In 2003, only two out of every ten Kenyans had access to prudentially regulated financial service. Today, that number stands at eight out of every ten Kenyans, providing not only a means of holding monetary value but also a safe way of transmitting it BY DAVID WANJALA Measures put in place by most governments such as social distancing, working from home and minimizing physical touch in response to the emergence and persistence of Covid-19 have heightened the adoption of cashless payment systems. According to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), since March 2020, Kenya has witnessed a rapid increase in…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
The fake election of Tshisekedi in 2018 was no real transition. The current majority switch holds more potential, but improvements in governance, democracy and development remain a long shot BY PIERRE ENGLEBERT & GEORGES KASONGO Until December 2020, the Front Commun pour le Congo (FCC) of ex-president Joseph Kabila held a majority of 338 out of 500 seats in Congo’s National Assembly. In a token alliance with President Tshisekedi’s Cap pour le Changement (CACH, 48 seats), it controlled all branches of government aside from the presidency. Yet, by late January 2021, Tshisekedi had wrestled away control of both Parliament and Government, and appeared for…
BY JACOB OKETCH W hen he came up with the slogan “hustler”, Deputy President William Ruto may not have expected the reaction it would elicit among the populace. It was an act of powerful imagination of the state of a people. Evidently; poverty is a big concern to the leadership of this country – no doubt about that. The issue of inequality is a big challenge not just in Kenya but across the Continent and beyond. There are tested policies that are being implemented by governments across the world to try and mitigate the problem. What is not in doubt…
By nature, lawyers are very resistant to new technology and change. It took, for instance, a worldwide pandemic and the resultant quarantines, for Kenyan litigation to start utilizing video conferencing tools. But technology and innovation have finally caught up with the legal world BY MUIRURI WANYOIKE Over the last couple of decades, technology and automation have taken over large swaths of jobs and careers ranging from simple manual labour to advanced tasks. For a long time, this inexorable march of technology has limited its impact to blue-collar occupations that are simple to automate and outsource. For the last century or…
Many people have suffered as a result of the world health pandemic. Some have grappled with wage cuts while others have even been laid off. This has all occurred at a time that Kenya has been experiencing a slow economic growth. Looking to increase their revenue, many have looked to side businesses. According to State of Side Hustle in Kenya 2020 by Viffaconsult, there has been an increase in entrepreneurs engaging in side businesses, with those between 21 and 25 years increasing by 12% while those between the age bracket of 41 and 50 years by 19%. Many of those…
BY VICTOR ADAR In the current environment, family businesses, if not well managed are bound to coil, fail and die. Speaking at an online conference dubbed Supporting family businesses to navigate these challenging times, Amit Patel, the CEO of Ramco Group said that besides sustainable, reliable and good structures, it is time private sector players engaged services of experienced experts. Actually, it is important to plan, structure and protect both the business and personal assets. Having the right advisors to ensure that everything is safeguarded and that the business will remain stable for generations is also a plus. “For us…
Given the challenges that most companies are currently facing, bringing on board skilled directors is significant. Perhaps it is at the back of this that I&M Holdings has appointed Allan Christopher Michael Low as new regional director. He will be replacing Vincent De Brouwer who resigned in August 2020 after holding the position since November 2019. Climbing the ladder at a time when there is rising competition in the banking sector, Mr Low is expected to ensure that there is effective implementation of the group’s long-term vision and strategy while building, protecting and enhancing its brand value and visibility across…
To help Kenya in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its growing debt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has entered into an agreement with the Kenyan government to lend it a three-year, Sh263 billion ($2.4 billion) financial package. According to Mary Goodman, an advisor in the strategy, policy and review department at the IMF, the two had come to an agreement that will help the Kenyan Government to enhance economic growth in the future. “I am pleased to announce that the Kenyan authorities and the IMF mission team have reached agreement on economic and structural policies that would underpin…
Stanbic owned investment bank SBG Securities posted a 71.3% drop in net profit in the Financial Year ended December 2020 attributed to lower advisory fees and brokerage commissions. SBG Securities reported a net profit of Sh34.98m in the period, down from Sh121.85m in 2019. Advisory and consultancy fees, earned when the firm handles corporate deals, fell by Sh83.1m to Sh11.2m in the period, while brokerage commissions were down by Sh63.7m to Sh189m. This saw total income shrink by Sh155.5m to Sh259.6m during the year. Brokerage commission fell at a time when the equities and bonds markets at the NSE returned…
In a bid to grow the gems and jewellery industry and give back to the mining communities, Rosenkrantz Africa has partnered with Artisanal and Small-scale Miners (ASMs) across Africa to foster links between miners in Southern Kenya and their regional and international clientele in Europe, the Middle-East, Southeast Asia, and America. Rosenkrants is one of the players founded in 2016 by Iver Rosenkrantz, a trained gemologist whose his history in Africa working in conservation and minerals dates back to 1999. The founder CEO of Rosenkrantz Gems Limited says that partnerships and collaborations in the mining industry are a vital and…