Amazingly, and this will come with murmurs, if not outright boos from the back, the country's GDP grew at roughly 4.5 percent to 5 percent this year, according to World Bank estimates.
Agriculture showed up. Services endured. Inflation remained relatively contained and within the Central Bank's target range, preserving a measure of household purchasing power and business planning. Exchange rates and foreign reserves were broadly stable. Tourism rebounded loudly.
Over the past two years, Kenya's Purchasing Managers’ Index has shifted from modest activity near the neutral threshold to clear expansion by the end of 2025.
After hovering around the break-even mark through much of 2024 and early 2025, and briefly dipping below 50 mid-year, the index climbed sharply to around 55 in November. This is the strongest private-sector growth in over five years, signalling firmer demand, rising sales, and broader economic momentum.
And yet, Kenya's business year unfolded under a weak shilling, rising costs, and a public mood that demanded reassurance even as the numbers resisted it. Progress, where it existed, was incremental and largely uncelebrated.
Behind the balance sheets were men and women making unglamorous decisions in private rooms, CEOs managing currency pressure, policy ambiguity, and organisations that could not afford drama. Some expanded cautiously. Some focused on survival.
All recalibrated.
Over the course of the year, we met a number of these leaders, not to audit the companies they represent, but to better understand the people running them. To look past performance and into temperament.
Personal profiles, after all, offer a view into the backend: a reminder that leadership is human work, shaped by backstories, fears, habits, and resolve.
We reached out to some of them for a brief catch-up. What follows are short reflections from leaders (and really my recollection of those events) who spent the year not projecting certainty, but stewarding complexity—quietly, professionally, and at scale.
Dr Kuria Nelson, CIC Group Chairman
We met him up on the 11th floor of CIC Headquarters. Stickler for time, he was already waiting (because if you are on time you are late), in a sturdy, pristine suit that matched his temperament. Words that he said that remained with us, "Many people live in denial as retirement nears, fearing the uncertainty. I saw it as a season: a time to serve, and then a time to live, leaving space for others to lead."
CIC Insurance PLC Group Chairman Dr Nelson Kuria during an interview at his office in Nairobi on September 16, 2025.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
What did 2025 teach you about yourself that no boardroom ever could?
Boardrooms operate at a strategic altitude, and altitude creates blind spots. This year taught me—bitterly—that misconduct often takes root far below where strategy is discussed. I learned that trust, when left unverified, is not leadership but vulnerability, and that vigilance is not paranoia but a critical competence of a director. It is work that cannot be delegated, deferred, or assumed.
What has been your best and worst decision in 2025?
Best decision: Continuing my commitment to lifelong learning and capacity building by joining the Advisory Board Centre and completing its Certified Chair Executive Programme, followed by Advanced Facilitation Skills training. The work sharpened how I listen, frame issues, and steer boardroom conversations toward decisions that actually land.
Worst decision: Delaying the rationalisation of my investment portfolio despite clear shifts in the financial markets—a hesitation that cost me the opportunity to maximise returns. Yeah, I'd definitely make a different move there.
Rebecca Miano, Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary
The quiet tragedy for interviewees is that their profiles—however faithful the content—remain at the mercy of the writer. Framing is an act of power, and sometimes we—sometimes I—get it wrong.
I framed the CS as a "corporate animal," someone uneasy with the tag of politician. That framing was false. She is a politician. Her distinction lies not in rejecting politics, but in how she practises it. It is a difference of method, not substance.
What we regret is not raising the issue of her yoga poses, which live online. But how could we, when she presents with such raw professionalism and dignity?
Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano pictured on June 3, 2025 at her office in Nairobi.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
What part of leadership did you quietly struggle with in 2025?
I quietly grappled with the challenge of balancing execution speed with team dynamics. I realised that while I was eager to achieve our goals swiftly, not everyone was operating at the same pace or level. This taught me the importance of patience and the need to allow more time for team members to align and grow, ensuring we move forward together effectively.
This has been a year of self-discovery. I recognised that my experience and qualifications significantly contributed to making it one of my most productive years.
It also reinforced the lesson that personal development is my responsibility. Investing time in my growth is crucial, and it's something I must prioritise to continue evolving personally and professionally.
Pauline Nzisa Lanco, Elected Rugby Africa EXCO member and chairlady, Women’s Rugby Advisory Committee
My immediate neighbour in the village was up to his usual hanky-panky, which meant I had to drive down nine hours to sit through a kangaroo court with him and Abwao, our village chief.
I did the Zoom interview with Pauline from my verandah that morning—an hour before the terse village tribunal under a tree. A shame, really, because she was full of energy, and she felt like someone whose presence, face to face, would have enriched the exchange even further. Still, our conversation put me in a warm mental space for what lay ahead.
What she said that stood out: “When I was elected in 2013, shattering the glass ceiling as the first woman in that position in the Kenya Rugby Union, I made a promise to myself that by the time I turned 50, there would be at least 50 women in leadership positions in the Kenya Rugby Union. I turn 50 in November. There are close to 110 women in leadership positions.”
