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- Why the UN is raising the red flag on the UK-Rwanda asylum treaty
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Africa
- AfDB asks policymakers to put in place an orderly and predictable way of dealing with Africa’s $824Bn debt pile.
- According to AfDB, Africa’s ballooning external debt reached $824 billion in 2021.
- AfDB president says there is urgent need for increased concessional financing, particularly for low-income countries.
Africa’s immense economic potential is being undermined by non-transparent resource-backed loans that complicate debt resolution and compromise countries’ future growth, African Development Bank (AfDB) President Dr Akinwumi Adesina has said.
Adesina at the Semafor Africa Summit taking place on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank 2024 Spring Meetings, highlighted the challenges posed by Africa’s ballooning external debt, which reached $824 billion in 2021, with countries dedicating 65 per cent of their GDP to servicing these obligations.
He said the continent would pay $74 billion in debt service payments this year alone, a sharp increase from $17 billion in 2010. “I …
- Meg Whitman, US Ambassador to Kenya, highlights key investment opportunities in Kenya, particularly in the creative industry and clean energy.
- She noted that Kenya has the potential to become the Singapore of Africa through vertical business integration, job creation, innovation, and foreign direct investment.
- AmCham Business Summit 2024 seeks to strengthen bilateral trade and investment between the US, Kenya, and East Africa.
The fourth edition of the regional American Chamber of Commerce Kenya (AmCham) Business Summit, has officially kicked off in Nairobi, Kenya, under the theme, ‘Catalyzing The Future of US-East Africa Trade and Investment’.
This year’s forum underscores AmCham Business Summit as the premier platform for strengthening bilateral trade and investment between the United States, Kenya, and East Africa.
Hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), the two-day Summit has brought together delegates from the United States of America, East and Sub-Saharan Africa in efforts to deliberate and …
- UN faults UK-Rwanda asylum treaty citing concerns on potentially harmful impact on global responsibility-sharing, human rights, and refugee protection.
- Spearheaded by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the legislation mandates judges to deem Rwanda as a safe third country.
- With deportation flights slated to start in July, the move is sparking weighty debates over the ethical implications of outsourcing asylum responsibilities.
This week’s passage of the “Safety of Rwanda” Bill by the UK Parliament has triggered alarm bells within the United Nations (UN), with two prominent leaders, Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, raising concerns over its potentially harmful impact on global responsibility-sharing, human rights, and refugee protection.
Spearheaded by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the legislation mandates judges to deem Rwanda as a safe third country, paving the way for the deportation of thousands of migrants who have sought refuge …
Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data shows fixed deposit accounts gained Sh64.8 billion in the quarter ending June, 2021.
While the decision to keep one’s finances away for a rainy day is laudable, the big question remains, what returns can an ardent saver expect from choosing a fixed deposit over an ordinary savings account?
“The best way to safeguard one’s investment from unprecedented and volatile market movement is by investing in a fixed deposit account. With the unprecedented Covid-19 Pandemic that swept the globe over the past eighteen months, fixed deposit accounts have grown in popularity in Kenya,” said Maisha Microfinance chief executive Ireneus Gichana.
Understanding how a fixed deposit account works
A fixed deposit account is like a savings account; however, the key differentiator is that fixed deposit accounts accrue higher interest based on the duration agreed upon between the individual and the bank.
This means that an individual …
KCB Group PLC has completed the acquisition of Banque Populaire du Rwanda Plc (BPR) from Atlas Mara Mauritius Limited and Arise B.V, days after announcing the doubling of its net profit in the six months to June 2021.
According to the Kenya-based regional bank, the acquisition follows the securing of the requisite regulatory approvals in Kenya, and Rwanda in what makes KCB Group the majority shareholder in BPR, Rwanda’s second-biggest bank, with effect from August 25, 2021.
KCB Group CEO and MD Joshua Oigara said that the completion of the transaction in Rwanda will give the Group a stronger edge in deepening the ongoing Group strategy to scale regional presence.
He added that combined history of BPR and KCB will take the Group to greater heights, and would give them a stronger edge to play a bigger role in driving the financial inclusion and economic empowerment agenda in the East …
Kenya’s ministry of health has stepped up its efforts to fight the global pandemic by increasing the number of available vaccines in the country.
The country recently received more than 800,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 as the government pushes the campaign to get more people vaccinated.
The current target is to vaccinate at least 10 million people by December this year.
Is this achievable?
Going by an analysis by AMREF, the country plans to vaccinate 40 per cent of its population by the end of 2022. This translates to about 20 million people from a total population of 49 million.
The government has also revised its vaccine deployment plans. This has been made possible by the availability of multiple vaccines in the country.
The health ministry now plans to vaccinate at least 150,000 people each day before the end of September.
According to Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache, the
“Before the Forest and Farm Facility Programme (FFF) reached out to us, I faced many challenges in marketing the avocado produce from my farm,” says Paul Mitei, a farmer from Kiptoben Village, Nakuru County, Kenya.
Paul says he wanted to know more about how the avocado and tomato value chains worked, and the proper inputs that are critical to avocado cultivation and meeting market demands.
Paul is married with 3 children and has a 5-acre farm where his family tends to avocado trees. He says he started to grow avocadoes because other farmers in his community were growing them, but at that time he had poor crop management skills which led to low fruit yields, no profit and a lot of frustration. .
To improve his knowledge and capacity on the avocado value chain, he joined the Nakuru Small Holder Fruit Producers Association (NASFPA) with the hopes of higher sales …
Africa’s healthcare sector is on the verge of digital transformation.
This is according to a policy paper that indicates that while governments are accelerating formal digital health strategies, 41 out of 54 African countries have a digital health strategy in place.
Vodacom’s e-health policy paper also finds that consumers are dramatically increasing their engagement with digital health services via their smartphones. Official data forecasts that by 2025, smartphone reach in sub-Saharan Africa will increase by almost 70 percent.
The policy paper indicates that as a result of increased smartphone reach, informal use of digital healthcare solutions has increased, with 41 percent of internet users across Africa regularly using their mobile phones to search for health information.
Overall, the policy paper notes that there has been an exponential rise in the number of people engaging with digital health services through their smartphones, creating vast potential for countries to deliver access to …
In Kenya, businesses are condemning the high cost of doing business, amidst the economic challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, business owners have expressed concern on the current focus on politics without practical solutions to bring local businesses back on the recovery track
The Association’s Chairman, Mucai Kunyiha, raised concerns on the severity of the additional taxes imposed on businesses in addition to inflation adjustment on specific rates of duty.
“It is becoming more expensive to operate in Kenya due to the introduction of taxes, fees, levies and charges,” he said.
Kunyiha pointed out the Crop (Nuts and Oil Crops) Regulations 2020 which introduced new fees and levies as a measure to control thirteen (13) scheduled crops.
“Through the 2021 Finance Act, the government has introduced excise tax on raw materials and 16 percent VAT on the supply of some products, effectively increasing …
