Author: Jack Oduor

• It is estimated that inaction on SDGs will cost the global economy an extra $38 trillion
• Currently, the SDG financing gap is at approximately $11–15 trillion per year
• By the end of 2050-2060, there will  be over 1 billion climate refugees globally

Inaction in advancing the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) could cost the global economy an extra $38 trillion per year by 2050 at the current rate of progress.

This is according to renowned business leader, campaigner, and author Paul Polman, who has called on the Kenyan private sector to raise the level of ambition in advancing the global goals to move the country forward faster.

With the SDG financing gap at approximately $11–15 trillion per year, or four times greater than current spending levels, Paul Polman noted that the $38 trillion dollars is approximately 20 per cent of the entire global economy, and the longer we …

• Pullman Hotel Nairobi will begin operations in June 2024
• Kenya has 31 hotels with a total of 4,268 rooms in the pipeline with an average room size of approximately 138 square feet.
• Pullman Hotel Nairobi Upper Hill has similarly adopted the concept of “workspitality” under the co-working spaces brand WOJO.

French multinational hospitality group, Accor will unveil its first premium Pullman branded hotel in Kenya next month. This will add to Accor’s offering in the Kenyan market, which includes Fairmont the Nofolk and Mövenpick Hotel & Residences in Nairobi among others.

According to Pullman Hotels & Resorts Director of Sales and Marketing Susan Waringa, the Pullman Hotel Nairobi Upper Hill which is set to open its doors to guests in June this year will have 162 rooms offering premium hospitality.

“We’re excited about the opening of Pullman Hotel Nairobi Upper Hill, catering to the needs of the hyper-connected business and …

• EAC Monetary Affairs Committee (MAC) meets every year to asses the region’s progess.
• This year the MAC meeting will be held in Juba, South Sudan.
• Sectors like fishing, timber, and agriculture have been identified as potential areas for growth and revenue generation.

East Africa Community governors of central banks are set to meet to assess the regions’ economic scorecard and avenues for investments. The chair of the EAC Monetary Affairs Committee James Alic Garang, who is the Bank of South Sudan governor said that single currency for the EA region will feature prominently in the deliberations.

This body meets annually, usually around April or March, to take stock of the progress and challenges along the path of establishing monetary union. This coming at a time that the East African Community member-states are in a race to harmonise critical policies and putt in place the institutions to attain a single currency …

• The prices of key food commodities influenced Kenya’s Inflation drop.
• KNBS says the food and non-alcoholic beverage index, which represents 32.9 per cent of inflation measurement, dropped by 0.1 per cent.
• KNBS data adds that housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels’ index dropped by 1.3 per cent

Kenya’s inflation dropped to a record 24-month low in April, hitting five per cent, according to the latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, as prices of key food commodities continued to fall.

This is the third month in a row that the index has dropped, from 6.9 per cent in January to 6.3 per cent in February 5.7 per cent in March, and now five per cent last month. (https://hummingbirddental.ca/)   The continued drop comes despite some price rises on some indices.

Major contributors to April’s year-on-year price rises included transport, food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing, water, electricity, …

• Payment for ransomware attacks is not only impacting large businesses even smaller ones have been hit with 7-figure demand.
• The rate of ransomware attacks falls slightly, but recovery costs hit $2.73 million.
• Despite the soaring ransoms, this year’s survey indicates a slight reduction in the rate of ransomware attacks

The amount organisations are paying to get back their data from cyber criminals has increased by 500 per cent in the past year, a new report by Cybersecurity solutions provider Sophos has revealed.

Sophos, in its annual “State of Ransomware 2024” survey, says this has seen organizations that paid the ransom report an average payment of $2 million, up from $400,000 in 2023, with ransoms being just one part of the cost.

Excluding ransoms, the survey found the average cost of recovery reached $2.73 million, an increase of almost $1 million since the $1.82 million that Sophos reported in 2023. …

• TikTok Community Guidelines will see introduction of stricter For You eligibility standards.
• Video sharing entity says this code emphasizes responsible behavior on and off the platform
• According to the recently released Reuters Institute Digital News report 2023 survey, Kenya leads in world TikTok usage.

