Author: David Indeje

Nordic Microfinance Initiative is now the Abler Nordic, a public-private partnership investing in financial inclusion companies globally. The new name was launched Tuesday in Nairobi by Investment Director Godfrey Kaindoh, along with an announcement on the start of fundraising in 2023. In 2023, Abler Nordic will commence fundraising for Fund V, with a minimum raise of USD 140 million and a significant allocation for further investments in Kenya. “I am here to celebrate our new name. There is a huge role that we can play. We (Abler Nordic) have supported over 12 million people globally. However, 1.5 billion people globally…

Fuel prices in Kenya will remain unchanged for the third consecutive month at Kshs 177.3, Kshs 162.0 and Kshs 145.9 per liter of Super Petrol, Diesel and Kerosene, respectively. This is according to the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority’s (EPRA) monthly statement on the maximum retail fuel prices in Kenya, effective from February 15 2023 to March 14 2023. “The government will utilize the Petroleum Development Levy to compensate oil marketing companies for the difference in cost,” said EPRA on Tuesday. The energy regulator maintained the fuel prices despite a decline in the landing cost of the commodities. The average…

Have you ever made cash withdrawals from incorrect agent shops as a Safaricom customer? If your answer is yes, then worry no more, as an additional feature has been introduced to ensure you do not lose your cash and the right agent serves you. Safaricom has added another verification step of inputting a ‘store number’ right after keying in the ‘agent number’. What is New? In the new M-PESA agent withdrawal process, you will be required to: Key in the Agent Number, Store Number, Amount and PIN.  Safaricom will validate the details to ensure funds you are withdrawing are from…

Search engine giant Google is introducing a chatbot service to rival Microsoft’s AI-powered ChatGPT. In a blog post on Monday, Alphabet Chief Executive Sundar Pichai introduced the chatbot, called Bard. It would be integrated into the company’s search engine. https://twitter.com/sundarpichai/status/1622673369480204288?s=20&t=5ni-_obUTQE5Kk8ye6STyg According to Pichai, Bard will initially be available exclusively to a group of trusted testers” before being widely released later this year. “Bard seeks to combine the breadth of the world’s knowledge with the power, intelligence, and creativity of our large language models. It draws on information from the web to provide fresh, high-quality responses. Today we’re opening Bard up…

Kenya’s current account deficit declined to 4.9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, compared to 5.2 per cent recorded in 2021, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) said. The CBK attributed the decline to the strong performance of the export of goods and services, especially tea and manufactured goods and significant increases in remittance inflows. “This turnaround in the current account (projection) relates to some of the exports that we saw towards the end of the year, and is a good outcome. Our sweet spot in the current account is a deficit of about five per…

Egypt’s largest private lender Commercial International Bank (CIB) has obtained the approvals of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to acquire the remaining 49% of Mayfair CIB for $40 million. Through the acquisition, CIB is the first lender with a base in Egypt to join the Kenyan market. In April 2020, CIB acquired a 51 per cent stake in Mayfair Bank, which began operations in 2017. The transaction was a component of CIB’s plan to grow in East Africa while expanding business and economic ties between Egypt and Kenya. “Kenya offers great opportunities,…