Author: Muindi

Cactus Cantina Investments Limited (Cactus Cantina) has acquired a 55.8 per cent shareholding in Maisha MFB. Cactus Cantina is incorporated in Kenya and is wholly owned by Shara Inc. (Shara). Shara, which is incorporated in the state of Delaware, USA, and was co-founded by Grant Brooke and Peter Njonjo, offers affordable financing to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and their value chains in Nigeria and Kenya. Brooke and Njonjo are also the co-founders of Twiga Foods, a B2B food and grocery distribution company. “The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) announces the acquisition of 55.8 per cent shareholding of Maisha Microfinance…

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared an end to the COVID-19 global public health emergency. “For more than a year, the pandemic has been on a downward trend with population immunity increasing from vaccination and infection, mortality decreasing, and the pressure on health systems easing,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference in Geneva. “This trend has allowed most countries to return to life as we knew it before Covid-19,” Tedros said. “It is therefore, with great hope that I declare Covid-19 over as a global health emergency.” https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1654761984615645184?s=20 The WHO said COVID-19 was here to…

Kenya’s private-sector services activity shrank in April as inflation and political unrest hit demand, a survey showed on Friday. Activity levels and input purchases also fell sharply, but employment numbers continued to rise. On the other hand, input cost pressures showed further signs of having peaked, dropping to their lowest recorded in 2023 so far, though remaining steep. Stanbic Bank Kenya’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 47.2 from 49.2 in March. The index also signalled a solid and faster decline in the health of the private sector economy at the start of the second quarter. Readings above 50.0 signal…

Browns Investments PLC, a Sri Lankan company, has reached an agreement to purchase part of James Finlay Kenya Ltd. except for the Saosa tea extraction facility. “We undertook a rigorous process when identifying a buyer for this unique business, prioritising what was best for James Finlay Kenya and its community,” James Woodrow, Finlay’s group MD, said. Browns Investments PLC was selected by Finlays as the preferred buyer because of its strong legacy of guiding its tea estates to continued growth, and its focus on doing so sustainably while supporting its workforce and local communities. “As part of the sales agreement…

OPPO, a leading global technology company, has launched the Imagine IF Photography Awards 2023, a mobile photography competition that pushes the boundaries of creativity beyond the limits of existing images and expressions. One of the Highest Prizes in the Mobile Photography Awards The vision of “Beyond the Image, Beyond Imagination” reflects OPPO’s commitment to driving progress through technological innovation and igniting users’ creativity worldwide. OPPO’s professional mobile photography technology is designed to inspire maximum aesthetics and inspiration, empowering non-professional users to create timeless masterpieces. As a testament to OPPO’s commitment to inspiring mobile photographers, the awards offer one of the…

The Kenya economy slowed in 2022, according to the statistics agency on the backdrop of prolonged dry weather conditions, general elections and elevated inflationary pressures. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said expansion in economic activity slowed by 2.8 per cent to 4.8 per cent in 2022 from 7.6 per cent in a similar period in 2021. “While the value of production in some sectors was high, volumes were below 2021,” KNBS Director-General MacDonald Obudho said. “2022 was marked by many negative shocks from the supply side. The persistent shocks which are still present, created permanent negative effects impacting economic…