Browsing: FSD Africa

• The latest Nairobi Securities Exchange monthly Barometer shows month-on-month growth comparing January this year and December last year, with prospects looking much better after a bear run last year.
• Market capitalisation increased by 0.08 per cent in January to $9.11 billion from $9.05 billion in December 2023.
• The NSE 20 and NSE 25 Share Index recorded increases in activity of 0.89 per cent and 1.32 per cent, respectively, while the All-Share Index experienced a 0.08 per cent increase.

Nairobi Securities Exchange showing recovery signs

Kenya’s capital market is showing a sign of recovery this year, with the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) recording a gain in January, albeit minimal, as large stocks pay investors.

This is despite interest rates in advanced economies remaining high into 2024, a trend that has seen foreign investors focus on home markets, mainly the United States.

The latest NSE monthly Barometer shows month-on-month growth comparing January …

Kenya’s private sector and households are grappling with costly credit, a government report now indicates, curtailing key investments by firms and individuals despite a stable financial sector. One of the main criticisms of the credit market in Kenya is that the cost of credit and the interest rate spread by the banking sector is high.
On average, the annual interest rate for the Kenyan banking sector is within a range of 12 per cent to 14 per cent for various categories of loans offered, according to the Kenya Economic Report 2023 by the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA).…

• The pioneering accelerator programme aims to grow insurance coverage among low-income consumers by investing in innovative solutions in nine African countries.  
•  The expanded pan-African program is designed to support entrepreneurs in developing innovative solutions for the insurance sector.
•  It targets Insurtech (insurance technology) innovations from Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. 
•  The expansion of BimaLab is supported by $500,000 financing from the Swiss Re Foundation.

FSD Africa has partnered with the Swiss Re Foundation and the National Bank of Rwanda to launch BimaLab Africa Acceleration Programme to raise insurance uptake among low-income consumers in nine countries across the continent.

The expanded pan-African program is designed to support entrepreneurs in developing innovative solutions for Insurtech (insurance technology) innovations from Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

The expansion of BimaLab is supported by $500,000 financing from the Swiss Re Foundation, which is among the …

The train is among the most efficient and least polluting modes of transportation, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Trains account for only 0.3 per cent of total global emissions, whereas aviation accounts for 2 per cent.

Even though transportation accounts for a significant portion of green bond issuances worldwide (twenty per cent of all green bonds issued worldwide), this sector is still grossly underrepresented in total distributions in Africa (less than one per cent).

This project is an example of how addressing infrastructure difficulties and providing a friendly solution to the environment may be accomplished through utilising a capital market instrument known as a Green Bond.

This initiative is one of the avenues FSD Africa is considering to bring about the change and demonstrate to other prospective issuers and investors the practicability of the green bond labelling procedure.…

Nigeria is set to benefit from renewable energy financing programmes worth $4.5 million by the FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi).

FSD Africa

The FSDAi, is investing $4.5 million in Nithio FI, a renewable energy financing intermediary focused on the Pay as You Go (PAYG) off-grid solar sector.

The intermediary provides renewable energy solutions for households and small businesses in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda.

Renewable off-grid energy

Over the next five years, …