Centum eyes Rea Vipingo land for property

Centum Investments is crafting a master plan for its recently acquired Rea Vipingo land at the Coast that could see some of the farmland converted into real estate. The Vipingo land is also ideal for Centum’s plan to invest in agriculture, one of the areas where it targeted to enter in the next five years.The investment firm bought the 10,500 acres from Rea Vipingo earlier in the year for Sh2 billion as part of a truce halting a bidding war with the UK-based Robinow brothers, the majority owners of the sisal plantation [...]

Ex-Britam director Rawat ‘to sue if Kenyan assets are sold’

Former Britam director DawoodRawat has given the government of Mauritius three months to pay $1 billion (about Sh96 billion) for “illegally” seizing his business empire.The most valuable of these is a stake in Britam that was taken over by a Mauritian State insurer.Bloomberg on Thursday reported that PwC have begun the process of “selling off BAI assets in Kenya [...]

Kenya told to cut ballooning budget and borrowing

Kenya’s over Sh2 trillion budget is too large and should be cut in order to reduce the 8.7 per cent deficit expected in the coming financial year, a think-tank says.Total expenditure is estimated to rise by Sh300 billion, or 17.6 per cent, in the next fiscal year even though the country’s absorption capacity has not changed much.Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich had in the BPS estimated that domestic borrowing would be Sh141.7 billion in 2015/16 fiscal year, but changed this to Sh219.2 billion in April before raising it in the statement he read last Thursday [...]

Tea auction price hits Sh291 high as production declines

Tea prices at the Mombasa auction have risen 46 per cent compared to the same period last year as the cold season sets in.The good prices have been attributed to falling volumes at the weekly auction. A weak shilling against the dollar has also favoured tea exporters.The dry weather conditions that most tea producing regions experienced between late last year and April this year have been blamed for the low production [...]

Rotich scraps tax holiday for rural-based companies

Treasury secretary Henry Rotich has scrapped tax incentives for large manufacturers setting up in rural areas, ending a long-running policy which analysts say has cost the government billions of shillings in tax revenue without realising the goal of luring investors away from major towns.Despite 150 per cent tax deduction, policy failed to attract enough takers to bring about change [...]

Jambojet cuts flights to Coast over airports

Kenya Airways’ budget airline Jambojet has cut back some of its flights to Lamu, Malindi and Ukunda barely two months after their introduction, citing delays in expansion of the affected airports.The airline, which launched the three coastal routes in mid-March, says it has reduced its flights to Lamu from daily to three times a week (Monday, Friday and Sunday) while it now flies eight times a week to Ukunda down from twice a day [...]