Author: Martin Mwita

The Kenyan government, through the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, has announced it will set aside over 750 acres of land within Mount Kenya forest aide in the conservation of the critically endangered Mountain Bongo.

According to Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala, the land will help protect the Mountain Bongo, whose numbers have dropped to below 100 animals in the wild.

With fewer than 100 Bongos left in the Wild, the Mountain Bongo has been classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as a critically endangered species.

READ ALSO:Kenyan Retail Complex, The Hub, seeks to save endangered African species

“The land set aside by the Kenya Forest Service will enable us to increase the number of Mountain Bongos to a sustainable population. We currently have 96 Mountain Bongos in the wild and 77 in captivity being used for breeding by the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy,” …

Kenya is going big on tapping the billions in the blue economy if the latest developments by government, in partnership with the private sector, are anything to go by.

In a spirited move to exploit the country’s maritime sector and the global ocean waters, the government has entered into a partnership with global logistics firm―Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), to revive the defunct Kenya National Shipping Line (KNSL).

This is a bold move being taken by the government noting that KNSL has been dormant for close to 22 years, after poor management sent it into debt and loss of business.

Its collapse saw the country miss out on an untapped Ksh304 billion (US$2.9billion) business potential, an amount Kenyan importers spend on freight charges paid to foreign firms.

The national shipping line was established in 1987 as the national carrier to handle containerized exports and imports freight cargo, to and from the …

Most entrepreneurs have not prepared a business succession plan for their businesses in case of their departure, industry players have noted, which has led to the collapse of many Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in the demise or the absence of the business owner.

In most cases, it is the owner who carries the vision of the business and ensures that the business remains afloat.

Additionally, most SME’s do not have comprehensive risk and asset management solutions, which leaves them greatly exposed to manageable risks and therefore stand a very slim chance of recovering their business in case of an event.

This was reported during an Invest In Africa-Kenya and Liberty Life Insurance forum in Nairobi this week, attended by over 60 SMEs.

The forum was convened to discuss business sustainability beyond the owner under the theme: “Beyond the Business: Is there tomorrow for your company?”

Speaking at the event, …

Swiss International Hotels & Resorts has signed a management contract with FEP Holdings Limited to operate its property in Sagana, Kenya, which will be named Swiss International Sagana Resort & Conference Centre.

The hotel is nearing its construction completion and is scheduled to open before the end of 2019. It is expected to create 150 direct jobs to Kenyans which in turn will benefit over 1,000 households.

READ ALSO:Swiss International Resort Mount Kenya gains global acclaim

Strategically located along the Nairobi-Nyeri Highway, the resort is expected to boost both leisure and conference tourism in the Mount Kenya circuit and the Kenyan tourism industry at large.

FEP Holdings started construction of the property in 2014 and put out an international tender in December 2018, to get the right partner to run the four star resort.

The Swiss international hospitality group is expected to run the facility on international standards with …

Barely a month after intercepting a consignment of contrabands and illegal imports at the Port of Mombasa, Kenyan authorities have yet again seized another multi-million shipment by rogue importers in Kenya.

Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) seized 144 drums of imported Ethanol at the Port of Mombasa, which had been mis-declared as 1,000 bags of cement.

Customs officers have also seized another high end motor-vehicle, a Range Rover Sports suspected to have been stolen from the United Kingdom which had been mis-declared as second hand window frames, doors, folding chairs, stools and wall pictures.

READ ALSO:KRA intercepts narcotics disguised as candy at JKIA

The Ethanol was imported in two by twenty feet containers while the vehicle was in a twenty-foot container. The two were intercepted following intelligence reports; they were scanned through KRA’s non-intrusive scanners and the images showed inconsistency with what had been manifested.

A multi-agency team lead by …

KCB Bank Kenya has launched a Ksh300 million (US$2.9 million) poultry farmer empowerment project in Makueni County, in its latest move to support agribusiness in Kenya.

