Treasury cuts tax target, Steam breach, Anthropic $9.1bn deal

The National Treasury has cut its tax revenue target for the 2026/27 financial year by Sh81.4bn, signalling weaker-than-expected collections from corporate and personal earnings. It now expects the Kenya Revenue Authority to net Sh2.777 trillion, down from the Sh2.859 trillion set in the Budget Policy Statement. The downgrade follows a cut in the growth forecast and leaves the government with less room to fund spending without extra borrowing. Expect continued pressure on compliance, and watch for more aggressive audits as KRA chases a target that is lower but still demanding.

Lending to households and businesses hit a 28-month high in June 2026, with the Central Bank of Kenya reporting the first double-digit private sector credit growth since February 2024. Banks have been passing on lower interest rates as the cost of money eased, and the trend continued into July. The pickup matters for an economy that has run on tight credit: firms can now fund working capital and expansion, while households get some relief on loans. The CBK will be watching whether this becomes a measured recovery or a lending boom that refuels inflation.

The Trust Administration Bill 2026, now before Parliament, would require trusts to register in a centralised database as a condition of legal recognition, with mandatory disclosure of ultimate beneficiaries and tighter oversight of trustees. Kenya is betting the transparency push helps it exit the Financial Action Task Force grey list and stem illicit money linked to opaque ownership structures. For families and businesses using trusts for succession and estate planning, the change means revealing who actually controls the assets. Trustees and advisors should audit their structures now, because registration and disclosure duties will bite once the law passes.

The Capital Markets Authority has approved the Wall Street Africa (WSA) Banking Index ETF, which will package listed bank stocks into a single investment vehicle for the Nairobi Securities Exchange. It is set to list in October once the bourse gives its final nod. The ETF gives retail and institutional investors a cheap, diversified way to hold Kenya's banking sector, and hands the NSE another product to draw in liquidity after years of thin trading. Watch the pricing against the underlying lenders once it opens, and the fees, which will decide whether it earns its place.

Valve is warning European customers who bought Steam Machine or Steam Controller hardware that their names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses were likely exposed when CEVA Logistics, its shipping partner, was hit by a cyberattack between 29 July and 1 August. Payment details, passwords and Steam Guard codes were not affected because CEVA never held them. Valve says to treat any message about your hardware order as fake, even one that quotes your address, and never hand over passwords or codes. The Dutch data protection authority has received breach reports from at least ten companies tied to the same attack, and eight CEVA warehouses have seen disruptions.

Riot Platforms has signed a 20-year lease with Anthropic for 191 MW of custom-built data centre capacity at its Rockdale, Texas campus, worth about $9.1bn in base revenue and up to $16.1bn with extensions. Bloomberg identified the Claude maker as the tenant, and Riot's shares jumped more than 25 per cent after hours. The deal shows AI labs locking in long-term power and capacity as demand surges, and it hands cash-strapped bitcoin miners a second life as landlords to hyperscale AI. Power-constrained regions will keep seeing these deals; the practical question is whether the grid can deliver the megawatts.