1. Africa Could Earn KES 17 Trillion from Global Food Sales – World Bank
Africa has the potential to generate an extra US$20 billion(about Sh1.7 trillion) in yearly earnings from food trade if proper infrastructure is put according to a new World Bank report. The report says Africa’s farmers can potentially grow enough food to feed the continent and avert future food crises if countries remove cross-border restrictions and improve on infrastructure. The continent has traditional areas of food deficit and food surplus, yet as many as 19 million people are living with the constant threat of hunger and malnutrition.
2. CMC Looses Truck Monopoly to a New Distributor
Motor dealer CMC has lost its distribution monopoly of MAN trucks and buses following the addition of RT East Africa as dealers in the region. “Kenya is a rapidly growing market for both heavy and extra heavy trucks and buses and with the growth potential and economic environment we believe that we need to spread our footprint,” said head of MAN sub Equatorial Africa Shane Naidoo.
This he said help would help them to adequately reach their customers and create an after sales platform. The sale of MAN trucks accounted to nearly quarter of total sales of CMC. The firm has for the past two year been on the spotlight for mismanagement which has led to the decline of is total sales.
3. KenGen Gets Nod on Land to Set up KES 85 Billion Wind Project
Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has secured a commitment for 100,000 acres of land in Marsabit County where it intends to set up a wind power plant, a pointer that cheaper electricity could be hooked into the national grid soon.
A KenGen spokesperson on Thursday told the Nation that the company is currently waiting for the County Council of Marsabit to express its written commitment for provision of the land before it sets up wind mills for generating electricity.
4. NIC Emerges Top in Financial Reporting Awards
NIC Bank has emerged the overall winner in the financial reporting awards held on Friday in Nairobi. The bank was recognised for excellence in financial reporting requirements and disclosures in corporate governance besides its corporate social responsibility initiatives in the annual financial reporting (Fire) awards.
Fire awards started in Kenya in 2002 but were later turned into a regional event in 2009 due to the increased integration activities within East African Community (EAC).
5. Building a KES 40 Billion Sports City
Construction of East Africa’s first sports city has started in earnest following groundbreaking of the Sh40 billion leisure and property development project in Eldoret at the weekend. The city, Sergoit Golf and Wildlife Resorts, is premised on the theme of sports, luxury living, leisure and recreation.
It is the largest single project by the private sector in western Kenya, giving the vast region a taste of the eight-year real estate market boom that has mainly concentrated in key cities — Nairobi and Mombasa.
6. Treasury Plans Law to Blacklist Bill Defaulters
The Treasury has set in motion plans to enact a law that will see defaulters of utility bills such as water, electricity and telephone blacklisted by banks.
The new regulations will be part of the credit information sharing law that has been used to bar loan defaulters from accessing bank loans.
7. Cost of Poll Kits Rises to KES 9.6 Billion
Government intervention has more than doubled the cost of electronic voter registration kits and added more than Sh7 billion to the national debt, raising fresh questions over the integrity of the process.
The Kenyan taxpayer is enroute to paying more than Sh9 billion for the biometric voter registration (BVR) machines, more than double the Sh3.9 billion price at which the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) was to acquire the kits through the aborted tendering process.
8. 40 Million Uninsured Kenyans
According to the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), only 7% of Kenyans have any kind of insurance. In a population of 43 million, the uninsured 93% add up to about 40 million Kenyans.
Given the recent and ongoing introduction of low-cost insurance schemes, you would think there would be more policy holders. With pocket-friendly packages like the Mbao Pension Plan and CIC Insurance’s Afya Bora, some people would assume that all is well.
CIC even went one step further to unveil Nuru Ya Jamii, a house insurance package with deposits as low asKES 480 a year. If that’s not enough UAP has its Salama Sure package which only asks for daily deposits of KES 7. So what’s the problem?