Kenya | - Part 17

Kenya Airways Debt Swap May Give State a Controlling Stake

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s government agreed to swap loans it provided to Kenya Airways Ltd. for equity, a conversion that may give the state a controlling stake in the national carrier, Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich said. The government will also guarantee 77 billion shillings ($745 million) of the airline’s debt to lessors and domestic banks, enabling Kenya Airways to extend its loan repayments to 10 years, Rotich told reporters Tuesday in the capital, Nairobi….

Catalyst acquires strategic interest in Kensta Group

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Catalyst Principal Partners LLC (Catalyst) has announced its acquisition of a significant minority interest in Kensta Group (Kensta). Kensta Group is a 52-year-old third generation family business, with headquarters in Kenya and operations in five East African countries. Since inception, Kensta, through its various investments has played a pivotal role in the east African printing and packaging Industry and has been instrumental in changing the face of office automation…

Kenyan Challenger Says No Violence If President Vote Is Fair

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga pledged to keep his bid to unseat President Uhuru Kenyatta free of violence, while warning that his supporters may rise up if they suspect rigging. “We do not expect any violence,” Odinga told reporters in Nairobi, the capital, on Tuesday. “It’s not in our hands. If elections are free and fair, I don’t think there would be any. Violence will come if somebody interferes with the electoral process.”…

Kenyan Central Bank Says Lenders Face New Era of Smaller Profits

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan lenders must adjust their business models to adapt to a new era of lower profits as interest-rate caps curb investor returns, Central Bank of Kenya Governor Patrick Njoroge said. Return on equity in the Kenyan banking industry declined to 13.6 percent in March from 18.2 percent in June, Njoroge told reporters Tuesday in the capital, Nairobi. For the country’s biggest lenders, the drop was more severe, slumping to 23 percent…

Kenya central bank keeps benchmark rate at 10 percent

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s central bank kept its benchmark lending rate at 10.0 percent on Monday, the bank’s monetary policy committee said, a bid to reduce the threat of demand-driven inflation. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted rates wouldn’t change. The government, which faces parliamentary, presidential and local elections in August, is struggling to contain high inflation, caused mostly by higher food prices. Kenya’s inflation rose to an annual 11.48 percent in…

Kenya’s Biggest Bank Warns Rate Caps Risk Crippling Industry

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Equity Group Holdings Ltd., Kenya’s biggest bank by market value, posted a 6 percent decline in first-quarter profit as its chief executive officer warned government-imposed caps on commercial lending rates risk crippling the industry. Net income slid to 4.83 billion shillings ($47 million) in the three months through March as the revenue generated from loans after expenses tumbled 15 percent to 8.89 billion shillings, the Nairobi-based lender said in…

Ghana to cut interest rates May 22, Nigeria, S/Africa, Kenya to hold

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Bank of Ghana will extend its interest rate-easing cycle on Monday to give its economy a boost but other major African central banks will keep rates stable after a commodity price slump, a Reuters poll found. Ghana’s central bank cut its high prime rate by 200 basis points to 23.5 percent in March and is expected to chop another 100 basis points on Monday, according to the median…

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