Trending
- Kenyan Farmers Receive $2M Boost from Africa Fertiliser Financing Mechanism
- Brace for High Interest Rates for a Longer Period World Bank Warns Kenya
- Kenya-Ethiopia Trade Relations: Legislators Advocate for Policy Alignment to Boost Ties
- Visualising the state of debt in Africa 2024
- Abu Dhabi radiates optimism as over 300 startups join AIM Congress 2024
- TLcom Capital Raises $154 million in Funding to Boost Its African Growth
- Africa’s $824Bn debt, resource-backed opaque loans slowing growth — AfDB
- LB Investment brings $1.2 trillion portfolio display to AIM Congress spotlight
Economic Growth
- New hotel room developments in Kenya have dropped.
- With continued signing activity (19 hotels with about 5,200 rooms in 2023) Egypt now accounts for 28 per cent of the total pipeline.
- When it comes to hotels under construction, Marriott International leads the way, with 138 hotels (15,011 rooms) currently being built.
Kenya has ranked seventh in Africa among the countries with the highest number of hotel room developments by international hotel chains, a drop from position five in 2022.
This is according to the latest survey by Lagos-based W Hospitality Group, in association with the Africa Hospitality Investment Forum (AHIF). From the survey, Kenya has 31 hotels with a total of 4,268 rooms on the pipeline with an average room size in these hotels is approximately 138 square feet.
North Africa continues to dominate the planned supply, with Morocco and Egypt together comprising almost 31 per cent of the …
- The Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) is directly importing petroleum products from Vitol Bahrain, aiming to reduce reliance on Kenyan firms and mitigate high fuel prices.
- UNOC’s direct importation and sale of fuel to OMCs in Tanzania and Uganda is a significant step towards fostering stronger regional ties, promoting economic growth, and ensuring energy security.
Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) has started the sale of petroleum products to oil marketing companies in both Uganda and Tanzania.
This is part of a broader strategy to test the waters before UNOC embarks on a direct importation agreement with the global oil titan, Vitol Bahrain. This maneuver signals a new era in East Africa’s energy dynamics, especially following a cooling of relations between Uganda and Kenya over fuel supply mechanisms.
Breaking New Ground: Uganda National Oil Company Direct Importation Deal
For years, Uganda’s fuel supply chain was heavily dependent on Kenyan OMCs. However, …
- The joint development of the Green Giant Project will expedite the construction of the first 200MW phase of the investment.
- Mini-grids account for more than half of all new connections in DRC.
- The agreement represents a significant milestone in the collaborative efforts between SkyPower, AFC, and the DRC.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and SkyPower Global have entered into a joint development agreement for the first phase of SkyPower’s Green Giant project in the mineral-rich country.
The move is meant to promote the use of renewable energy in the Eastern African state. This 200MW Phase one is a crucial step towards achieving the landmark 1,000MW Solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) signed between SkyPower and the DRC’s state-owned utility, Société Nationale d’Electricité (SNEL).
The partnership brings together SkyPower’s extensive experience in developing large-scale solar projects and AFC’s successful track record of de-risking and funding well-structured power …
- Carrefour only had two stores before the takeover
- Shoprite, the previous owner of the space, has exited Uganda after 21 years of operations
- Majid Al Futtaim is currently on an expansion spree in East Africa
French retailer Carrefour has entered into an agreement with Shoprite Checkers Uganda Limited to take over its Shoprite franchise in the country.
Under the deal, Shoprite will transfer six of its Ugandan stores’ leases to Majid Al Futtaim, Carrefour’s parent company, by end of year.
Majid Al Futtaim currently operates two stores in Uganda, under the Carrefour banner.
Following the implementation of the agreement, Majid Al Futtaim will expand its footprint to eight Carrefour stores.
Commenting on the deal, Hani Weiss, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Retail said: “We welcome the opportunity to bring our unique Carrefour offering of unbeatable value range, international standards to more customers across Uganda.
He added that the agreement represents …
The new data portal looks into the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and breaks them down into their 169 targets and 231 indicators, allowing everyone to track progress at the granular level.
It is open to all users, including policymakers, planners, programme managers, development partners, private sector organizations, civil society groups, academic institutions, researchers, students, media outlets and many others.
According to the statisticians at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), among the 169 targets set out in the SDGs, only 30 per cent of them are quantifiable.…
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) released the Economic Survey 2021, indicating that the economy contracted by 0.3% in 2020, from the restated 5.0% growth recorded in 2019.
The contraction is mainly attributable to the slowdown in economic activities due to emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in sharp declines in demand and supply of goods and services.
The contraction was spread across all sectors of the economy but the sectors that were hard hit included the accommodation and food serving activities, education, and professional and administrative services.
Kenya’s unemployment rate doubles -KNBS
Here are some of the report’s observations:
The agriculture, forestry and fishing activities grew at a faster rate of 4.6% compared to the 2.3% growth recorded in 2019. This was despite a contraction in global demand in 2020 due to the prevailing economic situation brought about by the pandemic.
Growth in the manufacturing sector was …
Eramet Group’s subsidiary Grande Côte Opérations (GCO) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CrossBoundary Energy for the construction of a 13 MW hybrid solar power station with 8 MW battery storage in Senegal.
This comes at a time when Senegal is emphasizing the role renewable will play in the country and has set up ambitious targets to reach universal access to electricity by 2025, achieve 200GWh of hydro power production, and have renewable make up 30 percent of the power mix by 2025.
In a statement, CrossBoundary said the solar power station is dedicated to the Diogo industrial site (north-western Senegal) for the production of mineral sands, and is scheduled to be commissioned in early 2023.
Its renewable energy is expected to help improve GCO’s carbon footprint and reinforce its ISO 50001 approach.
“This is a first that reinforces the company’s commitment to the climate, in line with that …
The Kenyan private sector has recorded improvement for a fourth straight month in August 2021, according to a new report.
Stanbic Bank’s Purchasing Managers’ Index report indicates that the rate of growth picked up in August as firms saw a faster expansion in new business compared to July.
During the period, job creation also strengthened, but output rose at the slowest rate in four months and business confidence fell to a near-record low.
After climbing sharply in July, the pace of input cost inflation eased in August, leading firms to increase their charges at the softest rate in 2021 so far.
As such, the country’s PMI picked up to 51.1 from 50.6 in July, to remain above the 50.0 neutral mark for the fourth month in a row.
According to the index, readings above 50.0 signal an improvement in business conditions on the previous month, while readings below 50.0 show …
The Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund has approved a general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) equivalent to US$650 billion (about SDR 456 billion), to boost global liquidity.
In a statement, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva termed the move as historic, adding that it is the largest SDR allocation in the history of the IMF.
The SDR is an international reserve asset created by the IMF to supplement the official reserves of its member countries.
The IMF adds that SDR is not a currency, but has a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members. As such, SDRs can provide a country with liquidity.
“Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) are an asset, though not money in the classic sense because they cannot be used to buy things. The value of an SDR is based on a basket of the world’s five leading currencies – the US …
