All loan defaulters in Kenya will now have to answer to creditors after the end of the six month grace period which saw the suspension of Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) listings. Although the grace period officially ended on Wednesday the 30th of September 2020, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) as at the time this article was being put together, had not released any new information regarding what is to be expected moving forward. If no new information is released going back to how things were before Covid-19 debt wise, could hit loan defaulters hard at a time where many…
Author: Tobey
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has carried out an extended debt service relief for 28 low income countries. The extended debt relief is the second six month tranche under the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) and will continue until April of next year; 2021. The move is expected to help the low income countries better handle the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approval of the debt relief will help facilitate the payment of grants from the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) for the disbursement of all eligible debt due to the International Monetary…
Technology giant; Apple is no longer selling wireless speakers as well as headphones from rival brands which include Logitech International SA, Bose Corp, and Sonos Inc. The decision is seen as the company’s way of preparing the way for the launch of its own audio output products. Apple which is based in Cupertino; California has in the past, sold hardware from third parties including rival brands on its website which is easily one of the largest e-commerce websites in the world. Bloomberg revealed that all speakers from Logitech’s Ultimate Ears brand, Sonos’ newest smart speaker and speakers from Bose, were…
The annual report by the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) revealed that the Kenyan Insurance Industry recorded an impressive 6 percent increase in its gross premiums for the year 2019 and bringing the total figure to 229.5 billion Kenyan Shillings. This is significantly higher than the 216.3 billion Kenyan Shillings recorded in 2018. The annual report by the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) which was officially released on Friday the 2nd of October 2020 also revealed that the insurance industry’s asset base achieved an 11.7 percent growth to 709 billion Kenyan Shillings. This is higher than the 635 billion Kenyan Shillings achieved…
The President of the Republic of Kenya President; Uhuru Kenyatta has taken part in the signing of a 160 Billion Kenyan Shillings deal with the French VINCI Consortium. This deal will include the upgrading of the 233 kilometre road network that starts from Rironi in Kiambu County, goes through Nakuru and ends at the Mau Summit on the outskirts of Naivasha town. The deal with the French VINCI Consortium which is seen by observers as the biggest Public and Private Partnership for a road project in Africa will see the Rironi to Mai Mahiu to Naivasha road network, get upgraded…
If you opened up this article then you are most likely considering purchasing your very own Infinix X1 Android Smart TV or at the very least curious about it. Whatever your reason(s), welcome. The X1 is a budget smart TV popular smartphone brand; Infinix. It is now available in Kenya and seen by observers as the companies move to achieve product differentiation in the Kenyan Market. This article will show you all you need to know about this quite impressive, budget Smart TV. The Infinix X1 Smart TV comes in 55 inch, 43 inch and 32 inch variants. At the…
The ICEA LION General Insurance Board, has named Paul Muthaura (MBS), as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He will be replacing Steven Oluoch, who left the organization after reaching the retirement age. Steven Oluoch in a statement said, “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.” The appointment of Paul Muthaura as ICEA LION General Insurance’s Chief Executive Officer has already been approved by the Insurance Regulatory Authority. Mr. Paul Muthaura first joined ICEA LION General Insurance in April 2020…
The Parliament in Kenya has approved the third (3rd) County Revenue Sharing Formula, without making any amendments. With this development it’s implementation is set to commence immediately the 2021 to 2022 financial year begins in July of 2021. This new County Revenue Sharing Formula will also be utilized for the next five (5) years until the 2025 to 2026 financial year. On the 17th of September 2020 the Senate passed the third (3rd) County Revenue Allocation. This came after a number of lengthy debates. Once implemented, the new formula will be used in the allocation of the 370 million Kenyan…
Jubilee Holdings Limited (JHL) has finalized a number of agreements with Allianz Africa Holding GmbH (Allianz) regarding Jubilee’s subsidiaries that are involved in short term general casualty insurance and property insurance activities in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Mauritius and in Burundi. Allianz Group and Jubilee Holdings will with this new deal, become joint shareholders in all of Jubilee Holdings Limited (JHL)’s operating subsidiaries that are involved in short-term general business in the above mentioned countries. The deal will also include a number of purchase agreements and sale agreements where Allianz will secure equity stakes in Jubilee Holdings Limited (JHL)’s subsidiaries which…
Online payment platform; PayMongo, has secured a 12 million dollar (1.3 billion Kenyan Shillings) Series A round of funding led by american financial services and software service company; Stripe. PayMongo which is based in Manila, Philippines offers online payments APIs to business in the Philippines. It was the first Philippines grown financial tech startup to participate in an accelerator program by Y Combination. PayMongo’s line of products include a payments API which can be seamlessly integrated into mobile applications and websites. Once integrated the websites and applications will then be able to accept payments from digital wallets like GCash and…
Kenya with the publishing of the Startup Bill as an act of Parliament, is now part of the African countries who have a Startup Act. The new act will help the East African nation properly encourage investments, encourage innovation and also provide the right legislative structure which will properly steer the creation of incubation centers by the county governments and national government. All startups who eligible for the incubator program must first be registered in Kenya as non-governmental organizations, partnerships, or companies. Any startup that is interested, must not he older than seven (7) years in operation from the date…
In the period which ended on the 25th of September 2020 the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)’s weekly turnover recorded a drop of 3.4 billion Kenyan Shillings. This is much lower than the 5 billion Kenyan Shillings turnover achieved in the week before. The amount of shares that were traded got up to 122 million shares, a figure much smaller than the 176 million shares that were traded the previous week. Although the benchmark NSE All-Share Index (NASI) added an impressive 0.13 points to end the week at 140.37 the 0.09 percent boost was still a year to date overall loss…
Global rating agency Moody’s has warned Kenya over its debt. It urged the East African nation to slow down on its debt in order to avoid dire consequences. The Global Rating Agency, is also concerned about the significant interest payments being offered to treasury bond investors by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) over the past five (5) years. According to Moody’s if Kenya is not able to cut down on its debt and reimpose its fiscal strength, the nation’s ability to withstand financial pressure in the future could get compromised. Data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) revealed…
After the exit of Shoprite from the Waterfront Mall in Karen Naivas Supermarket is in line to be its anchor tenant. This will mean Naivas will be setting up its 66th store which will occupy an impressive 3,500 square metres at WaterFront Mall’s Ground Floor area. Naivas revealed that the new outlet will create 120 jobs directly and twice that number via third party partners. The Director of WaterFront Mall Karen; David Muguku, praised the news stating that it goes in line with the mall’s objective to strategically improve variety for shoppers. The Chief Commercial Officer of Naivas; Willy Kimani…
