Author: David Indeje

Growth prospects and investments for Kenya’s insurance industry will largely be influenced by the ongoing regulatory changes and improve the level of penetration, Cytonn Investments say. The Central bank of Kenya’s September 2021 Financial stability report found out that insurance uptake in the country remains low compared to other key economies with the insurance penetration at 2.3% as at December 2020. This is below the global average of 7.4%, attributable to the fact that insurance is still seen as a luxury and mostly taken when it is necessary or a regulatory requirement. Cytonn Investments however, say that regulatory changes will…

M-Pesa Super App, Safaricom’s digital lifestyle app crossed the 4 million downloads within the first three months of launch (July 2021). Mr Peter Ndegwa, CEO of Safaricom said they have integrated 17 mini-apps and 65 are currently under development with the aim of providing a one-stop solution for their digital consumers. “We aim to become a digital-first, insights-led organization that enables platforms and ecosystem partnerships. Our digital channels have helped us to improve our consumer digital experiences and empower our micro and SMEs who are the backbone of the economy,” Ndegwa said during the HY 2021/2022 Earnings Presentation. The M-Pesa…

Kenya’s current account deficit widened to 5.6 per cent of GDP in the 12 months to September 2021 compared to 5.0 per cent of GDP in the 12 months to September 2020. The Central Bank of Kenya disclosed that this was highly driven by a higher import of goods and services rising oil prices and the continuing recovery of the economy. “The higher deficit was attributed to higher import of goods and services, which more than offset increased receipts from agricultural exports and remittances,” the CBK said. National Treasury said in the first of 2021, the current account deficit expanded…

Pan-African technology group, Liquid Intelligent Technologies has introduced One Voice for Cloud PBX, a collaboration and Unified Communications tool that enables organisations and their employees to remain connected even when working remotely. The solution is powered by a single integrated platform converting legacy PBX telephony system into a cloud-based IP communication solution.  To customers, they will benefit from its voice, video, and data communication tools in a single offering – enabling them to communicate on any device, via any medium from anywhere. https://youtu.be/9U5SRVYtZFM “The workplace is no longer identified as a place we go to, but rather what we do…

Kenya’s re-opened 20-year (FXD1/2019/20) and a new five-year issue (FXD1/2021/5) of November bonds raised Ksh 84.2 billion against a target of Ksh 50 billion, a 168.3% subscription rate. The 5-year bond had a market-determined coupon rate whereas the reopened FXD1/2019/20 bond had a coupon rate of 12.873%. The Central Bank of Kenya on behalf of the National Treasury accepted bids worth Ksh 69.5 billion. The funds would be used for budgetary support for the current fiscal year. https://twitter.com/CBKKenya/status/1458401838043213829?s=20 “We attribute the oversubscription, particularly of FXD1/2021/5 to its shorter-term tenure which is a preference for investors in the current market,” Analysts…

Kenya’s currency Wednesday exchanged at 111.7735  against the dollar, owing to the high demand for import payments. COMMERCIAL BANKS’ AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATES FOR MAJOR CURRENCIES/KES (CLOSING OF MARKET) ON 10-Nov-21 CURRENCY MEAN BUY SELL US DOLLAR 111.7735 111.6735 111.8735 STG POUND 151.1271 150.9747 151.2794 EURO 129.2012 129.0706 129.3318 SA RAND 7.2530 7.2394 7.2666 KES / USHS 31.5818 31.5088 31.6548 KES / TSHS 20.5863 20.5232 20.6495 KES / RWF 9.1201 9.1064 9.1338 KES / BIF 17.8064 17.7035 17.9093 AE DIRHAM 30.4315 30.4014 30.4617 CAN $ 89.3616 89.2674 76.8302 89.4559 S FRANC 121.6649 121.5296 121.8002 JPY (100) 98.0685 97.9592 98.1777 SW KRONER…