Author: Muindi

Kenya’s National Treasury has formed a task force on Anti-Money Laundering, Countering Financing of Terrorism and the Financing of Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.  Its secretariat will be the Financial Reporting Centre. The National Treasury will chair the task force, whose members include the Attorney-General, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the State Departments for Internal Security, Foreign Affairs and Immigration. Other members include the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, Assets Recovery Agency, National Intelligence Service, National Counter Terrorism Centre, Kenya Revenue Authority, Central Bank of Kenya, Capital Markets Authority and Insurance Regulatory…

Africa’s wealthiest cities are dominated by South Africa and Egypt, according to the World’s Wealthiest Cities 2023 report by consultancy New World Wealth and Henley Partners. According to the report, Johannesburg leads Africa with 14,600 dollar millionaires. The second spot was Cairo with 7,800 HNWIs. South Africa’s second-largest city, Cape Town, emerged third in the continent with 7,200 millionaires, followed by Nigeria’s Lagos city, which has 5,400 HNWI. Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, was ranked as the 74th wealthiest city globally and fourth in Africa. Nairobi has 4,700 highly wealthy individuals with at least $1 million in net worth, and 11…

NCBA Group is accelerating the pace of bank branch expansion in 2023 as it seeks to bring services closer to customers. The lender opened two brick-and-mortar locations in Kenol and Muranga taking its total branch network count to 88. https://twitter.com/JohnGachora/status/1646923607069581326?s=20 It says it plans to open an additional 10 branches during the year. NCBA Group Managing Director John Gachora said the branch expansion remains an integral part of its overall growth strategy. “This is an exciting moment for our bank, and we are excited to be expanding our reach and better serving our customers in this agriculturally rich county. Given…

The visa interview waiting period for Kenyans looking to visit the United States has been reduced by five months. This is after the US Embassy in Nairobi allowed for the renewal of some visa categories without going for physical appointments, Business Daily reports. As a result, Kenyans applying for American visas can now get an interview appointment early as January next year, compared to a date of June 2024 previously before the latest review. The move comes barely seven months after the US embassy in Nairobi expanded the Interview Waiver Program for non-immigrant visas in a move aimed at clearing…

Meta-owned instant messaging platform WhatsApp has introduced an optional feature that makes it easier for users to post their WhatsApp status to their Facebook Story automatically. Meta on Wednesday said: “Status is a popular way to share updates with friends and close contacts on WhatsApp.” Status updates disappear within 24 hours and may include photos, videos, GIFs, text, and more. “A lot of WhatsApp users love the existing option to post their Status to their Facebook Story. We’ve also gotten feedback that people want this process to be easier, so they don’t have to manually post their WhatsApp Status each…

Kenyan e-commerce startup Copia Global has shut down its Ugandan operation, citing the economic downturn and limited access to capital. “To accelerate Copia’s drive to profitability, the company is pausing its Africa expansion plans and suspending its recently established Uganda operation during this period. This decision is consistent with many of the best companies in Africa and across the world, which are responding to the market environment and prioritizing profit,” reads a statement from Copia. Established in 2013, Copia’s model leverages a network of digitally-enabled, locally-based agents who operate as order and delivery points to meet consumers where they are,…