Wednesday, April 24

East Africa

Tanzania oil import offer Uganda can't refuse, ship docked at Dar Port
  • Tanzania has offered the Uganda National Oil Company (Unoc) to use the Dar es Salaam port for oil importation.
  • This presents a strategic alternative amid the ongoing importation stalemate between Uganda and Kenya.
  • The legal dispute between Uganda and Kenya over oil importation policies is pending before the East African Court of Justice (EACJ), with indications that Uganda may withdraw the case.

Tanzania has stepped forward with an enticing proposition that Kampala finds hard to ignore, especially regarding the ongoing deadlock in Nairobi-Kampala oil imports.

Tanzania has extended an offer to the Uganda National Oil Company (Unoc) to utilise the Dar es Salaam port for its fuel importation needs. This development comes as Uganda explores alternatives in response to Kenya’s steadfast position on Kampala’s oil importation demands.

Uganda’s grievance at the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) remains pending amid these unfolding events, casting a shadow of uncertainty over …

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KCB Group CEO Paul Russo.
  • In the three months to March 2023, Group’s total assets rose by 39.8 percent to close at $11.8 billion buoyed by DRC subsidiary TMB.
  • Revenue increased by 26.9 percent to $267.4 million mainly driven by the non-funded income from customer transactions across the Group.
  • This is the Group’s newest subsidiary in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
  • It demonstrated the range and diversified income streams across the group’s businesses, adequate to cover the elevated operating and funding costs.

Regional lender KCB Group Plc posted $68.8 million in profit after tax for the first quarter 2023, a marginal drop attributable to acquisition and consolidation costs of its newest subsidiary, Trust Merchant Bank (TMB), in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In the quarter, however, the Group recorded a strong balance sheet growth with total assets hitting $11.8 billion, with TMB contributing 14 percent to the Group’s total assets. The bank said this was …

From Left to Right: Cabinet Secretary - National Treasury and Economic Planning - Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u and Commissioner of Insurance and Chief Executive Officer (IRA) Godfrey Kiptum share a light moment during a courtesy call to the CS at his offices at the National Treasury buildings on 6th February 2023.
  • Insurance industry paid claims worth $400Mn in three months from October 2022 to December 2022 representing a 3percent increase compared to the third Quarter of 2022 that paid claims worth $391Mn. 
  • Latest statistics from the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) indicate that the number of claims reported to the insurers were 2,040,600, a 12.6 percent increase compared to 1,811,141 claims reported in Q3,2022. 
  • General liability claims paid went up by 16.8 percent to 14,085 claims worth $42Mn from 12,055 claims paid worth $40Mn billion in the previous quarter. Non – Liability claims paid hit 1,714,723 claims worth $170Mn  representing a  1.8 percent from 1,684,698 claims worth $160.31Mn reported in Q3 2022. 

Insurance industry paid claims worth $400Mn in three months from October 2022 to December 2022 representing a 3 percent increase compared to the third Quarter of 2022 that paid claims worth $391Mn. 

According to the Quarter 4 of 2022 claims

Shamiah CMA

Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has announced a new deal that will help businesses in the private sector forge their way to recovery. 

CMA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) to support market deepening and leveraging capital market products to catalyze growth in the sector.

The partners say the move is line with the Big 4 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals.

Through the MoU, CMA and KEPSA say they will be seeking avenues for private and public sector finance and investment necessary to support Kenya’s economic growth and complement development funding gaps.

The two institutions will also seek to collaborate in the development of policy and regulatory interventions to create a conducive business environment that will support a robust, resilient, and inclusive financial sector through the growth of the capital markets.

The CMA Chief Executive, Wyckliffe Shamiah said the partnership is expected …

rodrigo flores NQYhyday55A unsplash

Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has issued the first set of licenses to five coffee brokers in line with the Capital Markets (Coffee Exchange) Regulations, 2020.

In a statement, the Authority says the licenses will allow the brokers to carry out the role of coffee brokerage services at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) with effect from 1 July 2021.

Meru County Coffee Marketing Agency Limited has been granted a full coffee broker licence, while others, which include Kipkelion Brokerage Company Limited, and Murang’a County Coffee Dealers Company have been granted conditional licences.

According to the Authority, they are expected to come into full compliance with the requirements of the Coffee Exchange Regulations within the next three months.

“The Authority is mandated to regulate the spot commodity markets in Kenya and in particular, the coffee commodity market according to Section 11(3) of the Capital Markets Act,” CMA said in a statement.…

While the world is building off the hype that going green or carbon offsets are the new future, we here in Africa are building a pipeline aimed to continue to destroy the earth. Is it fair then that Africa doesn’t really matter in the grand “reset” of the global order, where western countries and companies are coming to dictate what needs to be done in Africa, as a means to drive profit? Much needs to be considered as we Africans are moving toward building energy economies.

It is the 21st Century, twenty plus years into the new millennium; we are a civilized learned people. We have digitized, gone paperless, our phones are smarter than us and we drive, or rather are driven by electric cars. …

EAC hotline to report NTBs.pics

Dr. Mathuki has hit the ground running and having come from being at the helm of the East African Business Council (EABC), a regional business arm of the EAC, he understands the struggles that the common trader faces while doing business within the bloc.  This makes him an ideal leader as he makes decisions based on the experiences he has been encountering when he was on the other side of the table.  

Dr. Mathuki has now vowed to improve trade in the region which currently stands at 15 per cent by removing some of the challenges threatening the stability of regional trade.  According to him, some of the persistent NTBs include restricted market access for goods and un-harmonized charges that continue to frustrate intra-EAC trade. He says that investment by increasing transaction costs and curtailing movement of goods are contributing to the low intra-EAC trade.  “EAC intra-regional trade is under …

East Africa Community (EAC) the Partner States are estimated to have lost international tourism receipts to the tune of  $ 4.8 Billion in the year 2020, following the Covid-19 pandemic.

This follows a study by the East African Business Council (EABC) with the support of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: aimed at assessing the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism and hospitality industry and policy options to protect sector players from COVID-19 disruptions and future pandemics.

Tourism is one of the largest foreign exchange earners and fastest-growing sectors in the East African Community (EAC). According to the EAC Secretariat, tourist arrivals in the EAC region increased from 3.5 million persons in 2006 to about 7 million in 2019. Tourism contributed to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the EAC Partner States by an average of 9.5% in 2019. It contributed an average …

Kenya now positioning itself as an avocado oil exporter to South Korea.pix

Kenya has huge potential for avocado production from both small scale and large scale farmers which makes it the world’s third largest producer of avocados. Avocado is also Kenya’s leading fruit export, accounting for nearly one-fifth of its total horticultural exports. 

In terms of export, Kenya ranked 8th globally (2.1% of market share) in 2019 in export of avocados shipping out 59,000 tons with annual value of Ksh10.6 Billion ($97.92 million), behind Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Spain, Chile, Colombia and the United States. 

 …

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