Author: David Indeje

Jamii Bora Bank (JBB) has been renamed Kingdom Bank following its acquisition by the Co-operative Bank of Kenya. The acquisition became effective on August 21, 2020 with Co-operative Bank (Co-op Bank)acquiring 90 percent of Jamii Bora Bank Limited. This was through the subscription of 224,153,154 new class of ordinary shares that will enable Co-op Bank to inject KSh1 billion and appoint a board to run the business. “Pursuant to Central Bank of Kenya approvals, the former Jamii Bora Bank has changed its name and will now operate as Kingdom Bank Limited,” said Co-op Bank in a statement on Tuesday. Kingdom…

Regional retailer Tuskys Supermarket shareholders on Tuesday said it has signed terms of agreement with a Mauritius fund based company for financing facility worth Ksh 2.0 billion. “This funding will help alleviate our current capital constraints impacted by Covid-19 and further reposition the business for increasing stakeholder’s value,” said Benard Kahianyu, Chairman of the Board. However, the transaction details are subject to condition. “The Tuskys Board and Management will engage all stakeholders in the coming days to agree on business going forward.” https://twitter.com/TuskysOfficial/status/1298238546709536768?s=20 READ Transition: Tuskys Shareholders Approve Sale of Majority Stake  The cash-strapped retailer has paid Ksh.700 million to…

Google’s high altitude balloon meant to provide high-speed internet in Kenya crashed near the town of Buta (close to Kisangani) in Bas-Uélé in the Democratic Republic of Congo Sunday. According to Kabale Musavuli, initial;y, they did not know what kind of object it was.  “Object that crashed is Project Loon Kenya HBAL166 that crashed in Congo over 1600 km from Kenya.,” he said later. https://twitter.com/kambale/status/1298204369347846144?s=20 https://twitter.com/stratoballoon/status/1298021766611304450?s=20 In July, Telkom Kenya launched loon, 4G enabling balloons in partnership with  Alphabet expanding its internet subscription by 4.8 million users. Loon is a network of stratospheric balloons designed to bring internet connectivity…

Kenya’s Alternative Justice Systems Taskforce will launch its Alternative Justice System Policy framework aimed at enhancing access to and expeditious delivery of Justice. Further, the Policy, among other things, recognizes as Alternative Justice Systems as a legitimate system of resolving disputes as provided for in the Constitution of Kenya. The policy has been developed by the Taskforce on Traditional, Informal and Other Mechanisms Used to Access Justice in Kenya which was gazetted in 2016 by the former Chief Justice Dr. Willy Mutunga. Justice Joel Ngugi (Prof.) the Chairperson of the task force during a webinar on “The Youth in Alternative…

The Kenyan Shilling on weakened marginally against major international and regional currencies during the week, despite a strong rally in financial markets. According to the Central Bank, it exchanged at KSh 108.56 per US dollar on August 20, compared to KSh 108.39 per US dollar on August 13. On Wednesday, the currency traded at Ksh 108.57 its lowest level during the week due to high dollar demand from importers following the re-opening of economies around the world along with high liquidity in the interbank market. “The money market remained liquid during the week ending August 20, supported by government payments,…

Safaricom will carry out an upgrade of its SIM card system to provide new features that will give more power to customers in a phased manner.  The upgrade will happen on Saturday, 22nd 2020 at 5.00 PM and end on Sunday, 23rd 2020 at 5.00 PM leading to a limited outage in services.  Though the activation of new SIM Cards, SIM swap, getting PUK and tariff migration will be unavailable for customers, calls, data, mobile money transfer via M-PESA and SMS (short message service) will continue to function. “We are upgrading our systems to support the growth of our products…