Popular video sharing platform TikTok, has unveiled significant updates to its Community Guidelines and introduced new features aimed at supporting creators and maintaining a safe environment for users. The platform’s Community Guidelines, which outline rules and standards for all users, have been updated to provide greater clarity and transparency.

These updates, set to take effect in a few weeks, include refined definitions for policies on hate speech and health misinformation. Additionally, TikTok has detailed how it moderates features like Search, LIVE, and the For You feed to ensure a positive user experience.

One of the key updates is the introduction of stricter For You eligibility standards. …

• Africa private capital deals fell to to 450 deals in the past one year.
• The continent’s total private capital deal value stood at $5.9 billion, the fourth largest value on record since 2012.
• Decline in Africa private capital deals marked the continent’s steepest year-over-year decline in volume in 12 years.

Africa recorded a 28 per cent year-over-year (YoY) decline in the total private capital deal volume for the first time since 2016, falling to 450 deals. This downturn is attributed to the global economic turmoil, which led to inflation spikes and the devaluation of continental currencies.

In Kenya and Nigeria for instance, the Shilling and the Naira plunged to historic lows in 2023, while in Egypt, a shortage in foreign currency led to increased controls over its usage in the country.

According to the 2023 African Private Capital Activity Report, the depreciation of local currencies and the depletion of foreign …

• Africa Fertiliser Financing Mechanism will avail 8000 tons of fertiliser.
• 5.533 million Kenyan farmers are registered for the government’s subsidised fertiliser programme.
• African Development Bank granted Kenya $67 million in 2022-2023 through its African Emergency Food Production Facility.

The Africa Fertiliser Financing Mechanism has launched a project to help deliver 8,000 tons of fertilisers to 100,000 smallholder farmers in Kenya to boost harvests and incomes.

Through its Fertiliser Financing for Sustainable Agriculture Management Project, the Mechanism will provide a $2 million partial trade credit guarantee and a grant of $219,000 to Apollo Agriculture Limited, a Kenyan corporation, to facilitate the company’s fertiliser sales.

The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, through a contribution of $10.15 million to the Africa Fertiliser Financing Mechanism, is also supporting the project.

Representatives of the African Development Bank, which manages the Mechanism, Apollo Agriculture and the Kenyan and Norwegian governments attended the launch event in Nairobi.…

• Kenya’s high-interest rates hit 13 per cent in the last review by the Central Bank of Kenya.
• Since mid-2023, however, the World Bank’s index of commodity prices has remained essentially unchanged.
• World Bank reiterates that between mid-2022 and mid-2023, global commodity prices plummeted by nearly 40 per cent.

Kenyan consumers will have to bear the high cost of borrowing for much longer as Central Banks will not loosen their monetary policies any time soon, the World Bank has said.

The lender says the continued tightening will be a result of the prevalent global economic shocks, such as the Middle East conflict, which is threatening to halt the inflationary decline that has occurred in the past two years.

“Global commodity prices are leveling off after a steep descent that played a decisive role in whittling down overall inflation last year,” the World Bank says in its latest commodity markets outlook. “However,

• Kenya-Ethiopia trade relations have been on the rise in the past 27 years, with Kenya having the upper hand. 
• Ethiopia, on the other hand, recorded an increase at an annualised rate of 23.7 per cent.
• During the Meeting Kenyan investors also undertook exhibitions showcasing some of their products.

Kenya and Ethiopia have renewed the push to streamline the bottlenecks that are hampering trade growth between the two states. A delegation of the National Assembly to the Kenya-Ethiopia Trade and Investment Mission held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has rooted for the speedy removal of bottlenecks hampering cross-border trade between both Nations.

Kenya and Ethiopia have engaged in bilateral trade across multiple sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing, energy, and services, with the balance of trade hugely in favour of Kenya. In 2022, Kenya exported $95.1M (Sh12.8billion) to Ethiopia, mainly Palm Oil $12.4M (Sh1.7billion), Metal Stoppers $7.95M (Sh1.1billion), and Yeast $6.92M (Sh934million).

This compares …