Author: Muthoga Mungania

Select farm produce exporters have received an extension to comply with a law that ensures products sold to the European Union are not sourced from deforested land, after December 31, 2020. The EU parliament voted 371 votes to 240 and 30 abstentions to extend the ‘deadline for compliance from December 2024 to December 2025. The...

Only 962 of Kenyan government companies that were awarded tenders have revealed their ownership structure and beneficiaries, according to a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) report. Out of more than 33,000 institutions only 962 government firms awarded state tender disclosed their beneficial owners signaling a sluggish procurement transparency process in Kenya. “As of October 2024,...

Four new funds created by licensed asset management companies have received approval from Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) on Thursday to offer investors with diversified investments across different asset classes and geographical regions. Under the Britam Unit Trust Scheme, Britam Asset Managers Limited has been licensed to launch the Britam USD Money Market Fund intended...

Equity Group has reported a net profit of $304.2 million for the third quarter of the year, representing a growth of 13.6 percent from $267.8 million during a similar period last year. This growth was driven by an increase in operating income, propelled by the performance of the Tanzania and Rwanda subsidiaries. Total operating income...

United States ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman has resigned days after Donald Trump won the elections in a strong comeback Ms Whitman who still had another year to serve, highlighted her achievements in her position as ambassador in the country which included various deals in tech, trade and seeing Kenya as a Non-NATO ally in...

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has partnered with Nium, a Singapore-headquartered cross- border payments company for seamless cross border payments across its 35 African markets. The partnership will see Nium’s real time payments infrastructure integrated with Ecobank’s banking systems that serve over 32 million customers. “Partnering with Nium allows us to enhance our service offerings and...

Kenya has reneged on its proposed policy that required tourists entering the country to declare their mobile phones International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) planned on curbing the rise of unregistered devices that often avoid tax and safety standards. This policy was set to take effect on January 1, 2025....

Kenya’s largest telecommunications company, Safaricom Plc has acquired an insurance license ending a four year wait as part of its product diversification strategy. Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom’s chief executive officer (CEO) disclosed during the telco’s half year earnings call that it had secured the permit from the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA).”We have revamped our wealth proposition...

Ethiopian Airlines, the largest network operating carrier in Africa, has announced the arrival of Airbus A350-1000 aircraft adding to it’s fleet of planes. The aircraft, which made it first delivery to Addis Ababa of medical supplies valued at over 100,000 euros donated by Aviation Sans Frontières in collaboration with Airbus, is the first of its...

Telkom Kenya lost more than one million customers in the one year period to June 2024, new industry data shows, while other telcos extended their subscriptions base.Official data from Kenya’s Communications Authority (CA) has revealed that Telkom lost 1.02 million customers in the year to June 2024 from 2.5 million last year to 1.48 million...

Elon Musk’s internet service, Starlink has paused new subscriptions in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, and five neighbouring regions, because of high demand which has overloaded its network capacity. Starlink had suspended subscription from Kiambu, Machakos, Narok, Murang’a, and Nakuru saying it cannot support new customers. “Nairobi and neighbouring areas are currently at network capacity. This means...

Professor Abraham Kithure Kindiki has been sworn in as the thirteenth (13th) Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya following the lifting of orders that had barred his assumption of the office by the High Court. Mr Kindiki took his oath of office at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) on Thursday, November 1st replacing...

Kenya is set to receive $606 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of the seventh and eighth reviews under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangements. In a statement on Wednesday, the IMF said the funds will support the authorities’ efforts to rebuild fiscal and external buffers,...

Russia has expressed an interest in joint projects in the energy, tourism, agriculture and infrastructure sectors with Tanzania. Speaking during the Tanzania – Russia Business and Investment Forum in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday, Russia’s Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said while meeting with Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa the two countries have had a...

Airtel Kenya has disclosed it secured an extension of its operating licence for two years from January in the newly published financial statements. Airtel Africa Plc through its unaudited financials for the half year to September 30th revealed its Kenyan firm was awarded a licence extension from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) on September...

