Category: East Africa

Imperial Bank directors have claimed that senior Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) officials who were complicit in fraudulent transactions that led to the collapse of the lender are now an obstacle to its re-structuring and revival. The directors Tuesday told Parliament that CBK officers are obstructing effective investigations into fraud that precipitated the collapse of…

Many parts of the country were plunged into darkness on Tuesday following a power-generation hitch at the country’s biggest hydro-electricity station. Kenya Power said the Gitaru hydro station, which has a capacity of 225 megawatts (MW), suffered a technical hitch that affected electricity generation. “At 11.30am, a loss of generation at [the] Gitaru hydro station…

Bank M of Tanzania, set to enter the Kenyan market this month, is seeking to list at the Dar es Salaam Securities Exchange (DSE) by end-year and later cross-list at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. It will become the first Tanzanian lender to enter the Kenyan market after 73 per cent of its shareholders under the…

Kenyan taxpayers lost Sh1.9 billion in the National Youth Service (NYS) scandal, Auditor-General Edward Ouko says in a new report that identifies businesswoman Josephine Kabura as the principal beneficiary of the theft. The report says Ms Kabura received Sh1.3 billion on account of 11 companies that did business with the NYS and was to receive…

Finance Minister Matia Kasaija, will this week, deliver the 2016/17 budget speech that will see the government spend more than in it did in the current financial year. Unlike in the past – prior to the Public Finance Management Act 2014 – Members of Parliament approve the Budget for the next year at least a…

The government targets to increase the level of agriculture mechanisation to 25 per cent next year, and 50 per cent by 2020 under its Agriculture Mechanisation Strategy. However, mechanisation uptake, especially by small farmers, is still low. This is despite the fact that a new law was adapted last year, where farmers can buy or…

The government of the United States has announced that it will pump 1.21 billion US dollars to Tanzania, just two months after its foreign aid agency – Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), pulled 472 million USD  of funding in protest over alleged suppression of democratic rights. US ambassador to Tanzania Mark Childress told President John Magufuli…

As the temperature to industrialise in the country heats up, social security funds are seeing themselves in a position to invest in development of industries as their risks have been mitigated by existing guidelines. The Social Security Regulatory Authority (SSRA) Director General, Ms Irene Isaka, said in a statement that with the existing investment guidelines,…

Parliament has recommended a steep increase in kerosene taxes to eliminate its use in the adulteration of petroleum. The move is bound to hurt poor households that rely on kerosene to cook food and light up their homes. The punitive move was taken after the National Assembly’s Energy committee learnt that Kenya has lost 100…

The Treasury has published a Bill creating a single electronic registry for motor vehicle logbooks and other movable assets used as security for bank loans – aiming to make it easier for borrowers to maximise the use of such collateral. A centralised registry is the government’s answer to the difficulties facing borrowers seeking to realise…