Rea Vipingo plans diversification into power generation

Agricultural firm Rea Vipingo will invest Sh1.3 billion in power generation and expansion of vegetables production after delisting from the Nairobi Securities Exchange. Rea Vipingo is expected to use the electricity generated to power its factory, potentially reducing its operating expenses. The surplus is also expected to be sold to electricity distributor Kenya Power [...]

Equity Bank plans Sh200 billion ten country expansion

Equity Bank plans to expand to 10 countries in the next five years at a cost of Sh200 billion, it announced Tuesday. The lender said it had already signed loan agreements for Sh36 billion ($400 million)—and Tuesday created additional shares worth Sh20 billion to be used in the acquisition process. Equity plans entry to Ethiopia, Burundi and the DR Congo in the next two years and thereafter Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The bank will turn to West Africa after five years, eyeing Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon [...]

KQ withholds deductions from salaries to aid cashflow

The depth of Kenya Airways’ financial challenges continued to emerge with Monday’s revelation that the airline has not remitted to banks money it deducted from employees’ monthly salaries to service loans. The delay in loan payments has left hundreds of Kenya Airways’ employees in a difficult position after the banks wrote warning letters to the debtors. Kenya Airways said it had alerted its staff of the delay in making the March payments to banks because of the ‘serious cash flow constraints’ that have forced it to prioritise payables [...]

Treasury says Sh2.5trn public debt manageable

Kenya’s public debt of Sh2.5 trillion is manageable and sustainable, according to the Treasury. The ministry said the investments being made in infrastructure as well as good quality institutions would ensure Kenya continues to invest well and is able to repay debts. Treasury’s statement came as the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) predicted the debt was likely to reach Sh2.9 trillion by the end of this year, an increase of more than Sh400 billion from last December level. NSE, however, said there are chances the growth rate of the economy will outstrip the growth rate of debt [...]

Kenya’s Comesa sugar imports quota up for review in June

Kenya’s import quota for sugar from the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (Comesa) will be reviewed in June when a key committee meets to draw a formula based on needs. Under the Comesa safeguards, Kenya was allocated 300,000 tonnes of the sweetener from Comesa states annually to bridge the deficit created by insufficient production but the country only consumes a quarter of the given quota [...]

Inflation up 6.31pc in March as cost of food rises

Inflation last month rose way above government target for the year, pushed by rising prices of key food items such as tomatoes and potatoes. Inflation has increased for two months in a row since February when it bucked a five-month declining trend, inching up marginally on rising prices of key food items. Inflation had been dropping since last August when it hit a 25–month high of 8.36 per cent but was cooled by the falling electricity and fuel prices [...]

Housing Finance funds Sh1bn Nanyuki mall in counties expansion

Housing Finance (HF) is the lead financier of a Sh1.3 billion shopping mall in Nanyuki that will see Chandarana Food Plus become the anchor tenant with its second outlet outside Nairobi. The mall is partly owned by Kiloran Development Group, an investment vehicle of British nationals who have previously undertaken real estate projects abroad [...]

Telecom firms to manage Sh2.5bn kitty by December

Telecommunication operators will be included in the management of a Sh2.5 billion fund established to support infrastructure in remote areas before the end of the year. This follows an agreement between the operators through their lobby group, Telecommunication Service Providers Association of Kenya (Tespok), and the ICT ministry Tuesday [...]