Treasury behind borrowing targets on high finance costs

As the current financial year started it emerged the government was experiencing unprecedented difficulties in raising cash, partly because the Sh2.2 trillion Budget was an increase of 25 per cent while domestic borrowing and tax revenues were short of targets. The government was not keen to incur high interest costs by taking up expensive money. The Treasury is still struggling to have domestic borrowing hit the set target [...]

Safaricom cuts M-Pesa link for bitcoin dealer Kipochi

Kipochi, a bitcoin trading platform linked to M-Pesa, has closed operations after Safaricom terminated its mobile money connection, citing the virtual currency’s non-recognition by the Central Bank of Kenya. Safaricom’s new battlefront with virtual cash traders that are linked to M-Pesa comes at a time when the Central Bank has cautioned the public against dealing with digital currencies such as bitcoin [...]

Cashless payments lift mobile transfers to Sh2.3trn by October

Mobile money transfer volumes grew by a fifth in the first 10 months of this year almost matching the total moved in full-year 2014 as more Kenyans used the platform to pay for goods and services. Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore attributed the continued double-digit growth in mobile money use [...]

Interbank rate rises on Christmas cash demand

Overnight lending rates among commercial banks rose over two percentage points last week as demand for cash shot up ahead of Christmas festivities, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) says. In its latest update on the financial markets, CBK said the interbank rate rose to 6.45 per cent on the eve of Christmas Day compared to 4.22 per cent at which it closed the previous week [...]

Britam stock hit hard by Mauritian ex-director’s fall

The sudden fall from grace for Britam’s single biggest shareholder, Mauritius national Dawood Rawat, dealt a hard blow to the NSE-listed firm’s stock, which this week hit Sh12.90 apiece – near its one-year low of Sh12.30.  Britam’s share price fall has widened the premium targeted by Mauritius, making the sale of BAKHL harder since a prospective buyer can get lower prices in the open market [...]

Bank, insurance lobbies face pricing war with CAK

Several powerful associations in the banking, insurance and agriculture sectors are yet to take advantage of an amnesty given by the competition watchdog to stop cartel-like practices, which puts them on a collision course with the regulator beginning March [...]

Pan Africa issues profit warning pushing tally to 15

Pan Africa Insurance Holdings has said that its 2015 full-year earnings will drop by at least a quarter, growing the list of NSE-listed firms that have issued profit warnings to 15. The insurance firm expects that its net profit for the full year to December 31 will be a maximum of Sh653.3 million compared to last year’s Sh871.1 million [...]

Centum’s Mworia the top dealmaker in 2015

Centum chief executive James Mworia closed half a dozen deals this year, making him Kenya’s astute dealmaker of the year. In total, Centum was involved in seven major investment deals this year cumulatively worth more than Sh17 billion. Centum has a portfolio worth Sh46 billion invested across assets in listed firms, private equity and real estate. Mr Mworia saw the NSE-listed investment firm make two exits, relinquish part of its flagship real estate project, float a corporate bond that was oversubscribed, and venture into the world of beer distribution and private education [...]