KenGen woos investors to tap surplus power

The Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has disputed claims that its energy expansion plan will result in unutilised surplus. The electricity generator says it will invest in reserve energy from green sources, in anticipation of higher demand from the industrial sector. KenGen, which currently has an installed capacity of 1,611MW, is betting on higher energy consumption due to increased industrial activity once the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is complete [...]

Jobs at stake as Portland Cement land tussle escalates
More than 1,500 employees of East Africa Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) risk losing their jobs. The cement maker is entangled in a protracted struggle for 13,000 acres of land in Mavoko, Machakos County, with squatters who are said to have purchased EAPCC’s land from shadowy cartels. The company’s woes are deepened by the fact that foreign investors like Lafarge, which owns 42 per cent stake in Portland, have started getting alarmed by the wrangles that the land case is creating [...] 

Barclays Kenya merges retail, business banking units
Barclays Bank of Kenya has merged the retail and business banking departments in a move likely to push some top managers out of the bank. The corporate department remained untouched. The bank has appointed Zahid Mustafa as director of retail and business banking. He was until his appointment the director of retail banking [...]

Safaricom Sacco, Tuskys ink deal allowing members to shop on credit

Retail chain Tuskys Supermarkets has moved to boost its credit-based shopping volumes after it signed a partnership deal with Safaricom Sacco Ltd. Safaricom Sacco members will be able to shop for items worth up to three times their deposits [...]

Safaricom Sacco raises Sh500m from share sale

Safaricom Sacco has raised Sh500 million from sale of shares as it hopes to spread wings into real estate. The exercise, which begun in September last year will see the 9000-member Sacco raise Sh1 billion to fund projects among them a 15-storey office complex in Nairobi’s Westlands area. Initially scheduled to conclude by September 2016, the Sacco CEO George Ochiri said the process will be fast-tracked to ensure that the target is met by July this year [...]

KQ reschedules night flights to Rwanda over runway repairs

National carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) has rescheduled its night flights to neighbouring Rwanda following the closure of Kigali International Airport’s runway for repairs - a move that is expected to last two months. Prior to the adjustment KQ flights to Kigali were direct, but now they will be flying through Entebbe, Uganda, to connect more passengers [...]

Why Kenya’s beauty market is attracting mega takeover deals

The beauty and cosmetics industry has become Kenya’s new hub of investment that is pulling in big money to establish new lines of business and to snap up successful enterprises through multi-million shilling acquisition deals. The Flame Tree Group says the cosmetics division, under the manufacturing arm, accounted for 74 per cent of the company’s portfolio with the rest going to the trading arm [...]