Banking & Finance
Plastic-Eating Insect Species Discovered in Kenya Offers New Hope for Waste Management
Plastic pollution is severe in parts of Africa, driven by high plastic imports and limited recycling. Dr. Fathiya Khamis and her team aim to harness natural “plastic-eaters” to develop faster, more efficient waste solutions.
: Scientists have discovered mealworms in Kenya capable of digesting polystyrene plastic, potentially providing new tools for tackling global plastic pollution.
By Dr. Fathiya Mbarak Khamis
There’s been an exciting new discovery in the fight against plastic pollution: mealworm larvae that are capable of consuming polystyrene.
They join the ranks of a small group of insects that have been found to be capable of breaking the polluting plastic down, though this is the first time that an insect species native to Africa has been found to do this.
Polystyrene, commonly known as styrofoam, is a plastic material that’s widely used in food, electronic and industrial packaging.
It’s difficult to break down and therefore durable. Traditional recycling methods – like chemical and thermal processing – are expensive and can create pollutants.
This was one of the reasons we wanted to explore biological methods of managing this persistent waste.
I am part of a team of scientists from the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology who have found that the larvae of the Kenyan lesser mealworm can chew through polystyrene and host bacteria in their guts that help break down the material.
The lesser mealworm is the larval form of the Alphitobius darkling beetle. The larval period lasts between 8 and 10 weeks.
The lesser mealworms are mostly found in poultry-rearing houses which are warm and can offer a constant food supply – ideal conditions for them to grow and reproduce.
Though lesser mealworms are thought to have originated in Africa, they can be found in many countries around the world.
The species we identified in our study, however, could be a sub-species of the Alphitobius genus. We are conducting further investigation to confirm this possibility.
Our study also examined the insect’s gut bacteria. We wanted to identify the bacterial communities that may support the plastic degradation process.
Plastic pollution levels are at critically high levels in some African countries. Though plastic waste is a major environmental issue globally, Africa faces a particular challenge due to the high importation of plastic products, low reuse and a lack of recycling of these products.
By studying these natural “plastic-eaters”, we hope to create new tools that help get rid of plastic waste faster and more efficiently.
Instead of releasing a huge number of these insects into trash sites (which isn’t practical), we can use the microbes and enzymes they produce in factories, landfills and cleanup sites. This means plastic waste can be tackled in a way that’s easier to manage at a large scale.
KEY FINDINGS
We carried out a trial, lasting over a month. The larvae were fed either polystyrene alone, bran (a nutrient-dense food) alone, or a combination of polystyrene and bran.
We found that mealworms on the polystyrene-bran diet survived at higher rates than those fed on polystyrene alone.
We also found that they consumed polystyrene more efficiently than those on a polystyrene-only diet. This highlights the benefits of ensuring the insects still had a nutrient-dense diet.
While the polystyrene-only diet did support the mealworms’ survival, they didn’t have enough nutrition to make them efficient in breaking down polystyrene.
This finding reinforced the importance of a balanced diet for the insects to optimally consume and degrade plastic. The insects could be eating the polystyrene because it’s mostly made up of carbon and hydrogen, which may provide them with an energy source.
The mealworms on the polystyrene-bran diet were able to break down approximately 11.7% of the total polystyrene over the trial period.
GUT BACTERIA
The analysis of the mealworm gut revealed significant shifts in the bacterial composition depending on the diet. Understanding these shifts in bacterial composition is crucial because it reveals which microbes are actively involved in breaking down plastic. This will help us to isolate the specific bacteria and enzymes that can be harnessed for plastic degradation efforts.
The guts of polystyrene-fed larvae were found to contain higher levels of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, bacteria that can adapt to various environments and break down a wide range of complex substances.
Bacteria such as Kluyvera, Lactococcus, Citrobacter and _Klebsiella were also particularly abundant and are known to produce enzymes capable of digesting synthetic plastics. The bacteria won’t be harmful to the insect or to the environment when used at scale.
The abundance of bacteria indicates that they play a crucial role in breaking down the plastic.
This may mean that mealworms may not naturally have the ability to eat plastic. Instead, when they start eating plastic, the bacteria in their guts might change to help break it down. Thus, the microbes in the mealworms’ stomachs can adjust to unusual diets, like plastic.
