Category: Africa
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Kenya in the dark over perfect power mix
Government officials have recently been groping in the dark in their search for the right electricity supply mix to meet demand and trigger growth while avoiding excess power that could result in higher consumer bills. Several mega power projects have been cancelled or shelved amid fears they would leave Kenya with excess power, a situation…
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Kenya:Housing Finance ordered to pay borrower Sh45 million
Mortgage lender Housing Finance Group (HF) has been ordered to pay a borrower Sh45 million as compensation for selling her home after levying irregular charges and penalties on a loan she took in 1998. Justice Eric Ogola has ruled that HF was wrong to sell Scholastica Nyaguthii Muturi’s two parcels of land after the stockbroker…
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S.A’s Budget 2017 makes retirement funds attractive
The 2017 budget speech takes place at a time when the fiscus is under pressure. Unsurprisingly, the Minister has raised the necessary additional revenue by primarily increasing personal taxes. This comes through in the form of lower bracket creep relief, a new tax bracket for high-income earners, a higher dividend withholding tax rate and higher…
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S.A:Bidvest can tap $1 billion for acquisitions says CEO
South African trading, services and distribution firm Bidvest has access to $1 billion for acquisitions, its chief executive said on Monday. “We’d be able to raise $1 billion should we need it, or about 14 billion rand ($1 billion) to 15 billion rand and that has been confirmed by a lot of the bankers,” said…
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Risk of Nigeria devaluing naira rising – Reuters Poll
Nigeria’s authorities may soon devalue the naira but won’t fully relinquish control over it, instead taking steps to narrow the gap between the official and black market rates to boost confidence in the economy, a Reuters poll showed on Friday. A shortage of dollars in Nigeria – for big and small needs including capital imports…
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Kenya:Barclays set to retain name for 3 years after UK parent firm’s exit
Barclays Africa will continue using the Barclays brand in its operations outside South Africa, including in Kenya, for three years following the reduction of Barclays Plc’s shareholding of the lender below the 50 per cent mark. Barclays Africa will also receive “certain services” from Barclays Plc “on arms’ length basis” for a transitional period, up…
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Kenya: Calls from rivals for higher charges by Safaricom rejected
Proposals by Airtel and Telkom Kenya that could have seen Safaricom forced to charge its customers higher rates than its rival telecommunications providers have been rejected by consultants hired to assess competition in the sector. Airtel and Plum Consulting (on behalf of Telkom Kenya) had separately written to the Ministry of ICT last year asking that…
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Kenya receives Washington’s approval for direct US flights
Kenya is upbeat about launching direct flights to the United States earlier than planned after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved non-stop air travel between the two countries. Inspectors from America’s FAA gave Jomo Kenyatta International Airport a clean bill of health after an audit leading to the award of the long awaited Category One…
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Fuel levy compounds South Africans’ woes
The increase in fuel levies announced in the national budget on Wednesday worsens SA’s already “disproportionately high pump prices”, BMI Research said in an economic note on Friday morning. Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said in his budget speech the general fuel levy would increase by 30c/l and the Road Accident Fund (RAF) levy by 9c/l,…
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S.A’s Budget 2017 makes retirement funds attractive
The 2017 budget speech takes place at a time when the fiscus is under pressure. Unsurprisingly, the Minister has raised the necessary additional revenue by primarily increasing personal taxes. This comes through in the form of lower bracket creep relief, a new tax bracket for high income earners, a higher dividend withholding tax rate and…