Early July last year, a female tourist was shot dead in Mombasa, becoming the second tourist to have been killed that month, after a Russian visitor had been robbed and murdered by a gang in the same city. As was expected, the UK and by extension the EU were quick to heighten their travel advisories to their citizens coming to Kenya warning them of the dangers ahead. This inevitably caused a huge drop in tourist arrivals since the EU is the highest tourist source for Kenya. The government, through its tourism agency, Kenya Tourist Board (KTB), tried to don a…
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Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola has merged its non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverages businesses in Southern and East Africa with SABMiller Plc and Gutsche Family Investments, the majority shareholders in Coca-Cola Sabco. The new bottler, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, will serve 12 countries accounting for about 40% of all Coca-Cola beverage volumes in Africa. Africa offers significant growth potential in beverages, according to the companies’ analysis, underpinned by rising personal disposable income, a fast-growing population and increasing per capita consumption. With more than 30 bottling plants and over 14,000 employees, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa will be the largest Coca‑Cola bottler on the continent. This will…
Kurwitu Ventures Ltd, a sharia compliant investment vehicle, listed its 102,272 shares on the Growth Enterprise Market Segment (GEMS) of the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The company, which listed by way of introduction, is an industry pioneer in provision of tailor-made financial products and services that adhere to Islamic sharia law. Managing Director Abdirahman Abdillahi said this will help existing shareholders discover the value of their stake, while setting the foundation for a broader shareholder base. “We are targeting sophisticated investors who have the capacity to interrogate the business proposition and willingness to take on this kind of risk,” he said.…
Vehicle and Equipment Leasing Limited (Vaell) is set to issue an asset-backed bond to raise Sh8.5 billion ($95 million) to power its regional expansion. This will be the first asset-backed bond issue in the market under the Capital Markets (Asset Backed Securities) Regulations, 2007. Asset-backed securities (ABS) are secured by a company’s assets, with investors being paid for the bond held through the cash the assets generate. Vaell has been signing lease deals and to create additional assets from the proceeds of the bond. The ABS will be a bond subdivided into small units sold through the securities exchange. NIC…
Coffee farmer Gabriel Kimwaki from Nyeri County, in central Kenya, is considering “giving up farming altogether”. He says the returns are too low “and with every harvesting season, I am making less and less profit.” His is not a unique story. Francis Njuguna, an agricultural extension officer in the area, told IPS that while it is still difficult to quantify, “more farmers are shifting to food crops. The cash crop business is proving to be too risky for small-scale farmers.” Kenya was reclassified as a middle-income country in early October, but as it to terms with its new ranking, it is becoming…
BY NBM REPORTER LeapFrog Investments plans to acquire a majority stake in Resolution Insurance through a Sh1.68 billion ($18.7 million) investment. The buyout will be done through its holding company, Resolution Health East Africa Ltd, according to details of the deal released in November. LeapFrog Investments is the world’s largest dedicated private equity investor in emerging markets financial services, while Resolution Health East Africa Ltd is the holding company for Resolution Insurance, which has operations in Kenya and Tanzania and in partnership with IAA-Resolution in Uganda. “Resolution is a strong and growing business. In a short time, Resolution has grown…
Kenya Airways has unveiled its swanky lounges for first class customers at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The lounges, constructed at a cost Sh120 million, will serve Premier World and Sky Priority passengers. The Sh131 million Simba and Pride lounges located at the new Terminal 1A are part of the airline’s long-term investment in facilities to deliver a world-class experience to travellers. “This is one of our investments targeted at enhancing the loyalty of our customers,” said Kenya Airways Group Managing Director and CEO, Mr Mbuvi Ngunze. “It was particularly painful when the August 2013 fire broke out and it…
Equity Bank’s profit after tax for the third quarter of 2014 grew by 26% to Sh11.2 billion, up from Sh8.9 billion in the same period last year. Group CEO Dr James Mwangi attributed the growth to inter-country trade within East African and diaspora remittances, a trend he expects to continue due to governments’ efforts to improve business infrastructure. “The integration of East African countries has positively contributed to the business community and regional trade within the region has risen to about 30 percent,” noted Dr Mwangi. “More infrastructural developments will make the business climate more viable.” The rebasing of Kenya’s…
Kenya has a ready market for goods and services produced by foreign investors, a report released by KenInvest at the inaugural Kenya International Investment Conference shows. The report banks on the growing consumer market pushed by a 42 million strong population to spur more foreign investments in the country. This, coupled with the growing middle-class that has a taste for high-end goods and services as evidenced by the country’s growth in Gross National Income (GNI) per capita which has been increasing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 2% over the past 10 years, continue to attract international companies…
Safaricom launched an Android-based application that provides its subscribers with a simple financial journal to track their M-PESA transactions. M-Ledger has been developed in partnership with a local start-up Dynamic Data Systems. “We strive to be the first to market with pioneering products that help transform the lives of our customers – but we are aware that we cannot innovate alone. Our partnership with Dynamic Data Systems signals our increasing commitment to build capacity in the local start-up community,” said Mr Bob Collymore, Safaricom CEO. With the rapid growth in the use of M-PESA by organisations as a payments portal,…