Author: Kimani Chege

Thirty-eight emerging market economies, including five countries in Africa, have initiated key banking reforms to drive development and fight climate change, according to the second Global Progress Report of the IFC-facilitated Sustainable Banking Network (SBN). The SBN Global Progress Report shows that regulators and banking associations in countries in Africa are adopting national sustainable finance policies and voluntary principles as well as advancing green bond markets and innovative green lending policies. “African countries will be among the hardest hit by climate change and Africa already faces daunting challenges around job creation and inequality,” said Kevin Njiraini, IFC’s Regional Director, Southern Africa…

Distributed Power Africa (DPA) has unveiled a 1.2MW solar installation at Liquid Telecom’s  Campus in Midrand, Johannesburg –one of their largest projects to date in South Africa. Recently, the company also announced a major deal with Tesla to bring Powerwalls into Zimbabwe, as a part of their telecoms power solution. According to the CEO of DPA Africa, Norman Moyo “This solar deployment to Liquid Telecom Midrand is a major development in improving energy security for critical users like data centres.  It will improve their power security and energy efficiencies.  The power needs of data centres tend to be heavy and…

Adenia Partners, a private equity firm investing in Sub-Saharan Africa, and headquartered in Mauritius has been making inroads into the supermarket sector in Kenya through strategic buy-outs in the last one year. Last month, Adenia Partners announced that it completed a majority investment in Quick Mart Limited, a major supermarket chain, operating a chain of 11 supermarkets in Kenya with 9 stores located in neighbourhood estates in Nairobi, and another 2 stores in the town of Nakuru. The transaction has been structured through Adenia Capital (IV), a  EURO230mn fund. Immediately, the buy-out managers announced that they will use the funds…

Kenya’s green energy M-Kopa has revealed how it has bridged energy needs for low income earners in East Africa. The company, which boasts of clean energy stalwart Al Gore in its shareholding has issued over $233 million in credit to its predominantly low-income customers over the last eight years. Repayments are made via micropayments and M-KOPA has now processed nearly 100 million mobile money payments. M-KOPA provides off-grid homes and businesses with asset financing for lights, phone charging, radios, televisions, fridges and more. Previously, customers were spending an average of 50c per day on kerosene, candles and phone charging. The…

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved the financing of Kenya’s north link road which when combined with the current section will make it the longest expressway in the country. The total project cost is €257.68 million, of which €178.02 million (69%) will be financed by the Bank Group, while 12% will come from Africa Growing Together Fund, set up by the Bank and the People’s Bank of China in 2014. The remaining 19% will be financed by the Kenyan government. The five-year project will convert the 84km Kenol–Sagana–Marua Road in central and eastern Kenya from a two-way single carriageway…

With the ever-increasing need to provide job seekers that are qualified for a specific job, Kenya’s talent recruitment agency BrighterMonday has introduced a new product called ‘Best Match’. Research has shown that there exists a disconnect between job seekers with their skills and the job market keen to bridge skilled labour space. The product is designed to make the process of finding the best candidates more efficient for human resource professionals, business heads and entrepreneurs looking to hire quality talent. According to BrighterMonday CEO Emmanuel Mutuma, with increasing market dynamics and competitive job markets, Best Match was designed to cater…

Every month, Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway moves an average of 200 cargo trains from the coastal city of Mombasa to Nairobi’s inland container depot. With it, it moves at least 1,000 containers to Nairobi. This has left a bitter taste among residents of Mombasa, who have over the years depended on the undertakings around the port for jobs. SGR, which has been billed as the biggest transport infrastructure project in the Kenya’s history, is expected to haul about nine million tonnes of cargo to make a profit of Sh5.08 billion a year, averaging Sh424 million per month, compared with 990,488…

Nigeria’s technology Co-creation Hub (CcHUB), has taken total ownership of Kenya’s iHub for an undisclosed fee. The deal will see iHub’s team become part of CcHUB’s wider central support and strategy network, whilst retaining its name and senior management structure. This is the second change of ownership for iHub which was in 2017 acquired by venture capital firm BSP Fund LLC. An industry first for the African tech hub community, the acquisition of East Africa’s most prolific and reputable technology centre is the next step for CcHUB as it continues its mission to connect entrepreneurs, technologists and public bodies across the…

Swiss food and beverage global leader Nestle has warned its suppliers primarily in Brazil and Indonesia that it will be performing more tests on coffee beans after the company found higher levels of the weedkiller glyphosate – the key ingredient of weedkiller Roundup, originally designed and sold by Monsanto. This has sent jitters among other coffee-growing areas across the globe as more scrutiny is being put on the use of the chemical whose producer Bayer is facing numerous suits it inherited when it purchased American firm Monsanto. A statement quoted by Blomberg notes, “We actively monitor chemical residues, including glyphosate,…

Bowmans Law firm, a leading pan African legal entity specializing in business deals, merger and acquisitions (M&A) is set to launch its base in Ethiopia and Mauritius at the beginning of October 2019. The move is seen as an expansion of the company to two countries where FDIs have remained high coupled with financial growth. Bowmans is opening a fully-fledged office in Mauritius, having joined forces with FirmWise, a local firm that specialises in corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance, investment funds, tax, compliance and private equity. Robert Legh, chairman, and senior partner, says ‘This move, which is effective from 1 October 2019, is an investment…