How to Buy Treasury Bills in Kenya via DhowCSD (2026 Beginner's Guide)
From app download to payout: open a free CSD account, bid non-competitively from KES 100,000, pay ~930,000 for a 1,000,000 face value at current rates, and collect the full amount at maturity.
Buying Treasury bills in Kenya used to mean physical forms and a trip to Central Bank. Since DhowCSD launched, the entire process fits in your phone, and tens of thousands of ordinary Kenyans now lend directly to the government every week. Here is the beginner's path from download to payout, with the actual 2026 numbers.
Step 1: open your CSD account on DhowCSD
Install the DhowCSD app (or use the web portal), register with your national ID, KRA PIN, a passport-style photo and your bank account details, and submit. Approval typically takes a few working days. The account is free, held at the Central Bank, and is where your securities will live. No broker is required and there are no account fees.
Step 2: bid in the weekly auction
Inside the app, choose the current T-bill auction and the tenor. As a beginner, bid non-competitively: you simply accept the weighted average rate the auction produces, which removes the risk of your bid being rejected for over-asking. Enter your face value amount, from KES 100,000 upward in steps of 50,000, and submit before the deadline (T-bill auctions close mid-week; results follow within a day or two).
Step 3: pay the discounted price
This is the part that surprises first-timers, in a good way. You do not pay the face value. At a 364-day rate near 8.97%, a KES 1,000,000 face value costs roughly KES 930,000 including the withholding tax; the exact figure comes from CBK's pricing formula, which our T-bill calculator reproduces to the shilling. Pay from your registered bank account by the settlement date in your auction result, and you are done.
Step 4: wait, then receive the full face value
At maturity CBK credits your bank with the full KES 1,000,000. The difference between what you paid and what you receive is your return, about KES 70,000 net on that example, roughly a 7.5% net effective annual yield after tax. If you want to stay invested, instruct a rollover into the next auction instead and the money never idles.
Model it before you bid
The Treasury bill calculator carries the latest auction averages and computes your exact price, tax and net yield for any amount and tenor, including rollover mode. Compare the same money in the fixed deposit calculator and the MMF calculator before you commit.
KES 100,000 face value for T-bills (then multiples of 50,000), invested through a CBK CSD account which you can now open on the DhowCSD app or portal. Treasury bonds start lower at KES 50,000.
Download the DhowCSD app or use the CBK portal, register with your ID, KRA PIN, bank details and a passport photo, wait for your CSD account, then place a bid in the weekly auction: choose the 91, 182 or 364-day paper and bid non-competitively to accept the auction's average rate. Fund your obligation by the settlement date shown and the bill sits in your CSD account until maturity.
T-bills sell at a discount: you pay less than face value and receive the full face amount at maturity. At the recent 364-day rate near 8.97%, a KES 1,000,000 face value cost roughly KES 930,000 including the 15% withholding tax collected upfront, and pays exactly 1,000,000 at maturity. Our T-bill calculator shows the precise CBK-formula price for any rate.
They answer different needs. T-bills lock a known rate to a fixed date with sovereign backing; MMFs float with market rates and stay withdrawable in days. In mid-2026, top MMFs out-yielded T-bills (about 10 to 14% gross vs about 8.8 to 9%), so many savers use MMFs for flexibility and T-bills to lock rates for known future obligations.
Rates shown are recent auction averages and change weekly; confirm the current auction on CBK's website or DhowCSD before bidding. General information, not investment advice.