Author: Khusoko

Unilever Plc on Thursday said its second-quarter and first-half results showed a strong performance with underlying sales growth. However, it said its full-year operating margin forecast will be reduced due to surging commodity costs. Its half-year sales came in 5.4 per cent higher, above the 4.3 per cent forecast and ahead of the group’s mid-term target of 3-5 per cent growth. “Unilever has delivered a strong first half, with underlying sales growth of 5.4 per cent driven by our continued focus on operational excellence,” Chief Executive Officer Alan Jope said in a statement. “The operating environment across our markets has…

Acorn Holdings’ final tranche of its Medium-Term Green Note (MTN) Programme has raised Ksh 2.096 billion, getting a subscription rate of 146 per cent over its target of Ksh 1.438 billion. The additional financing will go towards the development of an additional 2 PBSA properties providing 2,654 beds bringing the total numbers of developments funded under the MTN programme to 8 projects providing 7,349 beds. The MTN green bond was launched in October 2019 for KSh5 billion, becoming the first of its kind in Kenya. In the process, the first tranche of the issue raised KSh4.262 billion against a minimum…

LG Electronics says it has made a commitment to transition completely to renewable energy by 2050 as a key component of its sustainability strategy. The South Korean tech company’s announcement contained in its LG Electronics Sustainability Report reinforces its earlier promise to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 through the Zero Carbon 2030 initiative. Through the initiative, it pledged to reduce carbon emissions in the production stage to 50 per cent of 2017 standards by 2030.  The transformation will be implemented region by region starting in North America where every office and manufacturing site will be powered by renewable energy within…

Orange has expressed an interest in acquiring a stake in Ethiopia’s Ethio Telecom. Henok Tereffa Shawl, Ethiopia’s ambassador to France, through his Twitter feed, said Orange has formally declared its wish to participate in the partial privatisation of the telco. https://twitter.com/_HenokTeferra/status/1417419045977182232?s=20 Ethiopia is offering a 40 per cent stake in Ethio Telecom, the existing monopoly, which has 44m subscribers, as well as spectrum for two new telecoms licences.  French telecoms giant, Orange, operates in 29 countries across Africa and Europe. https://khusoko.com/2021/07/15/safaricom-to-operate-in-ethiopia-as-safaricom-ethiopia-plc/

Kenya’s Covid-19 cash transfer program aimed at supporting vulnerable families affected by the impact of the pandemic failed to reach them, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday. The report, “We Are All Vulnerable Here’: Kenya’s Pandemic Cash Transfer Program Riddled with Irregularities” found out that this was due to cronyism and lack of transparency. Consequently, government officials failed to follow the stated selection criteria or to share information that should have enabled more vulnerable families to enrol. “The response from authorities however failed to address many of the issues unearthed by our research, including irregular frequency of payments, lack…

The Rhino Charge, an annual off-road motorsport competition, raised Ksh 140 million held at Sabor in Kimalel, Baringo county. The off-road motorsport had targeted to raise KSh100m conservation funds. “This year, through the fundraising from the teams and guard post sponsors, a grand total of Ksh 140,432,208 was raised. In addition, Ksh5,069,004 was raised for community sponsorship which will be used for a local project,” the Rhino Charge Committee and the Rhino Ark Board of Directors said Sunday. “I would also like to urge the government to emphasise on improving community conservancy to improve livelihoods of the locals to help…