Author: David Indeje

Safaricom Plc has partnered with TerraPay (Mobex Kenya) to enable its 32 million M-PESA customers to send and receive money between Bangladesh and Pakistan, reaching a combined population of over 200 million. This partnership provides Safaricom customers with access to TerraPay’s extensive network of 4.5 billion bank accounts and 1.5 billion mobile wallets, offering fast and affordable payment options worldwide. In the six months leading up to March 2023, M-PESA Global transactions grew in volume and value by 2.2% and 5.6% YoY, respectively, due to the rise in cross-border deals. TerraPay and M-PESA aim to create a financially inclusive payments…

SemaBOX launched WAZO, a podcast distribution platform that enables Kenyan and African podcasters to earn directly from plays and advertising revenue. WAZO, meaning “thought” in Kiswahili, is initially available free of charge to all listeners through the Wazo ONE plan starting July 17, 2023. WAZO is the first platform of its kind in Kenya, offering a brand-new revenue stream for podcasters and providing advertisers with an aggregated audience of over 39 million listeners across the SemaBOX creator network. “We are truly excited that we can finally bring this online,” said Dan Aceda, founder and CEO of SemaBOX. “On our platform,…

The Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA), the industry regulator in Kenya, has asked sugar cane millers to suspend their operations for four months. Milling operations in the Western and Nyando regions are to temporarily cease “with immediate effect…to allow sugar cane to mature.” According to AFA, milling operations are currently operating at less than 25% of their installed capacity, leading to a significant decline in sugar production over the last six months. This is due to a lack of investment in cane development by millers, uncontrolled cane harvesting outside respective catchment zones, unregulated cane collection centres, and non-adherence to proper…

Equity Group on Monday launched a five-day roadshow for its investors and partners in Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to highlight trade and investment opportunities in the two countries. The Kenya-DRC Investment Roadshow, which commenced in Nairobi, will end on July 22, allowing investors to expand their networks in the two markets. Equity Group Managing Director and CEO James Mwangi said that through the lender’s Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan and the $7 billion (KSh990 billion) fund, the Group had demonstrated its commitment to championing sustainable investments that foster economic growth and wealth creation across various sectors…

The Kenyan shilling is expected to experience further pressure, leading to speculation about whether the central bank will take action. Since the beginning of the year, the shilling has already weakened by 14.6% against the US dollar. The Kenya shilling depreciated by 0.3% against the US dollar to close the week ( 14, 2023) at Kshs 141.4 from Kshs 140.9 recorded the previous week. According to Cytonn Investments, the depreciation was partly due to the persistently high dollar demand from importers, especially in the oil and energy sectors. On the other hand, EFG Hermes Research projects that the Kenyan currency…

Kenya’s Ministry of Information, Communications, and Technology has proposed the removal of the 30% local shareholding requirement for foreign ICT companies. The National ICT Policy Guidelines, 2020, gazetted under Section 5(4) of the Kenya Information and Communications Act (KICA) (No.2 of 1998), currently require all licensees to comply with the 30% local shareholding provisions within a 3-year grace period. The proposal to delete the equity participation subsection under Section 6.2.4 on Market Rules from the National ICT Policy Guidelines, 2020, is part of the government’s strategy to develop and promote the ICT sector in order to spur investments and create…