Browsing: Kenya

Equity Group Dr James Mwangi
  • Equity Bank dividend payout of $0.03 (KES4) per share will amount to a 36 per cent payout of the regional lender’s $331.6 million net profit.
  • Customer numbers grew to 19.6 million, translating to an increase in deposits, which hit $10.6 billion in 2023.
  • Loan books also increased to $6.7 billion (KES887.4 billion) from KES706.6 billion in 2022.

Equity Group’s profits saw a five per cent decline to $331.6 million (KES43.7 billion) for the financial year ending in December 2023, down from $349 million (KES46 billion) the previous year. However, despite the drop, Equity Group’s dividend payout has hit record highs for the year ending December 2023, following its board’s recommendation.

This profit decrease has been partly attributed to the bank’s decision to maintain the loan interest charge at 13 per cent throughout the year despite changing global interest rates.

This has seen the lender issue a dividend payout of …

  • Kenya Airways losses for FY2023 have majorly stemmed from FX fluctuations.
  • Despite the heightened operating costs, Kenya Airways achieved an operating profit of $79.4 million.
  • International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicts full recovery of the aviation industry from the Covid-19 crisis in 2024.

Kenya Airways net losses for the trading period ending December 2023 have dropped to $171.6 million (KES22.7 billion) majorly attributed to the forex exchange losses suffered during the review period.

The latest result is a 41 percent reduction from the $289.6million (KES38.3 billion) reported in 2022 in what the airline attributes to continuing efforts aimed at navigating KQ’s back onto the path to profitability.

These losses stemming from fluctuations in currency exchange rates (FX Losses), impacted the airline’s financial position, posting the greatest drawback to its financials with $181.4 million loss.

Kenya Airways Chief Executive Allan Kilavuka said that in the review period the airline increased flight …

  • Cyber security spending in Kenya is still low with half of state entities exposed to malicious attackers.
  • Cyber Security Spending is projected to reach $8.4 billion in 2027.
  • Banks will account for 85.6% of the financial services sector’s total spending on security products.

The increasing online threats to businesses across the region will see companies and government increase their cyber security spending to excess of $6.2 billion this year, new industry insights have shown.

Spending on security products and services in the Middle East and Africa (MEA), excluding Israel, will grow 10.3 per cent in 2024, reaching $6.2 billion, according to the latest Worldwide Security Spending Guide from International Data Corporation (IDC).

The firm’s newly released forecast indicates that this figure will reach $8.4 billion in 2027, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.0per cent over the 2023–2027 forecast period.  Security software will account for the majority of …

  • Kenya’s National Security Council is currently scrutinizing cybersecurity threats posed by TikTok.
  • Lawmakers are citing data privacy, cybersecurity threats, and TikTok’s potential as a primary conduit for misinformation in their push to restrict its use in government-issued devices.
  • Already, TikTok is accused of cases of abuses in Kenya, including identity theft, proliferation of fraud, and spreading sexually explicit content.

Authorities in Kenya are at a cybersecurity crossroads, contemplating joining Somalia to become the second African nation to enforce TikTok ban on government-issued devices.

This move, revealed by Cabinet Secretary Prof. Kithure Kindiki cites rising cybersecurity threats posed by social media platforms, notably TikTok, within the corridors of Kenya’s National Security Council (NSC).

The NSC’s concerns are not unfounded. Globally, TikTok, a video-sharing platform, faces heightened scrutiny over data privacy, cybersecurity threats, and its potential as a primary conduit for misinformation.

Already, countries such as Australia, Belgium, Canada, and the …

  • East Africa’s banking giant KCB Group reports heightened operational expenses, which surged to $627 million in 2023, up from $447.9 million in 2022.
  • The costs are associated with the consolidation of its subsidiary in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Trust Merchant Bank (TMB),
  • Additional expenditures were related to a voluntary retirement scheme as well as litigation fees.

KCB Group, one of East Africa’s banking giants, has reported a net profit decline to $282 million for the year ending December 2023, from $307 million in 2022.

