Author: Martin Mwita

The venture is keen to achieve food security, income generation, healthy living and environmental awareness It is early morning in the outskirts of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. A group of three young people are working in a field, using hoes to remove plastic bags and other solid waste from the soil in preparation for crop planting. Together with other youth, they are raising seedbeds of vegetables such as kale, cabbage, spinach, carrots, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and other commonly consumed vegetables in Kenya. The seedlings will later be transferred to gardens and irrigated for several weeks before the vegetables are supplied…

Joel will manage Tell-Em PR’s operations and client portfolio Tell-Em Public Relations, one of Kenya’s leading Public Relations firms, has appointment veteran PR practitioner Joel Chacha as the agency’s new General Manager effective April 1, 2019. Joel brings over 10 years of experience in developing and implementing successful communications and digital strategies. “We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Joel Chacha as Tell-Em PR’s General Manager. Joel’s broad mix of strategy, crisis communication and media relations experience will be a fantastic addition to our agency’s Top Executive Team,” said Tell-Em PR’s Managing Director Elizabeth Cook. Mutahi Kagwe, Tell-Em…

The factory can produce about 7.8 billion pellets of chewing gum annually US headquartered Mars Wrigley Confectionery has cemented its business in the East and Central Africa region with the new state of the art Ksh7billion (USD68.9 million) manufacturing plant in Athi River, Machakos County, Kenya. The plant was officially commissioned by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday. The President was represented by Industry, Trade and Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya. Kenyatta has since hailed Mars Wrigley for putting up the new factory citing the need to invest in additional manufacturing capacity to create more jobs for Kenyans. The investment gels…

Delivery has become the in-thing in the market. Customers nowadays don’t have to go to the shops but can just order, make a payment (either before or on delivery) and receive their orders at home, in the office or have them delivered wherever they want. The Exchange spoke to Glovo, a startup founded in 2015 in Barcelona, and launched in Kenya in February this year. The service is present in over 20 countries and more than 100 cities. With over 10 years in business development, seven of which have been in the tech world, Glovo Market Lead (Sub-Saharan Africa) Priscila…

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has hit a technical snag in its efforts to collect taxes amounting to more than Ksh2.7 billion (USD26.6 million) per month, accruing from betting wins. This follows a court order issued by a magistrate’s court barring the taxman from accessing the monies. The orders issued by Senior Resident Magistrate D.M. Kivuti sitting at the Milimani Commercial Courts (Nairobi) have stopped the operations of crucial Income Tax Act sections (Sections 2, 10, 34 and 35), effectively rendering KRA unable to collect the levies,  earmarked for national development projects. This is per the budget  for the current financial…

Loans from China closed 2018 at USD6.2 billion (Ksh 627.1 billion) Kenya will be keen to secure additional funds from China for construction of Phase 2B of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), as the World meets for the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in Beijing. The forum which takes place this week is expected to attract a high number of Heads of States from Africa and across the globe, with thousands of delegates from over 100 countries. President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration is seeking a Ksh370 billion (USD 3.67 billion) loan to extend the rail project which…

Majority of the deals are tier 1 banks going for struggling tier 2 and 3 lenders Kenya’s banking sector is on an evolution path evidenced by the high number of mergers and acquisitions being witnessed; a trend the government is hoping will realign and strengthen the sector. The most recent is last week’s offer by the country’s largest bank by asset-KCB, which has made a move to acquire a hundred per cent (100%) of the ordinary shares in National Bank of Kenya (NBK). This is the sixth deal in the last nine months (between August 2018 and April this year)…

Farmers could soon start pocketing 80% of gross earnings from Coffee President Uhuru Kenyatta is committed to revive the country’s coffee industry if latest indicators are anything to go by. One of the biggest initiatives announced by the government is the rehabilitation of 500 pulping stations (factories) in 31 coffee-growing Counties across the country. Coffee farmers are also set to benefit a Cherry Advance Revolving Fund being set by the government; a kitty President Kenyatta says will be operational from July 1 when the 2019-2020 financial year commences. The current financial year (2018-19) ends on June 30. In the coming…

The portal allows users to quickly request for and receive an instant tender security NIC Ventures, a subsidiary of NIC Group, in partnership with Masterpiece Fusion have launched an online platform dubbed “BeeDee” for trading of securities, in the wake of a strong demand in trade finance. The platform offers a more convenient, quick and efficient self-service process for both customers and non – customers seeking to quickly request for and receive bid bonds. BeeDee portal, is available on mobile devices and web through a mobile phone application and web portal respectively, allowing high availability and mobility since its accessible anywhere…

The service guarantees security and in-call stability, Telkom says Telkom has introduced a new cloud-based fixed voice service dubbed “Omniconnect”, allowing SMEs and corporates to outsource for robust and secure cutting-edge technology. Telkom Hosted PBX service will deliver a world-class end-to-end software and hardware system, powered by global technology company Avaya. Besides making and receiving calls, the service will also offer other features such as conference calls and the ability to integrate with email and the mobile phone. The subscription-based service will eliminate the need for businesses to make heavy initial capital investment to acquire and maintain the fixed telephone…