Safaricom M-Pesa transfers across borders hit Sh17bn

The value of cross-border M-Pesa transactions has hit Sh17 billion four years since the service was introduced, indicating a high growth potential for mobile money transfers in facilitating international remittances and business transactions. Safaricom says the uptake of M-Pesa cross border transfers has been growing, and it anticipates more customers will sign up as they appreciate the speed, safety and security that the service offers [...]

StanChart profit alert, Barclays sale report raise eyebrows

The performance of top-tier foreign-owned banks operating in Kenya will come under sharp focus this year after reports emerged of a likely sell-out of Barclays Kenya’s business by its London-based parent and its British counterpart Standard Chartered issued a profit warning. Local banks outpaced their multinational rivals in the earnings race as at the end of September 2015, reflecting the growing gap between the two groups [...]

More banks seen bypassing bonds brokers in 2016

The introduction of the authorised securities dealer licence by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) in 2015 will define this year as banks bypass brokers when selling or buying bonds. Established lenders will likely favour taking control of trade to pocket commissions that would otherwise go to intermediaries. Chase Bank, which also has an investment bank subsidiary Genghis Capital, was the first to acquire the licence [...]

NSE investors hope for a turnaround after bear run

Share prices tumbled across the board, ending a three-year bull run that started January 2012 to February 2015. The run had brought with it a stunning increase of Sh1.44 trillion in market capitalisation at the NSE, from Sh868.24 billion to Sh2.45 trillion. Investors will be praying for a better year after only 10 out of the 61 actively traded Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) counters registered gains in 2015, effectively wiping out Sh263 billion in paper wealth [...]

Capital gains tax reintroduction causes a storm

The reintroduction of capital gains tax (CGT) in January 2015, 30 years after it was suspended, quickly became the dominant storyline of the past year, culminating in a lawsuit filed against the government by stockbrokers. Opponents of the new tax, effective until last Thursday for shares but still applicable for property, argued that it would stifle the growth of the local equities market which was coming off a three-year bull run that saw market capitalisation surpass the Sh2 trillion mark, alerting the government to the potential tax revenues it could generate [...]

Rising sisal exports hurt local spinners

Increased demand for sisal fibre by western and middle-eastern countries has led to rising exports creating a scarcity of the raw material for local spinners. The price of the commodity has increased by 41 per cent since January driven by high global market demand [...]

New rating agency CreditInfo unveils services for consumers

CreditInfo, a credit reference bureau (CRB) licensed last year, has launched its services in the market after accumulating data from a wide range of service providers. The firm joins other Central Bank of Kenya-licensed players, Metropol Credit Reference Bureau Limited and TransUnion, in credit rating business [...]