Author: Khusoko

Nairobi will host the 3rd Edition of the Kenya Gem & Jewellery Fair (KGJF), a national jewellery and precious stones open market between July 11 to July 14. KGJF hopes to place Kenya on the map where global industry stakeholders acquire a variety of stones from the source. It has been themed “Responsible Sourcing of Minerals, Precious Stones and Metals in Africa. Ms. Betty Gikonyo Patron AWEIK in a statement she said; “Africa is endowed with unique gemstones; Kenya, in particular, has a lot to offer in terms of these precious stones.” The fair, jointly convened by the Association of…

Kenya’s real estate market remained subdued during the first half of the year, with a similar trend expected throughout the year, according to Cytonn Investments’ H1’2019 report besides the sector recording increased activity. During the period, “The residential, commercial office and retail sector recording average yields of 4.9%, 7.8%, and 8.2%, respectively, from 5.5%, 9.3% and 9.7%, respectively, in H1’2018.” Cytonn attributes this to oversupply within the commercial office and retail sectors with a surplus of 5.2mn SQFT and 2.0mn SQFT, respectively, as at 2018, and inaccessibility of financing by both developers and off-takers. The residential sector expected to continue…

South African lender Absa Bank, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Standard Chartered Bank, have signed a $500 million syndicated loan, that will be used for general corporate purposes including trade-related finance. The Facility has an initial tenor of two years, subject to an extension option available at the Borrower’s discretion to extend the maturity by a further one-year at the end of the initial two-year tenor. The Facility pays a margin of 1.05% per annum. “The need for this syndicated loan is to fund the growth in our U.S. dollar lending both in South Africa and our Regional Operations,…

Kenya’s economy grew at a much lower than expected 5.6% in the January-March period compared to 6.5% the same period last year the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics reported Friday. The drop is attributed to dry weather which impacted the agriculture sector. “The quarter was characterised by a slowdown in agricultural activities following the delay in the onset of long rains,” KNBS said in a statement impacting agro-processing and the manufacturing sector. READ Kenya Records 6.3% Growth Driven by Agriculture in 2019 Kenya Manufacturing Growth Disappoints in Q1, But There is Optimism Ahead Highlights Manufacturing declined to 3.2% from 3.8%…

US fast-food chain operator KFC, plans to open more outlets in East Africa through a joint venture with oil marketer Vivo Energy in a deal with the owners of Kuku Foods East Africa Holdings. The 50:50 joint venture is expected to help the growth of KFC through the opening of new outlets at Vivo’s properties in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. “We are delighted to be partnering with Kuku Foods to replicate the KFC, joint venture model, we pioneered in Botswana and Côte d’Ivoire. Kuku Foods shares our ambition to invest in order to grow the number of restaurants and give…

Kenya’s annual consumer price inflation jumped to 5.70% in June from 5.49% in May attributed to the rise of foodstuffs according to the Kenya Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) on Friday. The prices of spinach, kales and tomatoes recorded decreases of 2.42, 6.87, and 0.36%, respectively, in June 2019 compared to May. “However, the prices of some other foodstuffs like maize grain, beans, green grams and sifted maize flour increased during the same month,” KNBS director general Zachary Mwangi said in a statement. “Over the same period, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel’s index increased by 0.05% as a result of…