Airtel threatens exit over Safaricom ‘dominance’

Telecommunications firm Airtel could exit the Kenyan market if new regulations are not passed to curb Safaricom’s dominance, its chief executive Adil El Youssefi said on Tuesday. Mr Youssefi said “anti-competitive behaviour” by the market leader had condemned competitors to losses, claiming that it also contributed to the exit by Essar – Yu network operator – as well as the expected pull out by the France Telecom from Orange…[...]

Fitch says insurers ripe for foreign investment

Kenyan insurance companies are ripe for foreign investment, according to global credit ratings agency Fitch’s new report. Fitch Ratings says the insurance sector has matured compared to other African economies and that the reporting standards for local companies are comparatively high. The report says Kenyan insurance companies can also give foreign investors crucial access to regional markets…[...]

NIC extends deal with agency covering enterprise loans

NIC Bank and the African Trade Insurance Agency have agreed to extend their SME loan cover agreement allowing the bank to keep lending to enterprise customers. In February last year the listed bank became the first local lender to take up the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) cover, at a time it was looking to raise its SME lending. Under the agreement, NIC would lend up to $5 million (Sh530 million) per SME client…[...]

Naikuni says he was not behind KQ aircraft deals

Former Kenya Airways chief executive officer Titus Naikuni has denied knowing owners of offshore companies that the airline used to buy new aircraft. The offshore firms, technically called Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), were used to buy aircraft directly from manufacturers and then lease them to Kenya Airways (KQ). The firms — Samburu Limited and Amboseli Limited — based in Cayman Islands, were incorporated by Standard Chartered Bank and the African Export Import Bank (Afrexim)…[...]

Uganda hands Kenya tough deadlines on oil pipeline

Uganda is making fresh demands that Kenya must first meet its preconditions before construction begins on the crude oil pipeline. Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan last week met to understand the directive by Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and President Uhuru Kenyatta on the pipeline route…[...]

CBK governor Patrick Njoroge warns bank CEOs against speculative trading

Banking executives have been warned about speculative activity in the foreign exchange market by Central Bank of Kenya Governor Patrick Ngugi Njoroge, on the day the shilling touched a historic low of Sh107 to the US dollar. An executive who attended the meeting told The Standard that Prof Njoroge was concerned about the banks' role in the unrelenting depreciation of the shilling…[...]

KRA takes two firms to court over Sh800m unpaid taxes

One of the biggest business premises in Eastleigh and a top-end hotel have been taken to court over failure to remit Sh800 million in income tax to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). KRA now wants the court to compel Kilimanjaro Lodge together with an associated firm, and Eastleigh Mall, to pay up, after the two knowingly failed to declare tax returns over four years…[...]