Month: November 2019

East African based WeFarm the digital network for global small-scale agriculture, have announced it has raised $13 million in a Series A financing round led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm True Ventures.

This financing round will help Wefarm further scale its network of 1.9 million farmers, and its newly created Marketplace, to connect farmers in Africa, even those without internet access, to the information, products and services they need to be more successful. Investing alongside True Ventures are AgFunder and June Fund, among others. The company received significant follow-on investments from LocalGlobe, ADV and Norrsken Foundation.

Founded in 2015, Wefarm is on a mission to create a global eco-system for small-scale agriculture. With more than 1 billion people directly involved in small-scale farming, it is the biggest industry in the world. Wefarm is building the network of trust for those farmers.

Wefarm Marketplace allows farmers to easily access quality …

Kenya’s population has grown by 9.9 million people over the last ten years to reach 47.6 million this year, latest official government data has revealed.

According to the 2019 ‘Kenya Population and Housing Census’ results presented to President Uhuru Kenyatta this week at State House Nairobi, the total population enumerated during the census exercise conducted in August this year was 47,564,296 persons.

https://www.knbs.or.ke/?p=5621

The results indicate that the female population which stands at 24,014,716 accounts for 50.5 per cent of the total population while the male population is 23,548,056 persons.

The 2019 census report, presented to the Head of State by Director General of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) Zachary Mwangi shows that Nairobi is the most populous county in the country.

Nairobi , which is also Kenya’s capital city, has a population of 4.4 million people followed by Kiambu (2.4 million), Nakuru (2.16 million), Kakamega (1.87 million) …

The US government in Kenya is working to counter the growing influence of China locally and regionally by developing grassroots-based initiatives that will spur US business investments and address slow growth rates in rural areas.

The initiative is in line with a bigger agenda by the US government to instill dominance in key global locations mainly in Asia, Africa and Latin America where China has made significant inroads in socio-political and economic development.

The US ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter announced that his government through Prosper initiative that was announced by US President Donald Trump last year will work with 8 pilot counties dubbed ‘Prosper Counties’ to spur growth. These counties selected on the basis of high economic potential, effective governance practices, and a commitment in creating an enabling environment for business growth.

“We’re going to put forth projects that have meaning to Kenyans. Our shared goal is to pave …

Uganda food inflation declines in spite of a failed harvest from the 2019 first crop season.

Uganda has maintained a relatively low food inflation rate at 1.9 per cent from the 2018 bumper harvest.
Since June 2018, the country has experienced a great harvest of maize, beans, sorghum rice; cassava, sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes that which has kept the prices of all staple foods low meaning households were able to meet their food needs.

Opolot Okaasai, a crop resource expert and former director at the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries said that 2018 was good since the first rains came on time across the country and floods came after the crops had been harvested.

This year however started on a difficult note for the country. Although the first quarter was affected by the two tropical cyclones that hit Mozambique and disrupted the country’s rain pattern despite it …

Ethiopia will soon start importing cheaper refined oil from South Sudan to cover the more expensive product from the Middle East.

Ethiopia’s State Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Koang Tutlam announced on Wednesday that the move will save Addis Ababa 15 per cent to 20 per cent on the $3.4 billion it spends importing an estimate of four million tonnes of refined products.

While speaking to the media attending South Sudan Oil and Gas Conference in Juba, Mr Tutlam said, “We import almost all of our oil and other refined products from the Middle East, but owing to the proximity of about 200km between the oilfields of Pagak and Adar and the Ethiopian border, we stand to save so much.”

Mr Tutlam further added that Ethiopia exports hydroelectric power to South Sudan and will soon export about 400MW to Kenya.

The oil and gas conference was organised by South Sudan’s …

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KQ will sell 18 remote Safarilink destinations in their global sales and distribution network…

Uganda’s monthly foreign exchange between banks stabilise at $20m

Speaking during a panel discussion on the current state of the financial markets at the Barclays Bank organised dealers meeting last week, Mr Peter Mbowa, the Barclays Bank (Absa) Uganda head of treasury, said there has been a steady inflow of foreign currency into the market.

He also noted that “On average, the volume of dollars traded in the interbank market is about $20m a month.”
He further added that wholly Uganda has a dollar demand of $800m per month with exports needing at least $300m in comparison with $500m for the import bill.

However, Mr Mbowa said the Ugandan currency market lacks sophistication and it cannot absorb large volumes of foreign currency.

During the meeting, Brenda Lwanga, a currency trader at Citi Bank Uganda, said that Ugandan shilling has been strong against the dollar because of a strong currency …

Zimbabwe plans to introduce a new currency in a bid to ease shortages of the bond note in one weeks time.

Zimbabwe’s central bank Governor, John Mangudya, said he would introduce a new currency to address biting liquidity shortages in the economy and regain monetary policy control.

The new currency will circulate alongside the bond notes and coins that were introduced in 2016. It will consist of 2 dollar coins and 5 dollar notes the governor said.

In a press briefing, he said the new currency would be introduced in phases to avoid fueling inflation, adding that the new Zimbabwe dollar will trade at par with the bond notes and coins.

“This additional cash injection will be carried out through the non-inflationary exchange of Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) money for physical cash,” he said.

Zimbabwe is currently using electronic money known as RTGS, bond notes and coins after it banned …

Nigeria’s largest retail lender Access Bank acquired Kenya’s Transnational Bank starting its plans to open shop in all major Eastern Africa markets.

The bank is in the process of acquiring 93.57 per cent shareholding in Kenya’s private owned Transnational Bank at an undisclosed fee as its further eyes Tanzania and Uganda.

The Kenyan acquisition is expected to be concluded in the next 30 to 60 days as it awaits regulatory approvals.
The bank said it was seeking to expand in the region through acquisitions and setting up greenfield operations so as to deepen competition for customers with local rivals.

The lender said it had drawn a five-year plan from 2018-2022 which seeks to raise its retail and wholesale banking business and position itself as the world’s most respected African bank.

Access Bank controls over $13 billion worth of assets and over 27 million customers. In its plan to track record …