Author: Jack Oduor

• Ethiopia-Somalia port dispute has seen the European Union, the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League declare support for Somalia.
• The deal on the port agreement has rattled a section of Somalians who took to the streets in Mogadishu to protest against the agreement.
• The Horn of Africa, region comprises countries such as Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia, and has long been a strategic crossroads for trade and commerce.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in lost trade deals could be on the line as the Ethiopia-Somalia port dispute intensifies tension across the volatile Horn of Africa region.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somaliland’s leader Muse Bihi Abdi signed an agreement granting Ethiopia a 50-year lease on a naval base, effectively allowing access to Somaliland’s Berbera port for commercial marine operations.

As per the Memorandum of Understanding, landlocked Ethiopia was granted the right to utilize facilities in the Gulf …

• In East Africa, Kenya’s venture capital share grew from 86 percent in 2022 to 91 percent in 2023.
• Eastern Africa’s largest economy attracted $880 million (Sh139.9 billion) in 2023, representing 31 percent of all startup investments on the continent.
• Africa: The Big Deal report shows that startups in Kenya that raised $100,000 (Sh16 million) and above stood at 93.
  

Kenyan startups secured an impressive $800 million in venture capital funding in 2023, surpassing Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa to emerge as the leading recipient of investments on the continent.

The latest findings from Africa: The Big Deal, a platform specializing in startup deals, reveal that Kenya’s share accounted for 28 percent of the total funds raised across Africa.

The report highlights that Egypt, which took the lead in 2022, secured the second position with $640 million in capital funding. South Africa followed closely with $600 million, while Nigeria …

• Kenya’s National Treasury has been forced to rely on the domestic credit market to finance the budget deficit.
• In July 2023, the World Bank cautioned Kenya’s government over persistent crowding out of the private sector from the local debt market due to heavy borrowing.
• In its latest outlook report, the lender says that weaknesses in Sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest economies, Nigeria, South Africa and Angola, will limit the region’s growth in 2024.  

The World Bank has revised Kenya’s growth projection upwards to 5.2 per cent even as it anticipates that in 2024, economic growth will be fueled by a rise in private sector credit in the wake of an expected reduction in local borrowing by the state.

The multilateral lender predicts the country’s growth will reach an average of 5.2 per cent, attributing this positive outlook to diminishing inflationary pressures and improved financial conditions.

This rate marks an increase from the …

• IATA says a third of travelers polled say they are traveling more than they did pre-pandemic.
• Looking ahead, 44% say that they will travel more in the next 12 months than in the previous 12 months.
• Reflecting the tight supply and demand conditions, efficiency levels are high with the load factor expected to be 82.6% in 2024.

The profits projected for airlines in 2024 are expected to stabilize, despite net profitability forecasted to be well below the cost of capital, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Industry insiders anticipate that the global aviation sector will generate $25.7 billion (Sh4.06 trillion) in profit in 2024, as international travel finally surpasses pre-pandemic levels.

The trade association for the world’s airlines suggests that the high profit margins will be sustained by approximately 4.7 billion people expected to travel during the year.

“Some 4.7 billion people are expected to travel in 2024, …

• The Kenyan government owes media companies $10.8 million (Sh1.7 billion) in pending media bills.
• Kenyan media companies have, however, been challenged to become innovative during the tough economic times and reinvent their operating models to remain competitive.
• Kenya’s media industry is among the sectors worst hit with the changing business models according a 2023 report by Oxford university and Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

The Kenyan government has offered to pay media organizations $10.8 million (Sh1.7 billion) which it owes in pending media bills, a move that will significantly help them address financial struggles within the sector brought about by the changing media landscape.

Media organizations in Kenya have been grappling with cash flow challenges due to outstanding payments from the State, leading some companies to resort to employee layoffs and substantial budget cuts as a consequence of mounting financial difficulties.

