DICKSON MAGECHA

A world is supported by four things “… the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the righteous and the valor of the brave.." -Frank Herbert

@MetamateDaz @nyabinghidread There are 20 vacant homes for every homeless persons. Boomer will also add millions of houses as they start to exit the stage amid ahead of a near term population decline. Affordability and homelessnes are a function of many social factors - many of which billionaires can't fix.

I genuinely don't understand people like Bezos and Musk. If I had billions of dollars, I would just start fixing everything. Homeless veterans sleeping on the streets? Not on my watch. Hungry children going to bed with empty stomachs? Hell no. They could be making life better but instead choose to build spaceships and data centers to pump stocks and destroy the planet

This proposed provision in Kenya’s Finance Bill 2026—imposing a 30% final tax on gross rental income (residential and commercial) for non-resident/diaspora landlords, with zero deductions for repairs, maintenance, insurance, agent fees, mortgage interest, or other expenses—is highly counterproductive. It risks undermining a vital sector rather than supporting it. Here’s why, drawing from official and credible sources 1. Massive Housing Deficit + Low Local Incomes = Reliance on External Capital Kenya faces a housing deficit of over 2 million units, with annual demand of 200,000–250,000 units but supply of only ~50,000. Urbanization (4.4% annually) and population growth exacerbate this, with ~61% of urban households in slums. Local real incomes are too low for most Kenyans to drive large-scale development or absorption, especially in the formal private sector. Diaspora and foreign investment have been essential to bridge the gap through construction, ownership, and rental supply. Taxing this capital punitively at source (gross, no deductions) directly attacks the funding needed for new supply. 2. Already Low Rental Yields + High Effective Tax Burden Rental yields in Kenya are modest and under pressure. Gross yields often range from 4–8% in Nairobi (higher in satellite areas or student housing, lower in prime spots), with net yields frequently 2–6% after costs. Recent data shows averages around 5.5–7.4%, with some segments as low as 2.2% for studios. A 30% gross tax (effective rate on actual profit often >50% after unavoidable expenses) would wipe out or reverse profitability for many leveraged investors. This comes on top of existing costs and capital gains tax on eventual sale. Investors facing negative or razor-thin returns will simply walk away. 3. Real Estate’s Multiplier Effects: Jobs, Taxes, and Construction Activity Property investment has strong upstream and downstream impacts—jobs in construction, materials, professional services (architects, lawyers), and ongoing management/maintenance. It generates auxiliary tax revenue during building and operation far beyond direct rental tax. Discouraging investors reduces this multiplier. Kenya already struggles with slack uptake of both government affordable housing units and private developments. Punitive taxation will worsen oversupply risks in some segments while deterring new builds. 4. Critical Role in Diaspora Remittances and Current Account Stability Diaspora remittances are a major forex earner (often $4+ billion annually recently) and key supporter of Kenya’s current account deficit. Much of this money flows into real estate as a trusted, tangible asset. Taxing property income so harshly signals “don’t invest here,” likely reducing inflows. Remittances help cover import gaps and stabilize reserves; disrupting real estate channels undermines this without easy substitutes. 5. Uncompetitive vs. Alternative Markets Other jurisdictions actively court real estate investment with better incentives, clearer rules, and competitive after-tax yields. Kenya’s combination of moderate gross yields + high gross taxation + illiquidity (real estate is a “stickier” asset than financial markets) makes it far less attractive. Investors have choices—why pick a high-risk, high-tax jurisdiction with ad-hoc policy shifts? 6. Behavioral Impacts: Reduced Investment, Market Distortions, and Capital Flight Risk Non-residents have lower ties and higher mobility—they can easily redirect capital elsewhere or divest. Targeting one investor class (diaspora/non-residents) with punitive rules makes their properties uncompetitive on rents. They may raise prices (hurting tenants) or exit, reducing overall supply. Frequent ad-hoc tax changes on high-ticket, long-horizon assets like property signal high sovereign risk. This chills not just real estate but broader foreign direct investment (FDI). Investors seek predictability; repeated surprises erode confidence.

@MarioNawfal @coldtusker What's the cost per MW? This shouldn't be a long term solution...

🇹🇷🇬🇭 A single Turkish ship anchored off Ghana's coast generates over a quarter of the country's electricity. The MV Karadeniz Powership Osman Khan is 299 meters long and pumps out up to 480 MW of power. It has been doing this since 2017. No power plant to build. No years of construction delays. Karpowership, the Turkish private company behind it, has quietly turned this model into a global business, deploying floating plants to countries with chronic energy deficits across Africa and beyond. Africa has an infrastructure gap that traditional investment has failed to close for decades. Turkey found a way to monetize that gap with engineering.

