Business confidence for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) across most sectors is on the rise, according to the latest research by Mastercard.

The inaugural Mastercard Middle East and Africa (MEA) SME Confidence Index found that 76 percent of SMEs in the food, beverage and entertainment sector are optimistic about the next 12 months.

Confidence levels were highest among businesses in retail, closely followed by food, beverage and entertainment.

Forecasts in this sector are also positive, with 72 percent of SMEs projecting revenues that will either grow or hold steady. Almost half 47 percent are projecting an increase.

Access to training, skills and digitization key for future growth

As many regional economies gradually enter the normalization and growth phase, and social restrictions continue to ease, small and medium sized businesses in the MEA region’s food, beverage and entertainment sector have identified access to training and development support (55 percent), upskilling staff …

Liquid Intelligent Technologies has opened an Internet Point of Presence in Miami, connecting to the Liquid network via a South Atlantic subsea cable.

In a statement, the technologies company says the new POP is connected to their 100,000km of fibre across 11 countries on the continent and another 14 countries via the Operators Alliance Programme and Liquid Satellite Services.

This is part of Liquid’s East-West route between the US and Asia via Africa.

The company says the move will result in customers being able to leverage a better connection to the US, giving them access to Cloud services, OTT resources, Internet content and high-quality voice and video calls with family and business partners.

Speaking about the impact, David Eurin, Chief Executive Officer, Liquid Sea, said the new POP in Miami will enable US-based operators, businesses, OTT, Cloud service providers and CDN operators to access 40 data centres across Africa, including …

Equity Group Plc said it intensified its ‘shared prosperity’ business model in the first half of 2021 by investing US$ 496 million (approx Sh54.3 billion) in social impact projects through Equity Group Foundation.

The Group said the projects are anchored around the Foundation’s key pillars, namely: health, energy and environment, food and agriculture, enterprise development and financial inclusion, education and leadership development, and social protection.

Equity Group Managing Director and CEO Dr. James Mwangi said he believes the Group’s principle of putting people before profits has greatly contributed to the Group’s impressive performance in the just-released half-year financial results.

“We recognize that beyond a regulator license we also get a license from our host communities and we have continued to treat them as significant stakeholders and invest in them through our shared prosperity programme,” said Dr. Mwangi

In the health sector, the Group said it rolled out a massive Covid-19 …

Kenya Airways has reduced its half-year loss by 19.6 per cent to Sh11.5 billion, from Sh14.4 billion posted during a similar period last year, on account of cost-cutting initiatives implemented during the period.  

In a statement, the airline says the measures helped to partially offset a deceleration in revenues.

During the period under review, the airline’s total operating costs declined by 10.4 per cent to Sh34.6 billion from Sh38.6 billion recorded the previous period.

Meanwhile, total revenue reduced by 9 per cent to Sh27 million, which is attributable to the cessation of domestic scheduled operations in the month of April 2021.

Read: African airlines’ passenger traffic increase by 9.9 per cent in six months to June 2017

It was also on the back of travel restrictions, and lockdowns due to a surge in virus cases in key domestic and international markets including the UK, India, China, UAE, and the US.…

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 …