Kenya | - Part 3

KCB, Equity Bank Seen as Biggest Winners If Kenyan Rate Caps Go

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – KCB Group Ltd. and Equity Group Holdings Ltd., Kenya’s largest lenders, will be the biggest beneficiaries from the scrapping of laws limiting the amount of interest banks can charge, according to Exotix Capital Ltd. analyst Faith Mwangi. Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich has started steps to revoke legislation that the International Monetary Fund has said is damaging the economy and banks have blamed for stalling loan growth. The government is racing to meet an…

Kenya Rate-Cap Champion Unmoved as Banks Pledge to Boost Lending

Posted on by The Editorial Team

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Kenyan lawmaker who spearheaded legislation that placed a limit on the interest rates banks can charge is ready to block efforts from the regulator, Treasury and the industry to scrap the rules. “We have not seen any change in the banks, in fact it’s more of grandstanding: ‘if you remove the caps, we give the loans,’” Jude Njomo said in an interview in the capital, Nairobi, on Monday. “Right now,…

Kenyan Treasury Bats for Banks as Rate-Cap Battle Looms

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan lenders have strong allies in a bid to overturn interest-rate caps that have eaten into earnings. But support from the central bank and Treasury might not be enough to restore the stellar profits they once enjoyed. Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich surprised lawmakers last week by saying he plans to repeal legislation limiting borrowing costs, backing calls by central bank Governor Patrick Njoroge who has complained the rule complicates monetary policy by making credit demand hard…

Politicians Look Set for Easy Ride in Kenyan Graft Crackdown

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan prosecutors have rounded up scores of officials they intend putting on trial for looting billions of shillings from state coffers. Few of their political masters — seen by many as the kingpins behind repeated scandals — look set to face similar censure. The spate of arrests are part of an effort by President Uhuru Kenyatta, who won a disputed election last year, to improve controls over public funds and…

Kenya’s Top Buyer of Banks Is Now Looking Ahead to Profits

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – SBM Holdings Ltd., the Mauritius lender that bought two Kenyan banks within months of each other, expects the combined operations to make a profit within a year. The second-biggest lender in the Indian Ocean island-nation is expanding in East Africa’s largest economy to use it as a hub for the rest of the region as part of a broader strategy funded by debt to add assets in its home…

Kenya Drops Budget Cap to Reach Oil-Cash Deal, Lawmakers Say

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya agreed to drop budget-allocation limits for oil-rich counties in order to break a deadlock in passing a revenue-sharing law that’s delayed production. The Petroleum Exploration, Development and Production Bill, which was presented to lawmakers in February and later withdrawn, proposed giving communities 5 percent of revenue and county administrations receiving 20 percent provided those amounts did not exceed budget allocations by the national government. The local community’s share was…

Home Afrika of Kenya Seeking Up to $49 Million in Investment

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Home Afrika Limited, a Kenyan property developer, will return to debt markets to raise as much as 5 billion shillings ($48.6 million) and complete projects in the capital and on the East African nation’s coast. The company, based in Nairobi, has picked Genghis Capital Ltd. to offer between 2 billion and 5 billion shillings to international investors in the first phase of the funds drive that’s set to begin by April,…

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