Author: Wanjiku Njugunah

A new report by Global Fund has found that the COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on the fight against HIV, TB and malaria in 2020.

The Result Report shows that while some progress was made, key programmatic results have declined for the first time in the history of the Global Fund, which is now marking its 20^th anniversary.

Global Fund Executive Director Peter Sands said that while they had hoped to focus this year’s results report on progress achieved against HIV, TB and malaria over the last two decades, the 2020 numbers force a different focus.

“They confirm what we feared might happen when COVID-19 struck,” Sands said.
The Results Report reveals the catastrophic impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the fight against TB worldwide.

In 2020, the number of people treated for drug-resistant TB in the countries where the Global Fund invests dropped by a staggering 19%, …

Eramet Group’s subsidiary Grande Côte Opérations (GCO) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CrossBoundary Energy for the construction of a 13 MW hybrid solar power station with 8 MW battery storage in Senegal.

This comes at a time when Senegal is emphasizing the role renewable will play in the country and has set up ambitious targets to reach universal access to electricity by 2025, achieve 200GWh of hydro power production, and have renewable make up 30 percent of the power mix by 2025.

In a statement, CrossBoundary said the solar power station is dedicated to the Diogo industrial site (north-western Senegal) for the production of mineral sands, and is scheduled to be commissioned in early 2023.

Its renewable energy is expected to help improve GCO’s carbon footprint and reinforce its ISO 50001 approach.

“This is a first that reinforces the company’s commitment to the climate, in line with that …

The ZIPA Executive Director said Zanzibar’s government recognizes that these islets possess sensitive ecosystems and are already home to thriving fishing and agricultural communities. As such, potential developments require careful planning, handling, guidance and oversight, and potential investors will need to adopt a holistic approach in implementing future projects.

“Our investors Expressions of Interest should provide information demonstrating that they possess experience and the ability to develop, operate and manage investment projects.”

“They should also demonstrate financial capacity, and skills in conserving environments, biodiversity, cultural heritage and community development. Interested Investors should specify the intended small island/islands for investment and provide detailed information on the kind of high-end investment intended.”…

Liquids Intelligent Technologies has reported that over 90 percent of IT decision makers across South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe have accelerated their Cyber Security due to the substantial emergence of digital ways of working. 

The study established some of the main concerns about Cyber Security threats and the most significant impacts of digital breaches on an organisational level.

A critical insight from the research suggests that 79 percent of businesses from all three countries attribute an increase in Cyber Security threats to the advent of remote working.

Data breaches like data extortion, data leakage and data disclosure constitute almost 71% of the cyber-attacks for Kenyan businesses, and over 70% of South African and Zimbabwean organisations consider email attacks like Phishing the most prominent digital threats.

The participants from the research also indicated an increased consumption of Cloud-based services this year, with the numbers being as high as 96% in South …

Passenger vehicles were Kenya’s fourth-largest import overall in 2014, valued at US$420 million and making up 2.3% of total imports (by value) while commercial vehicles ranked seventh, valued at US$370 million.

“If the current trend of 10% to 12% growth per annum on vehicle imports is to be maintained, Kenya will have five million vehicles on the road by the year 2030,” Deloitte said.…

Kenya’s banking industry contributed 27 percent of all corporate taxes paid in the country in 2020 and 2019.

According to a report by Kenya Bankers Association, the contribution were adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic that caused a 12 percent overall decline in their total tax contribution during the period.

The report was compiled by audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on behalf of the Kenya Bankers Association.

It attributes the decline to reductions in corporate taxes and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) collections.

“This decline is partly attributable to reduced tax rates, specifically reduction of corporate tax rate from 30 percent to 25 percent, reduction of the top PAYE rate from 30 percent to 25 percent and the reduction of Value Added Tax rate from 16 percent to 14 percent. The aim of these measures was to provide relief to taxpayers against adverse economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,’’ the report …

The Kenyan private sector has recorded improvement for a fourth straight month in August 2021, according to a new report.

Stanbic Bank’s Purchasing Managers’ Index report indicates that the rate of growth picked up in August as firms saw a faster expansion in new business compared to July.

During the period, job creation also strengthened, but output rose at the slowest rate in four months and business confidence fell to a near-record low.

After climbing sharply in July, the pace of input cost inflation eased in August, leading firms to increase their charges at the softest rate in 2021 so far.

As such, the country’s PMI picked up to 51.1 from 50.6 in July, to remain above the 50.0 neutral mark for the fourth month in a row.

According to the index, readings above 50.0 signal an improvement in business conditions on the previous month, while readings below 50.0 show …

Most Kenyans turn to digital lending platforms first when looking for sources of credit to fund the growth of small businesses, a new report has said.

The State of Digital Lending in Kenya Report 2021 by consumer intelligence firm ReelAnalytics shows that most Kenyans would seek business growth loans from sources such as close family members in the absence of digital lending platforms.

However, the report further finds that borrowing within family circles is less convenient, as loan accessibility is usually unpredictable.

Respondents also state that family funding is also much less compared to sources like digital lenders.

“Majority (over 60percent) of customers are satisfied with the services of digital lenders and that there really are not strong formal or institutional alternatives to digital lenders,” said the report.

Forty per cent of Kenyans interviewed in the report said they would borrow from relatives as their prime alternative to digital lenders …

Regional insurer UAP Old Mutual Group has recorded a profit before tax of Sh552 million in the first half of the year, compared to a loss of Sh57 million for the same period in 2020.

The company has attributed the performance to strong topline growth and investment income performance on the back of the recovery of the Nairobi Securities Exchange during the period.

Excluding the impact of the Old Mutual Life Assurance Company (OMLAC) consolidation, the Group recorded a profit before tax of Sh518 million.

Commenting on the report, Arthur Oginga, Group CEO noted that the performance of the business in the period was delivered on the backdrop of the initial stages of the expected economic recovery as the different countries they operate in work towards a return to normalcy while managing the risks of subsequent waves of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“In our core Kenya market, we have seen positive …

Regional financial services firm, Britam Holdings PLC has posted a profit after tax of Kshs 376.3 million from a loss after tax of Kshs 1.6 billion posted in the six months ending June 2021.

According to the firm, the improved performance is attributed to growth in premiums from new business and investment income from its broad investment portfolio.

The firm also registered significant growth in investment income following the moving of its investment portfolio to increase yields.

Investment income during the period grew to Kshs 4.9 billion, representing a 35 per cent growth compared to a similar period last year.

The Group also realized growth in revenue from both its local and regional businesses.

The regional businesses contributed 24 per cent of the Group’s gross earned premiums.

The Group’s gross earned premiums and fund management fees were up 5.7 per cent to Kshs 14.9 billion.

Britam’s Group Managing Director, Tavaziva …