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Tourism stakeholders at the Coast have welcomed the reduction of fares by local airlines saying this would increase domestic travel and boost the industry . They said the discounted fares for tourist destinations and the introduction of night passenger train by the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) would significantly increase the number of domestic travellers.

A veteran hotelier Fred Kiuru said since the outbreak of coronavirus, the industry has largely been sustained by local tourists.

“Such initiatives must be encouraged as the hospitality industry has been badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Kiuru during an interview with Kenya News Agency on Monday.

The local airlines Jambojet, Fly 540 and Kenya Airways have announced special offers from Nairobi to tourist destinations of Mombasa, Malindi and Diani.

On January 5, Jambojet offered passengers 10,000 seats at Ksh2,100 during a three days’ sale which was part of the #NowTravelready campaign. The tickets will be valid for local travel between 11 th January and 20 th March 2021.

The national carrier Kenya Airways has reduced its fare from Nairobi to Mombasa to Sh4,300 while Fly 540 is now charging Sh3, 400.

During the December holidays, the same airlines were having fares of up to Sh15, 000 for one way only.

Early this month, Kenya Railways introduced the third pair of passenger trains on its SGR service (Madaraka Express) that operates from both ends of the line in Nairobi and Mombasa at 9pm and arriving at 3am.

This is in addition to two other trains that operate in the morning and afternoon which were launched in June 2017.

Mombasa and other coastal areas are the preferred holiday destinations for many Kenyans and foreign visitors to savour their beautiful sandy beaches stretched out from the South to the North Coast and tropical ambience.

Kiuru said the introduction of cheaper fares by the airlines was a huge boost towards efforts to revive tourism sector in the country.The same sentiments were expressed by a South Coast travel agent Stephen Mule who said the industry needed all the support to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. “The pandemic has brought nothing but bad news for the tourism industry,” said Mule.He added that many establishments and other related tourist businesses were trying to stay afloat after being forced to close down that also saw thousands of employees losing jobs.However, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the industry enjoyed booming business during the December holidays where some hotels recorded impressive bookings with locals […]

Full Article at www.kbc.co.ke

Some employees of the troubled Tuskys Supermarket chain in Nakuru have called for the establishment of an independent regulator to monitor growth and control expansion of retail outlets in Kenya.

Tuskys Nakuru Branch manager Mr. Samuel Ikonya said thousands of lives have been ruined after the collapse of retail enterprises in Kenya due to the ‘ruthless and competitive nature of the business’.

“What is happening at Tuskys is now a familiar script in the country’s retail sector. We are only left with this outlet in Nakuru after closing our flagship Magic branch. We are now operating with skeleton staff after hundreds were laid off,” he said.

“No new supplies of goods are coming in against a background of creditors who include suppliers, landlords and banks demanding to be paid their dues running into millions of shillings,” stated Mr. Ikonya.

While wading into the debate on troubled retail sector recently, Governor Lee Kinyanjui had noted that due to lack of regulation, the sector’s landscape was in a sorry state and the situation has seen giants such as Nakumatt and Uchumi wiped out of the market while Tuskys was fighting for survival.

“The role of a structured retail outlet is critical for the distribution of local goods both locally and regionally as when Nakumatt closed shop in Tanzania, our exports to that country dipped significantly,” noted governor Kinyanjui.

“As we continue to witness the replacement of local retails with foreign chains, it must not be lost on us that the priority of any retail chain is to act as a marketing point for products from its mother country,” stated the governor in an interview.

For 47 year old Tuskys employee Jotham Nandwa, nothing could lift the gloom. Not even the reassuring words from his boss Mr. Ikonya that all shall be well.

“The few of us remaining on the staff list still show up at work every single day with hope that things will get better. We now work for a pittance. For the last six months, we have not received our salaries yet we have school fees obligations and mouths to feed,” Nandwa said.

“It is a double tragedy for some of my colleagues who thought they had found a new lease of life here after they were laid off by their previous employer-Nakumatt, which went under two years ago,” Nandwa reminisces ruefully.

