1. PSTNET

• The IMF’s support fund refers to the designated Special Drawing Right (SDR), which serves as an international reserve asset to supplement the official reserves of its member nations.
• It represents a potential claim on the members’ freely usable currencies, primarily intended to provide liquidity to a nation in the event of an economic crisis.
• As of September, Kenya’s SDR quota at the IMF stood at US$542.8 million, equivalent to KSh91.8 billion.

Leaders from developing countries continue to pursue the implementation of the proposed re-channeling of the IMF’s support fund through development banks, aiming for affordability and increased impact scale.

This was evident on the sidelines of the recent COP28 summit, where African leaders emphasized the acceleration of the process towards realizing the proposal. The summit took place between November 30 and December 12 last year in Dubai.

Proposal: IMF’s support fund to come through AfDB

African Development Bank (AfDB) Group …

• In East Africa, Kenya’s venture capital share grew from 86 percent in 2022 to 91 percent in 2023.
• Eastern Africa’s largest economy attracted $880 million (Sh139.9 billion) in 2023, representing 31 percent of all startup investments on the continent.
• Africa: The Big Deal report shows that startups in Kenya that raised $100,000 (Sh16 million) and above stood at 93.
  

Kenyan startups secured an impressive $800 million in venture capital funding in 2023, surpassing Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa to emerge as the leading recipient of investments on the continent.

The latest findings from Africa: The Big Deal, a platform specializing in startup deals, reveal that Kenya’s share accounted for 28 percent of the total funds raised across Africa.

The report highlights that Egypt, which took the lead in 2022, secured the second position with $640 million in capital funding. South Africa followed closely with $600 million, while Nigeria …

• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is setting up a 15MW project under its Global Solar Facility (GSF) backed by the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).
• In collaboration with solar power firm Nuru, the project will be spread across three provinces in the Eastern DRC.
• Nuru plans to deploy an additional 39MW in subsequent phases, aiming to provide power to up to 5 million people by 2025.

Nuru, a pioneering solar power company, has embarked on an ambitious project with the mission of constructing a 15-megawatt (MW) solar metro grid capacity in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

This groundbreaking initiative is set to unfold across three provinces in Eastern Congo, where the abundant availability of solar energy will be harnessed not only as a power source but also as a beacon of hope for a region often shrouded in the shadows of energy poverty.

In the face of …

• The Kenyan government owes media companies $10.8 million (Sh1.7 billion) in pending media bills.
• Kenyan media companies have, however, been challenged to become innovative during the tough economic times and reinvent their operating models to remain competitive.
• Kenya’s media industry is among the sectors worst hit with the changing business models according a 2023 report by Oxford university and Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

The Kenyan government has offered to pay media organizations $10.8 million (Sh1.7 billion) which it owes in pending media bills, a move that will significantly help them address financial struggles within the sector brought about by the changing media landscape.

Media organizations in Kenya have been grappling with cash flow challenges due to outstanding payments from the State, leading some companies to resort to employee layoffs and substantial budget cuts as a consequence of mounting financial difficulties.

This situation arises at a time when …

• The Banking Sector had shares worth US$50,126 (Sh7.9 million) transacted which accounted for 63.34 percent of the day’s traded value at Nairobi Securities Exchange.
• In 2021, 8.7 million shares were traded worth $1.5 million (Sh242 million), while 2022 saw the number rise to 17.6 million shares valued at $4 million (Sh630 million).
• In the nine-month period leading up to September 2023, the NSE ranked as the least performing African bourse in dollar terms, underscoring the impact of foreign withdrawals and global shocks.

Trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange began 2024 on a four-year low on Tuesday, with 897,000 shares traded, signaling low confidence among investors.

The value of the shares dropped to $79,314 (Sh12.5 million), compared to 2023 when the bourse opened trading with 1.73 million shares, equivalent to $21,467 (Sh33.8 million). It is the first time in four years that the NSE began with less than a million shares …

• Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority will examine corporate governance reporting templates and assessment methods for all its issuers.
• This initiative ensures continued relevance in the financial landscape while enhancing accuracy to align with global standards.
• The industry watchdog is also exploring integrating sustainability into the listing requirements.

The Capital Markets Authority in Kenya is poised to conduct a comprehensive regulatory examination of corporate governance reporting templates and assessment methods for all its issuers. This initiative aims to ensure ongoing relevance in the financial landscape and enhance accuracy to align with global standards.

Details contained in the regulator’s latest report indicate that this exercise will promote transparency, accountability, and investor confidence in the capital markets sector. This came when the bourse recorded an overall improvement in corporate governance practices in the 2022/2023 financial year.

According to the CMA, during the review period, the annual weighted overall score by all issuers experienced …