Browsing: Kenya

Majority of the deals are tier 1 banks going for struggling tier 2 and 3 lenders

Kenya’s banking sector is on an evolution path evidenced by the high number of mergers and acquisitions being witnessed; a trend the government is hoping will realign and strengthen the sector.

The most recent is last week’s offer by the country’s largest bank by asset-KCB, which has made a move to acquire a hundred per cent (100%) of the ordinary shares in National Bank of Kenya (NBK).

This is the sixth deal in the last nine months (between August 2018 and April this year) with a total 13 banking merger and acquisitions in the last six years.

Majority of the deals are tier 1 lenders going for smaller struggling banks in tier 2 and tier 3, in the market which has a total of 42 commercial banks and one mortgage finance institution-Housing Finance.

KCB, …

Farmers could soon start pocketing 80% of gross earnings from Coffee

President Uhuru Kenyatta is committed to revive the country’s coffee industry if latest indicators are anything to go by.

One of the biggest initiatives announced by the government is the rehabilitation of 500 pulping stations (factories) in 31 coffee-growing Counties across the country.

Coffee farmers are also set to benefit a Cherry Advance Revolving Fund being set by the government; a kitty President Kenyatta says will be operational from July 1 when the 2019-2020 financial year commences. The current financial year (2018-19) ends on June 30.

In the coming fiscal year, the government will unveil Ksh3 billion (US$29.6 million) to be accessed at a much lower three per cent (3%) interest rate per annum.

This is much affordable to farmers whom a huge number currently depend on Savings and Credit Co-operatives (SACCOS), which offer loans at a …

Acumen announces nearly $70 Million close of for-profit off-grid energy fund through its subsidiary Acumen Capital Partners

Acumen, the nonprofit that invests philanthropic capital in companies and leaders tackling poverty, today announced the approximately $70 million close of for-profit fund, KawiSafi Ventures, through Acumen Capital Partners. After investing $22 million of patient, philanthropic capital across the off-grid ecosystem and impacting 81 million lives, Acumen saw an opportunity to drive energy access for millions of low-income people in East Africa and scale the clean energy sector.

In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 600 million people currently live without electricity and spend $17 billion a year on dirty, inefficient energy. KawiSafi aims to deliver clean, affordable energy to 10 million people, at least half of whom live in poverty, and displace more than one million tons of carbon dioxide in the next 10 years, to address energy poverty and help avert the current …

Civil societies in Kenya exploring underlying social and economical issues affecting Oil and Gas benefits in Kenya

Civil societies in Kenya have called for greater scrutiny of Kenya’s oil and gas industry to ensure there is maximum benefit both for the country as well as for the society. The issues raised during a media round-table in Nairobi included compensation, use of oil revenues and infrastructural development.

There is evidence of roughly 600 million barrels of oil in the two “blocks” of oil reserves currently being tapped in Turkana by a group of partners led by London-based Tullow Oil. But initially, production will be very limited pending construction of an 821-kilometer oil pipeline to a seaport in Lamu, Kenya, which is forecast to be completed by 2022.

However, Kenya Oil and Gas working group is calling for audit of the contracts of oil mining to ensure they follow international standards.

According …

Sawa Minerals works with small-scale miners who make a huge contribution to the global minerals trade by utilising blockchain-backed smart contracts

Sawa Minerals, a tech-driven company has launched a platform that will transform the lives of many African miners.

The blockchain backed smart contracts platform has been designed in such a way that it is easy to buy ethically mined minerals from artisans and small scale miners (ASM) across Africa and the developing world in a transparent manner.

The name ‘Sawa’ is Swahili for “fine”, “all good” or “no worries”. One of the co-founders Mr Kali Angwa said they settled on the name because it captures the purpose of the platform.

Sawa Minerals is a platform where stakeholders are not worried about fraud; where buyers are assured of ethically mined, genuine minerals; where miners are assured of decent pay. The platform will be guided by the principles of fair treatment …

The indicator in question in this column is figure 17.6.

17.6 of what?

According to published government statistics, the median weighted average age of an East African citizen is 17.6 years old. Among the 157 million East Africans alive today there are equal numbers of people over 17.6 years old as there are people under 17.6 years old.

So how do 17.6 years as a median age compare to other locales around the world?

If the EAC were a country it would be the 13th youngest country in the world with Uganda, Burundi, and Tanzania bringing down the weighted average against the relatively older Kenya. To add perspective, the median age of both the #1 and #2 economies of the USA and China are more than twice as old at 37.8 years and 36.8 years respectively than an East African. Even more dramatic, ageing Japan has 46.5 years as median …

A visiting renowned German scholar has cautioned Tanzania not to  sign an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) trade pact with the European Union (EU), saying the deal is rhymed against the country`s aspiration of becoming an industrial economy.

Addressing reporters in the capital, Dar es Salaam on 15^th April, 2019, Helmut Asche who is Professor of Economics, Politics and African studies at the University of Leipzig said as a country set to build industries and export produce, Tanzania should not sign deals that flood its market with imports.

The EPA is an anticipated trade deal between the East African Community (EAC) and the EU which gives EAC products total access to the EU market, with 82.6 per cent of imports from the EU allowed on the EAC market.

Professor Asche warned African countries against signing EPA because the arrangement does not favour their economies. He further said that Tanzania in …

The portal allows users to quickly request for and receive an instant tender security

NIC Ventures, a subsidiary of NIC Group, in partnership with Masterpiece Fusion have launched an online platform dubbed “BeeDee” for trading of securities, in the wake of a strong demand in trade finance.

The platform offers a more convenient, quick and efficient self-service process for both customers and non – customers seeking to quickly request for and receive bid bonds.

BeeDee portal, is available on mobile devices and web through a mobile phone application and web portal respectively, allowing high availability and mobility since its accessible anywhere and anytime.

James Muigai, NIC Ventures Limited General Manager notes the new online service would offer companies and business entities convenient and fast access to bid bonds for various tenders they bid for since the online process takes few minutes, hence absorbing the delays experienced during the manual bidding …

Members of Parliament from eastern African countries are on 15^th April, 2019 expected to launch the Eastern Africa Parliamentary Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition (EAPA FSN) – a sub-regional platform aimed at promoting the right to food in eastern Africa through improved legislation.

According to a statement issued on 14^th April, 2019 by the Food and Agriculture (FAO) of the United Nations, the launch is in line with the first annual meeting in Tanzania in 2019.

The platform came after realizing that malnutrition continues to be a major impediment to economic development, whereby it is estimated that 58 million children under the age of five years are too short for their age (stunted) in Africa.

`Childhood malnutrition is costing the African economy about 11 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) every year, whereas preventing malnutrition delivers $16 in returns on investment for every $1 spent in …