Kenya | - Part 16

Kenyan Growth Slows as Farming Shrinks for First Time Since 2009

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Economic growth in Kenya slowed in the first quarter, crimped by the first contraction in agricultural output in eight years and a slowdown in bank lending. Gross domestic product in East Africa’s largest economy grew 4.7 percent from a year earlier in the three months through March, compared with 5.8 percent reported in the previous quarter, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement on its website. Kenya’s rain-fed…

Kenyan President Pledges Investment Plan in Hunt for Votes

Posted on by The Editorial Team

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s ruling Jubilee Party pledged to transform East Africa’s largest economy into a middle-income nation by 2022 by boosting investment in public infrastructure and technology and offering increased financing for small businesses. President Uhuru Kenyatta’s party also said it will increase the number of poor and elderly on free health care and offer free education to some primary and secondary public school students. The number of elderly receiving state grants would…

Kenyan Lender CBA Agrees to Acquire Crane Bank’s Rwanda Unit

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Commercial Bank of Africa Ltd., a closely held Kenyan lender, agreed to acquire the Rwandan unit of Crane Bank Ltd., Uganda’s fourth-largest lender. An agreement on the purchase has been signed, the Nairobi-based lender said in an emailed statement on Thursday. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval, it said. “The acquisition signals CBA’s strategic intentions to expand its existing business operations in Rwanda and participate meaningfully in Rwanda’s economic growth…

Biggest Kenyan Bank Makes Takeover Bid for State-Owned Rival

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s biggest bank by assets offered to buy a state-owned lender as the industry struggles to cope with interest-rate caps that have cut profits and curbed lending. KCB Group Ltd. provided an expression of interest to the Treasury to acquire a controlling stake in National Bank of Kenya Ltd., Judith Odhiambo, a spokeswoman for Nairobi-based KCB, said in an emailed response to questions on Monday. “Further details will, however, be provided in…

Kenya to Lower Growth Forecast as Drought Cuts Food Output

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya will cut its growth forecast to reflect the impact of a drought that slashed agricultural output in East Africa’s biggest economy and left the country short of its staple food, Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich said. Economic growth will probably be 5.7 percent this year, compared with an earlier estimate of 5.9 percent to 6 percent, Rotich, 48, said in an interview Wednesday at his office in the capital, Nairobi. The…

Kenyan Opposition Leader May Consider Tax Cuts to Woo Investors

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga said he would consider tax cuts to woo foreign investors and measures to boost manufacturing to drive export-led growth if he wins the country’s presidential elections in August. The National Super Alliance also plans measures to assist small-scale businesses and farmers, and a crackdown on corruption to boost revenue collection if it comes to power, Odinga said in an interview Wednesday in the capital, Nairobi. The…

Kenyan Election Body Denies Awarding Deal to Blocked Company

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s electoral commission said it’s yet to decide which company will print ballot papers for elections being held in two months, after a local newspaper said the deal had been handed to a Dubai-based firm whose contract has been blocked twice. “We are still working on it,” Andrew Limo, spokesman for the Independent Electoral & Boundaries Commission, said by phone on Wednesday from the capital, Nairobi. “Communication will be…

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