Month: November 2019

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has committed to explore new avenues of directly supporting efforts aimed at empowering Kenyan women in business.

The commitment was made by the bank’s deputy director general Nnenna Nwabufo during a meeting with Kenya’s First Lady Margaret Kenyatta, on the sidelines of the ongoing Global Gender Summit in Kigali, Rwanda.

Ms Nwabufo singled out capacity building activities for Kenyan women in business as one of the areas that the bank is keen on supporting.

READ ALSO:How Kenyan bank is empowering women

“We could do this through capacity building to enable women (Kenyan) to benefit from development projects implemented by the government in partnership with African Development Bank,” Ms Nwabufo said.

Ms Nwabufo, who heads AfDB’s East Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery office, assured the First Lady that she is committed to ensuring that women in Kenya gain from the bank’s Affirmative Action for …

Central Bank of Kenya’s Monetary Policy Committee has lowered the Central Bank Rate for loans to 8.50 per cent from 9.00 per cent, despite the removal of interest rate capping in the country.

READ ALSO:Why Kenya’s Central Bank has retained base lending rate at 9%

The MPC met on November 25, 2019, to review the outcome of its previous policy decisions and recent economic developments.

The meeting came at the backdrop of a domestic macroeconomic stability, the recent repeal of interest rate caps, and heightened global uncertainties and volatility in international markets.

READ:No more lending controls in Kenya as rate cap ‘dies’

READ ALSO:World Bank, IMF biggest winners in Kenya’s interest rates cap repeal

The MPS which is chaired by CBK governor Patrick Njoroge however noted that month-on-month overall inflation remained well anchored within the target range in September and October 2019, largely due to relatively stable …

Egypt said on Saturday it had signed several multimillion-dollar energy investment accords including a $430-million gas deal with Texas’ Noble Energy.

The deal will allow the Texas-based Noble Energy to pump natural gas through the East Mediterranean Gas Company’s pipeline.

Under another agreement with Noble Energy, the energy company in partnership with the Egyptian company Dolphinus Holdings will manufacture petroleum products. The project will be also be financed by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.

Egypt’s cabinet detailed the plans at the end of an Africa investment forum held on the site of the new Egypt’s planned administrative capital in the desert east of Cairo.

Lekela, Amsterdam-based company also announced it would start construction work on its West Bakr wind power plant, which will require a total investment of $350 million with a capacity of 250 megawatts.
According to the cabinet statement, Chris Antonopoulos, Lekela CEO said Siemens Gamesa would …

The Africa Finance Corporation(AFC) has advanced $20 million funding for the construction of Uganda’s crude oil refinery, paving the way for the start of the $4.27 billion projects.

Africa Finance Corporation signed the financing deal on the sidelines of the Africa Oil Week in South Africa mid this month.

Other financiers expected to put money into the multi-billion-dollar project include the African Development Bank, Prosper Africa, a US government Initiative that unlocks opportunities to do business in Africa and Trace and Development Agency another US-based firm.

AFC managing director Ammadou Wadda, representatives from US-based Prosper Africa Initiative, Trace Development Agency and African Development Bank president Akiwumi Adesinia attended the side event.
The investors also agreed to hold a meeting next year to discuss how to raise funds for the refinery. The refinery’s management is also expected to give details about the project and existing investment opportunities to potential investors.…

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Trade and investment between Kenya and the United Arab Emirates is set for a major boost after chambers of commerce from the two countries reached a new agreement.

The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry have signed an MoU to open a satellite trade office in the United Arab Emirates.

READ ALSO:Kenya seeks mineral market in the United Arabs Emirates

The agreement will enable and provide strategic bilateral cooperation between the business communities in Kenya and UAE with an objective to foster cooperation in trade, investment, joint activities, information and services and trade policy support programmes.

The agreement was announced at the UAE-Kenya Trade and Investment Forum where Kenya hosted a delegation of over 20 top companies from the United Arab Emirates.

READ ALSO:UAE tightens its grip over Zanzibar

The Forum organized by Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry and …

IFC and IFHA-II Coöperatief U.A., a private equity fund focused on health care in Sub-Saharan Africa, have launched a $115 million holding company to acquire and integrate targeted health care service businesses in East and Southern Africa.

The project will boost access to quality health care services to help improve lives and achieve universal health coverage across the region.  IFC is investing $22 million in the Hospital Holdings Investment (HHI) holding company, an investment platform set up by IFHA-II, which is also supported by the European development finance organizations Swedfund, Proparco, Finnfund and IFU, Danish Investment Fund for Developing countries. HHI will be IFC’s largest equity investment in health care in Sub-Saharan Africa, outside of South Africa. IFC also mobilized $43.2 million from other investors.

“HHI is filling a critical gap in the health care sector by providing secondary and out-of-hospital care for middle to lower middle income patients in …

As part of the EU-UNCTAD joint Programme for Angola (Train for Trade II), and in support of Angola’s efforts to strengthen and diversify its economy towards more sustainable economic sectors, UNCTAD is organizing a training workshop for stakeholders from the coffee and tropical fruits value chains.

This will be the third training activity under UNCTAD’s National Green Export Review (NGER) process in Angola, and the second to be held outside the capital city.

The workshop is targeting government officials, producers, sector associations and academics from the northwestern provinces of Bengo, Cabinda, Kwanza-Norte, Malanje, Uíge and Zaire, which are among the country’s most favourable zones for coffee and tropical fruit production.

At the first NGER workshop in Angola, local stakeholders identified coffee and bananas among the green sectors with significant development potential. Moreover, Angola’s Programme to Support Production, Export Diversification and Import Substitution (PRODESI) included the coffee and banana value chains …

The government of South Sudan has managed to commission a $38 million upgraded power distribution system financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB)to restore reliable electricity supply to Juba’s central business district and boost suburban livelihoods.

South Sudan has been recorded as the nation that had worst electricity access in the world, as the Africa Oil and Power report shows that, the power supply stands at just 1 per cent of the population.

The funding that was commissioned on 21st November comes to the rescue of the country that had a devastating conflict, crippling most of its economic systems.

According to the African Development Bank, the Juba Power Distribution System Rehabilitation and Expansion Project is the first in a series of major energy sector interventions by the Bank to improve livelihoods and build resilience in South Sudan. As its counterpart contribution, the government provided land for the construction of five …

Uganda Revenue Authority assistant commissioner IT James Kizza is the winner of the East Africa CIO of the Year Award 2019.

He has been recognized for his “crucial role” in the trail-blazing digital development of the URA.

READ ALSO:Uganda Revenue Authority(URA) disagrees with importers over payment method

According to the judges, the role of the chief information officer (CIO) continues to evolve at a breakneck pace, and only those executives who advance in lockstep will enjoy prolonged success and better the enterprises that they dedicate their energies to serve.

The 2019 East Africa CIO100 jury led by Professor Louis Fourie, former VC at the Western Cape Peninsula University of Technology, flanked by Alex Ntale CEO – Rwanda ICT Chamber, Bill Sangiwa, Digital Transformation Expert in Tanzania, Charles Musisi, a senior ICT expert in Uganda and Elizabeth Ochieng, ICT director- Deloitte appreciated the high level of submissions for the 2019 …