Browsing: Kenya

Kenya’s insurance sector has been rocked with controversies among them failure to meet contract obligations, exposing policy holders to risks rather than being cushioned as expected of indemnity.

In the latest twist of events, it has emerged that over ten insurance companies in Kenya are not paying claims, despite collecting billions in monthly premiums from their clients.

This has left hundreds of thousands exposed to risk while affected persons suffer despite having insurance covers.

There are 37 general insurance companies and 25 long term insurance companies, placing the total number of underwriters at 62.

The country’s insurance market has also been infiltrated by banks, which are offering insurance services under the ‘Bancassurance’ umbrella.

READ:What’s next for the insurance industry in Kenya?

Billions in premiums

According to official data by the industry regulator-Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), insurance industry gross premium written stood at Ksh216.37 billion (US$2.12billion) as at end of …

Software Group, a global software company that provides digital financial solutions with African operations run from Kenya, has appointed Mr. Connor Hanan to the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria, it currently serves a worldwide client base in more than 70 countries from 9 regional offices located in Australia, Bulgaria, Egypt, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Hanan was the company’s Key Global Accounts Manager. He has had a successful career focused on financial services specific to affordable shelter in developing contexts. Within this sector he helped establish operations, Small Businesses and partnerships across roughly 35 markets in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Mr. Hanan has over 11 years of experience with FSPs, client-focused product design, and market analysis, a seasoned professional in Investor/Client Relations, as a Program/Project manager, and as a Director of …

Kenya has made a major step in the commercialisation of its oil ahead of planned exports which will see the East African nation become a major net oil exporter in the region.

In the latest developments, the government and its Joint Venture Partners: Tullow Kenya, Total and Africa Oil Corp, have signed Heads of Terms for the development of the oil fields in the northern part of the country (South Lokichar Basin-Turkana), where exploration and production has been ongoing on small scale.

These Heads of Terms capture all of the key commercial principles related to the implementation of ‘Project Oil Kenya’ and provides both the framework and commercial certainty required to draft the fully termed upstream and midstream agreements, ahead of a Final Investment Decision(FDI).

This is a major and important milestone towards reaching a FDI.

Oil blocks and pipeline

Under the deal, all parties have agreed that the Amosing, …

Pan-African connectivity provider, BringCom, in partnership with science and technology investor, Imprimatur Capital, and European edge cloud software company, GIG Technology, have launched a cloud sovereignty system – afriQloud.

Launched in Uganda, afriQloud will provide, at internationally competitive rates, local and foreign customers with an innovative and secure distributed edge cloud service.

The aim of afriQloud is to have the Edge Cloud installed in cities and tech hub ecosystems which hosts a high number of startups and developers. Now present and operational in Uganda, afriQloud will be spreading its services further into the different regions of Africa this year.

Hans van Linschoten, founding partner of Imprimatur Capital Africa and CEO of afriQloud says,  “We see significant potential in the growing African cloud market where an estimated $2 billion is being spent in cloud this year, and we’re excited to bring this service to the continent. By the end of 2019 …

Global risk and information solutions provider—TransUnion has urged the use of credit scores for better loan product pricing.

With a keen focus on Kenya where the capping of interest has led to a credit crunch to private sector and households, TransUnion Kenya is urging lenders to focus on individual credit scores to make smarter decisions and empower consumers to take control of their financial health.

“With new risk-based pricing systems for loans on the horizon in Kenya, it’s becoming increasingly important for both consumers and financial institutions to understand how credit scores can help enable the right conversations,” the firm says in its latest market review on the East African country.

According to the firm, there is need for a new pricing system for interest rates (ether risk-based or not) to become increasingly clear.

“Many banks currently take a blanket approach to pricing,” says TransUnion Kenya CEO Billy Owino, “This …

By Washington Ndegea

In the year of our Lord Two thousand and Eighteen, the Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich strode to parliament carrying the characteristic brief case just in time to read the twenty eighteen-twenty nineteen budget. That was in the month of June.

Expectations were high, that the prices of various basic commodities would reduce, and that we in the insurance industry would get the much needed relief and create an enabling environment to do business.

The issue of the prices of the basic commodities were met, but we in the insurance sector were left reeling by the recommendations that were being proposed in the Insurance Act in form of Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2018, that it would be criminal to handle insurance premiums from then on if the recommendations were to be made law.

We quickly instituted an emergency meeting to look at what could have prompted the Treasury department …

It is estimated that the East African region loses upwards of USD500 million in government tax revenue annually.…

Kenya is in talks with the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) member states to develop a common regulatory framework that will fast track the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.

AfCFTA deliberations not only bind all ARSO member states to commit to the progressive elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade, but are expected to contribute immensely in sustainable development of Africa.

This is through poverty reduction by improved harmonization of standards and conformity assessment,  and coordination of trade policies and instruments across African countries and Regional Economic Communities (RECs).

While addressing delegations from African countries during the official opening ceremony of the 25th ARSO General Assembly and the Africa Day of Standardisation forum, Hon. Peter Munya, MGH, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives reaffirmed the government’s commitment in promoting intra-African trade through elimination of import duties and non-tariff barriers.

“As a signatory …

Africa escaped the global decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) as flows to the continent rose to US$46 billion in 2018, an increase of 11% on the previous year, according to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2019.

Growing demand for some commodities and a corresponding rise in their prices as well as the growth in non-resource-seeking investment in a few economies underpinned the rise.

While FDI in some large economies on the continent – such as Nigeria and Egypt – contracted, this was outweighed by a surge in flows to others, most significantly, South Africa.

“The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement will bolster regional cooperation. This, along with upbeat growth prospects, augurs well for FDI flows to the continent,” UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said.

FDI flows to Sub-Saharan Africa climbed by 13% to $32 billion, recovering ground after successive contractions in the two prior years. Southern Africa saw …

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are forecast to add US$15 trillion to the global economy by 2030. A new report by Canadian International Development Research Center (IDRC) and Oxford Insights has noted that Africa ranks  lowly on the global list countries that have adopted or are ready to adopt technologies related to Artificial Intelligence.

There are no African countries in the top 50 positions, and only 12 African countries in the top 100. The top five placed African governments – Kenya, Tunisia, Mauritius, South Africa, and Ghana – reflects the well-documented developments in the technology sectors of these countries.

Of the bottom ten countries, seven are classified as Least Developed Countries, the Government Artificial Intelligence Readiness Index 2019 reports.

One of the biggest challenges facing the characterization of AI activities and readiness in Africa is a lack of systematic study on the topic. As a result, there is a relative lack …