Author: Kimani Chege

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry in cooperation commonly referred to as Dubai Chamber has released a white paper in which it identifies key business opportunities and trends in Sub Sahara Africa ahead of the Global Business Forum Africa 2019. Growing momentum behind regional integration, economic reforms, technological advances, and infrastructure development are among the key factors fuelling business growth in sub-Sahara Africa, according to a new whitepaper. The report was released by Dubai Chamber with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Established in 1965, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry is a non-profit public entity, whose mission is…

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has joined a growing list of countries that are yearning to tap into the numerous opportunities within the African continent as well as boost trade and development. Heads of state, ministers, policymakers, prominent business leaders, investors and entrepreneurs from Africa are descending on Dubai for the two-day Global Business Forum Africa 2019. Held under theme “Scale-Up Africa”, the fifth edition of the forum is organised by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Dubai Chamber) under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler…

FinDev Canada has announced an investment of USD 7.5 million in the Africa Forestry Fund II (AFF II), a growth equity fund focused on acquiring and developing environmentally-friendly forestry value chain assets across Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa Forestry Fund aims to build upon the success of the previous AFF I fund and to improve the reinvigoration of Africa’s forestry sector. The fund could create as many as 3500 jobs in local areas, with up to 30% of them being exclusively for women. The Fund Manager, Criterion Africa Partners (CAP), concentrates on three key areas of the forestry value chain; the acquisition,…

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has launched a new initiative to boost gender equality and female economic empowerment. The aim of SheInvest is to mobilise EUR 1 billion of investment that can benefit millions of women across Africa with better access to finance and by making sustainable infrastructure services and products work for them. This initiative was launched simultaneously at the Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg and at the EIB headquarters in Luxembourg. Building on experience in northern and sub-Saharan African countries as well as in gender-focused lending, the EIB will step up efforts to further invest in projects, sectors…

Distributed Power Africa (DPA), a subsidiary of the Econet Group of companies, and Econet is a Pan African Technology, and Telecommunications group, operating in more than 20 African countries, is installing a 1MW solar system for Africa Data Centres’ facility in Nairobi, Kenya.  According to DPA, this is the third installation it is deploying this year for Africa Data Centre, with the first phase having been completed in May and currently working on phase 2. Africa Data Centre is the continent’s first and largest network of interconnected, carrier and cloud neutral data centre facilities, rapidly expanding across the region. While serving Africa’s…

Silafrica, a leading packaging company in Africa that supplies plastic packaging throughout East Africa, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania is set to be the first African company to employ the Smart Crate technology. Designed especially for produce, Smart Crates are scheduled to be in production within six months. The RFID and NFC tag technologies provide some important logistical advantages previously unavailable to the produce industry. A crate equipped with RFID can be tracked throughout its entire journey by scanning at routine checkpoints. NFC tags collect and store data, which can be quickly accessed by simply tapping a smartphone against…

Kenya is urging Polish investors to take advantage of a government push to provide basic and affordable healthcare for the country by investing in various aspects of the healthcare system. This was part of the discussions going on at the 2nd Kenya-Poland Health Summit held under the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH) office in Nairobi together with the Polish African Business Association (PAfBA). The Managing Director of Kenya Investment Agency (KenInvest) Dr. Moses Ikiara noted that Kenya was providing an ideal environment for investment in the health sector with the GDP of the health sector growing at an annual…

US government in Kenya is developing several mechanisms that are helping small and medium companies in Kenya access local and American investors through raising equity, debt and capital injection. Several companies were part of the recently concluded AmCham Kenya business summit where they pitched their proposals to American investors. The Kenya Investment Mechanism is funded by USAID as part of Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger, and food security initiative. During its first year of implementation, it has built a network of transaction advisors and financial institutions that have mobilized $20.5 M of investments in Kenyan agribusinesses. KIM…

There is a widened gap between the skills possessed by youth entering the workforce and the current and emerging needs in Kenya’s job market today. This is according to the ‘Job Entry-Level Skills: Seizing the Moment, Securing the Future’ report by Aga Khan University’s East Africa Institute. The study, which was conducted in 24 counties and interviewed over 9,000 people – employers and employees, found that the service sector in Kenya is growing fast, far outpacing manufacturing and agriculture which have in the past been perceived to be offering most of the level entry opportunities to Kenyan youth. The report,…

TRACE, the global urban music television, and entertainment network have finalized the acquisition of a 70-percent stake in Qwetu Radio for an undisclosed fee. The deal that commenced with talks in September 2018, now gives Trace a foothold in the highly competitive urban radio entertainment segment in Kenya. Following the conclusion of the acquisition, Trace has now set up its East African hub in Westlands in Nairobi that will be led by Danny Mucira as the MD for the East Africa cluster. Trace also launched the newly branded Trace Radio 95.3 FM, a music-only radio station. According to Olivier Laouchez,…