The bank has attributed this decline to increased operational costs and higher provisions for bad loans as primary reasons for the downturn in profitability.

In a period marked by economic challenges and strategic expansions, KCB Group faced heightened operational expenses, which surged to $627 million in 2023, up from $447.9 million in 2022.

DRC-based Trust Merchant Bank consolidation costs

This increase was largely due to …

  • Remittance inflows amounted to $385.9 million in February, compared to $309.2 million in February 2023, an increase of 24.8 per cent.
  • The cumulative inflows for the 12 months to February 2024 totaled $4.33 billion compared to $4.03 billion in a similar period in 2023, an increase of 7.5 per cent.
  • The US remained the largest source of remittances to Kenya, accounting for 54 per cent in February 2024.

Remittances to Kenya continued on a growth trajectory in February, latest Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data shows, as easing inflation in the United States saw the country maintain its position as the leading source of inflows.

This comes amid a positive projection for the year where World Bank has forecast a 2.5 per cent increase on inflows to Sub-Saharan Africa, with Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya as leading recipients in the continent.

Remittance inflows in Kenya amounted to $385.9 million in February, …

  • Kenya has already enlisted over 107,831 community health workers through the Ministry of Health.
  • The target cohort of 25,000 will be trained in the first phase, according to the Resilient and Empowered African Community Health (REACH) initiative.
  • REACH will be implemented in phases, aiming to boost skills of the 107,831 community health workers employed by the Government.

Kenya has launched a community health initiative supported by the African Union geared to boosting primary health care at the grassroots, targeting under-served populations.

The programme, under the auspices of the African Union (AU) Member States, is known as Resilient and Empowered African Community Health (REACH) and is geared towards increasing Community Health Workers (CHWs) to over two million in the continent by  2029.

Under the first phase of the initiative, over 25,000 CHWs newly recruited in Kenya will be trained on community health and on the use of Community Health Promotion (CHP) …

  • As national debts grow, many African countries find themselves spending more on debt than on health.
  • IMF says the debt ratio in Sub-Saharan Africa surged to 60% from 30% of the countries’ GDP between 2013 and December 2022.
  • Kenya is for instance using nearly 60% of its annual revenues on paying debt obligations.

As the Africa debt crisis roils, over half of the countries have found themselves spending more money in servicing their loan obligations than even the amount they have budgeted for health services to their citizens.

This unfolding scenario is further burdening millions of their citizens who have little choice but to shoulder heavy tax burdens to settle mountains of debt.

Prof Danny Bradlow, a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship in Pretoria, South Africa, captures the dire situation, stating: “over the  last three years (2019/22), more than 25 African governments allocated …

  • New regulations for crypto firms in Kenya will force players give evidence of sufficient working capital to continue business.
  • Crypto firms will required to maintain core capital of not less than 12% of the total fiat value of the virtual assets held or proposed to be held in the custody of the platform.
  • The Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) Bill also proposes that businesses dealing in digital assets in the country be allowed to operate as commercial entities.

Players in the digital assets and crypto currency space are now pushing for new regulations for crypto firms that will govern how new players join Kenyan market.

The digital asset industry lobby group, the Blockchain Association of Kenya (BAK), is among others, proposing the formation of a new regulatory sandbox that will test and regulate companies in the industry before their licensing.

Additionally, the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) Bill, …

  • These businesses, along with their affiliates in Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Cyprus and UAE form the backbone of a sophisticated network that launders millions of dollars for Al-Shabaab.
  • US says firms such as Nairobi-based Crown Bus Services and other investment projects that masquerade as legit commercial ventures, empower Al-Shabaab’s lethal agenda.
  • Al-Shabaab is estimated to siphon over $100 million per year from the regional and global financial system.

The US, through its Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), has cast a wide net across the UAE, Kenya, Uganda, and Somalia, targeting entities and individuals with wide-ranging sanctions for their complicity in financing Al-Shabaab terror network.

This designation, enveloping 16 entities and individuals, reveals the intricate web of financial operations spanning from the Horn of Africa to the opulent corridors of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the serene island nation of Cyprus.

This sprawling network, carefully pieced …