@kiruti The two largest shareholders prefer dividends. This can only be a pipedream for retail investors

Personally I feel like Safaricom wastes a lot of money on dividends. This company can easily have a trillion shillings war chest if they kept 72 billion every year from their profits for a decade

@WaruhiuFranklin @DMVahid booknewproperty.com/news/standard-….

@WaruhiuFranklin @DMVahid Tafadhali. I shall leave the following articles for your consideration businesstimes.com.sg/property/stand….

It appears that Standard Chartered Bank is planning to exit from the Kenyan market...

Ndugu, resorting to ad hominem attacks like “you’re not special” and “I get first-hand info from decision makers” only shows you have no facts beyond “ni mimi nakushow.” The real problem is you’re just dropping clickbait posts with zero basis for your wild conclusions — conclusions that directly contradict a clear, multi-year strategy that SCB has publicly announced and is actually executing. If you cared to read the bank’s official statements and investor updates, you’d see it. I wish the CMA had some say on such charlatans freely speculating and spreading rumours about listed companies. It misleads retail investors and damages market confidence. Save this thread. In 5 years we’ll revisit it and I’ll happily accept your apology. Until then, stick to facts, not vibes.

@Dicksonmagecha @DMVahid Ndugu you're a banker just like I am. You're not any special. The difference is that I get first hand information from decision makers, not some bankers based somewhere in the middle east.

@WaruhiuFranklin @DMVahid X can show us things. You can spew all this talk with not an ounce of information- but dare call folks ignorant? You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Save this post & we shall review it in 5 years and I'll be happy to get your apology then

@Dicksonmagecha @DMVahid I'm speaking from a point of information, Dickson. You're speaking from a point of ignorance. We will revisit this soon.

@BoardLotSultan @robert_muriithi bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

@Dicksonmagecha @robert_muriithi Are they? Merging this into their MENA offering?

This Stanchart Exit from Kenya will be very interesting. ✅️Extremely profitable for shareholders & disapointing for Stanchart Fanatical customers, who will be sold to their sowrn Banking Rival. Bookmark!

@BoardLotSultan @robert_muriithi Did you also track the expansion into Egypt & Morocco ?

@robert_muriithi You need to rethink that bro; Back in Feb we started tracking the patterns of Stanchart exit, based on their Global strategy and now we can see the process so clearly. See this @boardlotsultan/note/p-188693023?r=7o2ts5" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">substack.com/@boardlotsulta…

What happens if this drags for months on end & the energy shortage becomes a national security issue for Asia-Pacific economies who actually depend on Chinese exports? The blockade only works if Iran folds quickly - at some point other folks will have to put their energy interests first

@martinss72 @JavierBlas The only thing that matters is no (discounted) Iranian oil to China -or anyone else- until there is a satisfactory, real agreement. The US 'bowing down' to China or anyone else for that matter is wishful thinking for some.

China ordered its national companies to ignore US sanctions on domestic oil refiners that Washington said were buying Iranian oil. In a rare order issued on Saturday, it said Chinese entities shall "not recognize, implement, or comply with the sanctions" in order to "safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests." mofcom.gov.cn/xwfb/xwfyrth/a…

The population growth in Africa is also drastically falling. Only the very poorest of countries with inadequate healthcare sectors are still having large number of kids - and even there you can already see a huge drop from a decade ago. In one generation, I suspect the whole world will be below the replacement rate.

The UN program for population control and women’s rights to have a choice over childbearing (since the 1990s?) has been directed at Africa. The idea was that society would improve as people sought education and employment (fewer mouths to feed). The population growth rate there remains boisterous, to say the least. And the societies are murderous (highest crime stats in the world). So giving people the tools and knowledge to build a better society obviously fails to build a better place. What is it then?

ITALY IS DYING — AND THE NUMBERS ARE BRUTAL Italy just recorded its lowest number of births since 1861. Only 355,000 babies were born in 2025, while deaths reached 652,000 — a net loss of nearly 300,000 people in a single year. The total fertility rate has collapsed to 1.14 children per woman, far below the 2.1 needed to sustain a population. This isn’t a temporary dip. It’s a long-term demographic collapse that threatens Italy’s entire future: shrinking workforce, collapsing pensions, aging society, and disappearing regions. Without massive immigration, Italy’s population would be shrinking even faster. This is what happens when birth rates stay critically low for decades. Italy is the clearest warning sign for many other developed nations heading in the same direction.

@WaruhiuFranklin @DMVahid Stop spreading terrible rumours. They also just expanded into Egypt and Morocco. Read the public statements issued by the bank

@DMVahid Not really. Standard Chartered has been exiting from many African countries and it's likely to exit from Kenya as well...

