Author: Wanjiku Njugunah

Nairobi-based real estate developer Fusion Capital Limited has raised over US$8 million towards the completion of Greenwood City Mall, in Meru County in Kenya.

The company, which doubles up as a private equity firm, had previously structured the financing of the mall as a Development Real Estate Investment Trust (D-Reit) which achieved a 38 percent subscription against the set threshold of 50 percent subscription, but the Shareholders of Meru Greenwood Park dropped the DREIT in favor of private funding for the development.

According to the firm, the construction of the mall has now fully been funded privately by investors from the United Kingdom and Finland to a tune of USD. 8 Million of new cash as well as local land partners.

Fusion Group’s Chief Executive, Daniel Kamau said, “We have a first-mover advantage in Meru and hence the decision to proceed with the circa 12,000 sqm shopping mall which we …

The shareholders of Equity Group Holdings Plc have passed resolutions that will reinforce the governance structures of the Group, continue to diversify the Board composition, and also assure investors of dividend pay-out every year as long as the Company posts profits.

In a statement, the Group says shareholders voted for the Amendment of Articles 1 and 79 of the Articles of Association of the Company thereby reinforcing its governance structure and signaling the growing significance of Equity Group Foundation as the social impact investment arm and custodian of the purpose of the Group.

Speaking after the AGM, the Group Board Chairman Equity Group Holdings Plc (EGH Plc), Professor Isaac Macharia said the move will further strengthen the structures to ensure the Board is reinforced through diversified representation for effective oversight.

“In so doing, the shareholders have passed a resolution enabling shareholders with more than 12.5 percent shareholding to participate directly …

Fairtrade International has committed to double the average income of farmers and workers in Africa.

Speaking during the ongoing 7th Africa Fairtrade Conference, Fairtrade International Board Chair Lynette Thorstensen said despite the hard times brought about by Covid-19, there is hope for the future of African farmers.

“This has been a very tough year globally, however, let us look at the future with optimism,” she said.

According to Thorstensen, Fairtrade International set aside a Covid relief fund in which more than 10.5 million Euros was raised by external governments, retailers, crowdfunding as well as internal sources by pledges from members for relief and resilience support for producer organisations.

“A total of 337 producer organisations from 17 countries have benefited from the fund. We believe that in the current climate, we need to move faster and ensure no one gets left behind.”

Speaking at the same event, Mary Kinyua, the Fairtrade …

A consortium of organizations led by Equity Group has signed a strategic partnership to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Kenya by 2030.

The partners include Equity Group Foundation together with the United Nations system in Kenya, and its SDG Partnership Platform.

In a statement, Equity Group said the strengthened partnership will promote and catalyze investments in the SDGs beyond short-term cycles, enabling the UN system in Kenya to reach more people on the ground through Equity’s strong brand in the community, its infrastructure network, development expertise and local knowledge.

Additionally, the partnership will promote social and financial inclusion improving economic outcomes for human development and contributing to the socio-economic transformation of Kenya.

The coming together of the two institutions is expected to support Kenya’s transition as an emerging Middle-Income country through harnessing innovative partnerships, investments, and financing to accelerate the SDGs for poverty alleviation, and …

A new report has found that toxic chemicals in plastic waste exports from wealthy countries are contaminating food in developing and transition countries around the world, including Africa.

The study by the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) found that most of the plastic waste exported from wealthy countries to countries with developing economies or economies in transition is landfilled, burned, or dumped into waterways.

According to the report, all plastics virtually contain hazardous chemical additives.

The report states that these disposal methods result in highly toxic emissions that remain in the environment for decades and build up in the food chain.

Dubbed ‘Plastic Waste Poisoning Food and Threatening Communities in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America’, the study demonstrates how these plastic waste handling methods end up poisoning local populations.

For this study, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in fourteen countries which in many cases receive plastic waste from …

Google has committed US$6 million to support African startups as well as underserved communities on the continent.

In a statement, Nitin Gajria, Managing Director for Google Africa, and Rowan Barnett the Head of Google.org EMEA said the funding will go towards programs that will reaffirm its commitment to Africa.

The programs include a $3 million USD Black Founders Fund for African startups and a $3 million USD Google.org grant to help low-income communities develop entrepreneurial skills and funding.

The funding is expected to help African founders grow their businesses not only by providing capital but also by providing access to the best of Google resources.

At the same time, Google has also invited 15 companies from across the continent to the sixth class of the Google for Startups Accelerator: Africa program

Startup Fund

The Google for Startups Black Founders Fund Africa provides grants and technical assistance to early-stage startups led …

Investment in the diverse sectors of the blue economy will help create jobs for the youth in the East African Community.

This is according to the President of Zanzibar, Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi, who has called for foreign direct investment from East Africa and beyond in the island’s blue economy.

Dr. Mwinyi said that the island was open for investment in diverse sectors of the blue economy including deep-sea fishing, ports infrastructure, marine transport, petroleum and gas, and tourism.

“Zanzibar also requires heavy investment in modern agriculture, real estate and conference tourism,” said Dr. Mwinyi in a speech read on his behalf by the country’s 2nd Vice President, Hemed Suleiman Abdulla.

“Investment in these sectors will spur business within the East African Community in addition to increasing national revenue and improving the lives of the people of Zanzibar,” said Dr. Mwinyi.

According to the president, Zanzibar had been a centre …

A new survey has now shown that only 36 percent of Kenyan businesses are aware of privacy laws governing their marketing activities, despite Data Protection Act (DPA) being in effect since 2019.

The survey, conducted by WorldWideWorx and commissioned by global technology company Zoho, also revealed that even though businesses are concerned about the privacy of customer’s data in the hands of third-party vendors, they are reliant on them for revenue generation and gathering customer insights.

This makes it harder for them to move away.

According to WorldWideWorx CEO Arthur Goldstuck, the lack of awareness about the law is largely because these regulations are not part of business-critical activities like taxation and licensing.

However, 77 percent of the businesses indicated that they have well-documented policies for customer data protection, although only 56 percent are strictly applying them.

The survey indicates that businesses in Kenya consider themselves digitally advanced, with 28 …

The private sector in the African continent is set to receive US480 billion in investments over the next five years.

The investments will be made by a consortium of organizations under the G7 Development Finance Institutions (G7 DFI) which includes the European Investment Bank and the private sector arm of the African Development to support sustainable economic recovery and growth in Africa.

The proposed investments come at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a severe global economic and health crisis, including in the African continent.

The IMF estimates that sub-Saharan Africa needs additional financing of around $425 billion between now and 2025 to help strengthen the pandemic response spending and reduce poverty in the region.

This marks the first time the G7 DFIs have come together to make a collective partnership commitment to the African continent.

The G7 DFI group consists of CDC, Proparco (France), JICA and JBIC …

Despite the world being more digitally connected than ever before, women are still being left behind.

This is according to a new study which reveals that women are 8 percent less likely than men to own a mobile phone, 15 percent less likely to use mobile internet, and 33 percent less likely to use mobile money in low and middle-income countries across the world.

The data is revealed in the fourth annual GSMA Mobile Gender Gap report, which reveals that these significant gender gaps are preventing women from reaping the full benefits of mobile technology.

The study indicates that closing the mobile gender gap is critically important and can deliver significant socio-economic benefits to understand women, their communities, and the economy.

It estimates that closing the gender gap in access and use could generate a revenue increase for the mobile industry of 12 to 37 percent in a typical low …