Author: Muthoga Mungania

Kenya’s Treasury has cut its tax target for the next financial year by $2.59 billion amid public outrage that saw the withdrawal of the finance bill 2024. In the newly published Budget Review and Outlook Paper (BROP) by the National Treasury, spending was slashed in revised changes in a bid to quell anger from Kenyans....

Safaricom Plc has revealed it added 350,000 customers in the quarter to June 2024, according to new disclosures by the Kenyan telecoms operator. The company said its one-month active customers grew to 3.41 million in the three months under review from 3.06 at the end of March. Kenya’s largest telco said its Ethiopia’s number of...

Ten state-owned companies have been identified for listing on the Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX) later in the year or early 2025. Top officials at the Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH), the East African country’s sovereign wealth fund, have determined Ethio Telecom, the Ethiopian Insurance Corporation, and the Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise (ESLSE) among firms...

Kenyan aviation workers ended their strike after day-long protests on Wednesday that disrupted travel at various airports in the country after union officials were assured the deal to lease the airport would not proceed without their approval. The Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU) Secretary General Moses Ndiema announced that operations at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport...

Thousands of travellers have been stranded since Wednesday midnight at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) after staff at the country’s transport hub downed their tools in protest of the Adani deal. Workers at other airports in the country including the Eldoret, Kisumu and Mombasa airports have joined the strike leaving passengers stranded. Police officers...

Kenya’s high court has temporarily stopped a proposed deal for Adani Group- one of India’s largest conglomerates- to lease the country’s largest airport for 30 years. Court documents seen by Kapital Afrik show the Judiciary granted the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)’s joint application for leave to file...

African leaders are signing deals with the Chinese government to benefit their countries at the ongoing China-Africa Conference summit happening in Beijing. Kenya’s President William Ruto announced that the country had joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a fully paid member, a membership that will see the nation access concessional funding for infrastructure,...

Nigeria’s business mogul Aliko Dangote has reclaimed his title as Africa’s richest man after losing it to South African billionaire Johann Rupert in August. According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, the title of Africa’s richest man has changed hands thrice and as of September 9th, has rested on Mr Dangote. The two billionaires have been...

East African Breweries Limited (EABL) is looking to raise its stake in one of its Ugandan subsidiaries that will see the brewer own 100 per cent of the company. The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)-listed alcohol manufacturer will spend Sh426 million ($3.3 million) to raise its stake in Uganda Breweries Limited from 98.19 percent or 118,293,313...

Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged $50.6 billion in financial assistance to Africa over three years. Speaking during the China-Africa cooperation summit on Thursday, President Xi said that $210 billion would be distributed through credit lines and at least 70 billion in fresh investment by Chinese companies. The rest of the financing would be paid...

Kenya’s President William Ruto has met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping ahead of the African summit in a bid to unlock a five-year freeze on loans from the latter. The two heads of state met on Monday ahead of the China-Africa cooperation summit which will take place in Beijing from September 4th to 6th,...

Kenya’s inflation rose slightly to 4.4 per cent in August from 4.3 per cent in the month before, attributed to an increase in the price of various commodities including food and fuel. Official data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows the month-on-month change in prices of oranges, mangoes, electricity and transport resulted...

The vaccines are set to arrive in the next few days according to WHO’s director general Mr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “We hope to have the first delivery in the next few days, and then it will build up,” reckoned the Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Mr Tim Nguyen, the Head of Unit for Health Emergency...

South Sudan has signed a deal with Chinese firm Shengli Oilfield Keer Engineering and Construction Company (SOKEC) to construct an oil refinery and storage facilities.The agreement was signed between South Sudan’s state-owned Nile Petroleum Corporation (Nilepet). “With this MoU, we hope you will be able to translate it into agreements and projects that we will...

Kenya’s cement manufacturer Savannah Clinker Limited has made a counter-offer against Tanzania’s Amsons Group to acquire Bamburi Cement Plc. The company is offering to buy Bamburi’s shares at $0.54 per piece against Amson’s $0.50, starting a bidding war for the cement manufacturer. Savannah Clinker Limited has sweetened the deal by adding that it does not...

