Category: East Africa

Tanzania has charged at least two senior public officials over allegations of embezzlement of earthquake relief funds, President John Magufuli said on Wednesday. The officials were sacked on Tuesday following allegations that they had set up a fake bank account to siphon off relief funds given in response to a 5.7 magnitude earthquake which killed…

An acute sugar shortage in the domestic market and the resulting surge in retail prices have put Nakumatt Supermarkets in the eye of regulators who have launched investigations into the retail chain’s dealings in the sweetener. The Sugar Directorate, yesterday fired a letter to Nakumatt, accusing it of hoarding and rationing sugar to create an…

The validity of a tax management systems contract that the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) awarded a Swiss firm was thrown into doubt Tuesday after a procurement oversight agency told Parliament that it was based on fraudulent documents. The National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee (PIC) heard that SICPA Solutions SA Limited, the firm in the eye…

Three local companies have added their voice on Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) move to seek annulment of International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award for payments of 148.4 million USD to Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (SCBHK). They are VIP Engineering and Marketing Limited, Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL) and Pan…

The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) has set itself an ambitious target of recruiting 12 million Kenyans in the informal sector as it moves to roll out the second phase of its mass recruitment drive. The figure is nearly four times the 3.5 million people it registered from the formal sector in the first phase…

AS Tanzania looks forward to receiving the second bombardier Q400 plane of two the government purchased from Canada this week, it has emerged that the aircraft are safer, fuel-efficient and ideal for cheap local flights. The popular global Forbes Magazine writes in an article titled; “Can Bombardier’s Q400 Save Regional Air Service in the US?”that…

The price of sugar has risen to a new peak buoyed by heightened activity from industry cartels out to mint cash ahead of next year’s general election. A survey of retail outlets throughout the country indicates that sugar is now priced at an average of Sh145 per kilo despite the recent surge in imports to…

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has disclosed that banks from eight countries are looking to enter the Kenyan market even after capping interest rates and at a time the regulator’s suspension of new lenders still stands. CBK said banks were being lured to the country by relatively high returns and the country’s geographical location,…