Author: Wanjiku Njugunah

Wanjiku Njuguna is a Kenyan-based business reporter with experience of more than eight years.

Kenya's economic growth
  • Businesses in Kenya only saw a mild improvement in operating conditions in October 2022
  • The latest Purchasing Managers’ Index showed that ongoing concerns about the rising cost of living led to a softer expansion in new orders and a renewed drop in output
  • Inflationary pressures remained severe, as firms highlighted a record increase in purchasing costs from the previous month

According to the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index, businesses in Kenya only saw a mild improvement in operating conditions in October 2022.

The Stanbic Bank Kenya survey showed that ongoing concerns about the rising cost of living led to a softer expansion in new orders and a renewed drop in output.

Despite this, employment continued to rise amid increased backlogs, while firms were the most upbeat about the
outlook for activity since July 2021.

“October’s PMI continued to signal an improvement in business conditions, albeit with a loss of momentum
compared …

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KCB acquires TMB
  • KCB Bank Kenya has set aside KSh 250 billion to fund women entrepreneurs in the next five years, cementing the Bank’s role in catalyzing economic growth
  • In a newly revamped women offering, the Bank will extend the funding to women-led and owned Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across the country
  • Under the KSh 50 billion a year platform, Female-Led and Made Enterprises- FLME, KCB Bank seeks to support entrepreneurship, job creation, and strengthen its outreach

KCB Bank Kenya has set aside KSh 250 billion to fund women entrepreneurs in the next five years, cementing the Bank’s role in catalyzing economic growth.

In a newly revamped women offering, the Bank will extend the funding to women-led and owned Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across the country.

To unlock this, KCB Bank has already eased credit requirements and documentation such as security to support businesses in a transformation that will guarantee faster …

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Kenya Breweries Limited
  • Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) has launched a campaign to recruit over 5,000 new farmers to grow sorghum to produce Senator Keg beer
  • Through East African Maltings Limited, KBL’s contract farming programme, Mtama Ni Mali, sources 100% of raw materials locally, providing a source of livelihood to over 40,000 smallholder farmers
  • KBL provides a guaranteed market for farm output at competitive prices and, in the last financial year, paid over Ksh1.2 billion to smallholder sorghum farmers across the country

Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) has launched a campaign to recruit over 5,000 new farmers to grow sorghum to produce their value beer, Senator Keg.

Through East African Maltings Limited (EAML), KBL’s contract farming programme, Mtama Ni Mali, sources 100% of raw materials locally, providing a source of livelihood to over 40,000 smallholder farmers drawn from Kisumu, Migori, Siaya, Homa Bay, Busia, Tharaka Nithi and Meru counties, among others.

KBL provides a guaranteed …

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paybill charges
  • Kenya’s Safaricom has launched 5G Wi-fi, more than a year after it announced it was conducting trials for the world’s fastest network
  • Safaricom said 5G network was now available to its customers, who would benefit from super-fast internet at home and work
  • The availability of the network would empower customers in 5G-ready areas with fast and reliable internet connectivity for their homes and businesses

Safaricom has launched 5G Wi-fi in selected Kenyan towns, more than a year after it announced it was conducting trials for the world’s fastest network.

On Thursday, October 27, Safaricom said 5G network was now available to its customers, who would benefit from super-fast internet at home and work.

The fifth-generation network would also complement the telco’s growing fibre network.

Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said the availability of the network would empower customers in 5G-ready areas with fast and reliable internet connectivity for their homes and …

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Kenya, Nigeria, SA lead fintech growth in Africa as sector sees massive expansion
  • Mastercard has released a new study that indicates that fintech startups in Africa grew 81 per cent in 2021, with South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya emerging as key hubs on the continent
  • The report also found that the fintech sector accounted for 27 per cent of the record-high number of deals closed and 61 per cent of the US$2.7 billion deployed across Africa in 2021
  • The three countries were also seen as among the countries leading the transition to digital payments, with infrastructure and policy frameworks that enable this growth firmly in place

Mastercard has released a new study that indicates that fintech startups in Africa grew 81 per cent in 2021, with South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya emerging as key hubs on the continent. The white paper was seeking to determine the state of fintech in African markets.

