M-Pesa airtime top-ups hit scratch card dealers

Safaricom’s airtime dealers are seeing their commissions squeezed as the volume of top-ups made directly from the telecom operator’s M-Pesa platform outpaces the growth of scratch cards. The volume of M-Pesa airtime top-ups peaked at 38 per cent in the period, having grown from 35 per cent the year before and 22 per cent in the year ended March 2011. Safaricom is now calling on its airtime dealers and resellers to diversify to other products and services such as M-Pesa agency to grow their business [...]

What Imperial Bank owners must do to get its doors open

The Central Bank of Kenya has set tough conditions for reopening of Imperial Bank, including a demand that some of the depositors convert their savings into shareholding. Imperial Bank shareholders will be required to inject additional capital into the business even as the receiver managers pursue those who fraudulently obtained cash from the lender. The shareholders have the option of injecting additional cash into the bank or letting in strategic investors.  Large depositors will be required to commit to withdrawing their cash from the bank in bits [...]

Lenders dividend yields rise sharply as market slides

Banking stocks’ dividends have shot up compared to their prices after valuation dropped between 25 and 55 per cent from the beginning of the year. The bearish trend at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has helped bank dividend yields — which relate investor payout and stock price — to rise sharply. The bourse’s main index has lost more than 23 per cent in value since the beginning of the year [...]

Coffee prices fall further on poor quality of berries

Coffee prices continued on a downward trend in the latest auction due to poor quality berries and low prices at the New York exchange. Price of the commodity at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange dropped from Sh16,218 to Sh15,198 per 50-kilogramme bag. The quality of coffee received and the slump in global prices have affected the price of the local commodity [...]

Stanlib to buy Greenspan Mall with first Sh12bn Reit offering

Stanlib Investments is set to buy Greenspan Mall in Donholm, Nairobi, with proceeds from Kenya’s first ever Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) sales. Stanlib Investments plans to raise as much as Sh12.5 billion through the initial public offering (IPO) dubbed Fahari I-Reit that will go towards buying a mix of rental properties. The Reit will be listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on November 24 for trading [...]

PE firm Catalyst raises stake in Jamii Bora to 11pc

Private equity firm Catalyst Principal Partners has raised its stake in Jamii Bora Bank to 11 per cent, nearly three times its initial. Catalyst first bought into the bank through a rights issue in December last year, snapping up a 4.4 per cent stake in the mid-tier lender. The private equity firm has been buying more shares through the over-the-counter (OTC) market and has consequently got a seat on the bank’s board [...]

Treasury queried over secret US bank account

The Treasury has been asked to explain the interest earned from a secret government-owned New York account that held proceeds of the $2 billion (Sh204 billion) Eurobond. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) wants to know how much interest was earned from the New York account and who its beneficiaries were as well as the expenditure audit of the Eurobond. Withdrawals from the account were done without the approval of the Controller of Budget [...]