Business News
In April, the value of money transacted through cards and point-of-sale machines declined by a third to Sh35.2 billion from Sh52.1 billion in March. Often times, the speed of money is just like that of sound, loud under the cover of darkness but barely audible during the day. Money can be nocturnal. It gets busy at night, seamlessly changing hands in pubs, nightclubs, brothels and keshas. In Nairobi, money tends to pronounce its importance on Fridays after a hard-week’s work when the sun begins its routine weary descent down the distant mountain peaks. At this moment, those who find their way to estates enjoy a delicacy of peppered mutura before washing it down with a bottle of beer. Those that opt to stay behind in downtown relish a bite of mishikaki or roasted goat meat as expensive whiskey bottles litter their tables. Trips to the nearest automated teller machines (ATMs) can be as numerous as those to the bathrooms. And for those who love convenience, mobile money ensures the transactions continue unabated to the wee hours of the morning without a single trip to the ATM. But it is not just across time that money moves, it also moves across space. Money is moved by weekend partygoers from Nairobi to Naivasha; by commuters on the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from the country’s capital city to the public beaches in Mombasa County. Some money is dropped by countryside-bound motorists along the highways to hawkers of mahindi choma like breadcrumbs from the high tables of the wealthy. Motels, petrol stations, garages and car wash boys also get a bite of this kitty on transit. The money finally pours into the rural Kenya economy like a river ending a long journey into the expanse of the ocean through numerous get-to-together meetings, weddings, funerals or just handouts. But the dusk-to-dawn curfew and the partial lockdown of four counties (Nairobi, Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi) has curtailed the free flow of money in the past three months. Yesterday, President Uhuru Kenyatta extended the nationwide curfew for 30 days and said the cessation of movement into and out of the Eastleigh Area of Nairobi and the Mombasa Old Town Area will lapse at 4am Sunday. He also eased movement restrictions in Kilifi and Kwale counties. However, the ban on all gatherings has been extended for another 30 days, same with movement in and out […]

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