These findings support our hypothesis that the gut of certain insects can enable plastic degradation. This is likely because the bacteria in their gut can produce enzymes that break down plastic polymers.
This raises the possibility of isolating these bacteria, and the enzymes produced, to create microbial solutions that will address plastic waste on a larger scale.
WHAT’S NEXT
Certain insect species, such as yellow mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) and superworms (Zophobas morio), have already demonstrated the ability to consume plastics. They’re able to break down materials like polystyrene with the help of bacteria in their gut.
Our research is unique because it focuses on insect species native to Africa, which have not been extensively studied in the context of plastic degradation.
This regional focus is important because the insects and environmental conditions in Africa may differ from those in other parts of the world, potentially offering new insights and practical solutions for plastic pollution in African settings.
The Kenyan lesser mealworm’s ability to consume polystyrene suggests that it could play a role in natural waste reduction, especially for types of plastic that are resistant to conventional recycling methods.
Future studies could focus on isolating and identifying the specific bacterial strains involved in polystyrene degradation and examining their enzymes.
We hope to figure out if the enzymes can be produced at scale for recycling waste.
Additionally, we may explore other types of plastics to test the versatility of this insect for broader waste management applications.
Scaling up the use of the lesser mealworms for plastic degradation would also require strategies for ensuring insect health over prolonged plastic consumption, as well as evaluating the safety of resulting insect biomass for animal feeds.
Banking & Finance
Equity Group Expands Into Southern Africa as It Bets on Africa’s Trade Corridors
FY2025 results show more than half of Equity’s profits now come from regional subsidiaries.
Equity Group targets Angola, Zambia and Mozambique as it expands along Africa’s mineral corridors and deepens regional banking scale.
🧠 Executive Intelligence Overview
As a result of its strong FY2025 performance, Equity Group Holdings is accelerating a major expansion into Southern Africa. The lender is now targeting Angola, Zambia, and Mozambique in a strategic shift that reflects Africa’s evolving trade and mineral corridor economy.
Chief Executive James Mwangi confirmed in a Reuters interview on April 29, 2026, that the group is actively pursuing acquisition opportunities rather than greenfield market entry. This approach signals a deliberate pivot toward established financial institutions in structurally different markets.
Meanwhile, Equity’s strategy is increasingly shaped by Africa’s infrastructure-driven growth corridors, particularly the US-backed Lobito Corridor linking Angola, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to the World Bank, African financial systems are becoming more deeply integrated with trade logistics and commodity supply chains, which is reshaping cross-border banking expansion strategies.
🏛️ 1. From Rural Origins to Continental Banking Power
The institution’s current trajectory is anchored in a transformation that began 35 years ago, when Equity operated as a rural building society in central Kenya.
Since then, the lender has evolved into Kenya’s most profitable bank and one of Africa’s fastest-expanding financial groups. This transformation reflects a broader structural shift in African banking, where domestic institutions are increasingly becoming regional platforms.
📊 2. FY2025 Performance Underpins Expansion
Equity’s expansion push is strongly supported by its FY2025 financial results.
- Profit after tax: KSh 75.50 billion (~USD 582 million)
- Annual growth: 55%
- Regional subsidiaries contribution: 51% of total banking profit before tax
This performance highlights a structural shift in earnings away from Kenya toward regional subsidiaries.
In addition, the International Monetary Fund notes that African banks with diversified regional exposure tend to demonstrate stronger resilience during domestic economic cycles, particularly in volatile macroeconomic environments.
🌍 3. DRC Remains the Core Profit Engine
The Democratic Republic of Congo continues to play a central role in Equity’s regional strategy.
The lender is currently the second-largest bank in the country, following acquisitions completed in 2015 and 2020. These transactions helped establish a strong market position in one of Africa’s most underbanked but resource-rich economies.
As a result, the DRC has become Equity’s most important regional earnings hub outside Kenya.
FY2025 performance reflects this dominance:
- Profit: KSh 24.70 billion (~USD 190 million)
- Growth: 58% year-on-year
- Estimated market share: ~24%
Moreover, the World Bank continues to classify the DRC as a frontier financial market with significant long-term inclusion potential despite elevated operational risks.
