Safaricom out to link 2,000 more homes with fibre optic cable

Safaricom is seeking to connect 2,000 more homes to its fibre optic network by the end of the year in a bid to reduce reliance on voice business as a profit driver. Jamii Telecom’s Jamii Faiba dominates this market segment with 7,486 customers connected to its fibre infrastructure [...]

Barclays starts agribusiness unit with eye on SMEs

Barclays Bank of Kenya has started an agribusiness unit to finance firms in the agricultural value chain. Speaking at the bank’s headquarters, Barclays managing director Jeremy Awori said the unit will loan out money from a Sh30 billion kitty set aside for small and medium enterprises [...]

APA boss Ashok Shah buys stake in rival CIC Insurance

APA Insurance chief executive Ashok Shah has bought a stake in CIC Insurance in a rare transaction that gives the owner of the big underwriter a stake in one of his rivals. Mr Shah, the Apollo Investment Group CEO, confirmed buying the CIC Insurance stock, a transaction that has seen his name pop up in the underwriter’s 10 largest owners’ list, under the foreign category. Despite the plummeting of CIC’s fortunes at the Nairobi bourse, its top shareholders roll includes big names like Co-operative Bank managing director Gideon Muriuki and billionaire businessman Baloobhai Patel [...]

US tobacco firm to audit Sh4bn gaps at Kenyan subsidiary

US-based tobacco firm Alliance One is sending auditors to assess the operations of its Kenyan subsidiary after noticing discrepancies at least Sh4 billion. The company noticed the gaps during its restructuring that begun mid this year. It, however, did not indicate if it was looking at criminal conduct or professional malpractices [...]

CBK forex reserves rise to Sh704bn

Foreign exchange reserves held by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) increased by a hefty Sh35 billion ($342 million) in just five days last week. At its lowest the shilling had lost 14 per cent of its value relative from the year’s start as the CBK used good amounts of it to intervene in the market. At the launch of the IMF’s report on sub-Saharan economies last week, some participants expressed discomfort with the pace at which the risk-free rates were falling, pointing out that it could lead to a return of the crisis that saw the shilling lose value [...]

AGM attendance to go digital in Africlear platform

Africlear, a Pan African clearing house partly owned by Kenya’s Central Depository and Settlement Corporation, is set to launch electronic participation of shareholders at annual general meetings (AGMs). Africlear plans to launch an electronic platform allowing shareholders to appoint proxies, ask questions and make comments. In May, Africlear received Sh36.8 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) in form of seed capital [...]

Lyons Maid ice cream maker gets the regulator’s nod to buy out rival

Ice cream manufacturer Razco Limited has been cleared to buy out its rival Alpha Dairy Limited, adding to the growing list of acquisitions in the dairy industry. Competition Authority of Kenya director-general Wang’ombe Kariuki said the proposed deal meets the legal threshold and approved its completion. Prior to the deal with Danone, Brookside had made a string of acquisitions locally in a move that boosted its market leadership [...]