Nairobi, March 15 -- Businesses are increasingly turning to vehicle leasing as an escape route from the elevated prices of buying new units to run their operations.

Isuzu East Africa Managing Director Rita Kavashe says the environment of rising interest rates has applied brakes on demand for new vehicle purchases given that nearly 95 percent of the acquisitions are dependent on asset financing.

She said vehicle demand from sectors such as public transport, agriculture and education is beginning to rebound but clients are preferring leases as opposed to outright purchasing.

In leasing, a client pays a regular amount for a specified number of years and returns the vehicle to the dealer at the end of the term. The contract may or may not ...