Category: East Africa

British firm Vodafone and the Treasury are set to pocket Sh22.8 billion in dividends from Safaricom after the telecommunications giant declared a Sh38.1 billion profit and offered to pay owners Sh0.76 for every share held. At Sh38.1 billion, Safaricom’s net profit for the year ended March was 20 per cent higher than the Sh31.8 billion…

First Community is the cheapest lender in the country, raising queries on the loan pricing of large banks that enjoy economies of scale and price transparency. New data from the Central Bank of Kenya shows First Community is lending at an average 11.7 per cent compared to the industry’s 17.8 per cent average. The interest…

Kenyan authorities have detained an African Union (AU) diplomat for non-settlement of Sh3.6 million incurred during a 2012 conference he organised at Nairobi’s Laico Regency Hotel. Omar Faruk Osman, a Somali national, was arrested last week at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport while travelling to Morocco, following complaints by local tours and travel firm Pinnacle…

Equity Bank Group has reported a 20 per cent growth in profits for the first quarter of the year driven by rise in interest income. The bank announced an after-tax profit of Sh5.1 billion in the three months to March 2016 compared to Sh4.2 billion posted in a similar period last year. “The Group profit…

The government, through the Ethics Secretariat that administers ethical conduct of public leaders, plans to table a Bill in parliament that seeks to separate Business and Public Leadership, the National Assembly Speaker, Mr Job Ndugai, has said. Mr Ndugai also pointed out that the strain on the public to contribute to various events, including paying…

The number of locally assembled vehicles surpassed the 10,000 mark last year as vehicle dealers increased their output in a bid to lower their tax bills. Data from the Economic Survey 2016 report released last week shows that production of cars, trailers and semi-trailers went up by 6.8 per cent in 2015. “The number of…

Foreign investors have pushed Equity Bank past KCB to become the most valuable lender listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). Equity’s market capitalisation has risen to Sh150 billion compared to KCB’s Sh120 billion. A year ago KCB’s market valuation stood at Sh185 billion and exceeded Equity’s by about Sh4 billion. Foreign investors have been…

The impending switch-off of fake and substandard mobile phones is sending shockwaves to dealers who have resorted to the wait-and-see-approach, resulting into am increase in prices of original handsets. A survey by BusinessWeek at major mobile phone shops at Kariakoo has established that prices of handsets range from Sh100, 000 to Sh1.5 million, depending on…

Kenya Airways has signed a lease agreement with Turkish Airlines for one of its three Boeing 777-300 aircraft as part of cost-cutting measures the national carrier is undertaking. KQ, as the airline is known by its international code, says the aircraft has since been deregistered in Kenya and subsequently re-registered with the European carrier. The…

As a result of the majority of Rwandan youth being part of the agricultural sector, The Rwanda Youth in Agribusiness Forum (RYAF) was created but despite this, the country’s Minister of Youth and ICT feels more can be done. Despite agriculture absorbing about 70 per cent of the country’s population, the sector believes that banks…