Author: David Indeje

Kenya’s foreign exchange reserves declined by $56 billion to $9,296 billion in the week ended Aug. 13 compared to $ 9,352  the previous week, CBK data showed on Friday.  In the week ended Aug -21, the reserves had increased by $11 billion to $9,352 billion.  “The usable foreign exchange reserves remained adequate at USD 9,296 million (5.68 months of import cover) as at August 12. This meets the CBK’s statutory requirement to endeavour to maintain at least 4 months of import cover, and the EAC region’s convergence criteria of 4.5 months of import cover,” the CBK said in its Friday…

Cytonn Investments Management Plc has directed the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Chief Executive Wyckliffe Shamiah to “cease and desist from the publication of defamatory statements against Cytonn”. The demand directed capital markets regulator to immediately pull down or cause to be pulled down and permanently delete with immediate effect the defamatory articles and related threads ‘due to their damaging effects’. The demand was issued following an order that barred Cytonn Asset Managers Ltd (CAML) from onboarding new investors until it changes the names of its business and its regulated products. Cytonn Investments, which is an independent investment management firm, has…

ICT policy-making in Kenya falls below the standard envisaged in the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, a new report released by Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTAnet) alleges. The report, Public Participation: An Assessment of Recent ICT Policy Making Processes in Kenya says the government does not have a holistic, multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder, mechanism for public participation. “The law is not a suggestion, and public participation, therefore, is not optional, it’s a mandatory requirement under the law,” Victor Kapiyo, Lawyer and  Researcher at Lawmark Partners LLP, one of the co-authors of the report said during its virtual launch Wednesday. Together with his co-author,…

The US has reissued its travel advisory on Kenya, urging its citizens not to travel to the country due to an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases. Kenya is struggling with a fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the past few weeks. Hospitals are currently strained, shortage of medical oxygen and beds. “Your risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing severe symptoms may be lower if you are fully vaccinated with an FDA-authorised vaccine,” read a statement in part from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The ‘level 3’ travel advisory further said, “Before planning any international travel, please…

Kenya and Somalia have agreed to ‘reset’ their diplomatic ties that have been strained by committing to implement the 2015 Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC). The latest development follows Tuesday talks between Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and Mohammed Hussein, the prime minister of Somalia held in Mombasa city. President Kenyatta said the Joint Commission for Cooperation defines the scope of the two countries’ collaboration in areas such as trade and investment, transport, defense and security. “Prosperity of our people is key. Let us open a new page for our people by encouraging people-to-people and interactions,” he said in a statement…

Chinese smartphone brand Xiaomi is the largest vendor of Android 5G smartphones with a market share of 25.7 percent in the second quarter of the year, a report showed on Tuesday. According to market researcher Strategy Analytics, its shipments surged 452 per cent on-year to 24.3 million units.  Vivo was the runner-up with an 18.5 per cent share followed by Oppo with a 17.9 per cent share. Samsung Electronics was ranked fourth with a market share of 16.5 per cent in the April-June period after shipping 15.6 million units of 5G smartphones powered by the Android operating system.  “Over the…