In 2023, most companies and businesses either issued profit warnings, announced mass firings of employees or closed shop.
The reasons for these unfortunate happenings were similar across board, ranging from tough macroeconomic conditions, high taxation, and the depreciating shilling.
Generally, the business environment throughout the year has been largely tough and disruptive on most businesses.
However, on the other side of the coin, there have been some sectors that have performed exceptionally well in the year, some of them capitalizing on the economy’s weaknesses.
These sectors have constantly shocked the Kenyan business landscape, revealing a silver lining in the dark cloud of the bleak Kenyan economy.
Here are some sectors that performed fairly well in 2023:
The Banking sector in 2023
The banking sector reaped big in 2023, being among one of the few sectors that had positive growth in earnings for the year.
For instance, Co-operative Bank unveiled its financial results for the third quarter of 2023 with profit rising to Ksh18.39 billion.
Additionally, Equity Bank Group recorded a five per cent growth in net earnings for nine months of the year to Ksh36.2 billion largely on stable earnings in subsidiaries outside Kenya.
Notably, in line with these impressive numbers, these banks were riding on some regulations such as the high interest rates set by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).
On this, one of the main revenue sources for banks is the interest earned on loans provided to borrowers and the interest paid on deposits. The interest rates in the country have been discretely rising.
Also Read: How and Why Kenyan Banks Are Consistently Making Profits
For instance, on August 9, 2023, CBK retained its Central Bank Rate (CBR) at 10.5%.
However, the regulator in early December, the regulator increased the benchmark for lending rates for banks across to 12.50 percent, one of the highest lending rates ever since 2012.
Telecommunications Sector
These major profits were seen particularly in mega telecoms company, Safaricom.
In the financial results released on November 9, 2023, Safaricom PLC recorded a strong growth in profitability for the six months to September 30, 2023.
Notably, the company hit a double-digit growth in net income to close at 10.9 per cent to Ksh41.6 billion.
Additionally, overall, the group net recorded a strong growth in profitability for the six months to September 30, 2023, achieving a double-digit growth in net income to close at 10.9 per cent to Sh41.6 billion.
Agriculture
Some sectors in the agricultural sector have bagged huge profits in 2023. These sectors include avocado farming. According to statistics by Kakuzi Limited, avocado profits have more than doubled in 2023 to Ksh654.8 million, up from Ksh288.6 million in 2022.
Also Read: Kakuzi Issues Profit Warning, Cites China’s Low Demand
Additionally, Kenya in July shipped out the highest volume of horticultural produce in more than two years, boosted by increased demand from export markets.
According to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), exports hit 65,172 tonnes in July 2023, a 19.3 percent jump from 54,604 tonnes in June 2023.
The jump was attributed to increased demand for fresh produce especially in Europe.
However, on the other side of the coin, other sectors have also suffered losses due to issues such as overproduction, for example, macadamia.
According to reports by Kakuzi, the macadamia sector has been suffering overproduction, in comparison to the demand of the macadamia nut globally.
