Author: Muindi

The office space market in Africa is now seeing resurgent activity, based on Knight Frank’s quarterly statistics for the Africa Office Uptake. The global property agency and consultancy company says new office space requirements increased by 29 per cent in Q2 2021 compared to Q1 across Africa. This increased office market activity has been attributed to the ‘flight to quality’ trend that has seen businesses taking advantage of weakened prime office rents to occupy office spaces that place employee wellbeing at the forefront as well as improving economic outlook across most of the countries. Data from Knight Frank indicates that…

Naivas, Kenya’s largest retailer, on Wednesday announced an expansion of its retail network by adding one more branch, taking its total count to 76 in the country. As part of its expansion, Naivas has entered Naivas Juja City Mall taking up 37,000 SQFT of prime retail space that was previously occupied by Tuskys Supermarket. Naivas Supermarket aims to increase its footprint in the Kenyan retail market amid competition from international retailer Carrefour which has opened 5 outlets in 2021, and local retailer QuickMart which has opened 4 outlets this year.  “We are so excited about today’s grand opening of Naivas…

The liquidity situation is expected to ease this week on bond maturities and coupon payments estimated at Ksh 47.96 billion. The previous week, the liquidity conditions tightened following outflows to the central bank for the settlement of IFB1/2021/21.  This was also partly attributable to the banks trading cautiously in the interbank market in order to meet their CRR requirements for the cycle ending 14th September. This pushed the weighted average overnight rate to 5.47 per cent – it’s the highest level since late April 2021.  According to financial analysts, the central bank injected nearly Ksh26.00 billion into the market to…

Kenyans living in the diaspora sent home a record $312.9 million during the month of August, a 14 per cent rise compared to the corresponding month in 2020 when the inflows stood at $274.1 million. However, according to data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), remittance inflows declined by 7.1 per cent compared to USD 336.7 million in July, in line with seasonal factors. The cumulative inflows for the 12 months to August 2021 totalled USD 3,481 million compared to USD 2,921 million in the same period in 2020, a 19.2 per cent increase.  “The United States continues to…

Equity Group’s fintech subsidiary, FinserveAfrica, has been named the Best in E-commerce – Banking/Financial and Insurance Services Gold Category at the 3rd Edition of the Kenya E-Commerce Awards 2021 held in Nairobi.  The award recognises Finserve’s continued commitment to innovation and customer-centricity in Kenya and Africa.  Finserve Africa MD, Lanre Bamisebi who is also Equity Group IT and Operations Director, said Finserve’s suite of products and services offer innovative solutions in payments, remittances and account settlements.  “We offer users convenience and increased efficiency in operations and have recruited the best personnel in the industry to continue to offer our customers…

Majid Al Futtaim through its franchise Carrefour is expanding its footprint in Uganda after concluding an agreement with Shoprite Checkers Uganda Limited. Shoprite Checkers, the South African retailer is exiting from the Uganda market. The terms of the agreement see the transfer of Shoprite’s six Uganda store leases to Majid Al Futtaim by end of the year. Following the implementation of the agreement, Majid Al Futtaim will expand its footprint to eight Carrefour stores from its current two.  The six stores are located in Acacia Mall, Village Mall, Victoria Mall, Lugogo Mall, Clock Tower, and Arena Mall. As part of…