Top Citi official to bag unclaimed assets CEO job

Kellen Kariuki, the currently senior human resource business partner for Middle East, Pakistan and Africa at Citi Bank is expected to be appointed a the first CEO of the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority. The authority which holds in trust all assets unclaimed and left idle by owners in banks for more than 5 years will receive

The authority is charged with holding in trust all assets which have not been claimed by their owners over a defined period of time, for example cash held in banks for a period exceeding five years without any activity initiated by the owner Sh930 million from six banks and an insurer, indicating that the huge sums may fall under its control. The country is estimated to have over more than Sh50 billion worth of idle assets [...]

Co-operative Bank rolls out paperless system to cut costs

Co-operative Bank has joined Family bank in rolling out of a paperless system where depositors will inform bank clerks of their account details and then will be issued with a system-generated receipt after confirming of the amount to be deposited. This move is aimed at cutting operational costs, reduce the service period and reducing paper clutter in the halls of banking [...]

Spending on infrastructure set to cause interest rates fall

The government of Kenya has started spending on major projects with disbursement on the standard gauge railway occurring simultaneously too. This move is expected to increase liquidity in the market and cause a drop in interest rates over the 2015/16 period. Other projects which the government is expected to spend on are the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport corridor and the Dongo Kundu road construction in Mombasa. In addition, the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee has reduced the key base rate, Kenya Banks Reference Rate (KBRR), for the banking industry from 9.13 per cent to 8.54 per cent of the past six months. Kenyan borrowers may benefit from a lower interest rate environment, consequently leading to economic acceleration [...]

South Africa fund manager eyes Kenya entry

Cape Town-based asset manager Allan Gray plans to set up base in East Africa with a debut entry in the Kenyan market with Nairobi as its base. The firm which is currently designing investment products and services for the Kenyan market ahead of its entry is ranked as the second second-biggest fund manager in South Africa’s after Old Mutual. There are 24 fund managers currently licensed by the Capital Markets Authority including Britam subsidiary British American Asset Managers, Pinebridge Investments, Centum’s Nabo Capital, Old Mutual, ICEA Lion Asset Management and UAP Investments [...]

Falling tea output signals better prices at Mombasa auction

Tea prices have risen at the Mombasa auction due to the onset of the dry spell that has affected daily production of green leaves. A kilogram of tea was selling at $2.32 (Sh211) at Tuesday’s auction, up from last week’s $2 (Sh182), with traders optimistic of better prices in the coming days. Quantities may decrease further in case it doesn’t rain in the coming days, which may lead to a higher demand for the beverage and an increase in the price [...]

Falling fuel prices could be Kenya’s ‘silver bullet’

Kenya’s manufacturing sector may register millions in savings on energy prices as the average price of imported diesel, which is a large component in manufacturing, dropped in December 2014 by 14.37 per cent drop. Apart from reducing of goods and services, this may lead to a net positive effect for investors. The drop in the price of imported petroleum over the last six months has further seen a direct fall in the cost of generating electricity, with the electricity fuel cost component (FCC) dropping by as much as 65 per cent over the period under review [...]