Equity picks a new fight with Safaricom over M-Pesa fees

Equity Bank Group has written a protest letter to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) objecting to Safaricom’s intended increase of charges on bank-to-MPesa transfers, which once effected will raise fees charged on Equitel — its mobile banking service. Safaricom has been charging banks a flat rate of Sh33 for customers who move money from their bank accounts to their own M-Pesa accounts or those of third parties…[...]

Mauritius says ready to sell Britam stake seized from tycoon

Mauritius is looking to sell a 23 percent stake in Kenya's British-American Investments Co (Britam), seized from a disgraced tycoon, a senior government official said on Thursday. The Indian Ocean island nation seized Dawood Rawat's assets in early April after accusing him of running a Ponzi scheme through a Mauritian insurer, sending shares of Britam down by almost a quarter…[...]

Ministry hands maize growing zones Sh390m cereals dryers

The Ministry of Agriculture has distributed 36 grain dryers at a cost of Sh390 million to the maize-growing regions ahead of the anticipated El Nino rains. Agriculture PS Sicily Kariuki said the country is well prepared to handle the rains that might lead to post-harvest losses…[...]

Govt invites tenders for supply of laptops again

The government on Friday invited bids for the supply of laptops to pupils after the first attempt was rocked by procurement scandals. ICT Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said firms found to be engaging in procurement fraud in the tenders will be stopped from doing business in the country…[...]

Manufacturers challenged to raise product quality

Kenyan companies have been challenged to improve their standards in order to compete in the international markets. According to the African Organization for Standardisation (ARSO) Secretary-General Hermogene Nsengimana, Kenyan products access less than one per cent of the global market share of manufactured products due to low standards…[...]

Safaricom opens M-Pesa to third-party developers

Safaricom has opened up M-Pesa, allowing local and international developers to create applications that use the platform as the main payment option. Developers can now innovate products that assist in developing financial products and grow their own businesses linking them to M-Pesa…[...]

M-Shwari users hit by system hitch

More than 11 million customers with deposits on Safaricom‘s popular mobile money banking service M-Shwari have been unable to access their savings since Friday morning. A system hitch locked in more than Sh5 billion held in the M-Shwari platform after what appeared to be an unexpected interruption of service lasted the entire day…[...]