Author: Muindi

I&M Bank has permanently dropped fees for transferring cash between its platform and mobile wallets. “We believe this move will offer new and existing customers a huge relief during tough economic times and encourage more customers to transact on mobile,” I&M general manager for digital business Michael Mwangi said. “As part of our approach to service delivery, recent customer feedback showed that as much as our transaction rates are favourable, there was an opportunity to review our policies on bank-to-mobile money wallet charges for the digitally active customer.” The Central Bank of Kenya had, on December 6, 2022, granted banks the…

Kenya’s foreign exchange reserves continue to fall and currently stand at USD 6.939 billion (3.88 months of import cover) as of February 9, 2023, down from USD 7.0 billion recorded the previous week. As a result, according to the most recent Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data, the country’s months of import cover remained relatively unchanged at 3.9 months, falling just short of the statutory requirement of at least 4.0 months of import. However, the CBK has maintained that they meet their statutory requirement to endeavour to maintain at least four months of import cover. “It’s not like a trap…

Construction of the Ksh 30 billion Nairobi Central Train Station is finally underway. The director general of Kenya Railways, Philip Mainga, says the overall scope of phase one will involve the construction of a pedestrian footbridge across the Nairobi Railway Yard. Mr. Mainga stated on Monday that the contractor is already on site and that changes will be visible soon. “Owing to its strategic location, The Nairobi Central Station area will be developed into an iconic nerve centre for the Nairobi Multimodal Transport System,” he notes. The project involves constructing a 425-acre urban development between Haile Sellasie Avenue, and Uhuru…

Airtel Africa will introduce its fifth generation (5G) mobile broadband service in high-income neighbourhoods. The new technology is expected to provide much faster internet speeds than the widely available 4G, though it requires more high end smartphones and data subscriptions. “On the 5G rollout, we’ve acquired spectrum in a number of countries. Tanzania, Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria, of course. We’re going to do selective rollout of the 5G,” Segun Ogunsanya, the chief executive of Airtel Africa, said in a recent conference call. “I still believe that 5G is good in the medium term. In the short term our focus will continue…

Kenyans living abroad sent home KSh43.7 billion in January, a 3.2 per cent increase compared to the KSh42.4 billion sent in the same month, 2022. According to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), “The remittance inflows continue to support the current account and the foreign exchange market,” said CBK in its weekly bulletin. The cumulative inflows for the 12 months to January 2023 totalled USD 4,039 million, compared to USD 3,778 million in January 2022, an increase of 6.9 per cent. The US remains the largest source of remittances into Kenya, accounting for 58.5 per cent of the inflows during the…

ChicKing, a Dubai-based halal fast-food chain, has opened its first location in Kenya and the East African market in Mombasa along Nyerere Avenue. ChicKing, which specialises in fried chicken, opened quick-service restaurants in partnership with the newly formed local franchise M/s Crispy Ltd. With its entry, it plans to open a new outlet in Nairobi as part of its expansion plans to have 30 new outlets in Kenya within five years. “All our chicken is sourced locally, the bread for the burgers and even the potatoes for the French fries, everything is coming from the local market,” ChicKing Global Franchise…