Quickmart to stock the routers, marking a shift from Safaricom’s traditional reliance on dealers, its retail shops, and Masoko. The telco aims to tap into Naivas’ 110 outlets and Quickmart’s 61 stores to reach more customers outside Nairobi.
Safaricom, which holds 34.3% of the fixed Internet market, down from 36.2% two years ago, faces growing pressure from new entrants like Elon Musk’s Starlink and Airtel, which plans to launch home fibre services. Read more.
Equity Group Holdings posted a 32.6% jump in net profit to Ksh52.1 billion for the nine months to September 2025, driven by cheaper costs for deposits and stable operating expenses.
As reported by the Business Daily, the bank’s operating expenses remained flat at Ksh90.7 billion, supported by digitization and AI, which the bank says has eliminated fraud losses.
The bank branch in Kenya delivered the strongest performance, with after-tax profit rising 51.2% to Ksh31 billion, while the DRC unit posted Ksh13.8 billion.
Meanwhile, non-performing loans dropped to Ksh129 billion. In terms of share price, there was a growth of 5% to a record Ksh63.50, lifting its market value by Ksh10 billion to Ksh239 billion.
"As interest rates came down late, we passed that to the customers and reduced lending rates by 300 basis points. Interest income has grown by three percent. But interest expense has gone down by 20.6%, giving us a 16% growth in net interest margin from Ksh80 billion to Ksh93 billion," Equity Group CEO James Mwangi stated.
The Senate has issued a 14-day ultimatum to insurance companies contracted to provide cover for police officers, directing them to release all claims already approved by the Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health Services (DOSHS).
Speaking in the Senate, Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo expressed concern that some officers injured in the line of duty have been forced to wait for years before receiving compensation.
“We are ordering you to pay the claims, and that is a must — not a request. It must be done before the next meeting,” she said. “These officers earn very little. They get injured and then wait for over five years to be compensated. We must be humane and help them overcome these challenges.”
Since 2024, a total of 1,756 claims have been lodged by officers across the Kenya Police Service, Administration Police Service, and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
The insurance consortium appearing before the committee disclosed that as of October 2025, Ksh1.075 billion had already been paid out to officers. Read more on Kenyans.co.ke
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