Browsing: East Africa

The insurance industry in Kenya has recorded an increase in the premiums underwritten between April and June 2019.

The premiums underwritten during this period amounted to Ksh117.28 billion (US$1.13 billion), a 4.4 per cent increase from Ksh112.39 billion (US$1.08 billion) recorded over the same period in 2018.

READ ALSO:New ecosystem to disrupt Kenya’s insurance sector

The Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) has attributed this development largely to a 2.9 per cent growth recorded by the general business segment and 6.9 per cent by the long term insurance business segment.

“The increase in general business was mainly contributed by medical and motor private insurance classes of business which accounted for 66.8 per cent of the gross premium income,” IRA notes in its latest (Q2) industry report.

READ ALSO:Why Kenya’s insurance sector is “rotten”

During the same period, the claims incurred amounted to Ksh28.84 billion. This was a decrease of 1.3 …

Kensington Distillers & Vintners (KDV) London, a premium drinks business with a growing foot-print in Africa, has made an entry into Kenya as it seeks to tap into the lucrative alcoholic drinks market.

READ ALSO:This is what alcohol manufacturers in Kenya want

The London-based firm has made an entry with a subsidiary  called Monument Distillers Kenya, a move that now brings competition to current market players among them  world’s largest producers of spirits and beers-Diageo.

Following this development, Sazerac, the leading US spirits company, has granted Monument Distillers the distribution rights for its portfolio in Kenya – the most prominent brands of which are Popov Vodka, Southern Comfort, Myers Rum, Paddy’s Irish Whisky, Firewater, and Buffalo Trace Bourbon.

As part of this transition, Monument will be distributing these products through their distribution partner-Maxam Limited, a local liquor distributor in Kenya and East Africa.

The entry of Kensington Distillers into …

Tanzania has opened up its borders for an alcoholic drink from Kenya which had been barred entry since March this year.

This is in the wake of the ongoing Public- Private Dialogue(PPD) with trade facilitation agencies at One-Stop Borders across the East Africa Community, aimed at adressing cross-border barriers.

READ:Kenyans lament trade discrepancies with Tanzania

The initaive is under a TradeMark East Africa(TMEA) and East African Business Council (EABC) programme which scrutinizes if EAC agreements and practices are easing doing business across borders.

The PPDs focus is on the extent to which partner states are translating the EAC Common Market and Customs Union Protocols into policies that support the actualization of free movement of goods and people.

The debut EABC Public-Private Dialogue with Trade Facilitation Agencies at Namanga One-Stop Border Post brought together officials from Ministries of EAC Affairs, immigration, bureaus of standards, plant and animal health, sanitary and …

KCB Bank Kenya has signed a pact with Japan based giant lender Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) to drive cross-border trade and deepen financial inclusion.

The agreement between the two largest banks in their respective regions, signed in Yokohama last week, will see the two lenders expand their financial offerings provided to clients in both East Africa and Japan, effectively enabling more cross border trade flows.

Under the deal, KCB will provide banking services—including banking accounts and cash management, trade finance, export credit agency finance and treasury related products— to customers introduced by SMBC to KCB.

“We believe that new business opportunities will arise from the rapid economic development in Kenya and therefore seek to areas of mutual partnership to support such development, utilizing the product capabilities and global and local network of both banks,” said Paul Russo, the KCB Group Director Regional Businesses during the signing ceremony on …

The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) has partnered with e-commerce players in Kenya to boost access of manufacturing SMEs to local and international markets through e-commerce.

This is in the wake of low uptake of e-commerce in Kenya despite its immense benefits.

The partnership, therefore, seeks to promote the uptake of e-commerce by SMEs to enable them to gain access to global markets and new international customers and reinventing their business models to align with changing technologies.

Speaking at the inaugural event, KAM Board Member and SME Hub Chair, Ms Ciiru Waithaka noted that the increased attention on SME growth, both at a national and global scale, points to a reckoning that the future of business hinges on their success.

