Author: David Indeje

Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) and the Mastercard Foundation have launched a Ksh 600 million fund that will extend interest-free loans to 400 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The loan facility will be repayable by up to six months. Loans will range in size with an expected average size of Ksh 1 million. The fund is created through support from the Mastercard Foundation COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Programme. It is targeting businesses that find it difficult to access financing from formal lending institutions such as banks and micro-financers. Priority will be given to businesses…

Equity Bank says it will offer a refund to all its customers on home deliveries if they shop online on the Naivas platform using their visa cards. “The free delivery shall be in the form of a cash-back send directly to the customer’s Naivas e-wallet within 24 hours of the transaction to be used on the next purchase,” Equity says. The offer which runs till the 18th of September 2020 will require Equity Visa cardholders to purchase goods worth KShs 1,000 and above using the Visa service from Naivas online to be eligible for the free delivery service. Get a…

Safaricom staff members in a joint partnership with the telco’s foundation, have donated foodstuff worth over KSh4 million to more than 2,500 needy households across the country. The donation is part of a staff initiative that saw Safaricom employees come together to contribute over KSh2 million to help vulnerable families affected by COVID-19.  The amount raised was then matched by Safaricom Foundation which gave an additional KSh2 million. As part of the donation, more than 1,300 families in Korogocho and another 1,200 households in Kitengela, Thika, Naivasha, Mombasa and Bungoma will receive one month’s supply of foodstuff. Over the last…

KCB Group PLC posted a 40 percent drop in first-half pre-tax profit attributed to the effects of coronavirus pandemic and its impact on its loan-loss provisions. Its after-tax profit dropped to Ksh 7.6 billion while pretax profit declined to  28 percent to Ksh 12.82 billion. “The second quarter was the toughest in our recent history as the pandemic hurt economic activity across markets,” Chief Executive Joshua Oigara said in a statement. https://twitter.com/KCBGroup/status/1293566301361901569?s=20 “We project a continued strain on the business and economy in the remaining part of the year as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves. We will accelerate our support to…

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck Kilindoni area of Tanzania, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The Wednesday evening light Earthquake was said to be of magnitude 5.9 on the Richter scale in South Eastern Kenya at 17:13:17.6 UTC. The depth was 254km, with its epicentre within the Indian Ocean. https://twitter.com/USGSBigQuakes/status/1293601239406714883?s=20 Vikindu, Tanzania PHOTO: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/ https://twitter.com/TanzaniaUpdates/status/1293603424806764544?s=20 “Not many earthquakes of such size have occurred in recent history in this region as it is far from plate boundaries and major faults. Seismic activity in east Africa is mostly related to the Eastern African Rift further to the east,” according to https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/. 

Land and house prices in Kenya fell year on year in the second quarter for Nairobi suburbs and surrounding satellite towns due to the pandemic said HassConsult. In the period ending June, house prices dropped 0.2 percent in quarter two compared to 3.6 percent the same period in 2019 attributed to downward pressure on asking rents. “…but tenants, on the other hand, are increasingly asking for discounts (of between 25 and 30 percent) citing reduced incomes as the COVID-19 pandemic takes its toll,” reads part of the Hass Property price indices for the second quarter of 2020. “COVID-19 has resulted…