South Sudan instability hits CfC Stanbic profit

CFC Stanbic Bank has reported a 28 per cent drop in profit after tax for the three months to March this year attributable to a decline in income from its South Sudan branch. CFC is in the process of converting the South Sudan branch to a subsidiary following a good performance last year which was it first full year in operation [...]

Diaspora linked micro-lender gets CBK licence

Choice Microfinance has been licensed as a community microfinance bank (MFB) by the Central Bank of Kenya, allowing it to mobilise deposits in Kajiado North constituency. The diaspora linked micro-lender becomes the eleventh MFB to be licensed in the country. Choice MFB's target market will be the pastoralist communities, flower farm workers and the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) resident and operating in Kajiado North Constituency [...]

Equity Bank founder follows money in industrial ventures

Billionaire businessman Peter Munga has been slowly but steadily changing the composition of his investments — shedding the image of a hard-core banking and insurance mogul to become an industrialist with a mission to transform the rural economy. Munga widens mix of investments to agro-processing, energy as he cuts back investments in financial sector. Unknown to many, he is also a committed educationist who owns and runs the Pioneer Group of Schools. The latest addition to his empire is Greystone Industries, a concrete poles business he started mid last year [...]

Kenya losing over Sh600bn in tax evasion annually

Kenya loses an estimated Sh639 billion annually in tax evasion by multinational corporations, significantly hampering economic growth. Bribery, corruption and abuse of office also make up the list of financial fraud in Kenya. The report of the ‘High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa’ profiled Kenya, Ghana, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda [...]

Barclays first quarter profit jumps 10pc, helped by increase in interest income

Barclays Bank Kenya’s pre-tax profit for the first quarter rose ten per cent to Sh3.12 billion, helped by an increase in interest income. Net interest income, or total interest minus interest expenses, rose to Sh5.14 billion from Sh4.76 billion a year before, spurred on by higher lending to customers. It attributed the growth in profits to an eight per cent rise in net interest income, with customer deposits marching ahead of the total loans to customers. [...]

Shelter Afrique invests Sh97m in Tanzania mortgage company

Nairobi-based pan African housing finance firm, Shelter Afrique, has made a $1 million (Sh97m) equity investment in the Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company [TMRC], in a move expected to help make home ownership affordable to more Tanzanians. The equity investment will give Shelter Afrique 11.06 per cent stake in the firm which support banks to do mortgage lending by refinancing banks' mortgage portfolios [...]

Access Kenya completes network upgrade in Nairobi

Access Kenya has announced completion of a network upgrade in Nairobi, Nakuru and Thika aimed at boosting resilience and to increase business connectivity. The Sh300 million investment, will enable the integrated solutions provider cover 18 of the country's major towns by 2016 with fiber connectivity and enhanced bandwidth in response to business growth in these regions [...]