Author: David Indeje

British American Tobacco Kenya (BAT) posted a 41 per cent growth in profit for the year ended December 31, 2020, to Ksh.5.5 billion from Ksh.3.9 billion in 2019. The higher earnings were attributed to a lower cost base and reduced tax liabilities following relief on corporation tax by the government.  “Net revenue increased by five per cent to Ksh.25.3 billion, driven by higher export revenues and lower excise duty and value-added tax (VAT), which reflects the impact of the decline in domestic sales volumes and the reduction in the rate of VAT in April 2020,” BAT said in a statement…

Kenya and the International Monetary Fund have reached a staff-level agreement on the disbursement of $2.4 billion loan facility. The agreement in principle will see the disbursement of funds from the IMF Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) over the next 38 months to support the countries COVID-19 response. “The staff-level agreement is subject to IMF management approval and Executive Board consideration, which is expected in the coming weeks.” The latest $2.4 billion funds are in addition to the $739 million that the Fund’s Executive Board approved in 2020, to be drawn under the Rapid Credit…

Fuel prices will witness a surge in February until mid-March signalling tough times ahead for Kenyan consumers. On Sunday, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) said Super petrol will retail at KSh115.18 in Nairobi following an increase by KSh8.19. Diesel and Kerosene too went up by KSh5.51 and KSh5.32 to retail at KSh101.91 and KSh92.44 per litre respectively. The authority said the price changes which are inclusive of the 8 per cent Value Added Tax had taken into account the weighted average cost of imported refined petroleum products. “Over the same period, the mean monthly US Dollar to Kenya…

UK based insurance firm, Linkham Group, has increased its shareholding in Resolution Insurance after the purchase of 100% of the equity holding in the Kenyan insurance company from private equity impact investment firm, Leapfrog Investments. The company did not disclose the value of the deal and other details. LeapFrog Investments invested Ksh. 1.68b ($US18.7m) for a majority stake in Resolution Insurance in 2015, through its holding company, Resolution Health East Africa Limited. The acquisition will see Resolution Insurance business gain access to Linkham Group’s financial and insurance networks in Africa and across the globe. The acquisition is subject to certain…

Safaricom on Thursday declared an interim dividend of Ksh 0.45  per share.   This interim dividend payout translates to an amount of Ksh 18,029 billion for the year ending 31 March 2021.  “This is in recognition of the Company’s solid half-year performance and to support our shareholders during these difficult economic times occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Safaricom Kenya’s telecom market leader said in a notice to its shareholders on Wednesday. Safaricom, part-owned by South Africa’s Vodacom and Britain’s Vodafone (40%) will share a gross payout of KSh7.2 billion. The National Treasury with 35% stake will get a gross payout of KSh6.3…

Kenya has launched a five-year project KSh3.4 billion ( $34Mn), meant to ease the impact of climate change on the economy. Dubbed Towards Ending Drought Emergencies (Twende), targets the country’s eleven counties in arid and semiarid rangelands. The counties are Garissa, Tana River, Isiolo, Marsabit, Samburu, Kajiado, Kitui, Makueni, Tharaka-Nithi, Meru and Taita Taveta. “Building capacity and institutions for the improved implementation of devolution is seen as necessary to enhance the climate resilience of Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands. Interventions focus on increasing the adaptive capacities of communities and local institutions to develop evidence-based landscape planning,” says Green Climate Fund…