Business

Negotiating foreign exchange (FX) rates has traditionally been a cumbersome process, requiring individuals and businesses to visit bank branches or get on call with Treasury desks. This process can often be time-consuming and inconvenient, leading to delays for those with urgent financial needs. Additionally, the limited accessibility of these services, restricted to banking hours, meant customers could not transact during evenings, weekends, or public holidays, making it particularly challenging for those with tight schedules.

To address these challenges and meet the growing demand, Equity Bank has introduced the FX Preferential Rate Solution. According to the bank, this platform is tailored to meet the needs of individuals and businesses that frequently handle foreign currency transactions. It allows customers to access preferential FX rates directly through the bank’s digital platforms, Equity Mobile App and online, eliminating the need for branch visits or lengthy phone calls.

The Preferential FX Rate Solution enables users to access discounted rates via the app or online, based on the value of their transactions. Customers can view discounted rates tailored to their account and transaction details and execute transactions directly through the app or online. Each transaction is assigned a unique reference number for transparency and tracking. The system is designed to automatically apply discounted rates, with higher transaction values attracting better rates. Once the rate is confirmed, users can finalize the transaction in real time, avoiding delays and manual processes.

This solution comes at a time when Kenya’s foreign exchange market is experiencing significant growth and transformation. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) reported record-high foreign exchange reserves of $12.5 billion as of January 2026, providing 5.4 months of import cover. This growth has been supported by remittance inflows, which totalled $435 million in December 2025, and a booming retail forex trading market, which now boasts over 100,000 active traders in Kenya. Kenya’s international trade volume reached Ksh973.6 billion in the second quarter of 2025, further reflecting the critical need for seamless cross-border payment solutions for businesses.

These developments highlight the increasing demand for efficient and accessible forex solutions.

Equity’s Preferential FX Rate Solution is ideal for a wide range of customers. This solution simplifies international payments, enabling organizations to focus on their core operations without being hindered by the delays and complexities of traditional FX processes.

It allows travelers to access competitive foreign exchange rates for their trips abroad, freelancers and expatriates to manage regular foreign currency transactions with ease, and businesses to streamline cross-border payments. NGOs and development sector organizations can facilitate payments for international projects, while traders dealing in large currency transactions can negotiate better rates, ensuring both cost savings and convenience.

As technology reshapes how individuals, businesses and organisations manage cross-border transactions, more Kenyans hope that these solutions will lead to greater financial inclusion, reduced transaction costs, and improved access to global markets, enabling them to fully participate in the opportunities of a connected world.

A seven-day trade mission to southern DRC concluded with participants citing practical outcomes: meetings locked in, supplier contacts verified, and clear next steps in energy logistics, food supply, healthcare and warehousing.

More than 50 executives from 16 countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Burundi, South Africa, the UK, Germany, India and the UAE, visited operational sites across Kolwezi, Lubumbashi and Likasi. The itinerary covered the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex, CMOC Group’s DRC operations, Agro-industrial Development in Kolwezi (DAGRIL) and the new Lualaba International Airport.

Two developments stood out as logistics tailwinds: the airport and access to the Lobito Corridor, which links the copper belt to Atlantic ports via Angola and Namibia. Klaus Buttner, who leads EMEA operations at the Alberta United Kingdom Office, High Commission of Canada, said the two are a game changer for time critical cargo in southern DRC.

“Better air and corridor links will cut turnarounds for critical shipments and improve reliability for perishables and medical supplies,” said Klaus who was part of the trade mission organised by Equity Group.

At Kamoa-Kakula, investors toured the underground mine, concentrator and a newly commissioned smelter with capacity above 500,000 tonnes of copper anodes per year. CMOC Group Limited, a leading Chinese copper and cobalt producer, operates large DRC complexes that require dependable inputs every day. Those volumes are driving demand for depots, cross docking, warehousing and fleet services around Kolwezi and along feeder roads.

Within that logistics chain, energy logistics is the binding constraint, with demand from mines, transport and construction outpacing fuel distribution capacity across Katanga and Lualaba.

