Barclays to charge clients higher fees from next month to boost earnings

Barclays Bank plans to raise the fees charged customers next month joining a growing list of lenders that have raised transaction tariffs to shore up their profitability. Banks are under pressure to increase their transaction-based income as high interest rates dampened appetite for credit by private sector and consumers. Local banks rely on interest income to drive revenues. As at end of June, interest income constituted 60 per cent of the industry’s total income of Sh226 billion [...]

Barclays Bank taps Philip Kinisu to its board

Barclays Bank of Kenya has appointed Philip Kinisu to its board as a non-executive director. Mr Kinisu joins the bank’s board from PricewaterhouseCoopers Africa where he served as a senior partner, CEO and chairman respectively. Currently, Mr Kinisu is the non-executive vice-chairman of the Africa Population Health and Research Centre.  Previously, he also served as Honorary Treasurer at the University of Nairobi for several years [...]

Sh70bn ‘at stake’ in cigarettes tax plan

The government stands to lose close to Sh70 billion in the next decade under a proposed tax policy on cigarettes, a report by the Institute for Legislative Affairs (ILA) says. The Excise Duty Bill, 2015 had proposed a flat duty of Sh2,500 per 1,000 sticks but Parliament made an amendment that would charge a tax of between Sh900 and Sh2,800 per 1,000 sticks, depending on the flavour or brand of the cigarette. The Institute for Legislative Affairs (ILA) says that should the amendments go through they will make cigarettes cheaper which will increase consumption but in the long run the government will collect lower taxes since the tax charged has reduced [...]

Investors in NSE-listed firms lose Sh41bn in a week

Investors in companies listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) have lost Sh41 billion in just one week, signaling the extent to which the bear market is eroding paper wealth. NSE market capitalisation, an indicator of the quoted wealth, stood at Sh1.941 trillion last Monday as compared to Sh1.982 trillion on the same day last week. At the same time, the NSE 20 Share Index remained below the psychologically important mark of 4000 points for the better part of the week [...]

Central Bank, IMF to step up cross-border banks supervision

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is working with the Central Bank of Kenya to have individual supervisory units for banks with significant cross-border operations by next year. This will minimise associated risks such as money laundering, avoidance of a money trail and terrorism financing [...]

Google eyes Sh4bn stake in Turkana wind power plant

Global IT giant, Google, is set to invest Sh4 billion ($40 million) for a 12.5 per cent stake in the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project (LTWPP). Globally, Google has committed more than $2 billion (Sh200 bilion) to advance 22 clean energy projects. Last year, the firm reiterated its commitment by closing a $12 million (Sh1.2 billion) investment in the Jasper Power Project, a 96MW South African solar photovoltaic plant – its first renewable energy investment in Africa [...]