Author: I K

Diageo Plc, the world’s largest spirits maker, has launched the Africa Digital Hub in Kenya to accelerate its digital transformation plans in Africa. The hub will be based at the East African Breweries Limited (EABL) headquarters in Garden City Office Park, Nairobi, and will be headed by Ms. Waithera Kabiru, formerly the Head of Media Futures at EABL. Waithera is a seasoned marketing practitioner with specialist capabilities in media and digital. Over the last 18 years, she has led successful marketing campaigns in sub-Saharan Africa with start-ups, small and medium-sized companies and multinational organizations. The hub will focus on key…

E-payments firm Pesapal has added OpenFloat e-wallet, a new feature to its Paypal platform, to enable Kenyan merchants to receive payments instantly. In addition, it will enable small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to streamline their operations and make better financial decisions. “The development, therefore, empowers businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large organizations, with the flexibility to manage their money and make time-sensitive payments,” Pesapal CEO and Founder Agosta Liko said. Merchants will be able to make payouts to bank accounts and mobile money. They can also view transaction reports and track their cash flow in real time.…

Kenya’s current account deficit is projected to narrow in 2023, helped by a better trade performance, the country’s central bank said on Wednesday. The regulator said the current account deficit was 5.1 per cent of gross domestic product in 2022, and is projected to improve to 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2023. “This is a modest decline..,” Dr Njoroge. “….The 5 per cent level is really a sweet spot…” The expected narrow CAD will be supported by lower international oil prices, resilient remittances and strong export growth. According to Dr Patrick Njoroge, CBK Governor, the expected narrow CAD will…

Carrefour Kenya, owned and run by Majid Al Futtaim, remains confident about its prospects in the Kenyan market following the expansion of its retail footprint. The 3,000 square-metre store at Business Bay in Nairobi’s Eastleigh area will be one of the largest opened by Carrefour in the country since 2019 and promises to conveniently serve customers looking to shop from its wide array of products. The new store will absorb about 60 employees across different departments of its corporate set-up. The store will also have dedicated e-commerce operations to increase convenience and shopping options for customers. “The new store will…

The African Banker magazine named Esther Kariuki, head of agriculture business at the Co-operative Bank of Kenya, the African Banker of the Year award for 2023. According to the African Banker, Esther has been a central figure in advancing agriculture as a key asset class for the Co-operative Bank of Kenya. Not only a leader and role model, she was also responsible for considerably increasing lending to the agriculture sector and oversaw the roll-out of the platform Co-op Bank Soko, a digital marketplace that connects the agriculture value chain and ensures, among other things, that smallholder farmers receive a higher…

NCBA, Kenya’s third-largest bank by assets, said its first-quarter profit rose by 49 per cent to Ksh 5.1 billion compared to Ksh 3.4 billion reported during a similar period in 2022. Growth in profitability was attributed to an increase in operating income and a decline in loan impairment charges by 23 per cent.  Despite the tough macroeconomic conditions, the Group’s prudent management of credit risk has resulted in an improved NPL ratio and a reduced cost of risk. Commenting on the results, NCBA Group Managing Director, John Gachora remarked, “These strong operating results are attributable to continued focus on our strategic priorities,…