11 stories
Explainer ·
Why lending to one African government pays 6% and another 25%
Ten African governments borrow for a year at rates from 6.29% in Tanzania to 25.67% in Egypt. What sets the price of money in each country — the central bank, inflation, the currency and trust — and what it means for savers and borrowers across the continent.
Explainer ·
How to lend to your government: buying bills and bonds in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania
Several African governments let ordinary people lend to them directly, some from small amounts. What each official source says, country by country: Kenya’s Treasury bills from KSh 50,000, Nigeria’s FGN Savings Bond from ₦5,000, South Africa’s Retail Savings Bonds, and Tanzania’s Treasury bills.
Explainer ·
What the Central Bank Rate is, and why it reaches your pocket
The Central Bank Rate is the price the Central Bank of Kenya sets for money. When it moves, Treasury bill rates, bank loans and savings rates follow, at different speeds. How it works, in plain words.
Explainer ·
Small savings grow: how compound interest works
KES 1,000 a month for five years becomes about KES 64,700 at a savings-account rate and about KES 75,700 at a money-market-fund rate. Why the rate you earn matters more over time.
Explainer ·
Exchange rates: what a stronger or weaker shilling means for you
How to read “129.76 shillings per dollar”, what it means when the shilling weakens or strengthens, and who wins and loses: importers, exporters, families paying fees abroad, and anyone buying fuel.
Explainer ·
Inflation and your money: the real return
If prices rise faster than your savings grow, you are getting poorer while your balance goes up. How to work out the real return, and why it decides whether saving is working.
Explainer ·
The real cost of a loan: flat rate, reducing balance and fees
Two loans can both say 15% and cost very different amounts. How flat-rate and reducing-balance interest work, why fees matter, and three questions to ask before you sign.
Explainer ·
Money market funds, explained: yield, tax and risk
A money market fund pools savers’ money into short-term government and bank paper. What “daily yield” and “effective annual yield” mean, how the 15% withholding tax works, and what can go wrong.
Explainer ·
What is a Treasury bill, and how can I buy one?
A Treasury bill is a short loan you make to the government for 91, 182 or 364 days. How the price and the rate work, using the real auction of 5 October 2026, the KSh 50,000 minimum, the tax, and how individuals buy directly through the Central Bank.
Explainer ·
SASRA, IRA, and the perimeter beyond commercial banks
A perimeter guide: deposit-taking saccos under SASRA, insurers under IRA, and why a bank-only reading of Kenya’s financial system misses binding decisions.
Explainer ·
Who sets what: CBK, CMA, NSE, and the National Treasury
A map of institutional roles in Kenya’s banking and capital-markets system — who issues, who regulates, who operates the exchange, and who sets policy rates — so a desk does not cite the wrong primary.
More to read
- Receipts →Our daily verdict on one money event, with the figures from the source
- Casebook →What happened before, who lost, and what to ask now
- The Wire →Headlines from African business media, linked to the publisher
- The Morning →The day's rates and currencies, every weekday
- Asubuhi →The Morning in Kiswahili
- Archive →Every edition, by date
- Topics →Stories grouped by subject
- Institutions →Stories by regulator and central bank