Month: July 2020

These developments will greatly enhance the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) …

When the idea for Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) was mooted, there was clear excitement among landlocked countries in East Africa who saw a quick way to ship cargo to and from the regional maritime hub of Mombasa. It would take at most three days for a container to leave Kigali and snake all the way to Mombasa and vice versa cutting costs, risks, and time spent to move cargo and people. 

However, a decade and US$5 billion later, most of it from Chinese loans already spent, the railway line is yet to reach its final destination. In fact, it never managed to get even halfway through the Kenyan landmass.  Meanwhile partners in the project like Rwanda have cooled their interests while Uganda and South Sudan have reluctantly taken up the option of using the Naivasha inland depot as a closer destination compared to Mombasa.…

Kenya and Tanzania have always seen each other as competitors when it comes to megaprojects that have a regional reach. The competition has risen from years ago with each duplicating its partner’s efforts and laying out schemes to win other members of the East African region and beyond.  

However, if there is any project that has been the hallmark of this competition, then it is the development of sea ports, with Kenya investing heavily in both Lamu and Mombasa ports while Tanzania is boosting its Dar es Salaam port and planning on growing both Bagamoyo and Tanga ports. Each country has an eye on the larger eastern African region as local commerce cannot sustain the projects. 

Ports are gateways for 80% of global merchandise trade by volume and 70% by value. This is a point both the East African countries have taken keenly …

Kenyan based travel-tech outfit HotelOnline has made a strategic acquisition of companies across Africa, positioning itself at the helm of the industry. While many companies in the travel industry have been facing a major dip due to COVID-19, HotelOnline has diversified and acquired other entities solidifying its position in the African travel industry. 

Run by two Norwegian-born Kenyans, Havar Bauck, and Endre Opdal, the company has announced the acquisition of AfricaBookings – a pioneer in the tech–enabled distribution of African hotels with an impressive inventory of 6000 hotels, and Cloud9 – a savvy travel and adventure app that has gained huge traction in Kenya. 

Since then, the HotelOnline platform which was born in 2015 out of Nairobi’s lack of affordable accommodation next to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport has grown to be a force to reckon within the hospitality industry. Since the first business in September 2014, to …