🚢 4. Lobito Corridor: The Structural Growth Logic
Equity’s expansion strategy is increasingly aligned with the Lobito Corridor, a strategic infrastructure route supported by the United States.
This corridor connects:
- Angola (Atlantic export gateway)
- Zambia (copper belt and mineral transit hub)
- DRC (resource extraction base)
Consequently, banking expansion is no longer being driven by national boundaries but by trade flow systems.
Mwangi emphasized in the Reuters interview that expansion decisions are now guided by customers and trade routes rather than geography alone.
This reflects a broader trend identified by the International Finance Corporation, which highlights the growing importance of infrastructure-linked financial ecosystems in emerging markets.
🇦🇴 🇿🇲 🇲🇿 5. Southern Africa Expansion Targets
Equity is actively pursuing acquisition-led entry into three key Southern African markets.
📍 Angola
Angola represents the most advanced target market. The country serves as a strategic Atlantic export gateway for minerals and energy resources.
📍 Zambia
Zambia plays a critical connector role between the DRC and Mozambique, particularly in copper and mineral logistics.
📍 Mozambique
Mozambique provides access to Indian Ocean trade routes and is expected to become Equity’s sixth non-Kenyan subsidiary.
In addition, Mwangi confirmed ongoing high-level engagement with Mozambique’s leadership, reinforcing the strategic importance of the market.
⚖️ 6. Regulatory and Structural Constraints
Despite strong expansion momentum, regulatory differences across African markets continue to shape entry strategy.
Earlier efforts in Ethiopia were slowed by foreign ownership restrictions limiting stakes in local banks, prompting a strategic shift toward Southern Africa.
As a result, Equity has prioritized markets with clearer acquisition pathways and more flexible regulatory environments.
The Bank for International Settlements notes that regulatory fragmentation remains one of the most significant constraints on cross-border banking expansion in emerging economies.
📡 7. Acquisition-Led Growth Strategy
Unlike traditional expansion models, Equity is increasingly favouring acquisitions over greenfield entry.
This strategy is driven by three operational realities:
- Language and cultural differences in new markets
- High cost of establishing new banking infrastructure
- Need for immediate market scale and deposits
As Mwangi explained, acquiring established institutions allows Equity to scale faster while transforming existing operations into regional platforms.
🌍 8. Competitive Landscape Across Africa
Equity’s expansion is unfolding within a highly competitive African banking environment.
Key competitors include:
- Ecobank (pan-African network)
- UBA (United Bank for Africa)
- State-linked financial institutions
- Regional banks expanding cross-border
The World Bank highlights that Africa’s banking sector remains fragmented, with low credit penetration but increasing exposure to sovereign debt across multiple jurisdictions.
⚠️ 9. Risk Environment
While growth prospects remain strong, Equity’s expansion is exposed to structural risks.
These include:
- Currency volatility across Southern Africa
- Regulatory fragmentation between jurisdictions
- Commodity price sensitivity in mining economies
- Macroeconomic instability and political transitions
Nevertheless, the long-term opportunity remains anchored in Africa’s demographic growth, infrastructure investment, and commodity cycles.
🌐 Conclusion: A Shift to Corridor Banking
Equity Group’s Southern Africa expansion reflects a deeper transformation in African finance.
The banking model is evolving from:
- Country-based expansion
➡️ to - Corridor-based financial ecosystems
In this new structure, banks are increasingly aligning with trade routes, commodity flows, and infrastructure networks rather than national boundaries.
Ultimately, Equity is positioning itself not simply as a regional lender, but as a financial institution embedded within Africa’s evolving economic geography.
Commercial Banking
Inside the DRC Banking Rush: Who Is Entering First
Digital banking is enabling faster, lower-cost entry into fragmented financial environments.
Regional banks are racing into the DRC as Equity, KCB, CRDB and others compete for Africa’s fastest-growing banking frontier.
🧠 Inside the DRC Banking Rush: Who Is Entering First
Unlike earlier phases of African banking growth, which focused on domestic consolidation, the current cycle is defined by cross-border competition for underbanked populations and resource-driven economies.
According to the World Bank, the DRC remains one of the least financially included large economies in the world, with banking penetration still below 20% in many estimates. This structural gap is now attracting regional lenders seeking long-term growth.