Listed firm HF Group has received approval from Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to raise up to $46.5 million (Ksh6 billion) through a rights issue. This rights issue is structured such that it offers shareholders two new ordinary shares for every one existing ordinary share held, with the shareholders having the option to apply for...

A Kenyan high court has issued conservatory orders blocking a $736 million government deal with Adani Solutions Limited for the construction of electricity transmission lines. The deal was between state utility Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited (KETRACO) and India’s Adani Energy Solutions that would see the latter build and operate power infrastructure in the country....

Savannah Clinker has increased its proposed price for takeover of listed cement manufacturer Bamburi by 9.3 percent from $0.54 (Ksh70) to $0.59 (Ksh76.55), in a heated race to acquire the company. In a circular from the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), Bamburi Cement PLC has revealed to its shareholders of the new price change which could...

Nigeria’s federal government has withdrawn money laundering charges against detained Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan on medical grounds. The charges were dropped during a hearing on Wednesday in Abuja, Nigeria. Mr Gambaryan, was accused and imprisoned in Nigeria for the past 264 days as part a criminal case against the giant cryptocurrency exchange, Binance. The court...

Various humanitarian bodies including Amnesty International and the United Nation’s refugee arm have expressed deep concern and alarm over the abduction and repartition of four Turkish asylum seekers in Kenya. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement on Tuesday that it “urges the Government of Kenya to abide by their...

East African investors have been locked out of the initial public offering (IPO) of the Ethiopia’s state owned telecommunications company. Only Ethiopian citizens will be able to buy shares from Ethio Telecom I’m the ongoing IPO. “The offer is being made solely to Ethiopian citizens who are physically present in Ethiopia,” reads the prospectus of...

Kenya’s National Assembly speaker Moses Wetangula has gazetted Prof Kithure Kindiki, the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Administration of National Government as the country’s new Deputy President following the impeachment of Rigathi Gachagua. In a gazette notice dated Friday, October 18, the speaker said that the House had voted in support of the nomination of...

Kenya’s parliament has summoned former late President Daniel Moi’s son and former Baringo senator Gideon Moi for hoping in trust over 5,000 acres of land allegedly belonging to Rift Valley National Polytechnic. The members of parliament (MPs) specifically those in the public investments committee on governance and education have questioned why the board of trustees...

Ethiopian commercial banks will be required to disclose to customers all fees and commissions relating to forex transactions effective immediately, the central bank has said in a statement. In a statement issued on October 15th, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) said banks are to operate transparently while following international standards and disclose hidden charges...

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has cleared America’s largest bank, JP Morgan Chase and Co. to set up a regional representative office in Nairobi, about 12 years after disclosing plans. This announcement comes days before JP Morgan’s chief executive officer (CEO) Jamie Dimon makes his visit in Kenya among other African countries. The representative...

The Ugandan government has signed a $3 billion contract with a Turkish company for the construction of a section of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). In a LinkedIn social media post, Yapi Merkezi, the Turkish firm took to celebrate the signing ceremony stating that the project is one of the largest by a Turkish contractor....

Eritrea, Egypt and Somalia have teamed up in a tripartite agreement to strengthen the latter’s army efforts against terrorism in a move that has left Ethiopia isolated. The presidents of the three countries have signed an agreement that will see Somalia secured on its land and sea borders.  In a joint statement the three heads...

Safaricom’s Mpesa and Airtel’s paybill and till numbers used by millions of Kenyans to make daily transactions across the country will soon be used as tax registers. Kenya’s President William Ruto’s government is targeting mobile money pay bills and till numbers to convert them into electronic tax registers (ETRs) by December 25 in a bid...

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) slashed the key lending rate by the largest margin since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic but banks are tightening their lending standards amid concerns over availability of credit. On Tuesday the CBK cut the benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points from 12.75 percent to 12 percent, after...

Stanchart Chartered Bank of Kenya and Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) have the highest loan exposure in government entities as of June 2024. New disclosures by the National Treasury show Stanchart has the highest exposure from loaning out $128.64 million (KSh16.62 billion) followed by KCB at $113.08 million (KSh14.61 billion) at the end of the fiscal...