Titled ‘The Future of Fintech: Rapid Growth Attracts Smart Capital’, the …

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Demand for connectivity push growth of 5G related activities in Sub-Saharan Africa
  • 5G-related activities are picking up across the Sub-Saharan Africa region, including 5G spectrum auctions, 5G pilots and commercial trials
  • The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa 2022 report reveals that the huge demand for connectivity in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a growing interest in the role of 5G in the connectivity landscape
  • 2022 marks a turning point as 3G adoption begins to decline for the first time

A new report has revealed that 5G-related activities are picking up across the Sub-Saharan Africa region, including 5G spectrum auctions, 5G pilots and commercial trials, and efforts to develop locally relevant 5G use cases.

According to The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa, 2022 report, the huge demand for connectivity in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a growing interest in the role of 5G in the connectivity landscape.

For example, South Africa’s ICASA completed the spectrum auction for …

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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation give MYDAWA $1.2m to fight HIV
  • E-pharmacy platform MYDAWA has received US$1.2 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to launch the first Kenyan telehealth solution tailored to HIV prevention
  • MYDAWA said it had developed the first end-to-end virtual healthcare solution for customers who wish to access Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) online
  • Approximately 38 million people around the world are living with HIV, with close to 21 million of them in Eastern and Southern Africa

Kenyan-based e-pharmacy platform MYDAWA has received US$1.2 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to launch the first Kenyan telehealth solution tailored to HIV prevention.

On Monday, October 24, 2022, MYDAWA said it had developed the first end-to-end virtual healthcare solution for customers who wish to access Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) online.

The development received the financial support from the American organisation in partnership with the University of Washington, Jomo Kenyatta University of …

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uni
  • Unity Homes has completed 10.0 per cent of its KSh 5.4 billion housing project dubbed Unity East
  • Unity East sits on a 10.4-acre piece of land at Tatu City in Ruiru Sub-County and constitutes 64 units of the total 640 houses whose construction began in November 2021 
  • Unity Homes said it would deliver the project in batches, with the last batch of units expected to be delivered by September 2024

Kenyan property company Unity Homes has completed 10.0 per cent of its KSh 5.4 billion housing project dubbed Unity East.

The property, which sits on a 10.4-acre piece of land at Tatu City in Ruiru Sub-County, constitutes 64 units of the total 640 houses whose construction began in November 2021 as the project’s second phase.

Unity Homes said it would deliver the project in batches, with the last batch of units expected to be delivered by September 2024.

Other projects …

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Young farmers in Uganda, DRC and Nigeria to receive support from AfDB
  • Uganda, Nigeria and DRC are the latest beneficiaries of a multinational project initiated by the African Development Bank
  • The Creating Sustainable Youth MSMEs Through Urban Farming (SYMUF) project is intended to create jobs and improve livelihoods for the youth in the three African countries 
  • The initiative will support young farmers who are attracted to urban farming

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched a multinational project to create jobs and improve livelihoods for youth in three African countries.

The Creating Sustainable Youth MSMEs Through Urban Farming (SYMUF) initiative will support young farmers in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda who are attracted to urban farming.

AfDB is partnering with a consortium of incubation centres in participating countries to implement the project.

They are the Africa Projects Development Centre (APDC) in Nigeria, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA-Bukavu) in the DRC, and the African Agribusiness Incubation …

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Safaricom sustainability report 2022
  • Peter Ndegwa has mobilised his Kenyan counterparts to join the Africa Business Leaders Coalition 
  • The Safaricom chief executive urged CEOs to take the initiative and be part of the commitment to advance Africa’s sustainable growth, prosperity and development
  • The telco is one of the coalition’s founding members whose aim is to bring together CEOs from across the continent to help drive action on pressing sustainability issues 

Kenyan CEOs have been urged to join the Africa Business Leaders Coalition (ABLC).

While mobilising his counterparts, Safaricom’s CEO, Peter Ndegwa, urged CEOs to take the initiative and be part of the commitment to advance Africa’s sustainable growth, prosperity and development.

Safaricom is one of the coalition’s founding members whose aim is to bring together CEOs from across the continent to help drive action on pressing sustainability issues and promote UN Global Compact principles in their supply chains and broader ecosystem.

Speaking during Safaricom’s …

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