Author: Martin Mwita

KCB Group Plc profit after tax surged six per cent to Ksh19.2 billion ($186.1million) for the nine months ending September 2019, on the back of significant growth in the loan book and non-funded income.…

Kenya’s top commercial law firm MMC Africa Law has teamed up with Africa’s international law firm ASAFO & CO to form MMC ASAFO, in a merger likely to shake the continental space.

In order to provide a unique and integrated offering of top-tier legal services exclusively dedicated to the African continent, the MMC ASAFO team is based in different offices, with a balanced presence in France and in the major African business hubs of Nairobi, Abidjan, Casablanca and Johannesburg.

The merged entities are keen tap on the African Continental Free Trade Area which came into effect this year, congregating over 1.2 billion people in the world’s largest free trade zone.

READ ALSO:How East African businesses are going to lead the AFCTA

According to MMC ASAFO East Africa Team Leader Edward Muriu, African economies are among the fastest growing in the world today with a powerful industrial revolution which is …

Kenya and the Kingdom of Lesotho have signed three key pacts that are geared towards boosting bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

The deals signed at the end of talks held between President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Right Hon. Dr Motsoahae Thomas Thabane, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho at State House, Nairobi , were an agreement on the establishment of a Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC), a Memorandum of Understanding for bilateral consultations as well as a Memorandum of Understanding in the Field of Sports.

Prime Minister Thabane, who arrived in the country on Sunday evening for a three-day state visit, was formally received on Monday morning by his host President Kenyatta at a colourful ceremony that included a guard of honour mounted by a detachment of the Kenya Army and a 19-gun salute.

The elaborate state reception ceremonies were followed by a private meeting between the two …

Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company has announced  that it is launching an Amazon CloudFront Edge location in Kenya, which is expected to be operational in early 2020.

Amazon CloudFront is a highly secure and highly available Content Delivery Network (CDN) that accelerates the delivery of applications, data, and videos to users worldwide, with high transfer speeds.

READ ALSO:Kenya Space Agency intensifies use of science to curb drought

Kenya is the latest country to be connected to AWS’s global infrastructure network, which is designed and built to deliver the most flexible, reliable, scalable, and secure cloud computing environment with the highest quality network performance available today.

Customers across all industries in Kenya are benefitting from the flexibility, scalability, and security of the AWS cloud.

The improved and faster user experience, with local Amazon CloudFront infrastructure, will help in driving the development of even more web applications across …

Global Chinese technology company-Vivo has stamped its mark in the Kenyan market by setting its regional offices in Nairobi.

The firm has also unveiled the new V17 pro Smartphone in the Kenyan market.

According to the firm, the new V17 pro houses a total of 6 cameras on the front and back that allow users to redefine their selfies with the industry’s first 32mp dual pop-up front camera, a powerful upgrade to Vivo’s iconic elevating front camera.

V17 pro also houses cutting-edge features such as the super AMOLED ultra FullView display, professional-grade 48mp AI quad camera, plus stunning makeover features created to compliment the lifestyle of today’s young and stylish consumers.

Speaking during the event that was attended by senior government and private sector players in the telecommunications sector, Vivo Kenya CEO Arthur Xian said: “The creation of V17 pro once again showcases our strong consumer-centric innovation approach. The new …

Borrowers in Kenya should now expect interest rates as high as 30 per cent following the repeal of the interest rate cap law.

Parliament failed to raise the required quorum to defend the rate cap law which came into place in September 2016.

There has been a push by bankers, mainly through their lobby group-Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) to have controls on rate cap revised.

READ:Kenyan Banks begin feeling the interest rates cap effects

The law which has been in place for the last four years has controlled lending rates by commercial banks at four percentage points above the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Rate.

CBK has retained its benchmark lending rate at 9.0 per cent for the sixth straight time since bringing it down in July 30 2018.

This means banks could not charge loan at rates above 13 per cent, a move that was aimed at sparing …

Kenya’s population has grown by 9.9 million people over the last ten years to reach 47.6 million this year, latest official government data has revealed.

According to the 2019 ‘Kenya Population and Housing Census’ results presented to President Uhuru Kenyatta this week at State House Nairobi, the total population enumerated during the census exercise conducted in August this year was 47,564,296 persons.

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The results indicate that the female population which stands at 24,014,716 accounts for 50.5 per cent of the total population while the male population is 23,548,056 persons.

The 2019 census report, presented to the Head of State by Director General of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) Zachary Mwangi shows that Nairobi is the most populous county in the country.

Nairobi , which is also Kenya’s capital city, has a population of 4.4 million people followed by Kiambu (2.4 million), Nakuru (2.16 million), Kakamega (1.87 million) …

The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) has agreed to invest in Kenya’s Big Four projects, a boost to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s ambitious plan.

Investment by the fund will go a long way in helping realization of the Big 4 which incorporates revamping manufacturing sector, providing affordable housing, universal health care and food security for Kenyans.

READ ALSO:World Bank affirms support for Kenya’s Big 4 

The SFD has undertaken to rally similar organisations in the Middle East to invest in Kenya’s economy.

The announcement was made in a meeting between Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani and the Vice President and Managing Director of SFD, Dr Khalid Bin Sulaiman Alkhudairy.

Mr Alkhudairy said the Saudi Fund was keen in investing in Kenya’s affordable housing projects besides power, roads and education where it has already invested.

READ ALSO:Dubai owned bank expands network in Kenya

Alkhudairy said he appreciates that Kenya has …

Kenya and Jordan are in talks on deepening trade and bilateral ties, in the latest of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s charm offensive to attract investments to the East African nation.

Kenyatta on Tuesday held talks with His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan where the two leaders discussed the progress in trade and bilateral relations between the two countries.

The leaders, who want their two countries to establish special status relations, directed their respective ministries to fast track the implementation of bilateral trade agreements.

READ ALSO:Kenya signs 8 treaties spreading wings to remote territories

President Kenyatta and King Abdullah II also discussed the progress by their respective nations in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

President Kenyatta and the Jordanian King met on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative (FII), a global financial conference hosted in Saudi Arabia where 40 countries are taking part.

The two leaders also …

Industries and households in Kenya could soon be out of frequent power interruptions and outages as Kenya Power kicks off live maintenance of power lines.

The programme launched on Monday this week is meant to reduce planned electricity shutdowns, enhance stability of power supply and improve revenue generation.

READ ALSO:How Kenya Power plans to manage electricity tariffs

The launch follows the completion of the pilot phase where more than 70 staff were trained to carry out maintenance of live power lines.

During the pilot phase, eight insulated trucks and three digger derricks were also acquired.

Following the success of the pilot phase, the World Bank has funded the programme to a tune of $20 million (about Ksh2 billion) for procurement of additional insulated trucks, tools and accessories, training of staff in live line maintenance techniques and establishment of a laboratory for testing live line equipment.

READ ALSO:World bank