Saving Recovery: Why TransCentury’s Case is a Test of Kenya’s Economic Maturity

If the liquidation of TransCentury PLC proceeds, Kenya stands to lose more than an infrastructure giant—it risks eroding a foundational pillar of economic confidence: the belief that businesses can recover, restructure, and thrive after distress. This moment is critical in shaping how Kenya approaches corporate recovery and long-term business stability.

Globally, temporary financial strain is not viewed as terminal. Even Fortune 500 companies go through cycles of distress, often emerging stronger after restructuring. In the U.S., for instance, over 6,800 corporate bankruptcy filings occurred in 2023, the majority of which pursued rescue, not liquidation. In Kenya, our recovery ecosystem is still young, with the Insolvency Act of 2015 offering hope but limited success in execution.

TransCentury has shown real signs of recovery. It has repaid over KES 1.2 billion to its creditors and recorded a profit of KES 580 million in 2024. These are indicators of momentum, not collapse. Allowing this company to be liquidated at such a pivotal point could send the wrong message to the business community—that financial difficulty automatically leads to closure, regardless of recovery efforts.

In a time when Kenya is focusing on industrialization, manufacturing, and infrastructure development, this case should open dialogue—not just in courts, but among policymakers, lenders, and regulators—about how to treat firms in distress without stifling their future.

The Kenya Association of Manufacturers has repeatedly raised concerns about high interest rates and dollar shortages that burden key sectors. The Central Bank of Kenya reports that over 20% of loans in manufacturing were non-performing in 2023. This reflects broader challenges that many firms are navigating. A supportive, structured path to recovery must be prioritized to prevent a wave of unnecessary closures.

While lenders have contractual rights, economic decisions must also weigh systemic impacts. Liquidation, while sometimes necessary, should always be the final option, especially for companies that demonstrate a willingness and ability to rebound. The preservation of jobs, capital investments, and tax contributions must also be considered as part of the national interest.

Kenya is actively working to build a globally competitive and investor-friendly economy. The President’s vision for an enabling business environment is anchored on predictability, security, and opportunity. A fair, transparent, and rehabilitative insolvency process would reinforce that vision and make Kenya more attractive to both local and foreign investors.

The World Bank’s Doing Business report once ranked Kenya among Africa’s top reformers, but access to credit and contract enforcement still pose challenges. Coupled with high inflation and double-digit interest rates, our business climate requires policies that give room for agility, not rigidity. Supporting viable companies through tough times is not just a moral imperative—it’s economic common sense.

More than 1,500 jobs and 10,000 indirect livelihoods are linked to TransCentury and East African Cables. If liquidation goes through, the ripple effect will hit households, supply chains, and tax collections. At a time when employment generation is a key national priority, losing such anchors of industrial productivity would be counterproductive.

The role of regulators such as the Capital Markets Authority and policy bodies such as the Attorney General’s Office becomes critical now, not to shield firms from accountability, but to ensure economic outcomes are guided by fairness, prudence, and a long-term national lens.
It is time to reaffirm the spirit behind the Insolvency Act of 2015. Kenya needs a stronger framework where restructuring is viable, timely, and supported by all actors—banks, regulators, investors, and courts. Letting TransCentury fall at the edge of recovery would risk discouraging future business resilience and increasing credit market hesitation.

The government, Parliament, and the financial sector can use this moment to collaborate. Through legal reform, administrative review, and dialogue with stakeholders, Kenya can build a smarter, more compassionate economic system—one that distinguishes between terminal failure and temporary turbulence.

TransCentury may have faced setbacks, but it has also demonstrated the will to rise. This is an opportunity to champion recovery, not just for one company, but for the countless others that may find themselves in similar situations tomorrow. Let us use this case not as a symbol of what went wrong, but as a catalyst for building a more responsive, rehabilitative business environment.