At the same time, the International Monetary Fund has identified the country as a frontier economy where financial deepening could significantly accelerate formal economic activity.
👉 The result is a competitive entry race—where timing is now a strategic advantage.
🏦 1. The First Movers: East Africa’s Banking Giants
The earliest and most aggressive entrants into the DRC banking landscape include:
- Equity Group Holdings
- KCB Group
- CRDB Bank
- Bank of Kigali
These institutions are not simply opening branches—they are building regional banking ecosystems that integrate retail, SME, and trade finance services across borders.
For example, Equity Group Holdings has positioned the DRC as a strategic growth pillar within its pan-African model, reflecting a shift from national banking to continental banking platforms.
KCB Group has similarly expanded its regional footprint through subsidiaries and partnerships, leveraging cross-border integration to capture trade flows between East and Central Africa.
👉 These early movers are shaping the competitive structure of the market.
💰 2. Why Early Entry Matters
Early entrants typically benefit from:
- First access to corporate clients
- Stronger brand recognition
- Early deposit base accumulation
- Relationship dominance in SME lending
The International Finance Corporation has consistently emphasized that financial institutions entering underserved markets early tend to establish long-term structural advantages, particularly in environments with low competition density.
👉 In the DRC, being first often means shaping the rules of engagement.
📡 3. Digital First Entry: The New Banking Model
Unlike traditional banking expansion, entry into the DRC is increasingly driven by digital infrastructure rather than physical branches.
Banks are deploying:
- Mobile banking platforms
- Agent banking networks
- Integrated fintech partnerships
This approach reduces operational costs while expanding reach into rural and semi-urban populations.
Institutions such as Equity Group Holdings are leveraging digital ecosystems to scale rapidly across fragmented infrastructure environments.
This aligns with insights from the World Bank, which highlights digital financial services as a critical driver of inclusion in low-infrastructure economies.
👉 Digital entry is now the default expansion strategy.
⛏️ 4. Resource-Linked Banking: The Corporate Entry Layer
Beyond retail banking, corporate banking tied to the DRC’s resource sector is a major entry driver.
The country’s vast reserves of copper, cobalt, and gold create high-value financing opportunities for banks in:
- Trade finance
- Commodity-backed lending
- Mining sector project finance
The International Monetary Fund has repeatedly identified the DRC’s resource sector as a key macroeconomic stabiliser and long-term growth driver.
👉 This makes the DRC not just a retail banking opportunity—but a corporate finance frontier.
⚖️ 5. Competition Structure: A Regional Contest
The DRC banking market is now shaped by regional competition rather than isolated expansion.
Key competitive blocs include:
- Kenyan banking groups
- Tanzanian financial institutions
- Rwandan regional banks
Each is targeting overlapping segments:
- Retail deposits
- SME credit
- Trade finance corridors
At the same time, informal financial systems remain dominant in many regions, meaning formal banks must compete against deeply entrenched cash economies.
📉 6. Risk Environment: Why Entry Is Not Simple
Despite strong opportunity, the DRC remains structurally complex.
Key challenges include:
- Currency volatility and dollarisation
- Weak credit information systems
- Infrastructure gaps in financial services
- Regulatory fragmentation
The Bank for International Settlements notes that frontier markets with fragmented regulation and high volatility tend to experience amplified operational risk during rapid financial expansion cycles.
👉 This makes execution capacity as important as market entry.
🌍 7. The Bigger Picture: Why This Matters Regionally
The DRC banking rush is not an isolated event—it is part of a broader East and Central African financial integration process.
It connects directly to:
- Cross-border banking expansion
- Regional trade corridor financing
- Fintech-enabled financial inclusion
- Currency and liquidity interdependence
👉 The DRC is becoming the central node in regional banking integration.
🚀 Conclusion: A Market Defined by First Movers
The DRC banking rush is not about who enters eventually—it is about who establishes dominance early.
First movers are not just entering a market—they are shaping:
- Customer acquisition patterns
- Financial infrastructure
- Competitive pricing structures
- Regional capital flows
As the World Bank and International Monetary Fund both emphasize in different ways, financial deepening in frontier economies is a long-cycle transformation.
👉 In the DRC, that transformation is already underway—and the entry race has begun.
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