Browsing: Uhuru Kenyatta

The situation is no better across the border in Kenya, since both countries are geographically on the Indian Ocean they are major international air and water transit locations for traffickers from Asia and Latin America to Europe and the Arabian Peninsula.

As is the case for Tanzania, the report also cites corruption as a central reason behind traffickers choice of ports. As a result Kenya is also a transit country that is quickly becoming a destination for a various of drugs and especially heroin and cocaine as well as drugs that are used to produce methamphetamine.

“Heroin originating from Southwest Asia enters Kenya both from direct shipping across the Indian Ocean via south Asia and, increasingly, from countries to the south, such as Tanzania and Mozambique. Most of the heroin entering Kenya is destined for international markets, principally Europe. Cocaine enters Kenya primarily via transshipment through Ethiopia from South America,” …

Tanzania has earned a record $3 billion from gold sales as price for the precious metal soars in the world market.

Publicized by the Bank of Tanzania, the value of gold exports clocked $3.025 billion in the year ending March 31, 2021, a considerable jump from $2.324 billion that was earned last year.

In fact, gold is doing so well that it has become the country’s top foreign exchange earner, and even overtaken tourism.

Gold prices have been edging up since the corona outbreak last year owing to jittery investors fearing a collapse of other currencies (including the dollar) and opting to store their value in gold.

“As financial markets were hit by the pandemic, investors rushed for gold which they consider as one of the safe haven assets,” report local media.

Consider this, gold represented more than half (55.9 percent) of the value brought home from sell of …

When there is conflict, it is the general society and businesses that suffer the most, in fact business should be at the forefront of advocacy for peace.

With almost every element of business going digital, the question of digital platforms been used for radical sentiments is not a political agenda but a socio-economic one.

There is need to take concerted action to promote and facilitate peace especially now, in an age where social media is been used to spread radical content online. Social media and other digital platforms are also very powerful tools to prevent conflict and extremism and promote greater understanding and tolerance.

“We have to take steps to ensure we instill seeds of peace and tolerance for one another, and social media is a great platform to reach youth to promote peace” Martha Nghambi the, Country Director for Global Peace Foundation Tanzania asserted.

Speaking to media over the …

Once upon a time in Kenya, tea and coffee were the big players, the rulers of the country’s agribusiness the top foreign exchange earners.

However with time passing the crops contribution to annual earnings kept falling, because the farmers were simply not getting paid in time. The peasants’ payment was little and delayed.

As a result, production and quality of the coffee and tea out remained poor and could not earn the country its potential income from the sector.

Now the government has set aside USD15 million to revitalize the sector. The funding is from the World Bank which is meant to compliment another USD30 million that Kenya set aside back in January.

What is to be learnt here is not just the will to revitalize the coffee and tea sectors but also the willingness to admit what the problem was in the first place, slow and low payment of …

The price for crude oil is down 60 percent since the year started and it is only tumbling further, global oil news reports.

On the one hand, analysts blame the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and on the other the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia is said to have contributed to the sharp drop.

Even the movers and shakers are feeling the pinch, oil in the US plummeted 34%, crude oil falling by 26%, and brent oil falling 24%. Associated Press reports that prices this week dropped to an 18 year all time low of under USD20 a barrel for the US.

Speculators say it is the best time to invest, pessimists would have you shy away from taking the risk.

The idea is a simple business law, buy when prices are low and sell when prices peak, so technically, the advice to buy into the oil business now is …

There is need to regulate the wage amount paid to labourers in Tanzania particularly in the construction industry  if the country is to reduce poverty levels and increase professionalism in the sector.

Last month I hired a Dar es Salaam based wage labourer to do some basic construction work for me. As he worked, we ventured into conversation deliberating the working conditions of wage labourers in the country.

‘Richie’ the only name he was willing to offer me, said his regular day starts before dawn.

“I have to wake up before the sun comes up,” he chuckles but maintains a somber look.

“You know, I live in the slums, so I have to get two buses to get to the site,” he continues after a moment of lamentation.  According to Richie, as a wage labourer, his job is never guaranteed, as he put it; “at the site, …

Coffee production in South America is on a sharp increase and the resulting market flood is severely hurting East African coffee growers.

As supply increases, the market price is steadily falling. For trading blocs like the East African Community (EAC) where coffee is traditionally among the leading export commodities, the lower market prices spell a gloomy period up ahead.

In fact, for most of the East African countries, coffee accounts for 76 percent of the value of all agricultural exports put together. So losing the coffee market is a severe blow to economic development in East Africa and across the continent too.

Sector pundits say South America is using improved hybrids that are growing fast, producing better yields and they also have better after harvest storage and transportation facilities which are important to maintain the quality of the grain.

For example, statistics show that Brazil is now the world’s leading …

Kenya is pursuing a new trade deal with the United States, a deal that was announced earlier in February during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s visit to Washington DC. To set the stage for the new deal, US department of agriculture USDA has announced that Kenya will start receiving wheat from Idaho, Oregon and Washington states after the states addressed plan health concerns.

Kenya has lifted the trade barrier to allow U.S. wheat growers in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) access to Kenya’s wheat market for the first time in over a decade after the U.S.- Kenya Trade and Investment Working Group adopted a phytosanitary protocol.

Effective immediately, U.S. wheat may now be shipped to Kenya, regardless of the state of origin or port of export, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced.  For the last 12 years, USDA’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has worked closely with Kenyan officials to address plant …