Safaricom war with Bitcoin dealer sparks CBK warning

BitPesa is locked in an acrimonious court battle with Safaricom over the telecom operator’s decision to terminate M-Pesa payments to the platform’s gateway dubbed Lipisha Consortium. Through the BitPesa platform, users can convert bitcoin into Kenya shillings and use it to make retail payments or remittances via M-Pesa. The CBK on Tuesday asked the public to desist from transacting in bitcoin and similar products as they are not regulated in Kenya [...]

Mastermind seen taking huge hit as tax rises

The higher tobacco taxes that came into effect two weeks ago are likely to hurt Mastermind Tobacco Kenya revenues more than BAT which dominates the mid and upmarket category, London-based investment bank Exotix says. BAT’s margins are likely to be protected by its dominance of the premium cigarette segment, which had a lower tax increase compared to the lower-priced segment. The new tax rate of a flat Sh2,500 per mille (1,000) of all classes of cigarettes represents a two per cent increase on the previous tax charged on premium cigarettes for BAT and a 108 per cent rise for low-priced cigarettes [...]

NBK shelves expansion plan to preserve capital

The National Bank of Kenya (NBK) has shelved regional expansion bid to avoid squeezing its prudential ratios although its management says the lender still has a Sh13 billion headroom to grow its local loan book. The bank said the current headroom of 0.9 per cent in terms of total capital to total risk-weighted assets — which is an indication of the relationship between capital and assets — was equivalent to Sh13 billion in loans and advances given that many other assets on the balance sheet could be expanded without adding risk [...]

NIC secures Sh5.6bn EIB loan for small business borrowing

NIC Bank has secured a Sh5.6 billion (€50 million) loan from European Investment Bank to fund its loan book expansion and lend small- and medium-sized enterprises. NIC is the second bank to secure EIB loan following disbursement of Sh555 million to ABC Bank last week. The cash will support the lender’s loan book expansion as it ponders shedding the [...]

Treasury eyes Sh16bn from reopened bond sale

The Treasury has returned to the market for the Sh16 billion it failed to net during the sale of the Sh30 billion nine-year infrastructure bond earlier this month. Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) on Tuesday said the tap sale (reopening) will run from December 15 to December 31, but the offer may close earlier [...]

Danish firm plans Kenya coffee roasting factory

Denmark’s largest supermarket chain, Coop Danmark, plans to set up a coffee roasting factory in Nairobi. The East African director for the Danish Investment Fund (IFU) Henrik Frosig said the supermarket chain was looking to process Kenyan coffee and export it to all its more than 1,200 retail outlets [...]

Titanium miner gets breathing space in new loan schedule

Kwale-based mining company Base Resources has rescheduled its loan repayment for the second time in as many years, allowing itself to pay Sh1.1 billion less for the instalment due on Tuesday. The new repayment schedule spreads out Sh19 billion debt over the 4.5 years unlike the previous arrangement [...]