Browsing: Kenya

• Four innovators from Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, and Uganda, selected from a shortlist of 16, vie for the £50,000 (over $62,000) Africa Prize.
• Their innovations encompass recycling in construction, AI tools for healthcare and farming, and reengineered waste collection, addressing crucial societal needs.
• The three runners-up will each receive £15,000 (over $18,000), while a £5,000 (over $6,000) prize titled ‘One to Watch’ will be awarded to the most promising business among the shortlist.
• Since 2014, the Africa Prize has empowered nearly 150 entrepreneurs across 23 African countries, creating over 28,000 jobs and positively impacting more than 10 million people with their innovative products and services.

The Royal Academy of Engineering is set to host the final showdown of the 10th Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, the continent’s premier engineering accolade, on June 13, 2024, in Nairobi, Kenya. Out of an initial pool of 16 visionary innovators crafting sustainable, scalable engineering solutions …

• Over 68% of the world’s population will be living in urban areas in 2050 up from the current 55%.
• However, poor living conditions are worsening with about 1.1 billion people worldwide residing in informal settlements or slums.
• Furthermore, another 318 million people are either homeless or at risk of homelessness globally.

As the world grapples with the unprecedented pace of urbanization, the role of city planning has never been more critical. As populations surge, housing shortages bite harder, and the impacts of climate change manifest in increasingly severe ways, the traditional paradigms of city planning are being challenged like never before.

As projections indicate that over 68 percent of the world’s population will be living in urban areas by 2050, the imperative need for visionary city planning has never been clearer, Dr. Erfan Ali, Chief of Staff at UN-Habitat, Nairobi, told delegates at a forum on Future Cities at …

• The prices of key food commodities influenced Kenya’s Inflation drop.
• KNBS says the food and non-alcoholic beverage index, which represents 32.9 per cent of inflation measurement, dropped by 0.1 per cent.
• KNBS data adds that housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels’ index dropped by 1.3 per cent

Kenya’s inflation dropped to a record 24-month low in April, hitting five per cent, according to the latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, as prices of key food commodities continued to fall.

This is the third month in a row that the index has dropped, from 6.9 per cent in January to 6.3 per cent in February 5.7 per cent in March, and now five per cent last month. (https://hummingbirddental.ca/)   The continued drop comes despite some price rises on some indices.

Major contributors to April’s year-on-year price rises included transport, food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing, water, electricity, …

• US Congress members ask Speaker Mike Johnson to invite President Ruto to address the assembly.
• President Ruto will be visiting the US on May 23 to mark 60 years of US-Kenya diplomatic ties.
• If invited, President Ruto would become the first Kenyan Head of State to address a joint session of US Congress.

In a historic plan highlighting the deepening ties between the United States and Kenya, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul (Republican – Texas) and Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (Democrat – New York) have jointly sent a letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (Republican – Los Angeles, asking him to extend a formal invitation to President William Ruto of Kenya to address a joint session of Congress during his upcoming visit to the US, slated later in May.

“This year, we are celebrating the historic 60-year anniversary of the U.S.-Kenya diplomatic relationship. Such an invitation …

• Kenya’s economic resurgence in 2024 proving a reality following a notable upturn in recent months, marked by positive indicators across sectors.
• According to CBK, leading indicators point to the continued strong performance of the Kenyan economy in the first quarter of 2024.
• According to the World Bank, Kenya’s economic growth is projected to be 5.2 per cent, boosted by increased investment in the private sector as the government reduces its activities in the domestic credit market.

A strong rebound

Kenya’s economic prospects are looking brighter, attributed to the interventions by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which have played a massive role in easing volatility witnessed less than three months ago.

Major economic indicators in the country show that confidence is slowly creeping back after the government secured the International Monetary Fund’s facility to pay back the Eurobond.

The repayments had triggered volatility in financial markets, including the …

• Remittance inflows for March grew to $407.8 million, up from $385.9 million in February, with the US maintaining its lead as the top source for Kenya’s remittances.
• This was also higher by 14.2 percent compared to the $357.0 million sent in the same month last year (March 2023), according to official data by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).
• The cumulative inflows for the 12 months to March 2024 totaled $4.4 billion compared to USD 4 billion in a similar period in 2023, an increase of 10 percent.

Kenyans living and working abroad sent home more money in March, boosting the country’s forex reserves and supporting families and friends.

Remittance inflows for March grew to $407.8 million, up from $385.9 million in February, with the US maintaining its lead as the top source for Kenya’s remittances.

This was also higher by 14.2 per cent compared to the $357.0 million sent …

• Kenya looks to rise on its estimated $38.4 million blue economy investments to grow sector revenue to $921 million annually. 
• Africa, with its vast coastline and rich marine resources, is poised to harness the immense potential of the blue economy.
• BlueInvest Africa is a business-to-business event that aims to catalyse the growth of Africa’s blue economy through strategic investments.

The Kenyan government is looking to ride on its estimated $38.4 million (KES 5 billion) investments in the blue economy initiatives to increase revenue to $921 million (KES 120 billion) annually.

This will be a threefold increase from the current $288.6 million (KES 37.6 billion) that the state generates from the blue economy.

The Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Mining, Blue Economy & Maritime Affairs, Salim Mvurya, said that part of the plan was to map the fisheries’ infrastructure across the country.

“We want to increase the revenue to Sh120 …

• 121 African startups secured $466M, marking a 27 per cent drop from the previous quarter; women-led startups got 6.5 per cent of the capital.
• About 87 per cent of startup funding in the three months to March went to entities in Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa.
• Gender imbalance persists as only 6.5 per cent of the financing went to female-led startups in Africa.

The big four economies of Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, and Egypt continue to attract the highest share of funding going to startups in Africa, even as the ecosystem suffered a 27 per cent drop in financing to $466 million in the three months to March 2024.

The latest analysis from Africa: The Big Deal shows that 87 per cent of startup funding in the three months to March went to upcoming entities in Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and South Africa.

Attracting $160 million, Nigeria’s economy accounted for …

• EAPI Retail Forum will take place on the event’s second day on 17 and 18 April 2024 in Nairobi.
• Rising consumer demand has led to the development of strong local retail brands.
• Key speakers at the EAPI Retail Forum say a growing middle class and the rise of digital connectivity are boosting the retail sector.

Retail is emerging among the most vibrant sectors of the East African economy. Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, has become an important retail market in its own right and a stepping stone into the rest of the country and wider East Africa.

Nairobi is a rising regional shopping destination, the headquarters to many regional retail and food and beverage (F&B) businesses, and a Launchpad for retail concepts in other East African areas.

Digitally savvy middle-class Kenyans are demanding local brand experiences that align with what they see regionally, continental, and internationally and are boosting the retail …

• Kenyan doctors have rejected a $18.3 million (KES2.4 billion) offer to return to work.
• The top demands of over 7,000 medics include immediate hiring of trainee doctors, adequate medical insurance coverage for doctors and their dependents, and fixing delays in pay.
• The labour boycott also calls for paying doctors working in public hospitals as part of their higher degree courses.

In a move that further throws Kenya’s healthcare system into a spin, public hospital doctors under the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KPMDU) lobby have rejected a $18.3 million (KES2.4 billion) offer to leave the streets and go back to work.

The latest twist underlines the deepening rift between healthcare professionals and Kenyan officials amid a strike that has now stretched into its third week since March 15.

Representing over 7,000 members, KMPDU initiated the strike to address several critical issues, including the demand for the payment of …