Author: Kimani Chege

Broll Property Group, the largest independently owned Pan-African commercial property services company, has entered into an exclusive affiliate arrangement with Cushman & Wakefield, a leading global real estate services company.

The new venture represents a partnership with Broll’s Occupier Services business and will be branded Cushman & Wakefield Broll, providing clients with an integrated platform covering the entire sub-Saharan Africa region.

The partnership combines Broll’s well-established operations and market-leading track record of Occupier Services across Africa with Cushman & Wakefield’s global reach. This will allow for the optimization of Broll’s expansive knowledge of the African markets with the weight and expertise of a global player. “This partnership provides an important distinction for users of space, who will benefit from the Cushman & Wakefield Broll dedicated focus on occupier clients,” says Ken Gerber, Managing Director of Broll Occupier Services.

The service offering covers end-to-end corporate real estate solutions for businesses across …

International lottery and gaming operator Tenlot Group has acquired an 85 per cent stake in Kenya Charity Sweepstake (KSC), the country’s oldest public lottery. KSC was established in Kenya in 1966 with the aim of helping to alleviate poverty and to provide financial support to social causes.

The acquisition is meant to take advantage of a growing gaming culture in Kenya that has blossomed in the last five years. The country has seen the entry of international betting companies leading to the government coming up with tough measures to rein on them.

Africa escaped the global decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) as flows to the continent rose to US$46 billion in 2018, an increase of 11% on the previous year, according to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2019.

Growing demand for some commodities and a corresponding rise in their prices as well as the growth in non-resource-seeking investment in a few economies underpinned the rise.

While FDI in some large economies on the continent – such as Nigeria and Egypt – contracted, this was outweighed by a surge in flows to others, most significantly, South Africa.

“The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement will bolster regional cooperation. This, along with upbeat growth prospects, augurs well for FDI flows to the continent,” UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said.

FDI flows to Sub-Saharan Africa climbed by 13% to $32 billion, recovering ground after successive contractions in the two prior years. Southern Africa saw …

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are forecast to add US$15 trillion to the global economy by 2030. A new report by Canadian International Development Research Center (IDRC) and Oxford Insights has noted that Africa ranks  lowly on the global list countries that have adopted or are ready to adopt technologies related to Artificial Intelligence.

There are no African countries in the top 50 positions, and only 12 African countries in the top 100. The top five placed African governments – Kenya, Tunisia, Mauritius, South Africa, and Ghana – reflects the well-documented developments in the technology sectors of these countries.

Of the bottom ten countries, seven are classified as Least Developed Countries, the Government Artificial Intelligence Readiness Index 2019 reports.

One of the biggest challenges facing the characterization of AI activities and readiness in Africa is a lack of systematic study on the topic. As a result, there is a relative lack …

The Kenya Shilling showed the first sign of loosing ground against major currencies since the Central Bank of Kenya introduced new notes and decided to recall the Ksh 1, 000 note in order to curb illicit flow.

Commercial banks have quoted the Shilling trading against the US dollar at Ksh 101.95/102.15 per dollar, compared with 101.80/102.00 at last week’s close. This weakening despite being marginal is the highest rate the currency has traded this year.

At the beginning of June, Central Bank of Kenya announced measures to introduce new currencies meeting a long overdue constitutional requirement to introduce new faces of the currency. In doing so, the CBK governor also announced that the Ksh 1,000 note in circulation was to be recalled and removed from the list of legal tender in Kenya due to illicit use in the country and the region.

Holders of the old 1000 note are …

Over seven hundred and eighty  micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Kenya’s Lake Region are set to benefit from the new, ultra-modern Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) regional headquarters in Kisumu.

The new facility not only houses the KEBS regional offices but is also equipped with four laboratories including Food and Agriculture, Microbiology, Biochemistry and Instrumentation. The laboratories will offer testing, metrology and calibration services to the Lake Region industries including fishing and fisheries, water purification and bottling, tea factories, grains and cereals, sugar, animal feeds, fertilizers and the hospitality sector.

Speaking during the official opening of the facility, KEBS Ag. Managing Director Lt. Col (Rtd). Bernard Njiraini reiterated the institution’s commitment to promoting standardization in industry and trade at the county level through investing in requisite resources and infrastructure for standards development, conformity assessment, testing and metrology.

 “The Kisumu office will ensure that the region receives adequate support …

Cloud9xp, leading online marketplace, booking service and distributor for leisure experiences with a Kenyan base has announced that they have joined forces with one of the fastest growing and tech-enabled tours and travel companies in the region, Heartbeat Adventures.

The deal finally came to a positive conclusion after several weeks of negotiations. The two companies will continue with operations under the Cloud9xp brand, with HeartBeat Adventures’s Founder, Winnie Kimathi, being appointed as the new Managing Director to oversee day to day operations of the company, open new doors for revenue generation through curated travel packages and lead the next phase of the company’s’ growth.

Following a recent round of undisclosed investment and launching their new mobile applications earlier in the year, Cloud9xp has been on an upward trend.

The merger will allow a better customer experience and bigger product basket size. This includes in-destination management, flight and accommodation bookings …

RENEW’s Impact Angel Network (IAN), one of the most active equity investors in Ethiopia with an expanding presence in East Africa, have successfully exited two investments to a regional private equity fund and a family office.

RENEW and the IAN provided two rounds of angel financing to support the launch of an Ethiopian production company that exports to international markets. With the recent buyout of these positions, these investments realized gross internal rates of return (IRR) of 26.70% and 17.58%, respectively.

The IAN’s investments helped a start-up company become a leader in its industry in Ethiopia. The company has received international awards and certifications on account of a superior product and exceptional processes.

It now purchases from thousands of smallholder farmers and employs hundreds of Ethiopians in permanent and temporary positions.

The company’s success can be attributed to the strong leadership and disciplined management of a visionary entrepreneur and committed …

Africa has had a dark past and specifically the four century long blot of human slavery climaxing in the 17th and 18th century. However, some of the descendants of the slaves have gone on to make great businessmen with great influence in the world.

Ghana has realized the potential such a group of people pose to the African economy and has launched several drives to make the African Diaspora return to the continent and invest in projects of their choice.

The Ghana Diaspora Celebration & Homecoming Summit 2019 (GDHS’19) is a four-day event recognizing and celebrating the immense contributions to nation building by the Ghanaian Diaspora.

The event will not only highlight past contributions but will focus on present contributions as well, whiles furthering the advocacy for political, economic, and all other systems and policies that would facilitate future contributions by the Ghanaian Diaspora.

Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo in October …

Greenlight Planet, an organization that designs, distributes, and finances solar home energy systems in East Africa, released the latest addition to its Sun King Home 400 series, this time with a 24-inch solar powered television.

Greenlight Planet is a for-profit social business that designs, distributes, and finances solar home energy with an under-served population in mind: the 1.3 billion global consumers for whom the old-fashioned electrical grid is unavailable or too expensive.  Since its founding in 2009, the company has become a leading global provider of solar-energy products to over 27 million rural consumers in more than 60 countries.

This product introduction represents the company’s most recent step toward providing Kenya’s off-grid population with quality access to lighting, entertainment, and information. The 24-inch TV comes as part of the Sun King Home 400 plug-and-play solar home system, along with two tube lights, two hanging lights, a motion-sensor security light, and …