Author: Muindi

Flourish Ventures, a London-based Venture Capital, has opened in Kenya due to its growing appetite for fintech innovations. The firm, which invests in entrepreneurs whose innovations help people achieve financial health and prosperity, moves into the scene making Kenya the first country in East Africa where it has established a footprint.  Currently, the firm has a portfolio of a dozen startups located in Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt and Kenya that includes Apollo Agriculture, Fair Money, Financial Services Innovators (FSI), Flutterwave, Lendable, Pula and Paga. The Kenyan operations based in Nairobi will be managed by Efayomi Carr as Principal. “Efayomi has a…

Liquidity in the system is set to get tighter, with the deadline approaching for payment of the third instalment of 30% corporate tax. “The Ksh 35 billion net outflow primarily towards bond settlement follows the expiry of the COVID-19 tax relief window,” NCBA Research sys. According to NCBA, the impact may be more visible on the interbank overnight rate, with little spillover to the broader curve.  This could see it rising further towards 6.0% in the month although T-bill yields are unlikely to materially deviate from the current trend given the cyclicality of this tightness. Last week, liquidity in the…

House prices are on the rise after seven quarters of depressed growth, a new survey by the Kenya Bankers Association(KBA) reveals. According to the KBA – House Price Index, prices rose by 0.22 per cent in quarter four of 2020,  from a 0.08 per cent contraction in the previous quarter.  Although house prices have been on the rise, it has been gradual. “The uptick in the House Price Index signals stabilising market prices, which largely reflect an outcome of the demand and supply dynamics in the market,” the index says. On the supply side, housing remains largely fixed, with adjustment…

British American Tobacco (BAT) has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Organigram Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of publicly-traded Organigram Holdings Inc.  Under the terms of the transaction, a BAT subsidiary will acquire a 19.9% equity stake in Organigram Holdings Inc valued at £126 million ($176 million) to become the largest shareholder.  The two firms will create a “Center of Excellence” at Organigram’s facility in Moncton, funded equally by both parties.   BAT will own the intellectual property rights for products developed at the new R&D facility, and Organigram will be granted a royalty-free licence under the terms of the agreement.   Both companies will contribute scientists, researchers,…

Egyptian ride-hailing firm, SWVL, has announced the resumption of its regular commuter services in Nairobi, adding to their recently launched innovations dubbed Swvl Carpool and Swvl Travel. At the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic in March last year, the firm reduced the number of routes covered by its regular rides service, owing to the low number of regular commuters within Nairobi at the time. During the pandemic period, we took our time to analyse the needs and patterns of commuters. We identified the areas of change and have used the information to advise our innovations and the decision to…

Unga Group Plc has posted a decline in its half-year earnings to KSh 83, 476,000 for the six months ending 31st December 2020. These are lower compared to a net profit of KSh 151,322,000 posted over a similar period in 2019.  The Kenya-based holding company is involved with the manufacture and marketing of a broad range of human nutrition, animal nutrition attributed the low earnings to depressed margins and massive restructuring and finance costs. Underscoring the tough market conditions, the group projects a tough year and said instead it will leverage its strengths to drive performance improvement initiatives across all…