Growth in housing market cooling off, says KBA

Prices of property increase marginally in the second quarter of the year amid rising inflation and tight liquidity.The property market is showing signs of cooling off with house prices only rising marginally in the second quarter of the year as lending rates rise.The Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) Housing Price Index, which measures the average home prices, increased by 0.2 per cent in the second quarter of the year, slower than the 2.75 per cent increase in the first three months of 2015…[...]

Ailing Uchumi hires HR firm to probe theft by employees

Uchumi Supermarkets has hired a Nairobi-based human resources firm, Hipora Business Solutions East Africa, to investigate theft by staff of the loss-making retail chain. Acting Uchumi chief executive Owino Ayondo said the investigation would cover employees in all the three regional countries in which Uchumi has operations…[...]

Norwegian PE pays Sh476m for Vertical Agro ownership

Norwegian private equity fund, Norfund, has bought shares in agriculture firm Vertical Agro in a Sh476 million (38.7 million Norwegian krone) deal.Vertical Agro is the parent company of Sunripe and Serengeti Fresh which makes it the largest exporter of organic vegetables in the country…[...]

Tana Delta master plan boost for Mumias

A plan for companies and the local community to co-exist in the Tana River Delta has been finalised, offering a boost for investors eyeing the region. Government officials said Monday the Tana River Delta Land Use Plan to be launched on Thursday had laid a framework for resource sharing on the 225,000 hectares of the coastal land…[...]

NSE links up with Uganda share system

Share trade between the Kenyan and Ugandan exchanges has become easier after both markets linked their electronic depository systems.The East African Securities Exchange Association (EASEA), the umbrella body for regional capital market regulators, said the inter-depository transfer mechanism is now in place.The East Africa inter-depository transfer mechanism makes it easier to trade across stock exchanges by allowing shares to be transferred from one depository account into another…[...]

Taxpayers to pay more interest on debt as policy rate hits bonds

The reopened Sh15 billion five-year infrastructure bond whose sale closed last week only fetched Sh12 billion at an interest rate on accepted bids of 14.27 per cent. Kenyans are headed for more pain as interest rates on new treasuries jumped last week due to tight money supply, a result of raising the policy rate by 300 basis points to 11.5 per cent…[...]

EA Cables completes key production plant refurbishment

Regional Cables and Conductors Manufacturer, East African Cables, fortunes are all set for good tidings following the commissioning of its flagship Copper production facility in Nairobi. As part of the firm’s corporate growth strategy, East African Cables, has completed refurbishment and upgrade works at its Kitui Road Copper Production plant…[...]

Brookside eyes bigger slice of Coast milk market, enters Lamu

The dairy sector in the country's coastal lowlands has received a major boost after milk processor Brookside announced it would partner with farmers in Lamu County to increase production of raw milk in the region. The move by the dairy processing company to set up raw milk collection facilities in Witu, Lamu West constituency, has given hope to more than 10,000 dairy farmers in the area…[...]