The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) recently confirmed that Kenya is contemplating adopting the Chinese Yuan as a reserve currency. Dr Patrick Njoroge, the governor of the CBK confirmed this during the Guangzhou-Foshan Nairobi Business forum. This puts Kenya among the growing number of African nations that have been considering including the renminbi as part of their foreign exchange reserves. According to Dr Njoroge, this was inevitable as China has played a major role in the world economy making the Yuan a suitable currency of foreign trade. “It is inevitable that Kenya will include the Chinese yuan as a reserve…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) has entered into a partnership with Ennovative Capital (ECap), a financial technology firm, to launch an online platform to facilitate the immediate payment of goods and services delivered by suppliers. The platform, referred to as Supply Chain Financing (Reverse Factoring), will allow corporate buyers to approve and submit their invoices to the CBA, which in turn will pay the suppliers with recourse to the corporate buyers. This way, the suppliers will have access to early payment against their invoices. According to Jeremy Ngunze, chief executive of CBA Kenya, the platform will assist by ensuring the…
Car and General has launched a new carriage style Piaggio three wheeler (tuk tuk) called the Romanza, which comes with a two-year warranty. It is a four-stroke 200cc petrol engine with an average fuel consumption of 30km per litre. “There is a growing need for urban transport which is driven by the rapid expansion of cities and towns in the 47 counties. Three wheelers are gaining popularity as they are perceived to be safer than motorcycles,” said Joshua Maithya, a Car and General sales executive for Piaggio. “The Piaggio Romanza features a drop top hood and coordinated half doors and…
Quantum power East Africa GT Menengai Ltd has received funds worth Sh5 billion ($49.5million) from the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) and the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) after the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a senior loan of Sh3 billion ($29.5 million) and a concessional loan of Sh2 billion ($20 million). The funds are to be used on the development of a geothermal plant that is located at the Menengai geothermal field in Nakuru County. The funds will be going to a 35W geothermal power plant, which is part of a set of three other plants, which have a combined capacity…
In our last Issue’s Cover Story, we narrowed on the impact of thriving contraband trade on our manufacturing sector. The lid has since been blown off the can of the counterfeit business, revealing the other side of it that our story did not delve in – safety and health. The ensuing debate on the possibility that the sugar in our living rooms is not fit for human consumption is as chilling as it is shocking. It goes to reveal the extent to which the country is exposed in the trending trade. Isn’t it absurd that in the case of sugar,…
BY GILBERT NG’ANG’A When Kenya announced late May that it would not sign a free trade agreement that China has been negotiating with the East African Community (EAC) partner States, it marked the beginning of a new era for Nairobi’s economic architecture. After two years of intense lobbying by Beijing to have the East African states—Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania—agree to the trade deal, Nairobi, unexpectedly, pulled the trigger. With that, Kenya’s trade relations with China will never be the same. Disregarding the expected diplomatic brouhaha that such an action would bring between two nations, Kenya said the decision…
BY DOMINIC WABALA In May 2018 Kenya rejected a free trade area agreement between East African Community (EAC) and China in a bid to protect its manufacturing industries. There has been concern that cheap Chinese imports are flooding the Kenyan market at the expense of local manufacturing industries that are also struggling with high power tariffs and idle workforce. During his State of the nation speech in early May, President Uhuru Kenyatta revealed that the Anti Counterfeit Agency in 2017 seized goods worth over Sh1.7 billion and destroyed others worth over Sh700 million. Kenya, he said, has been loosing over…
BY ANTONY MUTUNGA Over the years, Kenya has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. One of the major sectors that have been contributing to this growth has been the manufacturing sector which has seen the country become one of the most industrialized countries in the East African region. The manufacturing sector has helped Kenya not only become a hub for business but it has also brought multinational companies such as Volkswagen to the shores of the country thus showing other organizations that the sector is a safe and worthy investment. However, in 2015, the contribution of…
BY PETER WANYONYI Why is the African so helpless, so hapless, useless, pointlessly indolent in the face of grievous conditions that require decisive action? The past six or so years have treated Kenyans to a despicable opera of corruption and bad governance, one that would have led to revolutions among any other people. It turns out that the Kenyan government is in fact one massive graft party: government officials are looting everything everywhere. The sleaze is so extensive that the National Youth Service has been turned into a free-for-all gravy train. And what’s the reaction of the wider Kenyan citizenry…
BY DAVID ONJILI Burial insurance is a cash policy; this means that over time, it builds cash value. The premiums paid are constant over time and varying with the policy provider; it covers expenses like mortuary fees, hearse hire, flowers for wreath and any other miscellaneous costs. There must be a difference between a financially literate person and the pack. Financial literacy and planning involve seeking information and knowledge to cushion you of events whose occurrence is eventual but we may not be ready when it does. Yet, both culture and religion (traditional African religion, Islam and Christianity) play a…