Kenya Capital Markets Authority and FiRe Award promoters signal tougher enforcement to raise IFRS and IPSAS compliance

The Kenya Capital Markets Authority, alongside the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya, the Public Sector Accounting Standards Board, the Nairobi Securities Exchange and the Retirement Benefits Authority as FiRe Award promoters, used the FiRe Award conference in Nairobi to press public and private sector entities to adhere more strictly to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), with an explicit shift toward stricter consequences for non-compliance. The promoters linked the push to institutional investor demand for globally comparable disclosures and noted that, while IFRS is mandatory for listed companies, financial institutions and government-owned entities, enforcement remains uneven across the wider corporate landscape, particularly among smaller private companies and small and medium-sized enterprises. Public sector entities that do not conform to IPSAS were warned of immediate repercussions through qualified audit opinions as Kenya targets a full transition to accrual accounting by 2028. For listed firms, the CMA indicated IFRS breaches could result in significant fines and, in severe cases, trading suspension or delisting, supported by greater cross-agency information sharing and cooperation for investigations and enforcement.