Category: East Africa

Power producer KenGen is seeking to increase the prices at which it sells hydropower to Kenya Power, setting the stage for higher electricity bills for homes and businesses. KenGen has sought approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to raise the tariffs for its major hydropower plants with an installed capacity of 765 Megawatts (MW)…

A senior Seeds Researcher and Country Coordinator of Strengthening Agriculture Research and Development (SARD) project, Dr Rose Mongi, has affirmed that despite the sizeable arable land for growing wheat in the country, yet farmers harvest 100,000 tonnes of wheat while actual demand stands at 1,000,000 tonnes yearly. Dr Mongi further said that due to poor…

Top Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)-listed firms defied last year’s harsh economic environment to grow their total dividend payout by a tenth to Sh83.7 billion — keeping company ownership on the list of the most rewarding investment options in Kenya. Market data show that the 20 biggest public listed firms, by market capitalisation, increased their dividend…

The World Bank (WB) has called upon Tanzania to use technology in collecting data as a way of fast-tracking the country’s development. The WB country director for Tanzania, Burundi, Malawi and Somalia, Ms Bella Bird said this when she visited the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) offices in Dar es Salaam yesterday. WB has been…

The National Bank of Kenya (NBK) has bounced back to profitability, posting Sh334.6 million net profit between January and March after closing last year with a shocking after-tax a massive jump in provisions for non-performing loans. The lender, however, reported a 32.4 per cent drop in its first quarter profit from the Sh495 million earned…

Development partners in civil society organisations want increased budget allocations especially for the agricultural sector with specifics on agricultural extension service financing. The Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG) says it is important for government to allocate enough funds for agricultural extension services, a key component used to assist farmers in expanding their ability to…

With the old tiled roofing houses and ample space that is characteristic of any low-density suburb, the area along Old Moshi Road (recently renamed Julius Nyerere Road) in Arusha remained what it was designed for from the colonial times and in the post-independence era: a residential area for senior government officials and well-to-do business people.…

Tanzania lacks an Islamic banking regulatory framework and the situation affects investors in the field, an executive has said. “Such a framework is vital for managing Islamic banks and identifying elements that are different from conventional banks. We lack Treasury instruments for speeding up investments and governing our banks,” Amana Bank Limited managing director Muhsin…

An American consulting firm that was hired to conduct a forensic audit into the collapse of Imperial Bank may have earned more than Sh1 billion so far, according to leaked contract documents showing the professional charges agreed for the service. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) hired Washington D.C.-based FTI Consulting to review troubled Imperial…

BANK M has partnered with Rotary Dar Marathon in a bid to raise over 1.0bn- for construction of a teaching hospital in the city. The marathon, organised by seven Rotary Clubs in Dar es Salaam, staged to take off in the last quarter of this year–during Nyerere Day, expects to draw 15,000 marathoners. The marathoners…