Author: David Indeje

Kenya’s Sidian Bank said on Thursday it had received USD 12 million from The Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), a Danish Development Finance Institution (DFI). A  deal that will see it grow the to Tier 2 status. The funds are expected to boost the bank’s regulatory capital ratios as it works towards achieving its strategic objective of becoming a Tier 2 bank by 2022. The shareholders of the bank approved a rights issue of Ksh. 1.5 billion and a tier 2 capital raise of KSh 1.2 billion, which in combination will support growth of the bank’s assets by an…

East Africa’s leading apparel and household goods retailers, Deacons (East Africa) Plc (NSE: DCON) unveiled a financing plan which will support the working capital required and settling its outstanding debt. 78% of the shareholders unanimously resolved to raise Ksh 450 million in the form of convertible loans and 22% were against. “That in order for the company to raise the amount of up to Kenya shillings four hundred and fifty million which is required to support the working capital requirements of the company in the first instance and to utilise the balance towards settling the company’s outstanding creditors and secured…

Kenya’s private sector activity fell in February to its lowest level in 15 months, hit by slowing consumer demand and growth in output, Markit Stanbic Bank Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey showed on Tuesday. “Contributing to the fall in the headline figure, new order growth slowed considerably in February to the weakest in the current sequence of expansion. Moreover, over 25 percent of firms saw a fall in sales amid softer customer demand,” the survey report said. “The first quarter of the year is usually associated with dry weather conditions and hence it is not surprising that the PMI is…

Foreign investors turned net buyers of stocks in February, after injecting $2.2Million into the Nairobi Securities Exchange. However, during the month, the equities market recorded mixed performances with NASI gaining by 1.5%, while NSE 20 and NSE 25 declined by 2.2% and 1.5%, respectively “Erasing considerable gains from the January rally.” Analysts from Commercial Bank of Africa noted “This reduced the gains for the benchmark NSE-20 share index from 8.0% at the end of January to 2.91% so far this year. In the period, Ksh 13.40Bn worth of shares were traded with 66.48% of the transactions being attributed to foreign…

Turkish fast moving consumer goods Hayat Kimya has invested Ksh 600 million to launch its Kenyan operations with its flagship products Molfix Diapers. The company targets that one in every three Kenyan babies will wear Molfix diapers within 2 years. Hayat Kimya Global CEO Avni Kigili said they target taking market leadership within two years. “Kenya is a developing country, carrying a lot of potential, with her growing, young population, with her strategic location for Central and East of Africa. Hayat would like to be part of this rapidly modernizing and developing country by offering brand quality and innovation with…

The National Treasury through the central bank will sell a 25-year amortized infrastructure bond this month to raise up to Ksh 50 billion over a 2-week sale period beginning 1st March. This is the longest issue since June 2018. The bond will be auctioned on March 20, will come with a coupon of 12.200%. It will be tax-free in line with the government’s policy of encouraging investors to bank infrastructure bonds. The funds raised are intended for partial funding of infrastructure projects in the transport, water and energy sectors. However, analysts are not optimistic about the offer.  “We do not…