Category: East Africa
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Kenya: Train breakdowns haunt Kenya Railways after RVR handover
The breakdowns that frequently bogged down the Rift Valley Railways (RVR) have returned to haunt the State operator five months after it took back its assets from the Egyptian firm. On Tuesday, hundreds of commuters to Embakasi arrived home late after their train stalled. The train broke down for about two hours at Tumaini estate…
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Kenya: Only 14 production firms running at top efficiency
Only 14 manufacturers in Kenya are operating at maximum efficiency levels, new data indicates, as the State offers subsidy to encourage production and job creation. Data from the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) indicates that the firms have put 100 per cent of their day and night capacity to work, leaving no headroom to increase…
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Kenya: Rotich rules open NSE for trading of loan stocks
Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich has gazetted regulations allowing investors to borrow and sell shares at a profit, opening a new frontier for Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) traders. The regulations will see traders borrow shares from stock market investors betting that a future price drop will enable them to buy back the same stock cheaply and…
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Kenya Airways bets on route deal in US flights
Kenya Airways is eyeing ticket sales to US government-funded travellers once it signs a code-sharing agreement with American airline, Delta Airways. The national carrier last week started booking passengers on its inaugural direct flight to the United States, which is expected to take off on October 28 this year. The code-sharing agreement with Delta is…
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Tanzania’s central bank revokes licences of five banks
Tanzania’s central bank on Thursday revoked the licenses of five “critically undercapitalised” community banks to protect financial stability in East Africa’s No. 3 economy. There are about 40 commercial banks and a dozen community banks, which target savings from specific communities or sectors such as farming, but the financial sector is largely dominated by just…
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East Africa: Chase Bank sale frees billions for companies
Companies that have deposits running into billions of shillings locked in the troubled Chase Bank are set for a major cash boost with the sale of the lender releasing up to 75 per cent of their money. Betting firm SportPesa, investment company Centum , State-owned Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA),…
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Kenya: Exotix says cement stocks overpriced
Kenyan cement stocks remain overpriced in comparison to African peers, with projected lower earnings for the 2017 financial year expected to put downside pressure on the stocks this year. A new cement sector report by UK-based investment bank Exotix partners says local producers are facing cost-side pressure on higher clinker cost due to rising coal…
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Tanzania increases fuel prices due to rising crude costs
Tanzania’s energy regulator raised the maximum price for petrol, diesel and kerosene on Wednesday, citing rising international crude oil prices. Fuel prices have a big influence on the inflation rate in the East African country. In the 12 months through November inflation eased to 4.4 percent, from 5.1 percent the previous month, but the fuel…
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Kenya: AfDB to raise Sh826bn through capital markets
The African Development Bank (AfDB) plans to raise $8 billion (about Sh826 billion) in the new-year tapping the capital markets with a view to lending to member countries on the continent. The bank expects to access a wide array of capital markets having previously raised cash mostly in the form of US dollars, Euros, Australian…
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East Africa: Morning fire burns part of NCPB depot in Eldoret
A mysterious fire has burnt a section of the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) Eldoret depot. The cause of the Thursday 4am inferno could not be immediately established but a mortar explosion in one of the driers housing three silos is suspended to have ignited it. Uasin Gishu County Secretary Peter Lelei and the…