Author: David Indeje

Mobile banking and tech-savvy youth have become key enablers for supporting financial inclusion in Kenya according to the 2019 FinAccess  Households Survey. “Kenya has maintained its leadership on the financial services access front”, David Ferrand, FSD Kenya adding that “Our challenge is to harness these achievements and build a more inclusive financial system.” According to the report, access to financial services and products has expanded significantly among Kenyans ‘From 26% in 2016 to 82.9% in 2019’ only 11% of adult Kenyans are excluded from formal financial services. Down from 41% in 2006. Further, the report found out that financial health…

Kenyan real estate sector outlook remains sluggish with rental revisions in terms of uptake, rental yields, capital appreciation, and total investor returns given the oversupply of retail and office spaces, according to Cytonn Q1’2019 Real Estate Market Review. “As such, we maintain a neutral outlook for the real estate sector mainly constrained by increased supply in the market and limited access to financing for both developers and off-takers,” it said in a research note released on Monday. The sector softened in Q1’2019, with sectors such as office and retail registering a decline in rental yields by 0.1% points and 0.5%…

Sulwe has skin the color of midnight. She is darker than everyone in her family. She is darker than anyone in her school. Sulwe just wants to be beautiful and bright, like her mother and sister. Then a magical journey in the night sky opens her eyes and changes everything. Kenyan actress Lupita Nyongo has revealed the cover for her debut children’s book Sulwe. A powerful, moving picture book about colorism, self-esteem, and learning that true beauty comes from within. In a post on her Instagram feed on April 1st 2019, Lupita shared the illustration cover of Sulwe that depicts…

French retailer Carrefour plans to grow the number of branches to 9 from 7 in 2019 aiming to deliver quality, value and customer services through a family of conveniently located stores across Nairobi. The expansion is the latest move by Carrefour, whose local franchise is held by Dubai-based conglomerate Majid Al Futtaim to get hold of a growing share of Kenya’s consumer spending. According to Fitch Solutions, an industry-leading provider of credit, debt market, and macro intelligence solutions, and the primary distributor of Fitch Ratings content, “Consumer spending in Kenya is projected to tick up by 5.8% y-o-y in 2019,…

Kapchorua Tea Company Limited is considering reducing its operating costs which if not  ‘will be unsustainable’ following the profit warning for the financial year ending 31 March 2019. The Kenya-based listed company that trades at the Nairobi Securities Exchange says its earnings could be at least 25% lower than those of the financial year ended 31 March 2019  on high operating expenses. “The anticipated decline in full year’s profit is attributed in part to uneven and unpredictable weather patterns but more so to the inability to control the aggressive and rising labour costs and the lower prices fetched during the…

Kenya’s central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held its key interest rate steady at 9.00 on Wednesday. “The MPC concluded that the current policy stance remains appropriate, and will continue to monitor any perverse response to its previous decisions.” The decision met the expectations of a majority of analysts who had expected the regulator to maintain the benchmark rate citing a stable macroeconomic environment. The MPC further noted that “Inflation expectations remained well anchored within the target range, and that the economy was operating close to its potential” against a backdrop of domestic macroeconomic stability, sustained optimism on the economic…