Author: David Indeje

Kenya tourism revenues in 2021 increased by 60.4 per cent to Ksh146 billion, compared with Ksh 88 billion in 2020, the Tourism Ministry said Wednesday. Data from the Tourism Sector Performance Report 202, the industry marked a slight recovery registering 870,000 tourist arrivals up from 567,000 the previous year. Going into 2022, Tourism Minister Najib Balala says the earnings are projected to climb Ksh 173 billion. “The numbers are still low, but we are optimistic that we will eventually go back to our all-time high international visitor arrivals that are 2019, or even surpass it. This is because the majority…

Microsoft Corp. says it has agreed to buy Activision Blizzard, a leader in game development and interactive entertainment content publisher, in an all-cash deal valued at $68.7 billion. If successful, the deal would make Microsoft the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind China’s Tencent Holdings and Japan’s Sony Group. The planned acquisition includes iconic franchises from Activision, Blizzard and King studios like “Warcraft,” “Diablo,” “Overwatch,” “Call of Duty” and “Candy Crush,” in addition to global eSports activities through Major League Gaming. “Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a…

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is positive that the ongoing negotiations will ultimately make it be the seventh member admitted to the East African Community. DRC Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Foreign Affairs Christophe Apala on Tuesday said DRC was looking forward to increased trade and investment, and strengthened relations with EAC, adding that her relations with the EAC Partner States had largely been at a bilateral level. He also informed the EAC that DRC’s membership in The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) would not pose any challenges…

The United Kingdom has announced £17m of support for East Africa to support initiatives that will mitigate climate change disasters. The support will go to countries most affected by extreme drought – Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia and in South Sudan which is suffering from widespread flooding for a third consecutive year. UK’s Minister for Africa Vicky Ford made the announcement while on a three-country visit to the region.  “For countries in East Africa, climate change is not a future problem – it is driving a humanitarian emergency right now. Catastrophic droughts and floods, paired with ongoing conflicts and poor governance…

Tanzania and Burundi have signed an agreement to construct a $900m railway line Tanzania’s finance ministry said on Sunday. The 282km line will link Uvinza with Gitega to boost regional trade. “The minister of finance in Burundi and I are starting to look for areas where we can raise money to implement this project” Mwigulu Nchemba, Tanzania’s finance minister said in the statement. “This project is important for Tanzania, Burundi and even Congo who use the Port of Dar es Salaam to transport cargo.” https://twitter.com/mwigulunchemba1/status/1482800015219245066?s=20 https://twitter.com/mwigulunchemba1/status/1482800088686673932?s=20 Tanzania commenced the construction of the first 1,219 km phase, connecting Dar es Salaam to…

Limuru Tea Company Ltd, one of Kenya’s agricultural firms engaged in the growing of green leaf tea has warned of weaker earnings for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2021. Similar to the previous fiscal year, the firm attributes this to lower green leaf volumes and the rising cost of production. “The company is expected to record a decline of more than 25 per cent in the net profits. The board is of the view that the estimated decrease in profits is mainly due to the lower green leaf volumes that were realized in 2021  compared to 2020,” the listed…