For 28 year old Anne Gitonga who had leased space at the once giant retail outlet to […]

Full Article at www.kenyanews.go.ke

NSE trading floor. FILE PHOTO | NMG A record number of profit warnings by commercial banks has left their shareholders at risk of missing dividends worth over Sh33 billion after the lenders were forced to cut or suspend the payments to conserve cash in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis.

An unprecedented six of the 11 Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)-listed banks have warned that their profits will fall by more than a quarter—painting a bleak dividends outlook.

“It is unlikely that you issue a profit warning and then pay a dividend because what you are trying to do is to ensure that you retain cash in the business to keep going in the challenging circumstances,” ICEA-Lion Asset Management chief executive Einstein Kihanda said.

The freeze on dividend payouts will see investors miss about Sh33 billion, going by the 2019 payouts or Sh40.47 billion that was paid in the previous year.

Most of the lenders, including Standard Chartered Bank Kenya, Absa Kenya, Cooperative Bank of Kenya, DTB, I&M Holdings and NCBA, have all issued profit warnings.

KCB, Equity, Cooperative Bank, Absa, Stanbic, DTB, Standard Chartered Bank of Kenya, NCBA and I&M saw a combined 29.2 percent or 23.36 billion decline in profitability in the nine months to September.

In terms of falls in net profit, Absa took the heaviest hit (65.4 percent), followed by NCBA (45.3 percent), KCB (43.2 percent), Stanchart (30.41 percent) and Stanbic (30.1 percent).

Several chief executives now say they will give priority to cash-preservation as they seek strong capital buffers in line with a Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) circular issued last August.

KCB Group already skipped the Sh1 per share interim dividend or an equivalent of Sh3.21 billion, amid a 43.1 percent fall in nine month earnings, and says it will require CBK clearance in case it settles on any final payout.

“Our priority is to preserve our cash resources as we look at the options for supporting customers during the crisis,” said KCB Group CEO Joshua Oigara in an interview after releasing the nine-month results.

“We have no concern at our cash level but we are looking at CBK guidance and we will consult them before end of March.”A dividend freeze by KCB will deny investors Sh11.24 billion, going by the previous payout by the country’s most profitable bank.Equity Group, which last year declared Sh9.4billion dividend but later suspended it on cash preservation claims, maintained that any such payouts for this year would depend […]

Full Article at www.businessdailyafrica.com

NAIROBI — Kenya Airways plans further pay cuts for employees of as much as 30% after the airline was hit by the coronavirus pandemic that has caused a slump in air travel, an internal memo showed on Friday.

The cuts follow those made in March last year following Kenya’s first confirmed COVID-19 case, which prompted the government to suspend domestic and international commercial passenger air travel.

The latest cuts, of 5% to 30% for workers with monthly earnings exceeding 45,000 shillings ($409), take effect this month and will run for six to 12 months, the company’s CEO Allan Kilavuka said in an internal memo seen by Reuters.

He said in the memo that the company was grappling with debts which are at an unsustainably high level.

Kenya Airways declined to comment.

Although domestic air travel resumed in Kenya in July, followed by international routes a month later, demand has stayed below pre-pandemic levels.

In August, Kenya Airways said it had laid off about 650 workers, a month after announcing plans for an unspecified number of layoffs, cuts to its network and the offloading of some assets.

At the time it forecast a fall in 2020 revenues of between 60 billion and 70 billion shillings as demand for the rest of the year was expected to be less than half that of 2019.

Trade in the company’s shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange has been suspended, pending a government restructuring plan, after it submitted a draft law to parliament on nationalizing the airline.

African airlines could lose $6 billion in passenger revenue in 2020 after the pandemic grounded much of the global aviation industry, the International Air Transport Association said in April last year. ($1=110.0000 Kenyan shillings) (Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Jane Merriman)

Full Article at financialpost.com

Kenya Airways and Air France KLM Group have agreed to mutually terminate their Africa-Europe joint venture partnership from 1 September, 2021, the airlines said in Nairobi on Monday.

