The competition watchdog last year investigated more than 20 companies suspected of price-fixing. Most of the companies, including cab hailing mobile application Uber and telecommunications giant Safaricom, were cleared. The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) initiated an investigation into Uber Kenya – the firm that owns the app – after other players in the taxi […]
Category: East Africa News
Bank of Tanzania to start setting interest rates moving away from market determined process
The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) is set to introduce the central bank rate (CBR) under the interest rate-based monetary policy framework in the coming financial year to stabilize interest rates. This was revealed in the recently released monetary policy statement for June 2018 to be implemented from the next financial year. Although interest rates will […]
AON Tanzania renamed after acquisition by Minet Holding
Dar es Salaam. AON Tanzania, one of the largest insurance brokerage firm in has been renamed JH Minet Tanzania, following the acquisition of its shareholding by Minet Holding Africa. The new company will now be part of Minet Holdings Africa, an African insurance brokerage company which was formed by Capitalworks to operate as parent company […]
Kenya Bankers Association tightens rules for high value transactions as war on graft hots up
It will now be tougher to transact Sh1 million and above as banks tighten rules in bid to shed off the tag of being branded conduits of corruption deals. In a circular issued by Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) governing council to all member banks and copied to Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), some over the […]
ARM Cement bosses jump sinking ship as company struggles
When Athi River Mining (ARM) Cement made a Sh6.9 billion loss, the cost of running the company had suddenly shot up by 55 per cent. Part of the Sh2.8 billion administrative cost went into compensating the firm’s board of directors that is silently slithering away from the company and the responsibility to safeguard shareholder interests. […]
82 agri-tech startups operating across Africa
Focusing on everything from e-commerce, to information, to supply chain management, to IoT, 82 African agri-tech startups are spread widely across the continent, a new report has stated. According to the ‘Agrinnovating for Africa: Exploring the African Agri-Tech Startup Ecosystem Report 2018’, in all, 16 African countries play host to tech startups active in the […]
Bear run wipes out turnover, key index down at Kenyan bourse
Turnover at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) more than halved on Thursday as the key index hurtled below the psychological 3,400 points. Some 30 million shares were traded on Thursday, down from 51 million shares, with turnover standing at 4.9 million U.S. dollars from 10 million dollars on Wednesday. The top traded stocks were Athi […]
US and China tariff war hurts trade at Kenyan bourse
Investors at the Nairobi Securities Exchange last week incurred a loss of Sh118.7 billion as a result of tension in global trade, sparked by looming trade war between the U.S. and China. Central Bank Weekly statistical bulletin show that all indices and market capitalization declined, slowing post dividend growth momentum witnessed a fortnight ago when […]
Short-term rates head south at the auction on improved liquidity
Short-term interest rates have continued on a downward trend as the weekly Treasury bill auction attracts huge oversubscription. During the last auction, overall subscription stood at 214.71 per cent, with auction receiving Sh51.53 billion bids against an offer of Sh24 billion. All the tenors of Treasury bills on offer were oversubscribed. Interest rate on the […]
The unseen hand of China in Africa’s largest economy
Sometimes a throwaway sentence is more illuminating than it ought to be. A line in an article in Roads & Kingdoms in January about the Chinese in Lagos did just that. Near the end of the piece, the author wrote: On my final night in Lagos, Fang invites me to the Huawei offices for dinner, […]