Author: David Indeje

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) is likely to keep the benchmark interest rates unchanged in 2021 according to market analysts.  According to the analysts, the central bank is likely to continue with the accommodative monetary stance keeping the hope alive for a rate cut as and when needed.  In its last MPC meeting in November, the CBK kept policy rates unchanged at 7.00 percent with Dr Patrick Njoroge disclosing that “Additional measures to strengthen the fiscal performance are under consideration.”  The CBK projected the country’s GDP to contract 3.1 per cent in the current financial year due to the pandemic from the…

Working from home (WFH) is now a reality for many companies and employees.   Companies and industries have adapted themselves to a revamped way of working.  The ripple effect was how parents would balance taking care of their children, longer working hours, and psychological stress.  In an April survey administered remotely through GeoPoll’s mobile-based research platform, it was found that 80 per cent of respondents were frightened about coronavirus spreading in their countries, but 71 per cent said they were also ‘very concerned’ about its economic impact.   The survey which reached more than two-thirds of over 4,500 Africans across 12 countries…

Co-operative Bank of Kenya has secured $75 million long-term funding from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for onward lending to the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).  The bank’s chief executive Gideon Muriuki said the funds would be used to support businesses to better cope with the disruptions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. “The funding has come at a most opportune time as it boosts our ability to better support our MSME customers to stabilise and turnaround their businesses to meet the challenges brought about by the pandemic,” said Mr Muriuki. The seven-year loan will be benefit MSMEs undertaking climate-smart projects including agricultural…

Kenya will resume the US-Kenya trade negotiations under President Joe Biden’s administration, Trade and Industrialization Cabinet Secretary Betty Maina said Monday.    The Kenya-US trade deal has already completed two rounds with hopes a deal will be signed ahead of the expiry of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2025.    “We expect to get into more rounds of negotiations as the new administration settles down having already had two rounds,” the CS said on Monday.    In his congratulatory message to Joe Biden, the President elect, President Uhuru President Uhuru Kenyatta said Biden is a friend of Kenya whose last visit to the country while…

Higher supply of tea in the global markets has resulted in a decline in Kenya’s prices above the market demand, the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) said Monday.  This is the third year in a row that prices have declined due to global supply surplus above market demand and in line with a 2018 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) market forecast.  Kenya’s volume of green leaf produced by its smallholder tea farmers dropped marginally by 0.7 percent to 615 million kilograms in the first six months to December 2020 compared to 619.5 million kilograms in the same period in 2019.  “High volumes of…

The COVID-19 pandemic left Kenya battered and anguished in 2020 but containment and mitigation measures put in place to curb the spread of the virus helped to mitigate its impact. On February 11, the World Health Organization named the new disease as Covid-19. The first case of COVID-19 in Kenya was reported on March 13 when a 27-year-old lady, who had travelled from Ohio, Chicago, London en route to Kenya on March 5. On March 26, the country reported its first death, a 66-year-old man. He was also diabetic. He had arrived in Kenya on March 13 from South Africa…