Mandatory Backdated Compounding Contributions from Day One of SHA: The Foundation for Sustainable Universal Health Coverage SHA is a universal health scheme that can only succeed if all eligible people contribute consistently. Insurance works because healthy individuals pay in steadily to build the pool for when support is needed. From the moment the SHA scheme launched, obligations should have been mandatory for all future claimants of working age. Anyone wanting to access benefits must make mandatory backdated contributions from Day One of the scheme. These contributions should compound at the average national debt interest cost to reflect the opportunity cost and financing burden the scheme has carried on their behalf. Instant or late registration with minimal payment defeats the entire model. It allows people to join only when ill, draining resources funded largely by formal sector deductions. This is not insurance — it is adverse selection that makes the system unsustainable. The reset date must be Day One of SHA. Access to claims should require full compounded back-payments from launch (or from the date of eligibility/age of majority). Healthy citizens must subsidize the pool in advance, not just when they need care. Without mandatory, compounding contributions from the beginning, universal coverage becomes an unfunded promise that burdens taxpayers and risks collapse. This is the discipline required for SHA to work as a true universal scheme.

Paying 20+k$ more to bolster corporate profitability is wild. US is practicing socialism of the rich where value is sucked from the middle class upwards. Protectionism won't lead to better jobs, but instead will eventually lead to outdated & overpriced products that can't compete anywhere else. US giving up on global markets will also come with a steep cost of jobs losses + an even wider trade deficits that will lead to a permanent risk premium.

@alohadajosh @itskyleconner Yes, bc of the Chinese strategy to subsidize manufacturing, undercut foreign competitors, flood the market, and create dependence. That has been their strategy on textiles, consumer electronics, steel, etc. etc. Protecting millions of American jobs from foreign subsidies is good

This car is a marvel Complete in-house vertical integration of powertrain, electrical architecture, chassis, and user functions - 48V low voltage / 925V high voltage Dead silent at speed, great sound system, very comfortable seats, and bounces like a Maybach GLS It’s baller… from a technical and visually imposing standpoint. Completely different character to S-Class / 7 Series but one that’s perfectly fitted to the customer of today, and certainly of no less perceived quality than the Germans. Every automaker needs one of these for benchmarking because hoooooly macaroni NIO ET9 💯 💯

@TimAdams76 Spot on.. but even your bold predictions were handsomely beaten. What a race!

A few London Marathon predictions tomorrow (I’ll find out the results after the race): - Tigist Assefa will win in a women’s-only world record of 2:14 low - Sabastian Sawe beats Jacob Kiplimo by 20/30 seconds and runs 2:01 low - Patrick Dever/Phil Sesemann will both run in 2:06s and Eilish McColgan clocks 2:20 low

THE FIRST MAN IN HISTORY TO BREAK 2 HOURS IN A MARATHON!!!🤯🤯🤯 Sabastian Sawe 🇰🇪 has just shattered the World Record at the London Marathon, running 1:59:30!!! He makes history as the first man to officially break 2 hours in the marathon. Yomif Kejelcha 🇪🇹 in his debut ran 1:59:41 to become 2nd fastest alltime, while Jacob Kiplimo 🇺🇬 finished in 2:00:28. All under the previous World Record.

@25th06Ke @Childish_MD @SafaricomPLC Cards are not cheaper- they charge merchants up to 3%- which eventually increases the prices you pay for your goods

idk why as kenyans we havent accepted using bank cards - Visa and mastercard are free to pay with. like i never paid fuel or supermarket with mpesa for like 3 years. Abroad, ata mobile transfer is free

@erwothi @MwangoCapital @kmainaeric @StellarSwakei @WillisOwiti @mmnjug @DollyOgutu @nderi_j @katewaithera1 @coldtusker @NSE_PLC Eh..did you mean PAT being higher than PBT?

@MwangoCapital @kmainaeric @StellarSwakei @WillisOwiti @mmnjug @Dicksonmagecha @DollyOgutu @nderi_j @katewaithera1 @coldtusker @NSE_PLC Under what circumstances is PBT higher than PAT? An example is paramount

The complete guide to the performance of Tier 2 and 3 Banks in 2025. (Note that Credit Bank has still not reported its FY 25 results yet, so it's the only one absent) A thread:

@edd_njuguna1 @ignyharaz2 Law says 3 seconds... its a global rule that Kenyans don't seem to know it exists. That's why folks with 20 years driving experience in kenya can take more than 5 tests to pass a simple driving test out here

@ignyharaz2 Umesahau kutaja you must stop at all junctions,and wait for about a minute ata kama uko peke yako. Driving at tatu city is every drivers nightmare,hujui who's watching you and where.

Tatu city kuna Sheria zingine zenye zikiekwa elsewhere lazima kenya itanyooka. Jana kuna dere tumetuma kupeleka mawe huku na Tata, jamaa was fine ksh. 5,000 ya kuchafua lami. Ati after kumwaga inafaa uoshe gari ndo upitie lami zao kabisa. Kuna fines mingi btw. Reckless driving, Over speeding Littering An authorised access. Do delulu.