World Rugby Council member and Rugby Africa EXCO member Paulina (Paula) Lanco during an interview at Karen Country Club, Nairobi on May 1, 2025.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
What did 2025 teach you about yourself?
This year has reinforced lessons on the power of resilience, the necessity of resets, and the value of perseverance. Most importantly, it has taught me what no boardroom ever does: the courage and importance of taking the first step even when the path is unclear. Because we all need some assurance, don't we? We don't. We just need to start moving toward the fog of our decisions.
My best decision was saying yes to opportunities that intimidated me—where failure could be public and vulnerability unavoidable. These included the Biko interview for this paper. Interviews are never easy to do, especially the type that requires you to open up about yourself.
Another great decision was my address at the World Rugby General Assembly, serving as Nomination Chair for the 50 Most Influential Women in African Sport, and co-chairing the CIFSA Scientific Committee.
I no longer think in terms of worst decisions—only lessons. As Co-Chair of the Women Sport Africa Network (WSAN), we appointed committee chairs based more on titles than capacity, which meant stepping in repeatedly to fill gaps.
We also entered collaborations without MOUs in place. The lesson was clear: I must articulate my values more confidently and set firmer boundaries. Board experience sharpened my discernment—about people, dynamics, and the commitments worth carrying.
Ken Njoroge, Founder at Pani
It can’t be easy to invite a journalist into your home—the place where your children sleep and dream, where your wet clothes hang from the line. This is where you are most vulnerable. When someone does, they are saying: this is who I am; there is no version of me more authentic than this. It disarms you. You want to honour that trust. That’s what going over to Ken’s residence felt like.
It is easy to admire Ken for his intelligence and stoicism—for building Cellulant into a Pan-African success, then losing it, sitting with that loss, finding language for it, and getting up to build again. He had just turned 50, an age that invites questions.
“Work brings me deep joy,” he said, “and I don’t know how to do work in any way that isn’t about large-scale impact. So the question I sit with now is: how do these two things coexist? How do I serve both masters—my commitment to impact and my commitment to my wife, Koi—with equal integrity? That’s my big question at 50.”
Cellulant Group founder and former CEO, Ken Njoroge, during an interview at his home in Lavington, Nairobi, on July 24, 2025.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
What have been your lows and highs this year?
On a personal level, the year was very difficult—we lost our mother early on. There is no easier way to talk about something like that. There are no proper words for it. That was very difficult, of course.
Professionally, however, it was defining. It was the year I decided to build something big again. We came offwhat felt like a Formula One ride at Cellulant, then slowed—almost a five-year pit stop. Now we're accelerating once more, trying to build something larger, more impactful, and shaped by everything we learned the first time. That, in many ways, sums up 2025.
What I am most proud of is the resilience that comes from strong relationships—family, friends, people who show up in both life and business. This year made clear just how powerful that kind of support is. It is real social capital. What frightened me most was a renewed awareness of how short life is, and how little control we truly have—a stark reminder of our mortality.
Esther Ngari, Kenya Bureau of Standards Managing Director
Some people claim to be self-made when they aren’t. Esther is self-made. The whole bootstrap story applies here. Father, a groundsman at the UoN, mother, a peasant farmer, 12 children in the family, one of them Esther.
It takes a lot to come out of that and ascend to certain offices. Especially for a woman. She spoke of the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) appointment in 2023 when she became MD. “I didn’t think I was a contender, and not from lack of competence, but from being comfortable in the comfort zone. I think as women we struggle with self-belief more than men.”
Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) Managing Director Esther Ngari during an interview at her Office in Nairobi on March 13, 2025.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
What conversation changed the trajectory of your year—even slightly?
It happened on a quiet Sunday afternoon with my youngest daughter, who asked—with the disarming clarity only a child can manage, "Mom, when you're here, where does your mind go?" That question became a pivotal point for my year—not as self-criticism, but as an invitation to awareness. It made me realise that presence is not simply about being in the room, but about choosing where one's attention rests.
Since then, I have been practising the discipline of being fully present. I've learned that the most meaningful conversations are often unplanned, unfolding in ordinary spaces with the people who matter most. That shift has softened how I listen, deepened how I connect, and brought a quieter intentionality to every part of my life.
What fear did you finally look in the eye this year?
This year, I stood my ground against the fear of being still. For a long time, I lived with the belief that if I wasn't constantly doing or achieving, I was somehow falling behind—or losing my value. I was afraid that if I turned off the engine and sat with myself, I would discover I didn't know who I was without a task to complete.
Looking that fear in the eye meant choosing weekends with no plans and learning to sit comfortably with an empty schedule. What I found wasn't a void, but a sense of peace I hadn't felt in a long time. I realised I don't have to earn my right to rest, and that my worth is not measured by how busy I am.
