Author: David Indeje

The Central Bank of Kenya has fined five big banks Ksh 392.5 million for transacting illegally with the National Youth Service (NYS). “CBK announces the conclusion of the first phase of the investigation of the banks that were used by these persons in transacting the NYS funds. The investigations prioritised banks that handled the largest flows, namely; Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Ltd, Equity Bank Kenya Ltd, KCB Bank Kenya Ltd, Co-operative Bank of Kenya Ltd, and Diamond Trust Bank Kenya Ltd,” said the regulator said in a statement issued on Tuesday. “The actions taken by CBK and subsequently by other…

As African and global leaders meet in Kigali, Rwanda for the 8th African Green Revolution Forum, there is renewed pressure for the continent to deliver reforms around access to land and markets, extension services, and private sector investments in order to unlock its agricultural potential. In 2016, the report indicated that Africa’s agriculture sector loses about $4 billion to post-harvest losses yearly and as a result, its annual import bill is $35 billion and projected to $100 billion by 2030. “Agriculture is key to Africa’s future. The continent has most of the world’s arable land, over half of the African…

Opportunity in Kenya’s retail sector is within the county headquarters according to a report published by Cytonn Real Estate. The demand is being driven by devolution and the increased retail business to serve the increasing urban population. For instance, in Kisumu and Mt. Kenya regions, the retail space demand of 0.3mn and 0.2mn SQFT has attractive yields at 8.3 per cent and 9.9 per cent and occupancy rates at 96.3 per cent and 84.5 per cent, respectively. This is, compared to the market average rental yield of 8.6 per cent and occupancy rates of 86.0 per cent. However, the Nakuru…

Africa’s growth potential is positive, with a projected economic growth of 3.1 per cent in 2018 and 3.7 per cent by 2020, according to the World Bank. This has been attributed to rising commodity prices. This is compared to an expected rate of 3.4 per cent in the gross domestic product compared to 2.8 per cent in 2017 in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Regional Economic Outlook report for the Sub-Saharan Region. In fact, foreign direct investment in Africa has been on the rise, despite a 21 percent decline from 2016, according to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2018.  However, this…

East Africa’s leading apparel and household goods retailers, Deacons (East Africa) Plc (NSE: DCON) has issued a profit warning for Full Year results in 2018. The Board states that this is based on “The preliminary assessment of unaudited financial statements of the Group for the half year period ended 30 June 2018 and the forecast to 31 December 2018.” “The projected earnings of the Group for the current financial year are expected to potentially decrease by at least 25 percent compared to the financial year ended 31 December 2017.” This is attributed to slow economic start in 2018 from the…

Regional cement maker ARM Cement PLC’s (NSE: ARM) has been put into administration, PricewaterhouseCoopers under Kenya’s 2015 Insolvency Act. PricewaterhouseCoopers in a statement on Saturday said it has appointed Muniu Thoiti and George Weru as joint administrators. “With their appointment, the Administrators shall now take control of the business assets and the management of the affairs of the company without any personal liability,” PWC said. “By virtue of the Administration, the powers of the directors of the company in terms of dealing and/or transacting with the company’s assets have ceased, unless with the express permission of the Administrators.” The ARM…