This will see over 1,000 poultry farmers in Kibwezi benefit from credit facilities, capital, vaccinated insured chicks, chicken feed and vaccines.

The project will be offered under KCB MobiGrow, a mobile-based platform which provides financial and non-financial services to smallholder farmers in Kenya and Rwanda.

Under the project dubbed, ‘From Chick to Market’, poultry farmers will access various tailor-made MobiGrow services.

Upon maturity, the chicken will be bought at a pre-contracted price by KCB market partners, guaranteeing farmers of a ready market.

Proceeds from the sales will then be remitted to farmers through their KCB MobiGrow accounts to ensure the recovery of loan amounts.

“We are committed to growing agribusiness in the country. We continue to accelerate access to financial services which is in …

The Kenyan business community is now hopeful Tanzania will uphold its commitment of opening up its borders for trade under the Single Customs Territory (SCT), after President Uhuru Kenyatta’s visit to Tanzania this weekend.

The diplomatic and trade relations of the two countries had last week plummeted following remarks by a Nairobi politician, which indicated foreigners would be thrown out.

Emotions ran high among legislators of the two countries, after Kenyan-Starehe MP Charles Njagua’s remarks on foreigners.

The legislator on June 26, turned the heat on foreign traders accusing them of taking over key city markets, while they harassed. He threatened to flash out foreigners and have them deported.

Njagua’s sentiments were not well received in Tanzania where a heated debate ensued in Parliament, with legislators threatening a diplomatic action against Kenya.

READ ALSO:Tanzania’s ‘jilted lover’ attitude hinders uniting East Africa

Tanzania’s opposition leader Freeman Mbowe said though Hon.Njagua …

Tapping into its global strategy, the Coca-Cola System in Kenya has unveiled its innovative portfolio of beverages into the market to offer customers more choice and convenience.

The organization, which is evolving to become a Total Beverage Company, has been reshaping its growth strategy and operating model in line with changing consumer tastes and buying habits.

Since 2017, it has broadened its product offerings in various category clusters including water, nectar juice, ready to drink coffee, tea bags and sports drinks.

Amongst the new products launched this week was an addition to the Minute Maid portfolio; Minute Maid Nutridefenses – a nectar juice fortified with vitamin E and Zinc, a suitable addition to the breakfast occasion.

Coke plus Coffee; a fusion of Coca-Cola and coffee with a formulation of added coffee and fifty percent less sugar. This drink targets the afternoon slump to help rejuvenate consumers and give them the …

Investors are keen on new developments at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) as the market opens its counters for derivatives trading.

The NSE Derivatives Market (NEXT) futures start trading today with the official launch of the market slated for Thursday, July 11, 2019.

“NEXT provides new opportunities to investors, enabling them to better diversify their portfolios, manage risk, and deploy capital more efficiently,” NSE Chief Executive Geoffrey Odundo said.

Futures contracts provide investors with risk management tools in the wake of unexpected volatility in asset prices.

READ:NSE gets green light for Derivatives Market

NEXT will also enable Kenya to consolidate its position as a leading financial services hub offering a wide variety of investments products.

The  NEXT will commence with index futures and single stock futures on selected indices and stocks respectively, the bourse’s management said.

The Exchange will initially offer index futures contracts on the NSE25 Share Index …

Over 50 per cent of Kenyan manufacturers feel the sector is struggling to compete with developed countries with equal pressure coming from regional states, a study has revealed.

This is in the wake of continued high costs of doing business in the country with the local market further being infiltrated by cheap imports mainly from China.

READ:What is hurting manufacturing in Kenya

The study has been unveiled by SYSPRO, a global provider of industry-built Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software for manufacturers and distributors, together with Strathmore University.

External factors

In the findings, energy leads as the top factor affecting businesses with a 54 per cent prevalence followed solely by the country’s political climate which accounts for 50 per cent of effect to investments.

The third most toxic factor affecting businesses is taxes with 43 per cent prevalence. Others are cheap imports (40%), exchange rates and raw materials each at …