Author: Khusoko

Khusoko provides market insights into Africa's business investment as well as global trends that impact East African businesses.

ABC Insurance Brokers, a part of the ABC Bank & Group, has partnered with Prudential Insurance to offer customers the ABC Kwaheri Plan, a life insurance cover payable in the event of death to cater for burial expenses.  The ABC Kwaheri Plan allows policyholders to cover up to 10 family members including parents and in-laws. The new product is part of the Group’s focus on delivering a bouquet of services that meet all their customers’ financial needs ranging from savings, investments, insurance, among others. “ABC Bank & Group aspires to be a one-stop-shop for all our customers’ financial needs to give a holistic…

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Centum Real Estate Limited, a subsidiary of the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed Centum Investment Company raised KSh3 billion from its corporate bond. The bond raised 75% of its targeted KSh 4 billion despite the prevailing difficult economic environment and the bearish corporate bond market. The funds will help to finance its housing developments. The three-year bond has a maturity date set on December 16, 2023.  “Investors are now regaining confidence in the Corporate Bond market after the negative experience in 2019,” said Kabaki Wamwea, the CEO of Private Wealth Capital, the Lead Arrangers of the Centum Real Estate Bond.  The subsidiary…

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Mobile data traffic in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to grow by almost 6.5 times the current figures according to Ericsson Mobility Report. The November 2020 edition report reveals that total traffic will increase from 0.87EB per month in 2020 to 5.6EB by 2026. It further discloses that the average traffic per smartphone is expected to reach 8.9GB over the forecast period. As demand for capacity and coverage of cellular networks continues to grow, service providers are expected to continue investing in their networks to cater for this uptake and meet evolving consumer requirements. In Sub-Saharan Africa, mobile subscriptions will continue…

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When in 1995 Flora Mutahi decided to diversify from her free-flowing salt business and venture into tea blending and packaging by setting up Melvin’s Teas, she’s getting into uncharted territory. To begin with, she had no prior experience in running a business. She had no capital and no savings to talk of. And her parents were sceptical and unwilling to advance her any money for her venture as they believed that “girls get married, not set up businesses.” Not only was she getting into an industry dominated by cartels but the tea sub-sector was also controlled by men. But even…

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Kenya’s SHK Consulting founder,  Shreya Karia, received an Africa’s Woman Leaders award in a virtual ceremony, the agency said. Shreya Karia, a leading brand strategist said the award “…comes at a time when 2020 has been a year of crisis and has forced us to define what good leadership requires to navigate this uncertainty meaningfully. For my part, I hope that I can continue to inspire and support the aspirations of younger women to take up senior roles and further drive a positive agenda for growth in the next generation.” Africa’s Woman Leaders Awards is an initiative of the World…

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The COVID-19 vaccine candidate (KBP-COVID-19; NCT04473690) will become one of a number of potential vaccines to have progressed beyond pre-clinical testing. The study is designed to enrol a total of 180 healthy volunteers who will be divided into two age cohorts, age 18-49 and age 50-70. Each group will then be subdivided into low and high dose treatment groups (N~45) and randomized 2:1 to receive either the low dose (15 μg KBP-COVID-19 vaccine + 0.5 mg adjuvant) or placebo, or high dose (45 μg KBP-COVID-19 vaccine + 0.5 mg adjuvant) or placebo. Results from the study are expected mid-2021 and,…

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