The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and the African Development Bank (AfDB), have agreed to work closely together to advance the continent’s energy transition through joint initiatives that support investments in low-carbon energy projects. Under the Declaration of Intent, the two entities confirmed their wish to collaborate on supporting the continent’s energy transition under a framework of core activities. These include co-organising renewable energy investment forums as part of IRENA’s contribution to the Climate Investment Platform, and collaboration on the Bank’s annual Africa Investment Forum. Furthermore, strong emphasis will be placed on concrete support for enhancing the role of renewable energy in…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
MacDonald George Obudho has succeeded Zachary Mwangi as director general at the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Mr mwangi’s tenure came to an end in October 2020, ending an eight-year stint at the helm. Mr Obudho who has worked for the same agency since 1995 climbed up the ladder from a statistician to his current position. He is experienced in conducting population and housing censuses, designing and carrying out statistical sample surveys as well as compiling official statistics. He is also a refined manager with over 13 years mostly managing administrative and technical roles. The man is so resourceful that…
Money – for the first time – is no longer the biggest taboo topic of conversation, according to an international poll. In the global survey conducted by deVere Group, one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory and fintech organisations, 48% of those polled ranked politics as the most difficult subject to discuss with family, friends and colleagues. It came ahead of personal finance (34%), sex and relationships (9%), religion (5%), and health issues (4%) in the study of 750+ clients. The respondents came from the UK, Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, Latin America and Australasia. In the 2019 survey,…
Octagon Insurance Brokers Ltd has partnered up with Jubilee Health Insurance to provide an affordable and flexible comprehensive medical cover for retirees. The medical cover, which will be made available to customers by Octagon Africa and be underwritten by Jubilee Health Insurance, will be referred to as ‘Octagon Afya Plus’. Dr Patrick Gatonga, Jubilee Health CEO, the need for affordable health insurance by a majority of retirees is a crucial cog in ensuring that the older persons in society lead a decent life even after spending their productive lives serving the society. “As partners, we gain pride in providing affordable…
Kenya’s national carrier, Kenya Airways (KQ) through its cargo arm KQ Cargo, has invested in an ultra-modern pharma facility located at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), to meet the demand of pharmaceutical products globally and support the need of maintaining the product integrity throughout the supply chain. KQ Pharma facility aims to bring Africa together, to have an ecosystem of partners that go beyond freight capabilities but also ensures a sustainable impactful approach to reducing the disease burden in Africa. Aim is to work with partners to build skillsets for the future by enabling stakeholder partnership and engagements with researchers,…
It has emerged that despite the data protection law being in force for nearly 12 months, most Kenyans are unprepared to effect its regulations. With Covid-19 pushing more organizations to adopt technology for their operations, public and private sector staff, contractors and executives are working away from their office premises to the extent that 2020 recorded the highest jump in cyber security attacks recorded by Cyber Security Consultancy, Serianu since 2018.These are some of the revelations contained in the latest Kenyan Edition of the annual Africa Cyber Security Report, a regular documentation of threats, trends and opportunities arising in cyber…
Kenya has signed an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the United Kingdom (U.K) that aims to boost economic development and promote regional trade between the two nations once the U.K transitions out of EU trading arrangements. The post-Brexit deal was signed by Kenya’s trade Cabinet Secretary Betty Maina and UK’s International Trade Minister Ranil Jayawardena in London. There have been concerns on how Brexit will affect trade between the two countries. However, the deal will ensure the two remain important trading partners. It will ensure that all companies operating in Kenya, including British businesses, can continue to benefit from duty-free…
Global Islamic Finance assets are forecast to reach $3.69 trillion by 2024, according to the 2020 Islamic Finance Development Report early December by Refinitiv and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector development arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). According to the report, global Islamic Finance assets increased by 14% year-on-year totaling $2.88 trillion in 2019. Islamic Finance assets of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) reached $1.2 trillion in 2019, followed by Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at $755b (excluding the GCC), and Southeast Asia at $685b. The Islamic banking sector contributes…
As 2019 came to a close, the outlook for renewable energy growth in developing economies was exceptionally bright. Power-generating capacity from solar plants such as photovoltaic projects reached 325 gigawatts (GW), up from just 1GW a decade earlier, according to new findings from research firm BloombergNEF (BNEF). Wind investment hit an all-time annual high, with $89b deployed to build projects in 30 emerging markets, both onshore and offshore. Powering the growth was the fundamental cost-competitiveness of these clean technologies compared to their fossil-fuel rivals, which foreign investors duly noticed. Total foreign direct investment (FDI) in support of renewables set a…
Kenya has traded a total of 5,895 bitcoins worth a total amount of Sh6.162b between 2015-2020, the second-highest amount of bitcoins traded in Africa only behind Nigeria that traded bitcoins worth Sh63, 154b in the same period. The year 2020, according to Paxful’s database, saw more bitcoin trading in Kenya than ever before, with a bitcoin trade worth Sh5.103b. There has been a steady increase in traded bitcoins from January 2020 to August 2020, with August seeing an all-year high in trading (725.1 BTC), the report reveals. Despite the pandemic and the fact that the year isn’t over, 2020 has seen more…