Browsing: Kenya Economy

• President Ruto ran for office partly on a Beijing-skeptic platform in response to claims of Chinese predatory lending to African nations
• The Kenyan President assured American businesses that his administration would create a favourable business climate to encourage foreign direct investment
• Moderna will soon start producing vaccines in Kenya, joining other major American corporations in the East African superpower, like General Electric, Meta, Google, and Microsoft
• He obtained pledges in waste-to-energy solutions, space technology, carbon trading systems and markets.

When Kenya president William Ruto and other African heads of state arrived in Washington, DC, last week for President Biden’s US-Africa Leaders’ Summit, It was Kenya’s chance to rebuild strategic ties with the west.

Along with meetings with companies like Google, Visa and the Rockefeller Foundation in the private sector, as well as general conversations on political relations, security, and economic development, the president of Kenya also made a speech about …

• Kenya’s GDP, powered by broad-based growth in services and industry, increased by 6 per cent year-over-year in the first half of 2022
• The agricultural sector’s performed poorer, with a 1.5 per cent contraction in the first half of 2022
• Kenya’s medium-term growth prospects remain favourable, with GDP expected to expand by an average of 5.2 per cent in 2023–2024

Kenya’s gross domestic product (GDP), powered by broad-based growth in services and industry, increased by 6 per cent year-over-year in the first half of 2022.

The post-COVID -19 recovery was hampered by fluctuations in global commodity prices, a protracted drought in the country, and apprehension over the general elections in 2022.

According to the 26th issue of the Kenya Economic Update (KEU), households throughout the nation have been impacted by the drought and rising living expenses.

Due to the agriculture sector’s poor performance, which resulted in a 1.5 per …

The new administration under President William Ruto, is striving to set the economy in the right tempo having inherited a heavily indebted government.

Through debt restructuring among other key economic reforms, Ruto’s administration is committed to quell inflation and create a thriving economy for all Kenyans.

The recently published East Africa Economic Outlook report, indicates that Kenya is among the countries in the region that could face rising risks of debt distress, thus widening fiscal and current account deficits, largely due to structural weaknesses exacerbated by the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

According to the 2022 African Economic Outlook (AEO), by AfDB inflation is projected to edge up to 7 per cent, close to the upper end of the target band at 7.5 per cent, caused by greater energy and food inflation. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), reported that the country’s inflation rate as of October 2022 stood …

The total value of all equities was estimated to be Sh1.847 trillion as of the end of the year, which is a decrease of Sh2.636 trillion from the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, the NSE main index reached a low point not seen in 19 years due to the departure of foreign investors.

At the end of the trading day, the NSE-20 Share Index reached 1,580 points, a high not seen since 2003.

The share price of Safaricom, which makes up more than half of the value of the stock market, has dropped by 38 per cent since January to a current price of Sh24 per share, down from a price of Sh37.95 per share in January, which has contributed to the fall at the Nairobi bourse.

Due to the stock’s high liquidity and strong business performance, such as profits and dividends, foreigners have exposure to it.…

Kenya East Africa’s largest and advanced economy has witnessed how the coronavirus has winged the trajectory of its private sector as the levels of activity and demand in May, as the virus stopped various economic interactions, a Stanbic Kenya survey showed.

According to the survey, the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) stood at 36.7 higher than April’s 34.8.

Further, if there is reading above 50.0 it signals an improvement in business conditions as in the previous month, while readings below 50.0 show deterioration.

However, according to Regional Economist for East Africa at Stanbic Bank Jibran Qureishi said business conditions have worsened in each month of 2020 so far, with the latest deterioration marked by historical standards, according to information from Capital FM Kenya.

Also Read: Twin shocks hit Kenya’s food security; millions could face starvation

Also, the report noted that “Driving the downturn was a considerable fall in output levels in …

Kenya’s Safaricom M-Pesa —one of Africa’s and East Africa’s largest mobile money service, could be affected by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), as the service provider anticipates its revenue to be hit to almost $51.64 million in the three months from mid-march after it adjusted prices because of the COVID-19 crisis, according to information from Reuters

According to Reuters, the lost revenue which is almost 7.3 per cent of the mobile money service provider annual revenue, will be caused by the removal of all charges on small peer-to-peer transfers to facilitate cashless payments to help to contain the coronavirus pandemic, which has already taken a toll in other crucial sectors of the East African economy.

As one among the region’s and global leader in the industry, the South African and Britain owned company is not worried by the forecast, as the company’s CEO Peter Ndegwa told Reuters, that they anticipate getting …