The speed of tech disruptions within the real estate sector keeps growing by the day By Daniella Nyakuraya In the last decade, technology has disrupted countless businesses’ models. According to Forbes, technology has grown exponentially over the last century, and the speed at which reliable and stable industries are disrupted is indisputable. The real estate tech sector across the globe is gradually being redefined by ever-changing market conditions and shifts in consumer needs and behaviors. The Kenyan real estate industry continues to expand as investor appetite grows alongside the customer base. Consumers of real estate products have evolved from only…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
Being the first responders when road accidents occur, bodaboda operators will be equipped to administer first aid and possibly save lives On August 26, over 400 bodaboda and tuktuk riders were trained on road safety and self-first aid in a tripartite initiative dubbed “Tujenge Msingi” by Watu Credit Limited, Kisumu County and the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA). The programme aims to reduce deaths and injuries caused by motorbike accidents on the road by embedding safety into the culture of bodaboda riders. Data from the NTSA shows that bodabodas currently account for the second-highest number of fatalities on the…
A family-owned real estate development company, Superior Homes Kenya has broken ground for the construction of a Sh350 million modern roadside stopover complex at Sultan Hamud town along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway. Dubbed “Supastop”, the truck drivers stop will feature modern amenities for long-distance transit drivers, including safe and secure parking, fuel station, decent and affordable accommodation, a variety of affordable eateries, convenience stores, clean restrooms, clean showers, prayer rooms, and a health facility, all in one development. It will also offer other services including truck and other vehicle maintenance and repair, driver training, and logistics services. The company intends to tap into the market gap of inadequate and informal truck stop…
By Robert Kaniu Gitonga Kenya has historically struggled with land grabbing, which entails illegal allocation of land meant for public purposes to private individuals and corporations in total disregard of the public interest, as per the Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the illegal/irregular allocation of public land (the “Ndung’u Land Commission”). According to the report by the Ndung’u Land Commission, land grabbing was “so pervasive” that “there was real danger that Kenya could be without a public land tenure system (at the turn of the 21st century)”. Land-grabbing crisis was recently highlighted in the Supreme Court of Kenya’s…
BY SILAS APOLLO Close to 39 banks in the country made a total tax contribution (TTC) of Sh181.27 billion in 2022, a study by the Pricewaterhousecoopers shows The study, done in partnership with the Kenya Bankers Association, shows that the new figures is a 39.94% increase from the total tax contribution of Sh129.52 billion made in 2021. The TTC study further indicates that the 2022 contribution by the 39 banks – which cumulatively represents 97.65% of the market share from a net asset perspective – is 8.93% of the total tax collections in Kenya compared to 6.8% in 2021. The PwC study says that…
The Central Bank of Kenya’s Monetary Policy Committee has introduced an interbank interest rate around the Central Bank Rate (CBR) at over and below 2.5%, in line with the reforms outlined in the White Paper on modernisation of the monetary policy framework and operations The new rates, adjusted to inflation, was approved by the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Wednesday, and aims at ensuring that the interbank rate, as an operating target, closely tracks the CBR. MPC noted in a statement that the framework allows the CBK’s open market operations to be conducted on the basis of a flexible…
The move underlines the firm’s commitment to business diversification Listed company, Kakuzi has successfully completed the inaugural export delivery of 181 breeding Boran heifers to a Uganda-based rancher for breeding. The heifers valued at more than Sh13.5 million left Kakuzi’s Makuyu, Murang’a County, livestock paddocks late last week and have now been received at Mpala Farm, in Kawempe Division, Central Uganda. Speaking when he confirmed the successful delivery, company’s livestock manager Dr. Karatina Ole Nchoki said the 181 heifers aged between 30 and 36 months will be used for breeding at Mpala Farm, which is introducing a Boran herd. The…
By Samuel Ochieng, ACSI Interest rates in the country continue to remain high, mainly on account of the elevated inflation rates that have been experienced in the past year. As a result, lenders attach a higher rate of return to their investments to ensure they do not lose out on purchasing power due to the rising costs of goods and services. In the 13 months leading up to June 2023, the country’s inflation rate remained above the Central Bank of Kenya’s (CBK) target range of 2.5%–7.5%, even rising to a five-year high of 9.6% in October last year. The elevated…
By Michael Mutava Mulei To the keen observer, interest rates by the local banks have been creeping upwards stealthily. Sometimes, it has been difficult for some people to take note, not for lack of being keen, but because the shoe is not on their leg. The reaction is starkly different if the same question is put to an entrepreneur, a car buyer, or a new homeowner, especially if their financing model is credit-related. Interest-rate increments portend higher costs for asset financing and mean that borrowers have to make do with a closer financial haircut in loan repayments. These are challenging…
BY VICTOR ADAR Growing up a firstborn in a family of three, in Ngutu Village Muranga County, Patrick Njoroge never dreamed of one day working in the hospitality industry. Looking back now, he attributes his career trajectory today to the kind of upbringing he had. His parents were intentional in instilling the value of hard work. His parents also signed Patrick and his siblings up for a number of training programs in the church. The programs, he points out, have played an important role in the man he has become today. Being a firstborn also forced him to put the…