Author: Khusoko

ICEA Lion Group has named Paul Muthaura as the CEO of its General Insurance Business. Muthaura, before the promotion, he served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) from April 2020. He replaces Steven Oluoch, who has left the company upon attainment of the retirement age. The Insurance Regulatory Authority has already approved Muthaura’s appointment as the Company’s CEO. “I hand over this committed, technically astute and customer-oriented team to my worthy successor with the conviction that ICEA LION General will grow from strength to strength,” said Steven Oluoch. Muthaura was previously the former chief executive officer of the Capital Markets…

Tax increases are rarely popular, more so today, when the country is still reeling from the impact of Covid-19 pandemic. A survey conducted in May by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers and KPMG revealed that manufacturers of essential goods have seen demand fall by 74 percent, whilst 76 percent were experiencing severe cashflow problems. The numbers are much grimmer for MSMEs, with 86 percent experiencing cash flow constraints, affecting their ability to meet tax obligations (64 percent), pay employees (76 percent), and pay other operational costs (79 percent). The decision to increase excise rates, by Kenya Revenue Authority, on at…

The Central Bank of  Kenya (CBK) kept interest rates unchanged at 7.00 percent noting that leading economic indicators for the third quarter-point to a strong recovery in economic activity. The central bank said, “This improvement and resilience is supported by agricultural production, increased activity in key sectors particularly services with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, normalisation of exports, and Government interventions to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.” CBK said inflation remains well anchored and is expected to remain within the target range in the near term. This will be supported by lower food prices, the impact of the reduction…

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta extended the nationwide curfew by 60 days but revised the dusk-to-dawn timings from 11 pm-4 am effective Tuesday. The president also lifted the ban on the sale of alcohol by bars and restaurants but noted that the businesses must be closed by 10 pm. “…their operations shall be with strict adherence to all applicable guidelines and protocols issued by the Ministry of Health,” said the President. Kenyatta made the announcements following National Covid-19 Conference that took place at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi on Monday. During the conference, Kenyatta disclosed that the country’s…

FourFront Management, owned by Standard Investment Bank (SIB)  has been admitted to the Capital Markets of Kenya Regulatory Sandbox. CMA says financial technology (fintech) firm will test new products for possible rollout in the local capital markets. They propose to test a robo-advisory solution targeting 100 investors during a four-month period.  A robo-advisor is a digital platform that provides automated, algorithm-driven financial planning and investing services with little to no human interaction. It collects information from its clientele about their financial situation and future goals through an online survey and then leverages the data as a basis to offer investment…

I trust this note finds you holding up well, even in these difficult and unprecedented times. The purpose of this note is to provide clarification on inaccurate reports making rounds on social media about our products but without the requisite context, based on a letter authored by the Capital Markets Authority, “CMA”.  On June 3rd we received a letter from CMA asking us to limit investments by Cytonn High Yield Fund, CHYF, into real estate managed by Cytonn to no more than 10% of the fund. The directive was purportedly based on regulation 16 (2) of the Collective Investment Schemes Regulation…