Browsing: Kenya

The Kenyan government has once again gone to the market with its unique mobile phone based bond M-Akiba, as it seeks to raise funds to support infrastructure development in the country.

In a second issue this year, the National Treasury has re-opened the retail infrastructure bond as targeting to raise Ksh250 million (US$2.47million).

The bond was opened to the public on Monday, May 27, and will run up to Friday June 7, 2019. The value date shall be on Monday, June 10, 2019 and will start trading at the NSE on Tuesday, June 11, 2019, the government has said.

“Following the successful uptake of M-Akiba Retail Infrastructure Bond in March which attracted 79 per cent subscription rate, The National Treasury, the Central Depository and Settlement Corporation and the Nairobi Securities Exchange have jointly reopened the M-Akiba Retail Infrastructure Bond Issue No MAB/2/2017/03 to offer Kenyans another opportunity to invest in …

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has received a go-ahead to collect more than Ksh2.7billion (US$26.7 million) worth of monthly taxes on withholding tax on winnings from Sportpesa.

This follows a ruling by Milimani Commercial Courts Chief Magistrate, Peter Gesora, allowing KRA to collect withholding taxes on winnings from betting games on the Sportpesa platform among others, that have been failing to withhold tax on winnings.

The landmark ruling delivered on Thursday, May 23, 2019 arose from a 2014 suit filed by a Mr. Benson Irungu against Sportpesa Ltd trading as Pevans East Africa.

READ:Why Kenya will not collect taxes from sports betting

The suit sought to stop Sportpesa from deducting and remitting taxes arising from Mr Irungu’s and any other person’s winnings.

In his ruling last Thursday, Chief Magistrate Gesora while dismissing Mr Irungu’s case noted that the nature of sports betting, winnings are unpredictable and a player cannot …

In yet another review of the country’s macroeconomics, Kenya’s Central Bank has held the benchmark lending rate at 9 per cent, meaning banks in the country will continue giving loans with a maximum interest rate of 13 per cent.

This is under the Banking Act which caps lending rates at four percentage points above the CBK rate.

The decision was reached on Monday by CBK’s decision making organ-Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which meets every two months to review the outcome of its previous policy decisions and recent economic developments.

The meeting was held against a backdrop of domestic macroeconomic stability, sustained optimism on the economic growth prospects, improving weather conditions in most parts of the country and increased uncertainties in the global financial markets.

This is the sixth time the MPC is retaining the benchmark rate at nine per cent after bringing it down from 9.5 per cent in July …

While Kenya’s foreign affairs minister, Monica Juma, said she wasn’t aware of the incident, President Farmaajo on Friday avoided Nairobi for a connection flight to South Africa for Cyril Ramaphosa’s swearing-in ceremony.…

Kaspersky Lab has announced plans to open a new office in Kigali, Rwanda, to support the rapid growth of its business in East Africa. This strategic move will provide more room for development as well as closer proximity to new partners in the region, allowing Kaspersky Lab to continue its expansion into the promising African market.

The decision to open a new office was made during Eugene Kaspersky’s visit to Rwanda where he met with Rwanda President Paul Kagame, at the Transform Africa Summit. During the visit, they discussed how Kaspersky Lab could collaborate with the Rwandan government and ways to better protect the country from cyberthreats.

“Governments and enterprises across Africa need an integrated approach to complex threat detection and response as they fight cybercriminals who have significant financial resources and are constantly looking to exploit any vulnerability,” said Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky Lab.

The Kigali office will …

Nine out of ten (87 per cent) of Kenyans are dissatisfied with the country’s direction on economic management, a survey has revealed, casting doubt on governments’ commitment to deliver on its promises.

The proportion of citizens who express dissatisfaction, according to a report released in Nairobi this week, has been increasing since 2016 when five out of ten citizens (53%) were unhappy.

Citizens are equally dissatisfied with the country’s direction on job creation (82 per cent) which again is higher compared to the past years, since 2016, when half of citizens (51%) were unhappy.

This is despite the Economic Survey 2019 by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS)-released in April-indicating the economy grew by 6.3 per cent in 2018 compared to 4.9 per cent in 2017, creating 840,600 new jobs.

READ:How Kenya managed to grow its economy by 6.3%

Corruption is one of the major concerns by majority …

IFC in cooperation with L.E.K. Consulting released a new report showing the demand for digital skills in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow at a faster rate than in other markets.

The report estimates that 230 million jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa will require digital skills by 2030, presenting investors and education operators with an estimated $130 billion opportunity to train the future workforce in digital skills. IFC launched the report, ‘Digital Skills in Sub-Saharan Africa: Spotlight on Ghana’, at the group’s office in Accra, Ghana. Nearly $4 billion of the opportunity in digital skills will be in Ghana.

The report sheds light on the crucial need for digital skills as a driver of economic growth and competitiveness across sectors in the region—from agriculture to services. The demand for digital skills is evolving and presents opportunities for different stakeholders to play a role, particularly the private sector.

The report finds …

The Kenyan government has renewed its efforts to fight counterfeit goods and infringement of intellectual property, as counterfeiters continue to pose a threat to local manufacturers and traders.

In a new move, the country’s anti-counterfeit laws have been amended, putting in place new measures that will help fight the vice which takes up to USD300 million of local manufacturers’ market share annually, with the government loses USD80 million as potential tax revenue.

READ:Shocking counterfeit headaches crippling Kenya’s manufacturing sector

The State is also targeting proceeds of counterfeit trade mainly property, with top businessmen, politicians and high-net individuals being among the biggest perpetrators who could cross swords with the authority.

The Anti-Counterfeit Act, 2008 (amended) now extends the counterfeiting scope to include goods counterfeited outside Kenya, allowing for their impoundment.

This means that the Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA), formerly the Anti-Counterfeit Agency, now has the power to impound items counterfeited outside …

Kenya and the European Union (EU) have renewed their commitment to a stronger relationship that will enhance trade, support businesses and growth of their economies.

This came after President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday hosted a business dialogue meeting with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), the delegation of the European Union in Kenya and the European Business Council (EBC) at State House Nairobi.

On the side-lines of this meeting, President Kenyatta also met with ambassadors from the European Union countries to discuss trade related matters.

Besides fostering the relationship between the private sector in Kenya and their counterparts from the EU operating in Kenya, the meeting aimed at seeking investment commitments from the private sector in Big Four agenda and the Blue Economy sector, forging a formal dialogue engagement between KEPSA, EBC and the government of Kenya.

The business dialogue meeting between KEPSA and EBC was conducted in two sessions. …

Kenya has unveiled yet another beautifully crafted policy document to guide adoption of technology in the country.  The new digital economy blueprint was unveiled to investors and guests attending the Transform Africa Summit in Kigali, Rwanda. The blueprint themed “powering Kenya’s transformation” moves to harness more uses of ICT to boost Kenya’s economy.

The blueprint was unveiled in the presence of over 4,000 participants among them government bureaucrats, policymakers, innovators and technology investors who are meeting to discuss how ICT resources can be harnessed to boost African economies.

Through the blueprint, the government aims at enhancing the contribution of ICTs to the economy through digital governance solutions, digitizing business processes, facilitating infrastructure delivery, innovation driven entrepreneurship and promotion of digital skills and values.

“We are the new frontier for trade and investment with estimates indicating that by 2025, business opportunities in Africa will be about US$ 5.6 trillion. More importantly, …