Liquid Telecom, one of the leading communications services and solutions provider across Eastern, Central & Southern Africa, has partnered with Twiga Foods to increase agricultural productivity in the country. Through the partnership, the two firms aim at deploying a complete precision agriculture Internet of Things (IoT) network system to improve farm productivity at Twiga’s Takuwa farm. This is expected to open up new opportunities that in the long run will ensure food security is a reality not only in Kenya, but Africa as a whole. According Peter Njonjo, CEO, Twiga Foods, their partnership with Liquid Telecom was based on increasing…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
Ratings agency S&P Global has affirmed its ‘AAA/A-1+’ long- and short-term issuer credit assessment of the African Development Bank (AfDB) with a stable outlook. The rating agency positively assessed the Bank’s very strong financial risk profile, very strong capital adequacy, strong funding and liquidity, extraordinary shareholder support and adequacy of its governance and management. “We are therefore affirming our ‘AAA’ long-term issuer credit rating on the AfDB,” S&P Global stated. The rating agency noted the Bank’s $115b capital increase, approved by shareholders in October 2019, and the replenishment to the African Development Fund, the Bank’s concessional window, in December 2019. “The stable outlook reflects…
We have to look at the bright side of this crisis and the opportunities it presents Kenya Airways (KQ) has held its 44th Annual General Meeting (AGM) allowing shareholders to follow the proceedings online for the first-time. The meeting was held virtually in light of the ongoing public-health crisis as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The shareholders welcomed the substantive group managing director and CEO, Allan Kilavuka, following his appointment on April 1, 2020. While introducing the new CEO to the shareholders, Michael Joseph, the chairman of the Board, assured the shareholders that the appointment and transition of Mr…
Crawford International School held their first ever virtual careers week with the theme “Starting My Tomorrow Today”, a rallying call to students to start thinking about their career paths now. Students as young as kindergarten quickly got into the fun and dressed up in outfits depicting careers of their choice. Some children even went an extra mile to find appropriate tools of trade like baking pans, models of houses, stethoscopes and binoculars. With the assistance of their parents, each child took a photo and a video which was shared with their teachers and classmates. The variety of career choices was…
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has welcomed findings in a global report on Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes that now cites Kenya as one of the leading lights currently enjoying the benefits of an international effort to curb illicit financial flows. The just-published Tax Transparency in Africa 2020 Report confirms that following the upscaling of Exchange of Information (EOI) treaties signing in the continent, eight African countries have secured $189m as additional tax revenues between 2014 and 2019 due from international sources. This is mainly due to the growing number of countries joining the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in…
Mama Prime, the Kenyan health fintech that was among the five winners at the Sanofi’s AfricaTech Healthcare Challenges 2020 in the category of ‘How to improve financing and impact of innovative health solutions in Africa, is set to enter into a partnership with Sanofi, a French multinational pharmaceutical company. The partnership is aimed at creating a health eco-system that is accessible to all. According to the pharmaceutical company, the objective of the partnership is to continue Sanofi’s commitment to encouraging innovation in Africa in order to create a health eco-system that is at the service of the patient. The all-inclusive…
The Kenya Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund Board has expressed satisfaction with the quality of locally manufactured Covid-19 pandemic management products. Speaking after a two-day local manufacturers facilities inspection, the Board Chairperson Jane Karuku said local manufacturers who are currently producing assorted Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) worth more than Sh600m ordered by the fund for the Ministry of Health are keeping to global benchmarks. The Board members including Kenya Association of Manufacturers CEO Mrs Phyllis Wakiaga and representatives from Equity Group Foundation visited Texplast Industries in Kikuyu, Ruiru based Alpha Knits, and Manchester Outfitters in Nairobi County. The team also visited Kitui…
BY DRS SAMUEL NGUKU AND KHALID MAKHDOMI Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) PET-CT scan is the latest and most advanced scan available for the evaluation of patients with prostate cancer. It has been available for only a few years in the most advanced centres in the world. It is presently only available in a few centres in Africa, and has not been available in our region until now. Though MRI and CT scans have been available for long for study of prostate cancer by providing anatomical (structural) information, the PET-CT scan is able to provide vital additional functional or molecular…
By David Wanjala There was a huge sigh of relief when Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) recently raised deposit insurance coverage from Sh100, 000 to Sh500, 000 in a bid to protect depositors while trying to entrench the culture of saving in financial institutions. In the past, depositors have not been able to recover their deposits in half, leave alone in full, in an event a bank collapses. From 2015 to 2016 things were not that rosy. Chase Bank, Dubai Bank and Imperial Bank are good examples of how lenders can turn things inside out and back to front. The…
BY NDUNG’U WAINAINA There is a dire need for establishment of an independent Single Treasury account for all COVID-19 funds and its governing framework to ensure financial transparency, accountability and probity in utilization of the Covid19 funds. The Single Treasury Account to be managed jointly between the National Treasury, Central Bank of Kenya and Council of Governors should ensure the office of Auditor General has full access and shall publish a daily Treasury Statement for COVID-19 funds outlining all inflows, including its source, and outflows to a properly identified level of government ministry, department and or agency (MDA). All names…