This situation arises at a time when …

• MediaTek Technology says it aims to improve 5G adoption in East Africa as a strategic priority in 2024.
• Some of the best 5G smartphones in Kenya are powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity chipsets.
• Broadband demands are expected to continue rising in the Sub-Saharan region with the advent of augmented reality.

Fabless semiconductor company MediaTek Technology will collaborate with telecom operators and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in Kenya and greater East Africa region to promote the adoption of 5G and contribute to narrowing the digital divide in the region.

This partnership is occurring at a time when significant progress has been made in terms of 5G adoption, not only in Kenya but across the continent, over the past couple of years.

Kenya ranks as the third-largest country in Africa in the continent’s mobile phone market, with 5 million smartphones shipped annually.

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Some of the best 5G smartphones in the country are …

• 2023 Most Profitable Global Firms were dominated by players in the Energy, Finance and Technology sector. 
• Saudi Aramco, with $159.1 billion in profits dominates as the world’s most profitable energy company, capitalizing on vast oil reserves.
• Energy sector leads with a 24.56 per cent profit share, amassing $711.6 billion from 88 companies, highlighting its dominance in the global market.

A study on the 2023 Fortune 500 reveals that most profitable global companies amassed a colossal US$2.9 trillion in profit. The Most Profitable Global Firms 2023 were dominated by players in the energy, finance and technology sector.

The top 10 companies alone accounted for $689.8 billion, or 24 per cent, of this total. Each company in this elite group averages an impressive $69 billion in profit. Leading the pack are Saudi Aramco, Apple, and Microsoft, respectively, as the most profitable.

The research conducted by growandconvert.com further uncovers that the top three …

• Vienna Payment Solutions has joined the Kenyan market by partnering with Interswitch East Africa.
• Kenya has been a regional powerhouse in digital payments, with the 2023 Economic survey placing the value of mobile money transfers at $47.6 billion.
• Interswitch East Africa Head of Technology, Naomi Wachira, says the solution marks a significant leap towards bridging gaps in the payment industry.

Austria-based firm Vienna Payment Solutions has entered the Kenyan market through a partnership with Interswitch East Africa, as the increasing popularity of mobile money continues to open up a new frontier for spirited competition in the space.

Following the partnership, the two companies introduced VIPASO, a payment solution comprising two applications: a consumer app and a merchant app. This initiative aims to enhance payment solutions for banks, players in the hospitality industry, on-the-go services, financial institutions, and retailers.

This comes when merchant payment platforms are projected to grow and …

Since Covid-19 struck, developing nations have been battered by global external forces further dampening their growth prospects.

• Under the World Bank’s income classifications, the world currently comprises 28 low-income, 108 middle-income, and 81 high-income economies.
• Worse, the World Bank says, in more than a third of the poorest countries, incomes per head will be below 2019 levels in 2024.

Economic indicators for Kenya and other developing nations have continued to depict a grim picture over the past four years, according to a new World Bank report.

The global lender states that economic growth prospects for developing nations, including Kenya, for the first four years of the 2020s have proven to be the weakest in almost 30 years.

According to the World Bank’s January economic forecast report, the average growth rate for developing nations during the period under review is 3.4 per cent, lower than it has been since the 1990s.…

• The Banking Sector had shares worth US$50,126 (Sh7.9 million) transacted which accounted for 63.34 percent of the day’s traded value at Nairobi Securities Exchange.
• In 2021, 8.7 million shares were traded worth $1.5 million (Sh242 million), while 2022 saw the number rise to 17.6 million shares valued at $4 million (Sh630 million).
• In the nine-month period leading up to September 2023, the NSE ranked as the least performing African bourse in dollar terms, underscoring the impact of foreign withdrawals and global shocks.

Trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange began 2024 on a four-year low on Tuesday, with 897,000 shares traded, signaling low confidence among investors.

The value of the shares dropped to $79,314 (Sh12.5 million), compared to 2023 when the bourse opened trading with 1.73 million shares, equivalent to $21,467 (Sh33.8 million). It is the first time in four years that the NSE began with less than a million shares …