Author: David Indeje

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be the drivers of Kenya’s growth in 2019, providing access to finance is unlocked, according to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). “Micro, Small, and Medium-Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) remained resilient in 2018 and are expected to support growth in 2019, to the extent that their constraints, including access to finance, are alleviated,” said CBK Governor Dr Patrick Njoroge. According to the committee, private sector credit growth is expected to strengthen in 2019 relative to 2018, with the anticipated higher economic activity and easing credit risk. Additionally, the alignment of Government spending to the Big…

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a multi-award winning Nigerian writer has honored her mentor, Prof. Wole Soyinka as her ‘guiding light’. Chimamanda through her Instagram feed poetically shared poured her heart out in praise of the 1986 Nobel Prize winner in Literature. “You are, for me, a guiding light: Your courage. The ease with which you inhabit your skin, speaking your mind, unburdened by apology. Your kindness and humour. Your utter coolness. The urgent, terse poetry of The Man Died, the exuberance of Ake; your faith in possibility, in adventure, in progress. Yes indeed, ‘the mindless ones are neither the total sum…

Give initiative aims to teach, share creative skills and ideas to underprivileged youth in communities to gain the much needed creative skills. Ogilvy Africa, the most awarded creative agency in Africa, has launched Give Time, an initiative which aims to support the creative talents and help underprivileged youth in communities to gain the much needed creative skills. The initiative will comprise of approaches which include Give Time and Give Space. Through Give Time, Ogilvy staff will dedicate time to teach and share creative skills and ideas with students. This will include areas such as creative writing, drawing and photography. On…

East African Breweries Limited (EABL) registered a 33% growth in half-year net earnings to hit KSh6.61 billion, driven by strong performance across all segments and markets. Net sales grew 13% to Kshs 41.6 billion. Growth was broad-based across segments and regions, as the business benefitted from lapping a weak half following the presidential election in Kenya. Kenya and Uganda witnessed net sales increase by 12% and Tanzania up to 26%. The beer segment grew 12%, driven by Senator Keg performance in Kenya, improved mix in Uganda and continued strong delivery of Serengeti in Tanzania. Spirits grew 16% on the back of strong…

Manufacturers, retailers, and suppliers have voluntarily signed up to the Code of Practice to guide Prompt Payment making it difficult for Kenya’s retail sector to engage in unfair trading practices. This is a relief for the suppliers who in the past have had to content from payment delays and defaults. The rules, proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in collaboration with stakeholders, cut the average payment period in the retail sector to 30 days from the current 180 to 240. Majority of the stakeholders include the Association of Suppliers of Kenya, the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) and…

Tullow Oil plc (Tullow) targets to start transferring 2,000 barrels of crude oil from Turkana to Mombasa starting April. “This is expected to increase to 2,000 bopd from April 2019. Currently, there are 60,000 barrels of oil stored in Mombasa with a maiden lifting expected in the first half of 2019,” said the UK Based Oil company in its trading statement and operational update issued Wednesday. It stated that the transfer of stored crude oil from Turkana to Mombasa by road continues as part of the Early Oil Pilot Scheme with an average of eight trucks being dispatched every two…