Global credit ratings agency S&P has downgraded Kenya to B minus from B, marking the third such demotion since June, after similar actions by Fitch and Moody’s. This decline in rank comes on the back of the withdrawal of the controversial Finance Bill 2024 after nationwide protests. S&P also said the reason for the disparagement...

The Development Bank of Rwanda has received the green light from the Rwanda Capital Market Authority to issue a second sustainability-linked bond worth $22.6 million (Rwf30 billion) in its latest fundraising. This second bond is after a successful first issuance where BRD sought $2.6 million last year.BRD launched its inaugural SLB on the Rwanda Stock...

Kenya’s competition watchdog has without condition approved the acquisition of Suntory Beverage and Food Kenya Limited’s entire ownership by Bidcoro Africa Limited. Suntory is behind the popular Lucozade drink and blackcurrant concentrate Ribena, while Bidcoro owns the Suntop fruit juice brand. This acquisition will see Bidcoro take over Suntory Kenya’s entire issued share capital according...

Kenya’s national carrier, Kenya Airways (KQ), has ended a decade-long streak of losses, turning a profit thanks to interventions by the Treasury. The airline posted a profit of approximately $4 million (Kes 513 million) in the first half of 2024, reversing a loss of about $168.2 million (Kes 21.7 billion) in the same period of...

The company said in a press statement that the airport will be some 40km from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. The East African Airline has partnered with Dar Al-Handasah Consultants (Shair and Partners)- a privately-owned international consulting company dealing in engineering and architecture to design the mega airport. “Ethiopian Airlines Group has signed a technical...

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s dairy firm, Brookside Uganda, has accused the Kenyan government of bias in issuing milk import permits, following the denial of a license to import Ugandan milk. The company alleges that the Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) has unfairly withheld the necessary documentation required to move products from its Uganda operations into the...

Kenya’s Central Bank governor Kamau Thugge has been sermoned by the members of parliament over an undisclosed German firm that will print the new banknotes. Mr Thugge was summoned by the National Assembly’s Finance and National Planning Committee to provide details of the contract with the printing firm. The committee led by Molo Member of...

Zambia has agreed to reopen its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo after closing it over the weekend on the back of ongoing protests. The move comes barely three months since the signing of a cooperation agreement to facilitate cross-border trade under the regional bloc Southern African Development Community (SADC) between the two countries....

Kenya has enlisted the services of the Gates Foundation to support capacity building for financial regulators to accelerate how fast the country exits greylisting. The former Cabinet Secretary for Treasury and National Planning said during the handover session on Monday that the Gates Foundation would work with banks to ensure it is out of the...

Equity Group, a listed lender on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), has reported a 12.1 percent growth in net profit to $221.28 million in the first half of the year, attributed to an increase in non-interest income from regional businesses. The Group’s Chief Executive Officer and managing director, Mr. James Mwangi, said during the announcement...

Global credit ratings agency Fitch has downgraded one of Nigeria’s largest conglomerate Dangote Industries Limited owned by Aliko Dangote Africa’s wealthiest man- to B+ because of liquidity challenges and the ability to raise funds. Fitch said the country’s currency (Naira) decline also played a part in the decision to devalue the company and it will...

Ollo Africa, an african fintech based in Togo has announced the launch of an application called Ohana Africa, designed to simplify the management of formal or informal groups of all sizes. The company said in a press release published on July 30, 2024 the solution will allow for seamless management of contributions from cooperatives, sport...

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced it is making changes to some notes to have them bear the new governor’s name and that of the principal secretary for treasury, hours after slashing the benchmark rate by 25 basis points, setting it at 12.75 per cent. In a statement from the apex bank, the...

Kenya’s automaker of affordable vehicles, Mobius Motors Kenya Limited has been put under liquidation after 13 years in business, according to a public notice from the company, after efforts to resuscitate the firm failed. KVSK Sastry has been appointed the liquidator set to wind up the company.Mobius has been grappling with debts and struggled to...

President William Ruto’s new cabinet nominees have struggled to fight the ghosts of their pasts, with some battling allegations of drug trafficking and unresolved graft cases. The nominees appearing one at a time before the Appointments Committee of the National Assembly for vetting were placed under the microscope to determine how fit they were to...