Author: David Indeje

Kenya’s tea exports rose 13 per cent to Ksh 136 billion in 2021 compared with Ksh 120 a year earlier, attributed to a rise in export volumes, the Tea Board said. According to the Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) report, the country’s export volumes stood at 558 million kilogrammes against 518 million kilogrammes in 2020. Data from the East African Tea Traders Association (EATTA) reveal that in 2021 farmers sold 470.5 million kilogrammes of tea at an average price of $1.99 ( KSh225.666), an increase from $1.93 registered in 2020.  The 2021 production was less by 15.9 million kilogrammes of…

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has extended a line of credit of USD 15 million to Guaranty Trust Bank (Kenya) Ltd for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The loan to GTBank Kenya is part of the $8 billion IFC Fast Track COVID-19 Facility launched in 2020. In a statement, IFC said the facility is designed to support its existing IFC clients in emerging markets affected by the economic fallout from COVID-19. Sectors targeted include those that operate in the trade, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing sectors aimed at helping them retain and create jobs, and strengthen their operations. “The IFC loan…

Copia, a Kenyan e-commerce platform has raised Ksh.5.6 billion ($50 million)Series C round led by Goodwell Investments for regional expansion. Zebu Investment Partners, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Koa Labs, Lightrock, German development finance institution DEG, and Perivoli Innovations also participated in the round. This takes the total capital raised by the company to $83.8 million (KSh9.5 billion). In 2019, it raised $26 million (KSh2.9 billion) in a Series B round. CopiaTo Scale African Expansion “The funding enables Copia to grow rapidly and enable millions of African consumers to access quality household products, save money and make their…

Safaricom has invested KSh100 million for the inaugural edition of the 14-leg golf series dubbed ‘Safaricom Golf Tour’. The Safaricom Golf Tour will be played at various clubs across the country aimed at tapping, nurturing and growing talent among young golfers across the country. “Our objective for this golf tour is to make golf accessible to people. Our regional tours will help in transforming lives within the sport and breaking down the barriers that have been built around it, which have made it to be seen as a non–inclusive sport,” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO Safaricom. “The young golfers we nurture…

Safaricom has invested $100 million in the construction of its first data centre in Ethiopia as part of its Africa expansion.  “The design was carried out between the Safaricom Ethiopia team and our Chinese supplier. The construction took place over a number of weeks in China and was put on a boat and was shipped to Djibouti and then transported to Addis Ababa,” Pedro Rabacal, chief technology officer at Safaricom Ethiopia said. Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia Plc intends to invest around $300 million into the country this year in establishing more data centres in preparation for rolling out commercial operations.   “We…

About half of the funds remitted by Kenyans in the diaspora are invested in real estate, mortgage payment and to meet family expenses, according to Central Bank’s Diaspora Remittances Survey. The remittance flows to Kenya have increased tenfold in the last 15 years reaching an all-time record of USD 3,718 million in 2021. This is equivalent to more than 3 per cent of Kenya’s Gross domestic product (GDP).  Level of Education and Professional Training The Survey indicated that income levels are lowest in Asia and East Africa where the majority of respondents earn less than USD 2000 (Ksh 200,000) per…