The airlines had previously suspended the Joint Venture cooperation for the calendar year 2020 mainly due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and subsequent unpredictability of return to normalcy in operations, they said in a statement.

“This development allows Kenya Airways to offer additional options and convenience to our customers connecting through our European gateways in line with our goal of supporting the recovery of international tourism in Kenya and connecting Africa to the World, and the World to Africa,” said Kenya Airways CEO Allan Kilavuka.

Kenya Airways will continue to serve the Europe market through its gateways of London, Paris, Amsterdam with Rome slated for resumption from 2021.

The Kenyan authorities are working on a plan to convert the Kenya Airways into a state-run enterprise years after it was partially privatised through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) at the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

The airline is owned by the government of Kenya, which controls 48.8 per cent of the company.

A consortium of banks, which formed a company called KQ Lenders 2017, currently owns38.1 per cent while the Royal Dutch KLM, owns 7.8 per cen of the company.

The remaining shares are held by minority shareholders through the NSE. The KQ-KLM joint venture cooperation covers seven routes in Europe and Africa.

“These routes will be served by onward codeshares from the Air France KLM group and additionally with our ever-expanding network of European carriers including Alitalia, British Airways, Lufthansa, and Swiss International Airlines, amongst others,” the airline said. Kenya Airways partnership with Air France KLM covers joint ticket sales across Europe. The ticket sales are done in close co-operation with Air France KLM.

KLM and Kenya Airways have a joint venture on seven routes between Europe and Africa.

The Joint Venture Routes cover Kenya – Nairobi, Kisumu, Malindi, Mombasa, Tanzania – Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar, Mwanza. Uganda – Entebbe, Zimbabwe – Harare, Rwanda – Kigali, Zambia – Lusaka, Livingstone, Ndola, Malawi – Lilongwe, Blantyre, Burundi – Bujumbura.It also covers the London- Heathrow (LHR), London flights operate daily overnight Southbound and daytime Northbound from LHR Terminal 4 to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, NBO, with a Boeing B787-8 Dreamliner, according to the airline.Convenient UK connections are available from 16 UK Airport with KLM via our Amsterdam schedule and Air France via our Paris […]

Full Article at www.worldstagegroup.com

Kenya Airways Boeing 737-800 © Tis Meyer (PlanePics.org) Kenya Airways (KQ, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta ) and other Kenyan airlines will, by end of March 2021, commence direct flights between Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta and Hargeisa , the capital of Somaliland, the breakaway region of Somalia seeking international recognition.

In a move that has angered Mogadishu, Kenya openly recognised the secessionist region by announcing it would open a consulate in Hargeisa by the end of March 2021, while Somaliland would simultaneously upgrade its liaison office in Nairobi.

The announcement was made in a joint statement after a two-day official visit to Kenya on December 13 and 14 by Somaliland president Muse Bihi Abdi at the invitation of Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta.

The move was not well received by the Somali government which cut diplomatic ties with Kenya on December 14, the day after Adbi arrived in Nairobi. In a late-night announcement on national television, Somali Minister for Information Osman Dubbe accused Kenya of constantly interfering with Somalia’s internal affairs and of violating Somalia’s sovereignty. He said Kenyan diplomats in Mogadishu had seven days to…

Kenya Airways (KQ, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta ) has moved into a market gap left my stricken South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo ) by operating direct freighter services out of SAA’s hub in Johannesburg O.R. Tambo to Southern African destinations. Previously, all Kenya Airways traffic departing from Johannesburg had to pass through the Kenyan flag carrier’s Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta hub.

The airline said in a statement that it planned to operate directly from Johannesburg to Maputo , Harare Int’l , Lilongwe , Lusaka , and Dar es Salaam . According to the cargo flight schedule published on its website, the first freighter flight, KQ2775, from Johannesburg departed for Lusaka and onto Lilongwe on November 25. Another cargo flight, KQ2742, routed from Johannesburg to Maputo back to Nairobi on November 26.

