Category: East Africa

Helios Investment Partners, the new majority shareholders of Telkom Kenya has tapped a former Orascom executive, Aldo Mareuse to be chief executive officer of the company. Mr Mareuse an engineer by profession and a former group chief finance officer (CFO) of Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding an Egypt-based listed company takes over from Vincent…

The pension industry assets for the first time in many years grew by a single-digit rate at 3.3 per cent in 2015, as a tougher investment climate saw equities and offshore investments drop in favour of property and fixed deposits. Official industry data from the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) shows the schemes held Sh814.11 billion…

The government made a bold move above two years ago to support selected firms from priority sectors of the economy with a view of boosting their capacity so that they are able to improve output and hence increase exports. The move was part of concerted efforts geared at solving challenges affecting the industrial sector, and…

Rwanda has had to deal with reduced private flows and prices, and because of that, the country has suffered on the trade front, this is according to Alun Thomas, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative for Rwanda. Above assisting the government with this financial intervention, Thomas said, the IMF was also encouraging the government…

Kenya’s Plum LLP plans to buy a 23.34 percent stake in insurer British-American Investments Co (Britam) that had been seized by the government of Mauritius from a disgraced businessman in 2015, the privately owned firm said on Monday. Plum said it expected the acquisition was expected to be completed by July 31 and would raise…

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) is seeking tech-savvy professionals to watch over banking transactions amid rising confidence following the collapse of three banks. Treasury secretary Henry Rotich said the banking regulator will hire Information Technology (IT) staff for CBK’s supervisory department. They will also be trained on forensic auditing. This follows revelations that the…

Skills and infrastructure development should be seen as central in the implementation of the 2016/17 National Budget that was designed to allocate 27 per cent to key priority sectors, including textile, garments, and leather, sector players say. While used shoes and clothes suffered a major blow in the new Budget with a 12 per cent…

Super salary earners will have a monthly benefit of about Sh600 per month following the review of income tax bands and the increase in personal relief aimed at easing workers duty payment burden. The proposals which seek to expand bands by 10 per cent and increase the personal relief from the current Sh1, 162 to…

Kenya’s largest telecommunications firm Safaricom has partnered with Craftsilicon, one of the top local IT companies, in the launch of an online taxi-hailing app that is expected to take on American rival Uber. Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore Thursday told Reuters News that Safaricom would partner with Littlecabs, which earlier this week told the Business…

The Treasury yesterday confirmed that excise duty will next month be adjusted for inflation as provided for in last year’s Finance Bill, making it a hidden source of tax pain that the minister, Henry Rotich, chose to say little about on Wednesday. Mr Rotich, the Treasury Secretary, largely steered clear of the provision that is…