The Kenyan shilling (KSh) has reached its lowest value in over a year against the Ugandan Shilling (USh) as of mid-September 2025. The KSh has been on a downturn against the USh since mid-2024. Has the Kenyan shilling weakened? One Kenyan shilling exchanged at USh 27.10 on September 19, 2025, marking a decline of approximately 5.4% from the USh 28.6436 rate observed on July 1, 2024, according to the indicative exchange rate shared by the Central Bank of Kenya.
Notably the KSh has declined by 4.7% from the beginning of the year and by 2.6% from July 1, 2025. Exchange rates for the Kenyan shilling to Ugandan shilling. What is the impact of a stronger Ugandan shilling? Speaking to TUKO.co.ke, economist Daniel Kathali explained that the stronger Ugandan shilling is not likely to have major economic impact. He said that theoretically, the appreciation of the USh should have led to a cheaper cost of imports from Kenya; however, this will not be the likely outcome because most of the cross-border trade in the region is done using US dollars. “Theoretically, if the Ugandan shilling strengthens by 5% against the Kenyan shilling, it means Ugandan importers will need fewer shillings to buy the same amount of Kenyan goods.
This would effectively make products imported from Kenya cheaper in Uganda. But this will not be the most likely impact because Ugandan importers do not pay Kenyan exporters in Ugandan currency. Almost all cross-border transactions involve the US dollar,” Kathali stated. What is the performance of the US dollar? Notably, the Ugandan shilling has also been on an upturn against the US dollar in recent months, while the Kenyan shilling has remained stable, with minimal changes. As of September 19, the US dollar exchanged at an indicative rate of USh 3,503 and KSh 129.24.
By Elijah Ntongai
