Category: East Africa
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Kenya:World Bank pushes for PPP to curb homes deficit
The World Bank says Kenya should collaborate with real estate firms to raise access to low-income houses. In its latest report on housing, it says a public-private partnership, where the government provides land while the private sector builds the houses, could see prices fall drastically. The bank’s lead financial sector specialist and co-author of the…
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KRA stopped from raiding China firm
A Chinese firm that is building a Sh20 billion mixed development complex in Nairobi’s Westlands area has obtained a court order barring the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) from attaching its bank accounts to recover a disputed tax demand. The High Court last week issued a temporary order barring the taxman from taking any action on…
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Rwanda: Local Firms Look to Morocco for New Markets and Business Partnerships
Fifty local private sector members will next month head to Casablanca in Morocco to explore trade and investment opportunities in the north African country. Geoffrey Kamanzi, the Private Sector Federation (PSF) director for trade facilitation and negotiations, said business leaders from the energy, finance, transport and logistics, information and communication technology, construction and real estate…
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Kenya:Two Rivers selling land for Sh5.6bn to pay debt
Two Rivers Development Limited (TRDL), a company partly owned by investment firm Centum, plans to sell several pieces of land for Sh5.6 billion to repay a short-term debt it is seeking to fund its real estate projects. The company, whose other shareholders are Aviation Industry Corp of China (Avic), and the Industrial and Commercial Development…
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Kenya:Chase Bank now sues former bosses for stealing Sh14 billion
Troubled Chase Bank has sued its former chairman and former senior managers seeking to recover billions of shillings they are accused of illegally siphoning from the lender during their more than a decade at the helm. The bank, in a suit filed through its lawyer Philip Murgor, says former chairman Zafrullah Khan, former managing director…
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Kenya’s housing problem still persists
Kenya needs to build two million affordable city homes to meet its housing deficit and stem the growth of its sprawling slums, already home to six out of 10 urban households, the World Bank said on Wednesday. Investment in housing would also create jobs, improve economic growth and strengthen the east African country’s financial sector,…
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East Africa:Review of super earners’ pay starts
The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has started the review of salaries for State officers that could see top earners like MPs, governors and Cabinet secretaries take a pay cut. The commission yesterday said it was reviewing the pay and allowances structure for the State officers to cover the next five years after the August…
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Kenya:Regulator stopped from fixing prices of car insurance
Insurance industry regulator, the IRA, has been barred from setting minimum premium prices for motor vehicle insurance, leaving market forces to determine costs and promising consumers some pricing relief. In a decision delivered after months of hearing a petition filed by the Ombudsman, the High Court found that the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) does not…
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Kenya:World Bank slashes 2017 growth projection to 5.5pc
The World Bank (WB) has once again downgraded Kenya’s projected economic growth rate to 5.5 per cent citing heavy headwinds for the country. In its latest economic update released Wednesday, the global lender said drought, weak credit growth, and higher oil prices will drag down growth in 2017 to below the earlier projection of 5.9…
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Kenya:Car dealer Marshalls moves to delist from NSE
Marshalls East Africa is set to delist from the Nairobi Securities Exchange #ticker:NSE (NSE) following years of recording losses as Global Limited, which owns 13.9 per cent of the auto dealer, offers to buy out fellow minority shareholders at a premium. The loss-making car dealer, which once held an exclusive dealership contract for iconic French…