Author: David Indeje

Kenya’s parliament approved on Tuesday approved Treasury’s decision to revert taxes to Pre- Covid levels in January 2021  to manage the growing revenue deficit. The government in March temporarily reduced taxes aimed at offering a reprieve for businesses and consumers who had been adversely affected by the pandemic. In this case,  income tax was reduced by 5.00% to 25.00% while VAT was cut by 2.00% to 14.00%. “Pursuant of provisions of sections 6 and 67 of the Value Added Tax Act 0f 2013 approves the Value Added Tax Amendment of the rate of tax 2020, will as many of that opinion…

Absa Bank Kenya Plc has issued a profit warning saying its net profit for the 2020 full year. The listed lender cites increased impairment provisions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “Trends and forecasts show that the rate of impairment is increasing due to the delayed loans repayments and potential additional stress due to COVID-19 after-effects,” Absa notified its investors. The bank’s asset quality deteriorated, with the NPL ratio increased to 7.6% in Q3’2020, from 6.8% in Q3’2019, due to the faster 20.8% growth in gross NPLs, which outpaced the 7.3% growth in gross loans. “Notably, on a y/y basis, the bank’s…

The National Treasury eyes more money from the domestic market for budgetary support besides soaring debts before the year ends.  The government is seeking to raise an additional  Ksh 22.00 billion in December December via a Tap Sale on recently auctioned papers, FXD1/2012/15 and FXD2/2019/15.  The Tap sale is scheduled to end on 23rd December 2020. On the other hand, National Treasury will be seeking to raise Ksh 75.00 billion in its January 2021 T-bond auction. This will be via two new issues: FXD1/2021/2 and IFB1/2021/16 seeking to raise Ksh 25.00Bn and Ksh 50.00Bn respectively.  The auctions will be held…

Safaricom, Kenya’s telecom market leader on Tuesday announced new M-Pesa tariff reductions. Chief Executive Officer Peter Ndegwa said the new tariffs will affect more than 90 per cent of all customer transactions when sending money. Going forward, therefore, it will now cost KSh6 to send between KSh101 and KSh500, down from KSh11. Transactions of between KSh1,501 and KSh2,500 will cost KSh32 down from KSh41. All transactions of KSh 100 and below will remain free. “This is in consideration of the expiry of the period for the zero-rated M-PESA transactions and the ongoing Covid-19 and economic circumstances,” Ndegwa said. According to…

Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Benson Mutura on Monday was sworn in as acting Governor for 60 days pending the election of a new Governor. He was sworn at by Judge Jairus Ngaah, at County headquarters. This comes after the Senate upheld the decision by Nairobi County Assembly to impeach Embattled Governor Mike Sonko. https://twitter.com/Senate_KE/status/1339664146753830916?s=20 Sonko was facing charges including gross violation of the Constitution and other laws, abuse of office, violation of national laws, and lacking the mental capability to run the county government. Mutura was elected as Speaker of the Nairobi County Assembly in August after the resignation of Beatrice…

Technology firm Huawei Technologies Kenya has confirmed plans to invest in capability development programmes which directly impacts Huawei’s growth and procurement strategy. Speaking at the firm’s recent annual Supplier Conference and Award Forum, Huawei Kenya Delivery and Service vice president,  Chris Yu said the firm had activated its Delivery Operations Centre in Nairobi to provide project delivery oversight and support for its sub-contractors. The Delivery Operations Centre provides Contact Centre support to field contractors linked to the recently introduced Smart Helmets. The firm’s operating partners in Kenya will also access basic and advanced Huawei Certified Training delivered at the African…