Category: East Africa

Kenya’s Uchumi Supermarkets said its pretax loss narrowed to 2.67 billion shillings ($25.70 million) for the year ended June last year from 3.51 billion shillings, in results which got a qualified opinion from its auditors. The chain closed some outlets last year and is selling assets like land after it sunk into deep losses due…

Commercial banks that had lent Mombasa tycoon Twahir Sheikh Said (TSS) billions of shillings have put up more than 6,700 acres of his leasehold land holdings and property on the Kenyan coast for sale, adding impetus to his business empire’s free fall that began late last year. Mr Said, who died early this month, had…

Business confidence on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius rose in the last quarter of 2016, a survey of leading private companies showed on Tuesday. The Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s quarterly confidence index climbed 4.9 percent to 97.5 points. But the index remained well below the long-term average of 100 points. The Mauritius…

The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) will investigate supermarkets over rising customer complaints of price manipulation, where customers are misled to overpay for goods. The competition watchdog announced on Friday that the retailers would face scrutiny following mounting claims they were posting different prices on the shelf from what they charge at the tills. “(The…

Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed companies are increasingly turning to asset sales to shore up their medium-term performance in an operating environment that is beset by slow growth. Sameer Africa, East African Breweries Limited (EABL), Sasini, and Standard Chartered Bank Kenya make the list of companies that have raised a total of more than Sh12 billion from…

Petrol stations in Nairobi and its environs reported fuel shortage caused by the standoff between oil transporters and the Ministry of Energy over the implementation of the law requiring trucks to only operate during daytime. Motorists in Nairobi and Kiambu on Wednesday complained of fuel shortage even as truckers remained cagey on the way forward…

Mombasa Cement is set to build a 36 megawatt (MW) wind farm in Kilifi for its own use and sale to Kenya Power. The project, which consists of 12 turbines of 3MW each, will cost an estimated Sh260 million, according to regulatory filings submitted by the cement manufacturer. The wind park will be build on a…

Big Kenyan contractors are feeling the heat of competition from deep-pocketed Chinese rivals whose superior machinery and lower bids for lucrative State tenders have driven local firms out of business. Kundan Singh, Spencon Holdings and Mugoya Construction are some of the erstwhile big names that have fallen on hard times due to the Chinese invasion,…