Browsing: East Africa

• Leaders are meeting in Nairobi for the Eastern Africa ‘Waste is Wealth’ conference.
• The inaugural Waste is Wealth Series is organised by Taka Ni Mali, East African Business Council, and Alliance for Science.
• The three-day conference is themed: Promoting Effective Waste Management Practices for Environmental Conservation and Climate Change Mitigation.

The concept of a circular economy is fast gaining momentum in East Africa with both the private sector and government’s stuck on the drawing board shaping policies and regulations to help realise the shift.

World business leaders, policy makers, academics and NGOs have argued that a move towards a more circular economy is necessary to help solve global environmental and economic challenges.

Moving towards a more circular economy could increase competitiveness, and stimulate innovation. It will also boost economic growth and create jobs across economies.

Waste is Wealth

It is against this background that leaders are meeting in Nairobi for …

• About 84% of millennials and Gen Zs consume media at home. A  majority (88%) of them use data bundles to access content online.
• About 44 percent spend over four hours a day on social media. This is more than triple the number of millennials and Gen Zs spending over four hours on radio (13%) and TV (12%).
• More than half (55%) are spending 6-9 hours a day online while a further 20 percent spending over 10 hours per day.

A new survey has revealed a number of media usage behavioral traits that brands and companies keen on attracting millenials and Gen Z need to know.  Their by leveraging their media consumption patterns, brands would easily optimise their content to inform positioning their products and win this new market base.

Gen Z, millennials spend 10 hours online

About 8 out of 10 or 84 percent of millennials and Gen Zs usually …

• 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 …

• Dr Kamau Thugge, who is President Ruto’s advisor on fiscal affairs, is set to take over from Dr Patrick Njoroge.
• Previously, Dr Thugge served as the Permanent Secretary at Kenya’s National Treasury between 2013 and 2019.
• Prior to his nomination as Principal Secretary, he worked as a senior economic adviser in the Ministry of Finance since 2010.

President William Ruto has nominated former IMF economist Dr Kamau Thugge for appointment to head the Central Bank of Kenya. Dr Ruto picked Dr Thugge out of a list of six candidates who were interviewed on May 9th for the job that helps define Kenya’s fiscal policy.

Dr Thugge is not a stranger at Kenya’s financial industry. For close to 10 years, between 2013 and 2019, he served as the Principal Secretary, National Treasury under former President Uhuru Kenyatta. He was, however, hounded out of office over allegations of corruption. The scandal, which …

• Across the East Africa region, Rwanda posted the strongest performance.
• Uganda’s economy grew by 4.4 percent in 2022 compared to a 6.7 percent uptick in 2021.
• Tanzania’s real GDP expanded by 4.5 percent in 2022 compared to 4.9 percent growth in 2021.

Kenya’s economy recorded a slower growth of 4.8 percent last year as agriculture slumped due to severe drought. In 2021, Kenya posted 7.6 percent growth as the country emerged from Covid-19 induced economic fallout.

Latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics show that East Africa’s economic powerhouse growth outpaced its neighbours. Kenya saw its nominal GDP increase to $98.24 billion, from $87.98 billion in 2021, retaining its pole position over East African peers.

Uganda’s economy grew by 4.4 percent in 2022 compared to a 6.7 percent growth in 2021. The marginal drop was partly on account of recovery in hospitality and other service sectors as schools …

• In a fresh strategy, Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) says arrivals from China hold massive potential in contributing to the country’s tourism earnings.
• China accounted for 82,180 and 83,388 arrivals in 2018 and 2019 respectively positioning itself as Kenya’s sixth largest source market.
• Before the pandemic, China was the world’s largest outbound travel market with over 150 million travelers, whose spending contributed up to $255 billion to global tourism industry. 

The Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) is looking to capitalize on outdoor and nature-based tourism experiences, a move aimed at attracting a significant number of Chinese tourists to sample the sector’s offerings in East Africa’s largest economy. 

KTB Chairperson Francis Gichaba says the initiative is part of the state agency’s efforts to shore up tourism numbers from the growing Chinese market even as the industry recovers from Covid-19 pandemic-induced hit.

Mr Gichaba said the new strategy is aimed at increasing arrivals from …

• In East Africa, cargo transportation costs are exorbitant, ranking among the highest globally
•  High logistics costs translate to expensive basic commodities like food across the continent
• Tech startups are collaborating with various stakeholders to enhance infrastructure and simplify trade, manufacturing, and logistics processes

In East Africa, cargo transportation costs are exorbitant, ranking among the highest globally. A Shippers Council of East Africa (SCEA) survey in 2021 revealed that transporters who use the Northern Corridor, a trucking route serving countries like Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the DRC, and South Sudan, incur an estimated cost of $1.8 per km per container.

This figure is almost double the global average of $1 per km per container, making logistics complex and expensive for African businesses. The situation has been worsened by the current record-high fuel prices in Kenya, Uganda, and other East African countries.

To add to this, poor infrastructure in several parts of …