The airline has two B737-300(F) s in its fleet: 5Y-KQC (msn 29088) and 5Y-KQD (msn 29750). It also makes use of bellyhold capacity on its passenger fleet of two B737-700 s (inactive), eight B737-800 s, nine B787-8 s, and…

Full Article at www.ch-aviation.com

(Ecofin Agency) – Equity Bank Kenya will obtain a loan portfolio guarantee of $50 million from the Dutch Development Finance Fund (FMO) to support SMEs in Kenya. This risk-sharing facility will be provided under the Nasira program, launched by the Dutch agency with the support of the European Union.

Commenting on the deal, Linda Broekhuizen, Interim CEO of FMO, said financing micro, small and medium enterprises is critical to reducing the impact of the pandemic on the livelihoods of people and their communities.

Nasira, which finances companies in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Europe, has since 2020 expanded its focus to include companies in difficulty as a result of covid-19.

The guarantee granted will cover loans provided by the Kenyan bank to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) whose activities have been severely affected by the health crisis. Businesses run by women and those in the agricultural value chain will also be eligible for this financing.

The loan portfolio of Equity Group, the parent company of Equity Bank Kenya, grew by 30% to 453.9 billion shillings ($4.1 billion) at the end of September 2020.

Chamberline MOKO

Full Article at www.ecofinagency.com

The cost of healthcare rose sharpest in October due to a surge in Covid-19 infections as more sectors of the economy reopened, new data shows.

Statistics by the Central Bank of Kenya(CBK) show that health inflation hit an all-time high of 3.04 percent, signalling higher hospital bills at a time when Kenyans were struggling with job losses and lower incomes.

Insurance penetration declined to 2.34 percent of GDP and losses in the sector coupled with poorly capitalised companies forced Kenyans to spend out of pockets.

A quarter of all Kenyans healthcare bills are paid out of pocket, according to the World Bank which leaves families vulnerable when costs, rise hitting low income households hardest.

Although the Insurance regulator ordered companies to settle all Covid-19 cases, increased claims against falling premiums, a sharp rise in policy cancellations and withdrawals by customers squeezed by the economic fallout from Covid-19, is pushing them into liquidity challenges.

Some have opted to find ways of convincing customers to adopt home-based care as opposed to going to the hospitals stating that limited bed space, catering and extra costs of staying in a hospital pushes up the average cost of managing coronavirus patients without complications to Sh600,000.

However home-based care for two weeks costs just a fraction of about Sh200,000 for two weeks.

Jubilee insurance for instance is offering customers virtual psychiatrists and doctors on call to undertake Coronavirus recovery from the comfort of their homes to reduce the cost of claims on the insurer.

The firm is also offering a care package of thermometer, a box of surgical masks, red disposable bags and prescribed medications and a drug delivery services for non-covid or chronic diseases.

Full Article at www.businessdailyafrica.com

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Full Article at centreforaviation.com

CAPA News Briefs

CAPA publishes more than 400 global News Briefs every weekday, covering all aspects of the aviation and travel industry. It’s the most comprehensive source of market intelligence in the world, with around 50 per cent of content translated from non-English sources. The breadth of our coverage means you won’t need any other news sources to monitor competitors and stay informed about the latest developments in the wider aviation sector.

Our daily News Briefs are only available to CAPA Members. Membership provides access to more than 400 News Briefs every weekday, with quick links to our Analysis Reports, Research Publications, Data Centre and more.

It’s easy to keep your News Briefs relevant by customising your email alerts based on topic, region, sector, frequency and more. Once you’ve saved your settings, you can stay up-to-date wherever you are, by quickly scanning our News Briefs online or via the CAPA mobile app.

Membership also provides full access to our Analysis Reports, in-depth Research Publications and comprehensive Data Centre. Premium CAPA Members can also access add-ons such as our exclusive Fleet Database, Airline Cask Data tools and more, to enjoy the full capabilities of our global platform.

Full Article at centreforaviation.com