Airtel cleared for regional mobile money transfer

Airtel Kenya -through its parent firm, Bharti - is set to start cross border mobile money transfer services in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda after receiving regulatory approvals from the Central Banks of the four countries. The first phase will be a pilot that starts in November with a full commercial launch across the region “within the next one year”. Airtel Money Head Chidi Okpala said during the 2014 East African Business Summit in Rwanda. [...]

Kenya tourist arrivals fall 14% over terror

Official data from Kenya Tourism Board said arrivals totalled 428,585 in the six months to June compared to 495,978 visitors over the corresponding period last year. "The numbers have spoken; we performed very badly due to the insecurity experienced, especially at the Kenyan Coast,". Sam Ikwaye, executive officer of the Kenya Association of Hotel-keepers and Caterers, told AFP. [...]

Kwale to leverage on award to woo tourists, investors

Kwale County Government is banking on the recent selection of Diani Beach as Africa’s top beach destination by the World Tourism Awards (WTA) and success of the inaugural Destination Kwale Investment Forum to woo investors. “We are on track to development. The success of the investment forum has catapulted us to new levels and destination Kwale is the place to be for holiday’’. Kwale Governor, Salim Mvurya said. [...]

Amiran Kenya to roll out KES 1.3bn farm support project

Amiran Kenya has partnered with five financial institutions to provide farmers with loans to purchase its drip irrigation systems. Through a scheme they call ‘Inua Maisha na Drip (Improve your life with drip)’, farmers can buy kits for anything from a sixteenth of an acre to a full acre. It is also seeking a $10 million loan (about KES 880 million) from a World Bank institution to support its operations in the country. [...]

Stakeholders seek to halt dwindling tea fortunes

Addressing the conference dubbed “Crisis in Tea Trade and The Way Out”, the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Kiraitu Murungi, observed that  “over the last 50 years, the tea sector has been the most stable and the best managed of all agricultural sectors in Kenya. This story has changed and the tea sector faces numerous challenges which require urgent interventions to streamline and strengthen the sector institutions. Like coffee, tea is fast becoming a political crop.” [...]