“Katanga and Lualaba continue to experience an unsteady fuel supply chain, coupled with rapidly growing demand,” said Ambrose Mwachilumo, CEO of Pyxida OLAM. Echoing the ground reality, Elda Shaidi, Sales and Business Development Manager at Epson Energy Tanzania, added: “The region’s energy gap is relatively huge. We see opportunities in fuel depots, last mile distribution, storage infrastructure and lubricants, and we’re planning to expand into the DRC.”

Regulatory measures in Lualaba are designed to de-risk logistics and other support services, including duty and VAT exemptions on eligible equipment under the enhanced Mining Code and Investment Framework, and a 10-year fiscal stability clause covering taxes, royalties and duties. The resulting certainty improves cash flow visibility and supports longer term financing for storage, handling and fleet assets.

As mining towns grow, essential services are drawing capital, particularly in healthcare and food distribution. “Given the growth around Kolwezi, investing in medical equipment and supplies is worth considering,” said Catherine Otieno, Director of Pharmacy at Prodigy Healthcare, after a visit to Mupanja Hospital. On the food side, suppliers are mapping bulk demand from industrial camps and retail. “The copper belt is a key expansion market for our long-life milk. Bulk buyers such as large mines, supermarkets and wholesalers require reliable warehousing and route to market,” said Fridah Gichobi, Export Development Manager at Brookside Dairy.

With faster cargo routes cutting lead times, DAGRIL is expanding agri processing, including maize and feeds, and engineering services to anchor food and maintenance supply for mine sites, and is inviting partners to co invest in storage and distribution hubs around Kolwezi.

Equity BCDC set out funding options for market entry, covering borderless banking, trade finance, foreign exchange and cash management. “We are showing investors a complete ecosystem from mining to manufacturing, agriculture, logistics and infrastructure, and we will back working capital and asset needs with borderless banking, trade finance, foreign exchange and cash management,” said Paty Paterne Mushagalusa, Associate Director for Commercial Projects at Equity BCDC.

Mpofu Vusi, Equity Group Director for Mining and Extractives, added that, “Our goal as Equity is to connect capital to opportunity. When you visit the mines, the farms, the factories and the roads, you begin to see the real opportunity.”

The mission also connected delegates to the National Agency for Investment Promotion (ANAPI), the Fédération des Entreprises du Congo (FEC) and local chambers for registrations and onboarding, helping convert interest into formal pipelines.

Several participants said they secured follow up meetings and referrals during the visit. For many in the delegation, those opportunities now come with named contacts and near-term milestones, the kind of specifics that turn a week on the ground into real business.

“I have built some business bridges from this mission, with more than four promising opportunities after B2B meetings facilitated during the visit,” said Dimitry Ohou, Petropipe Oil and Gas Ltd Country Manager for Congo Brazzaville.

By Prashant Byndoor, Country Manager East Africa

Rising transaction volumes, tighter regulation and growing competition are placing new demands on banks and cooperative lenders across Kenya and East Africa, while institutions adapt their payment operations to cope with sustained pressure.

These pressures sit on top of very high transaction volumes. Real-time payment systems across Africa now process close to 64 billion transactions with cumulative flows approaching US $2 trillion, according to recent analysis.

Banks, cooperative lenders and payment operators are already carrying this volume through their daily operations. Digital transactions sit behind activities such as member savings contributions, loan disbursements, merchant payments, salary transfers and bill settlement.

The same infrastructure also carries national-level payment flows that connect households, businesses and public-sector programmes through shared rails.
What tests institutions is not usage, but keeping these flows stable as oversight becomes more exacting and disruption harder to absorb.

Regulation is tightening around cooperative finance
Oversight of payments and cooperative finance in Kenya is becoming more demanding, particularly for institutions built around member savings. Compliance now requires deeper reporting, clearer controls and greater investment in risk management.

Smaller operators feel this most directly, while mid-tier banks are moving closer to cooperatives as regulatory expectations across the sector rise.
Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations (SACCOs) collect member savings and lend back into their communities.

Many households and small businesses use them for regular transactions rather than occasional services. The regulated SACCO sector now holds more than Sh1 trillion in assets and serves over seven million members, with a growing share of activity passing through agent networks and electronic channels rather than branches.

