Author: Muthoga Mungania

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...

Kenya is losing its attractiveness as a desirable export market in the East African Community on tariffs and trade wars. Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have surpassed Kenya in various markets to be leading buyers in a move that could sour relations with other EAC partners. Rwanda has surpassed Kenya to become Uganda’s...

Kenya’s listed telecommunications company Safaricom Plc spent less in the year ended March 2024 on its expatriate staff by 17.7 percent to $36.8 million. This is a signal that the company’s reliance on senior specialists drawn from its parent firm’s (Vodafone Group Plc) is shrinking. The drop in the expats’ pay and other administrative costs...

Kenya’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell to 4.6 per cent in the three months leading up to June from 5.6 per cent a year earlier, marking the country’s worst growth in four years after the pandemic. Official data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), shows that despite the slower growth rates in other...

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has topped its African peers in returns for foreign investors in the nine months to September 2024, on the back of a stronger shilling boosting dollar-linked portfolios. Data from the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) index, which monitors the performance of ten African stock markets, indicates that the NSE’s return...

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has overtaken Kenya and Uganda as Tanzania’s leading export market, signalling the changing trade dynamics in the East African bloc amid tariff wars.Official data from the Bank of Tanzania shows that DRC overtook Kenya and Uganda to become Tanzania’s leading export destination for its various goods. The data from...

Ethiopia’s khat export to Somalia has fallen amid diplomatic tensions and high taxation.Somalia has long been the largest export destination for Ethiopian khat, which has an estimated daily demand of 500,000 kilograms of the stimulant leaf. The country used to buy up close to 80 per cent of Ethiopia’s total khat exports. A quota system...

Ghana’s central bank slashed its base lending rate by 200 basis points to 27 per cent on Friday, the first cut since January, as inflation continues to ease. The Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) met during the week and deliberated while assessing local and international macroeconomic developments, and the balance of risks to...

Two days ago, a Kenyan High Court declared the Privatisation Act unconstitutional, a move that could sour the country’s relations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which had just concluded a week-long visit in Nairobi. The Privatisation Act proposed the sale of state-owned parastatals including the iconic Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), the Kenya Pipeline...

Nigeria’s Central Bank has raised its benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points to 27.5 per cent attributed to the continuing inflationary conditions in the country and the stability of the foreign exchange market. In a statement on Tuesday (24.09), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) noted the slight ease in inflation between July and...

Kenya’s external borrowing next year is projected to fall to $1.29 billion from $2.76 billion in the current financial year on the back of a significant rise in primary debt repayments that will require new borrowing to be rolled over. Projections published by the National Treasury in the Budget Review and Outlook Paper (BROP) 2024...

Ecobank Kenya lost millions of dollars between 2020 and 2022 following the failure of its card operations team to upload critical transaction files exposing the lender to fraud.Revelations from an internal report by the bank, a task force appointed in 2023 highlighted the weaknesses that saw the lender lose millions to merchants and employees. The...

The European Union (EU) has announced fresh funding of $44.6 billion geared towards the construction of a pharmaceutical manufacturing hub and the promotion of local manufacturing of affordable health products in Rwanda. The funding is in the form of grants to boost the nascent pharmaceutical industry in the East African nation by expanding fair access...

Uganda’s stock of domestic debt grew to $10.92 billion in June from $9.28 billion recorded in a similar period last year, data from the Ministry of Finance shows. Analysis of the data from the annual debt statistical bulletin and public debt portfolio shows that the 17.7 per cent growth was attributed to a shift in...

Kenya is yet to receive new funding from the International Monetary Fund, after a team from the lender concluded a six-day fact-finding mission to the East African nation held between September 11th to 16th. The delay is attributed to the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024 by the President, after deadly youth protests. In a...

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...