BY ANTONY MUTUNGA The future of automobiles has been labeled to be electric in recent years although, in much of the developing world, their adoption has remained low for a couple of years due to lack of adequate infrastructure. In Kenya, although, this is about to change as Kenya Power, the country’s electricity distributor plans to improve infrastructure for electric cars. The electricity distributor has announced its plans to set up a nationwide network of public charging points along highways, malls as well as parking stations. This is expected to increase the adoption of electric cars in the country. In…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
The Government, through the tabled Landlord and Tenant Bill 2021 looks to take control of commercial and residential rents in order to protect tenants from the rising costs in the real estate sector. According to the Bill, rent increase should not surpass the annual average inflation rate for the preceding year, meaning, if Parliament was to adopt the proposed law then rent increase for the year would be capped at the average 2020 inflation which stood at 5.2%. In the recent years, the housing sector has been one of the fastest growing sectors, mostly from exorbitant, even prohibitive rent incomes.…
Some of Africa’s most respected film industry practitioners joined over 60 women on February 21 for the official launch of the Ladima Film Academy. This gathering of women from 12 countries including Zimbabwe, The Central African Republic, Uganda, Gambia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, was a powerful moment ushering in a new era in film education for Africa. The Ladima Foundation, with the support of the DW Akademie, Deutsche Welle’s center for international media development, has now officially launched its Film Academy that will see these introductory courses roll out over the next six weeks across seven key…
At a time that many businesses are facing a number of challenges in the midst of a pandemic, Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) has announced a Sh1.6b advance aid that aims to help Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) move past the harsh conditions. According to Linus Gitahi, DTB Board Chairman, the pandemic has caused much harm to entrepreneurs by creating harsh economic conditions that make it difficult to operate. “We all know that the pandemic has had a terrible impact on our lives and livelihoods. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) felt the brunt of the pandemic-induced harsh economic conditions that…
KENYA – Refinitiv partnered with the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) to enhance Fixed Income (FI) price discovery and raise market transparency in Kenya. As part of the partnership, the NSE will roll out Refinitiv Fixed Income Callouts in Kenya, an automated workflow that facilitates negotiations and agreements of secondary Fixed Income (FI) bond trading among banks, brokerage firms, and real-time integration with the Central Securities Depository (CSD). The primary FI market has been steadily growing in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as governments explore better access to financing. According to the 2020 Refinitiv investment banking review, SSA debt issuance totaled $19b in 2020. With…
Equity Group through its medical subsidiary, Equity Afia, has opened a new medical centre in Muranga County to help offer quality and affordable healthcare to the residents. The new medical centre, the Group’s second clinic in the county after Equity Afia Kenol, is located at ECN Building along Uhuru Street. The centre will offer services such as general consultation, dental services, optical services, dermatological services, paediatric services, nutrition services, specialised care in obstetrics and gynaecology and wellness services. According to Professor Isaac Macharia, Equity Group board chairman, the new centre is a part of a larger strategic plan that is aimed…
A decade of political upheaval in the Middle East and North Africa has generated levels of displacement never seen before, according to the latest report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). An estimated 12.4 million people are currently internally displaced across the region. When the Arab Spring protests broke out a decade ago, the MENA region was home to more than 3.5 million internally displaced people (IDPs). The figure has more than tripled in a decade as a result of enduring civil wars and localised conflict. It is expected to increase further with climate-related disasters generating new displacement every year. According…
Following a tough 2020 that saw many industries and the economy as whole come to a near halt, the registration of new vehicles in the country decreased as a result of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the number of new vehicles registrations in the first eleven months of 2020 declined by 5% from 302,085 in the corresponding period in 2019 to 287,151. The new vehicle registrations included saloon cars, station wagons, vans, buses, pickups, minibuses, lorries, trailers, motorcycles, three wheelers, and wheeled tractors. The month of April recorded the…
Scores of small scale traders in Nairobi and beyond have begun to enjoy the services of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) National Cargo Deconsolidation Centre (NCDC) located at the Nairobi Railway Station. The traders drawn from Nyamakima and Gikomba commercial zones are enjoying fast, convenient customs clearance of their imported wares following the handling capacity tripling of the Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) Transit shed launched last November 2020. With handling capacity improvements and support by KRC, the NCDC is now delivering cargo imported through Mombasa’s port in approximately 15 hours. Operating on a 24-hour basis, the new facility has enhanced…
From the slow, negligible economic growth to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Kenyans have been affected. Most have been pressured to take pay cuts as others have been forced into the unemployment bracket as a result of business closures. These economic consequences have not spared the Government as well. It has been forced to make a reduction and, in most cases, a complete halt when it comes to recruitment. Those holding government jobs are in a constant state of worry, as they no longer enjoy the job security they were used to. This is primarily due to the fact…