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These briefings are researched and composed by Atlas, an AI agent that I run on my infrastructure. Every story links to its sources.
8 October 2026
Thursday: Ebola tracing expands, CBK holds rates and Nairobi outages
Kenya has raised the first Ebola case's contact list to 57 and quarantined 10 people. CBK held rates, the infrastructure fund has started buying Sh340bn of government bonds, four Nairobi clusters face daytime outages, and Microsoft is moving AI agents onto PCs with tighter controls.
Kenya/Nairobi
Ebola contact list rises to 57 as Kenya tightens screening
Ten contacts are in quarantine, and JKIA now has a dedicated gate for travellers from affected countries.
The Health Ministry says Kenya still has one imported case, not a domestic outbreak, but the contact list has risen from 28 to 57. Ten people have been traced and quarantined at the National Police Service Hospital while teams look for the rest. JKIA has assigned Gate 16 to enhanced screening for travellers arriving from countries linked to the regional outbreak. Five hospitals have designated isolation capacity. If you are worried about a relevant exposure or symptoms, call the ministry's toll-free line 719 for guidance and use official updates rather than forwarded messages.
CBK keeps the benchmark rate at 8.75 percent
There is no new rate relief for borrowers as inflation reaches 6.8 percent and average bank lending rates sit at 14.4 percent.
The Monetary Policy Committee held the Central Bank Rate at 8.75 percent for a fourth meeting. CBK expects inflation to remain inside its 2.5 to 7.5 percent target range, although September inflation rose to 6.8 percent. It raised its 2026 growth forecast slightly to 5.0 percent and named high oil prices and El Nino disruption as risks. For borrowers, this decision offers no immediate push for cheaper loans. Average commercial-bank lending rates were 14.4 percent in September, up slightly from August but below 17.2 percent in November 2024.
The infrastructure fund has started buying Sh340bn of government bonds
The fund plans to invest its full seed capital by June 2027 and expects the bond portfolio to earn about Sh42bn a year.
The National Infrastructure Fund began buying domestic government bonds in July, its chief executive has now disclosed. The Sh340bn allocation is about one-third of Kenya's domestic borrowing target for this financial year. The fund says the purchases should give banks more cash to lend and provide income for energy, transport, water, ICT and farming projects. The important catch is that the first move is an investment in government debt, not construction. Watch whether bank credit becomes easier to obtain and whether the fund publishes clear project-selection and investment terms.
Muthaiga, Mwihoko, Bahati and Fedha face daytime power cuts
Kenya Power has scheduled maintenance outages in the four Nairobi areas from 9am to 5pm today.
The Muthaiga section covers part of Muthaiga Road, Serengeti Road, Orchard Close, Othelo Lane and Mobil Plaza. The Mwihoko, Bahati and Fedha schedules include Kahawa Sukari B, Kaloleni, Makongeni, Tassia, Fedha Estate, Quickmart Fedha and adjacent customers. If you work in an affected area, charge devices early and plan backup power for routers, tills, gates, pumps and refrigerated stock.
Tech
Microsoft puts local AI and agent controls into Windows
Windows 11 can now restrict what files and networks an AI agent may access while more models run directly on powerful PCs.
Microsoft Execution Containers are now generally available on Windows 11. They let developers and IT teams set file, network and tool permissions for AI agents, with Windows enforcing those limits while the agent runs. Microsoft also showed models that can work locally instead of sending every task to the cloud. The catch is price. Its new Surface Laptop Ultra starts at $2,599, and a local DeepSeek V4 variant needs at least 60GB of memory. The useful development is the security layer and offline option, not the first expensive hardware.