Author: David Indeje

The Kenyan Shilling on weakened marginally against major international and regional currencies during the week, despite a strong rally in financial markets. According to the Central Bank, it exchanged at KSh 108.56 per US dollar on August 20, compared to KSh 108.39 per US dollar on August 13. On Wednesday, the currency traded at Ksh 108.57 its lowest level during the week due to high dollar demand from importers following the re-opening of economies around the world along with high liquidity in the interbank market. “The money market remained liquid during the week ending August 20, supported by government payments,…

Safaricom will carry out an upgrade of its SIM card system to provide new features that will give more power to customers in a phased manner.  The upgrade will happen on Saturday, 22nd 2020 at 5.00 PM and end on Sunday, 23rd 2020 at 5.00 PM leading to a limited outage in services.  Though the activation of new SIM Cards, SIM swap, getting PUK and tariff migration will be unavailable for customers, calls, data, mobile money transfer via M-PESA and SMS (short message service) will continue to function. “We are upgrading our systems to support the growth of our products…

United Mall management in Kisumu on Friday said it will still auction Tuskys’ goods if they default the August rent. The latest announcement was made after the retailer paid KSh15 million out of KSh26 million rent arrears according to auctioneers who had been told to auction its goods. “Tuskys has sent us proof of payment for rent arrears up to the end of July. Kindly confirm the receipt of the same. Please note that we have to immediately open up the supermarket since the attached only took place for the arrears,” read a letter from A letter dated August 21,…

Ride-hailing platform Bolt, says it wants to venture in delivery offerings in the Kenyan market. The company’s latest foray into the delivery space is expected to give stiff competition to established players as it explores alternative revenue streams. “We’re already present in 30+ markets across Europe and Africa. Now, it’s time for us to bring the know-how around building a mobility platform to the food delivery industry,” read the notice by the firm seeking to hire a Country Manager for its food delivery business in the country. The firm intends to commence operations towards the end of the year. Other…

Quick Mart, a Kenyan homegrown supermarket and Equity Bank, has been making contactless transactions much more accessible with the introduction of “Tap and Go” payments with Equity Cards. Equity cardholders will be able to use the ‘Tap and Go’ feature at the Quickmart supermarket Kisumu tills to make payments by simply tapping their card on an enabled Point of Sale (POS) machine. “Equity being the exclusive acquirer for the supermarket has enabled all tills with the capability, to encourage contactless and cashless transactions from as low as Ksh 100 at no extra charge at the retail outlet,” said the Bank…

Britam Holdings PLC posted KSh2.3 billion loss before tax in its half-year earnings compared to a profit before tax of KSh2.4 billion recorded in a similar period last year, as the coronavirus pandemic manifests its impact on the businesses. Britam Holding, a diversified financial services company, said the significant adverse impact of coronavirus affected its investments in listed equities and property. The unaudited financial results translate to Ksh.1.6 billion loss from a Ksh.1.7 billion profit last year largely as a result of the underwriter’s exposure to the stock market and properties that saw it register a Ksh.3.2 billion as fair…