Author: David Indeje

Kenya has unveiled its Digital Economy Blueprint anchored on five pillars as a guiding tool for the adoption of digital technologies for Africa’s transformation. President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the blueprint-themed “powering Kenya’s transformation”  at the Transform Africa Summit in Kigali, Rwanda. He said “It is intended as a framework to guide us as we accelerate the adoption of digital technologies. I hope all countries will find value in contextualizing this framework to their specific ecosystems so as to realize the full potential of our digital transformation,” the President noted as he launched the blueprint at the Transform Africa Summit in…

The Kenyan Government sold KSh210 billion ($2.1 billion) Eurobond, in tranches of 7- and 12-year tenors, for budgetary allocation and to repay KSh75 billion bond maturing in June. The dual tranche bond was oversubscribed more than four times, the finance ministry said on Thursday. https://twitter.com/PaulWallace123/status/1128692377403691008 “The issuance of this bond followed extensive engagements and consultations with over 100 investors in the United States of America (Los Angeles, Boston and New York) and in the United Kingdom (London). The roadshows began on 8th May, 2019 and ended on 14th May 2019.” the ministry said in a statement. READ: Kenya not Likely…

Microsoft Corp. plans to spend over  Kshs 10 billion over five years to open its first development centers in East and West Africa. Initial sites will be in Nairobi and Lagos. “The Africa Development Centre will be unlike any other existing investment on the continent. It will help us better listen to our customers, develop locally and scale for global impact,” Phil Spencer, Executive Vice President at Microsoft said. “Beyond that, it’s an opportunity to engage further with partners, academia, governments and developers- driving impact in sectors important to the continent, such as FinTech, AfriTech and OffGrid energy.” The company…

Economist David Ndii is calling for the withdrawal of The crops (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2019, which proposes that all coffee grown in Kenya shall be processed in the country and clearly labeled as a ‘Made in Kenya’ before being exported. The legislation by Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria posits that all coffee grown in Kenya shall undergo processing, production and packaging within the country. “The Bill is to ensure that for the purposes of a favourable balance of trade and balance of payment, coffee shall not be processed from Kenya in its raw form,” Kuria says in his Memorandum of…

The Competition Authority of Kenya has approved the proposed merger between Commercial Bank of Africa and NIC Group. However, the approval is on condition that “…none of the employees of the merged entity are declared redundant within 12 months of closing the transaction in Kenya.” In January, NIC and CBA respective Board of Directors agreed to the merger. The proposed merger will be executed through a share swap. An exchange share ratio will be based on a 47:53 relative valuation of NIC and CBA respectively. Post-merger, the market share of merged entity will be 10.67%. This will make it the…

The Kenya Revenue Authority on Friday interdicted 75 members of its staff on allegations of abetting tax evasion and bribery. However, according to KRA’s statement, they have not been charged but being questioned. “Investigations into the rackets have been in progress for the last four months with covert assistance provided by national law enforcement agencies to help in trailing money and communication,” it said. Those accused, 61 are from Domestic Taxes Department and the remaining 14 are from Customs and Border Control Department. “The practices in question include facilitation of fraudulent clearance of cargo, fraudulent amendment of tax returns so…