Kenya's top CEOs outlook for 2025

KCB CEO Paul Russo. As Kenyans bid farewell to a year that offered mixed fortunes for corporates and consumers alike, the outlook for 2025 remains a topic of much anticipation. The challenges faced over the past year, from economic fluctuations to changing consumer behaviours, have left many wondering what lies ahead. Our senior reporter engaged with leading CEOs and captains of industry across various sectors of the Kenyan economy to glean their insights and predictions for the coming year. Here are the excerpts from those conversations, shedding light on their expectations and strategies as they navigate the evolving business landscape. Excerpts of their predictions for 2025 below: Paul Russo For the business community in Kenya, 2024 was an extraordinary year by any measure. Turbulent political developments, deep-cutting policy changes, relatively high interest rates, rise in non-performing loans, and runaway inflation tested the resilience of the country. As the leading regional bank, we closely monitored these events and quickly adapted to support our customers and the broader economy in bouncing back, all while maintaining a focus on delivering sustainable value to our shareholders and driving economic growth across all our markets. A key focus for the financial sector was navigating a challenging operating landscape occasioned by rising non-performing rates and the pressures to drive private sector credit growth. This created a situation where banks had to navigate the complexities of maintaining profitability while managing heightened risks. Looking ahead, there is cautious optimism for recovery as inflationary pressures ease and credit conditions improve with customers set to start enjoying the impact of lowered Central Bank Rates (CBR). Generally, we remain optimistic about the regional economic prospects. We anticipate that East Africa's economies will defy expectations in 2025. In Kenya, the expectation is that inflation remains controlled even as the government implements robust measures to enhance money circulation within the economy, fostering growth and stability. Across the region, Ethiopia's recent enactment of a law allowing foreign competition in banking is expected to stimulate its economy and attract foreign investments. Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan continue to be key economic partners, with increased trade anticipated among these countries. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan remain pivotal to the East African economic bloc. We project strong economic performance of countries in the region, with seven economies expected to achieve a growth rate of 5 per cent or more in 2025. These are fundamental indicators that position East Africa as the next growth frontier, offering untapped potential and compelling opportunities for investors seeking long-term diversified value. Paul Russo is KCB Group CEO Linus Gitahi I am very optimistic about 2025. The last two years have been laying the groundwork for our long-term competitiveness. With inflation in control and interest rates beginning to come down, we shall hopefully have a good year in manufacturing. I encourage the government to relentlessly focus on reducing the cost of doing business because it has a direct relationship with employment which is needed amongst our Youth. While physical infrastructure has improved, the cost, quality and consistency of utilities especially power needs focus as it is a big blocker to our competitiveness, especially compared to our neighbours. The government should provide an enabling environment and the private sector will do the rest. Linus Gitahi is Tropikal Brands (Africa) Ltd, Oxygene Marketing Communications and Diamond Trust Bank Board Chairman Kenya Private Sector Alliance CEO Carole Kariuki As we go into the new year, we are optimistic that the business climate will be more predictable, especially the regulatory environment for all the conversations we have heard in the last one year. The focus on the drivers of competitiveness will be the conversation and actions between Kepsa and all arms and levels of government. Kenneth Mbae Real estate has been the most resilient sector of the economy in Kenya, and I expect that to continue into 2025. I would encourage Kenyans to invest in real estate, particularly housing, as it offers opportunities to generate long-term, passive income every month. For those who invest in buying their own homes, it generates surplus cash flow from the saved rent expenditure. I would vouch for real estate to generate long-term guaranteed returns. Kenneth Mbae is Centum Real Estate's Managing Director Aysha Edwards A New Year always brings hope and aspiration for better things. After the MPox public health scare in 2024, my desire is that 2025 will be a year of global good health and prosperity. It will also be a defining year for the new social health insurance, which hopefully should improve access to quality healthcare and focus on clinical outcomes for Kenyans. Aysha Edwards is AAR's Chief Executive Officer Hellen Chepkwony The KDIC has put in place policies and strategies that are geared towards enhancing the Corporation's mandate and strengthening the financial sector in the new year. It is envisioned that the implementation of these strategies contained in the Corporation's new Strategic Plan (2023-2028), will enable KDIC to achieve its vision of becoming a reliable, effective deposit insurer and resolution authority. The Corporation has identified four key result Areas to prop up the achievement of the state agency's vision, namely: deposit insurance risk minimisation, resolution of problem banks and institutional capacity development. She emphasized that the Corporation shall remain steadfast in executing its mandate of protecting depositors as well as supporting the stability of the financial system. KDIC has lined up more dividend payouts to depositors of 19 institutions in liquidation and a possible review of the coverage limit. Towards this end, any depositor who was affected by the collapse of the 19 financial institutions in liquidation, is encouraged to reach out to us for updates on pending payout. So far, we have paid more than Sh90 billion to affected customers. Hellen Chepkwony is the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation's Chief Executive Officer Alex Njoroge As I look ahead to 2025, I remain hopeful that the hospitality sector will experience a positive turnaround, driven by an improved economy. After a tough 2024, I believe that rising disposable incomes will encourage more Kenyans and international visitors to explore our beautiful destinations. One of the key events I'm excited about is the World Rally Championship, particularly the Safari Rally. This prestigious event has the potential to significantly boost hotel bookings across the country, especially here in Naivasha, where the rally showcases our stunning landscapes and vibrant culture. Additionally, I'm optimistic about the government's plans to dual the Nairobi-Nakuru highway. This critical infrastructure improvement will alleviate bottlenecks for both hoteliers and consumers, making travel more accessible and encouraging greater movement throughout the region. However, I want to emphasize the need for special support for the hospitality sector. With millions of jobs at stake, it's vital that we receive the backing necessary to thrive and recover fully. Together, we can create a more resilient future for our industry and the communities we serve. Alex Njoroge is Karmel Resort Naivasha's Director and founder Shivani Siroya It's no secret that artificial intelligence has taken fintech-and the world-by storm. But I think many are missing the big picture, especially when it comes to the power of large language models (LLMs). LLMs have access to an incredible breadth of public knowledge but lack important context and non-public data to solve specific problems. The global majority is one example of a segment that isn't well represented in public data. The real opportunity exists in combining the power of existing LLMs with a company's expertise, custom tools, and private data to supercharge their products and services. As we look ahead to next year, I believe we'll see more companies integrating LLMs into their tech stacks to improve their existing workflows and discover new and innovative ways to serve their customers. Unlike crypto tokens, stablecoins are pegged 1:1 to a specific currency like the dollar while still operating on blockchain rails. One dollar stablecoin, for example, aims to always be worth exactly one US dollar. And while that might not sound like a revolutionary concept on the surface, the implications are massive. This technology enables near-instant transactions to occur 24/7, 365 days a year without geographic restrictions, and at a fraction of the cost of traditional financial institutions. Shivani Siroya is Tala's founder and Chief Executive Officer

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