“The unique and dynamic nature of SMEs in the manufacturing sector calls for an adaptive approach in developing policies and interventions that most importantly centres their needs and proposed solutions …

Kenya is bidding to host the 24th edition of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) General Assembly in 2021; when the congregation of the UNWTO members meets for its bi-annual, 23rd session this week in St Petersburg, Russia.

Through the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, Kenya will be looking at leveraging its vast past experience in hosting top global events to make a case for the event to be hosted here in 2021.

The move is in line with the ministry’s long-term strategy to diversify the tourism product to attract more tourists into the country and consequently enhance the revenue stream.

READ:Kenya’s tourism on the rise as numbers hit all-time high

On average, over 1,000 delegates from over 130 member countries of the UNWTO, attend the five-day bi-annual meeting, translating into millions of dollars in foreign revenue for host countries over the duration of the stay.

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KCB Group is seeking to deepen its new women proposition, committing billions of shillings towards funding women owned and women run enterprises.

According to the bank, the drive is meant to strengthen its diversity and inclusivity focus as part of its sustainability agenda by simplifying financial inclusion for women.

The programme dubbed ‘Women Value Proposition’ has seen the bank disburse loans worth Ksh7.1 billion (US$68.9 million) to 1,400 women to date, KCB said in its current Sustainability Report.

It is aimed at increasing credit facilities to women alongside, providing them with technical and non- financial support.

READ ALSO:KCB commits Ksh10 million for Afro-Asia Fintech Summit

The initiative is in line with KCB Sustainability 10-point action plan on diversity and inclusion. This pillar aims to incorporate gender diversity as part of its strategic initiative to ensure that we encourage more women to take up key roles in business ventures.

“KCB …

Kenya’s banking industry has witnessed a myriad of changes in the last four years as lenders adjust to remain profitable since the capping of interest rates.

Mergers and acquisitions have become a norm in the country as the rate cap law, which came into place in September 2016, continues to weigh on banks’ earnings and loan growth.

READ:Why banks in Kenya will lend at a maximum 13%

The latest is the KCB Group PLC (KCB) take-over of National Bank of Kenya (NBK), which now sets the stage for the integration of the second tier lender into KCB.

In an announcement approved by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and published on Friday September 6, 2019, KCB confirmed that it had received consent to acquire NBK from shareholders holding 297,130,033 issued ordinary shares out of 338,781,200 issued ordinary shares, representing 87.7 per cent by the offer closure date on August 30, …

Regional financial services group—I&M Holdings (plc) has announced a 17 per cent after tax profit growth for its 2019 half year financial results bouyed by a strong non-interest income.

The lender’s net profit for the year to June 30 closed at Ksh4.5 billion compared to Ksh3.9 billion recorded in a corresponding period last year.

READ ALSO:I&M quarter three profit jumps 20.4% on higher income

Durng the period, the Group’s loan book expanded six per cent to close at Ksh172.1 billion up from Ksh162.8 billion for the similar period last year.

On the other hand, customer deposits recorded a 12 per cent growth from Ksh210.9 billion in June 2018 to close at Ksh237.2 billion as at June 2019.

On account of increased allowances for loan losses, the net Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) recorded a decline of 28 per cent to Kshs 9.2billion.

Total assets recorded an impressive growth to …

Kenya Airways has reported its half-year performance for the half-year to June 30 amid losses at the national carrier.

KQ, as it is known by its international code, posted a Ksh8.563 billion loss for the period, a slip from Ksh4.035 billion in a similar period.

READ:Kenya airways in trouble as loss deepen to US$74 million

This came as total operating costs jumped 15.5 per cent to Ksh61.5 billion from Ksh53.2 billion, a move that eroded gains made in total income which increased to Ksh58.6 billion during the period.

This was up from Ksh52.2 billion income realised in a corresponding period last year.

“Some of these losses can be attributed to the return in to KQ service of two Boeing 787’s that were on sub-lease to Oman Air, investment in new routes and adoption of the new International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS 16),” KQ chairman Michael Joseph told investors …