Technology decisions are increasingly judged on whether systems can stand up to operational and regulatory pressure. Payment platforms need to reconcile cleanly, provide visibility and run predictably as volumes increase. Workarounds between systems add cost and risk that institutions are finding harder to justify.

Governance questions are being raised openly
Governance discussions within the cooperative sector have become more direct. Board composition, regulatory compliance, cybersecurity and longer planning horizons are more than side topics. They are raised in meetings, sector forums and regulatory engagements because weaknesses in these areas show up quickly once payment volumes rise.

For member-owned institutions, trust is built or lost through routine operations. When transactions fail, take too long to resolve, or cannot be clearly explained, confidence erodes regardless of product range or pricing – and governance gaps become visible immediately.

Demographics and competition tighten margin for error

Demographic pressure adds another layer. With a large proportion of the population under 35, cooperative institutions face growing expectations around digital access, speed and availability. Sector discussions increasingly link long-term sustainability to the ability to engage younger members through mobile-first channels and services that align with how they already transact.

At the same time, competition for deposits and payment flows is increasing. Banks, fintechs and non-bank providers are targeting segments traditionally served by cooperatives, raising the cost of operational weakness. Payment reliability and clarity therefore carry commercial weight alongside regulatory importance.

Transaction growth exposes system limits
Rising digital transaction counts place strain on operating models built around loosely connected platforms. Many institutions run payments across core banking systems, mobile applications, agent networks and external service providers. Where integration remains partial, reconciliation effort increases and visibility weakens.

That task is complicated by the need to coordinate payments across mobile money, cards, bank transfers, agent networks and cross-border flows, often within the same operating day.

At current volumes, these gaps create governance problems. Oversight slows, risk indicators surface later, and responsibility becomes harder to trace across systems. Interoperability serves a practical role here by reducing operational burden and supporting clearer institutional control as participation widens.

Partnerships reflect operating reality in 2026
Cooperative leaders are increasingly turning to partnerships with fintech firms and technology providers as part of their 2026 planning. Recent sector discussions point to collaboration being used to modernise core systems, improve operational visibility and support member access to services across multiple digital channels. Some examples from wider industry show why.

In Ethiopia, EthSwitch has used BPC to support nationwide payments modernisation through an interoperable instant payments ecosystem designed to connect institutions, simplify shared infrastructure and extend reliable digital payment access across the country, giving access to easier accessible payments to over 115mln Ethiopians, who now can use QR codes for day-to-day money operations. The examples exist on another continent as well.

In Ecuador, COONECTA aimed to make a bold statement that the future of finance in Ecuador will not be led solely by traditional banks or global fintechs but it will be shaped by the cooperative sector, empowered by BPC’s world-class technology.

It shows the same logic at cooperative-network level, giving credit unions in small towns and rural communities access to integrated digital financial services through a shared platform rather than leaving each institution to modernise alone.

This reflects the demands of continuous payment processing and real-time monitoring. Specialist capabilities are required as institutions work to meet regulatory expectations while keeping payment operations predictable at higher volumes. The task is to adopt these capabilities in ways that strengthen country-wide infrastructure, widen community access and preserve governance and accountability firmly within the institution.

A constructive response is taking shape

The payments environment across East Africa has moved into a stage where reliability is tested daily rather than occasionally. Systems that sit behind savings, credit and commerce are expected to run without pause, reconcile cleanly and provide clear visibility while transactions are still in motion.

Continuous settlement has become the operating baseline, requiring institutions to monitor activity and handle exceptions as transactions move rather than after they complete.

Rising volumes are encouraging simpler operating structures and clearer lines of control, rather than layers of manual intervention.

Kenya’s next phase in payments will be defined less by growth alone than by how well institutions can sustain it. Transaction volumes keep rising, expectations around speed and transparency tighten respectively, and pressure on cooperative lenders and banks will only increase.

Investing in interoperable, resilient payment infrastructure that supports stronger oversight and wider inclusion should become an important focus. Institutions that invest in those foundations are well placed to maintain trust and keep pace with how payments are now used.