Author: Khusoko

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Kenya’s economy is rather obvious. Investments have slowed, consumption has shrunk and the labor market is collapsing.  Despite the broad-based shocks, the banking sector has exhibited marked resilience, providing some hope that the economy may ride the tide successfully. The stability in the sector reflects previously established strong capital and liquidity buffers. Monetary and prudential easing has also helped to minimize asset quality deterioration. To be sure, the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio has remained sticky at 13.00% so far this year, the increase in credit risk notwithstanding. That said, the amount of restructured…

While the world is laser-focused on the U.S. – China trade war something equally significant that will reshape the global landscape for the next 30 to 50 years is emerging in Africa. With the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) entering into force, there is a repositioning of the continent that disrupts the old way of engaging with its individual nations. Power is being centralized in the African Union (AU) and those looking to enter commercially in the future would have to realign – should they seek to move with speed on their trade & investment agenda. Ignoring the African Union…

Kenya Power and Lighting Company Ltd. announced on Monday that five independent directors of its board had resigned.  The five: Mr Adil Khawaja, Mr Kairo Thuo, Mr Wilson Kimutai Mugung’ei, Mrs Brenda Kokoi and Hon Zipporah Kering. “The Board of Directors of the Kenya Power and Lighting Company PLC hereby announces the resignation of Mr. Adil Khawaja, Mr. Kairo Thuo, Mr.Wilson Kimutai Mugung’ei, Mrs. Brenda Kokoi and Hon. Zipporah Kering as Independent Directors,” read part of the notice. “The Directors would like to sincerely thank the Directors for tier commitment and dedicated service and wishes them the best in their…

In the last several months, COVID-19 has taken up nearly every news headline in nearly every country in the world. The health impact, testing, confinement, and trying to curb the pandemic have rightly been at the forefront. In the developed world, conversations have been about corporate losses and the availability of unemployment benefits. But low-income countries experience a different reality: in sub-Saharan Africa, over 70 percent of workers are self-employed and a vast majority operate in the informal sector. Many bottom-of-the-pyramid Africans eat with the money they earn every day. Within this context, when a second massive swarm of locusts…

The Kenya Private Sector Consortium has broadly welcomed on-going Kenya – U.S Free Trade negotiations which are being seen as an opportunity to catalyze mutual economic growth. “We fully support the efforts of Kenya and the United States to negotiate a comprehensive and high-standard trade agreement to grow two-way trade and private sector investment,” said Nick Nesbitt, Chairman of the Private Sector Consortium on the Kenya – U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and also Chairman of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance and the East Africa Business Council. Kenya on Wednesday launched talks to seal a free trade agreement with the…

Open Banking is a global FinTech trend that according to NETInfo is revolutionizing the financial services landscape across the world, This service enables banks to acquire the skills and tools required to build their own ecosystem through the Open Banking infrastructure. NETInfo believes that African banks are well-positioned to embrace the opportunities created by Open Banking through transforming their offerings with innovative, agile and efficient solutions that will strengthen customer relationships and increase revenue for the banks. The platform eliminates the restriction that limits access to customer financial data, with the bank with which they have an account. The account…