Kenyan citizens can travel visa-free and obtain a visa on arrival to 71 countries without visas out of a possible 218 according to the 2019 Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index. In Africa, Kenya is ranked 8th behind Seychelles, South Africa, Mauritius, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland. In East Africa, it leads its peers where Tanzania is ranked 73rd with free access to 68 countries; South Sudan 97th with 41 visa-free destinations; Rwanda 84th with free access to 54 destinations. Burundi was 92nd with free access to 46 countries. “As the world economy has become increasingly globalised, the need for…
Author: Khusoko
Khusoko
Khusoko provides market insights into Africa's business investment as well as global trends that impact East African businesses.
Tunisia’s AfricInvest and Kenya’s Catalyst Principal Partners have acquired a 24.2% minority stake in Prime Bank through a capital injection of KSh5.1bn. The two firms joined to form a special purpose vehicle dubbed AfricInvest Azure in order to enter the deal. The acquisition has valued Prime Bank at KSh21.1bn. “Prime Bank welcomes this new partnership with AfricInvest and Catalyst, which further strengthens our capital base in order to carry out strategic plans which include … expanding locally and regionally,” Bharat Jani, Managing Director at Prime Bank, revealed in a statement. According to Cytonn Investments, “This will be the first bank…
Demand for residential property declined in 2018 besides an increased supply, according to Cytonn Investments on the Kenyan Real Estate market. The real estate sector recorded a total return of 11.2% in 2018 compared to returns of 14.1% in 2017, showing a slow-down in real estate operators’ performance. Johnson Denge, Senior Manager Regional Markets at Cytonn commented that this was attributable to a slowdown in demand for property amid the growing supply. “Evidenced by the 3.0% points decline in the residential sector occupancy rates and the 0.4% points decline in occupancy rates in the retail space on account of increased…
Kenya’s 3Q18 economy grew at its fastest pace in December, thanks to favourable weather conditions, coupled with a stable macroeconomic environment. Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) in 3Q18 showed the country’s economy grew 6.3% between March and June. This was a 1.6% growth compared to 4.7%GDP growth recorded in 2017. During the first half of the year, the agriculture sector contributed KSh1.67 trillion to the economy, manufacturing KSh349.41 billion, transport and storage KSh323.54 billion, wholesale and retail trade accounted for KSh311.46 billion. “Accommodation and food service and Information and communication recorded the highest growths of 15.7%…
The arrest and attempted prosecution of Professor Tom Ojienda goes deeper than what people are discussing on the surface. The drama seems to be following a well-written script that has been unfolding from one episode to another. There is no doubt that the government is trying to ‘fight corruption’ through stern warnings from the President and some reactionary arrests from the DCI, DPP and the EACC, but in the case of Professor Ojienda, it is not corruption but succession. What many people have refused to see, or maybe they know but just do not want to think in that line,…
The festive season in Africa also marks the highest season in the tourism industry, as demand for getaway destinations in the continent surges. According to a Hospitality Report Africa – 2018/19, IATA’s most popular airline destinations in Africa in terms of traffic are South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Nigeria, Tunisia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mauritius and Tanzania respectively. These being just among other African countries favorited by tourists not only during Christmas seasons but also throughout the year; for their exotic and relaxing nature. Magnificent sceneries, wild and untouched nature for remarkable safaris and inestimable coastlines, Africa is indeed a favorable tourism…