Integrated Payment Services Limited (IPSL), the subsidiary of Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) that operates the banking industry’s instant payment service PesaLink, has named Gituku Kirika as its chief executive. He will replace Agnes Gathaiya, who joined Google as director of its East Africa business. Gituku has extensive banking and fintech leadership experience, having worked across East Africa with Standard Chartered Bank and DTB, primarily in product development. Prior to joining IPSL, Gituku was Director for Digital Payments (Sub-Saharan Africa) at Mastercard. He has spearheaded various partner and regulatory engagements that have promoted digitization and transformation within the industry, delivering market…
Author: Khusoko
Khusoko
Khusoko provides market insights into Africa's business investment as well as global trends that impact East African businesses.
Kenya’s Director of Public Prosecution has dropped charges against ex-PSs Kamau Thugge and Susan Koech in Arror, Kimwarer dams scandal. According to the ODPP, the duo have agreed to provide testimony against a former finance minister Henry Rotich and others accused of corruption over the awarding of tenders to build the Ksh 63 billion dams. “I have withdrawn charges against Thugge and Koech on instructions from Director of Public Prosecutions,” said Alexander Muteti, a deputy assistant public prosecutor. “The two former top government officials will now testify in the trial against the former finance minister and others charged.”
ICEA LION Asset Management, a leading investment firm operating in both Kenya and Uganda on Thursday said it sees big upside potential in 2021 for listed bank stocks, citing an economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. “The feedback we are getting from banks is that a significant number of customers were beginning to repay loans earlier than expected as cash flow improves,” it said during the launch of its DigiTrust, an online investment platform, which enables investors to deposit and withdraw from the ICEA Lion’s Money Market Fund. According to the Asset Managers, reduced loan loss provisioning and rebound in…
LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority (LCDA) on Thursday named Maina Kiondo as its new managing director and chief executive officer in an acting capacity. Kiondo succeeds former CEO Silvester Kasuku, to become the second CEO of the Authority since its inception in March 2013. Mr. Kasuku served two full terms which came to an end on 5th January 2021. Mr. Kiondo brings to the Authority a vast experience spanning more than 33 years, having worked his way up within the Civil Service. Until his recent appointment to the helm of LCDA, Kiondo served as the Director of the Northern Corridor Development at the Ministry of East…
Standard Investment Bank (SIB) multi-asset strategy fund MansaX has posted marginal returns to investors in 2020 at 18.8 per cent from 19 per cent in 2019. MansaX’s returns before fees stood at 23.8 per cent matching up a 24 per cent gross capital appreciation to investors registered in the previous year. This was attributed to the resilience of the fund whose investment primary composes of investments in online foreign exchange markets, commodities and precious metals. “2020 was a year characterised by high levels of uncertainty in the local and global markets. Even so, MansaX was able to prove its resilience…
East Africa and West Africa will remain as Africa’s most dynamic economies, Moody’s Investors Service said Thursday. In its Sub-Saharan Africa report, the firm projected a negative 2021 outlook for Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and the entire region citing debt costs post Covid-19 pandemic. According to the report, lower overall economic growth and revenue, coupled with higher government expenditure, will also lead to wider fiscal deficits and higher debt for the region. “Most Sub-Saharan African governments’ debt burdens will stabilise at materially higher levels in 2021, with the average debt burden for the region at around 64% of GDP in…