Five hundred people are set to be rendered jobless in coming months at Telkom, Kenya’s third largest mobile phone services operator by market share. This is after the telco issued a thirty-day notice to relevant authorities and company stakeholders on October 26 informing them of what the company describes as an intended workforce-restructuring exercise. In the statutory notification to the Ministry of Labour, Telkom Kenya indicated that it is considering declaring the employees redundant to enable it invest more into the growth and sustainability of its business “The company must align its cost structure and skill-set with its Strategy. This…
Author: Nairobi Business Monthly Reporter
BY SIMON ATEBA When a major contract between DP World Limited and the Republic of Djibouti was signed, everyone seemed to be happy and satisfied with the business deal. Both sides pledged to respect the terms of the agreement, and it seemed back then, that Djibouti, a tiny but important country in the Horn of Africa, was trying to inject more professionalism and trust in the way it was building its infrastructure and conducting business with the world. Under the terms of the contract, Djibouti granted DP World exclusive rights over port and free zone facilities, including container-handling facilities. DP World…
USAID, an American development agency, has signed Sh940m loan portfolio guarantee agreement with Musoni Microfinance, a Nairobi based credit micro-lender. The agreement will allow the microfinance to develop and roll out innovative financial loan products to increase access to credit within Kenya’s agricultural sector, especially within cereals, dairy, livestock and horticulture value chains. The group to benefit from this include individuals, associations, small-scale farmers, cooperatives and micro, small and medium enterprises. According to Stanley Munyao, Musoni Microfinance Chief Executive, this facility will help them to provide smallholder farmers with quality inputs, market linkages, infrastructure and other auxiliary services. On the…
Kenyans are finally starting to feel the pinch of the Finance Act 2018 as Safaricom, the dominating service provider in the country, has eventually passed on the burden of the revised excise duty to its customers by increasing its voice, SMS and data prices. As a result of the new law, Safaricom increased its voice calls and data prices by 30 cents while the SMS price was increased by 10 cents. “We wish to notify our customers that from the midnight of 18th October 2018, our headline price for voice calls and data will increase by 30 cents and SMS…
Equitel has recorded double-digit growth in both the value and number of mobile money commerce transactions as per latest data from the Communications Authority of Kenya. Launched in July 2015, the Equity Bank subsidiary now accounts for close to 22% of the Sh1.919 trillion that was moved in the economy through mobile money services in the third quarter of 2018. While subscription base as at June 2018 was 1.95 million, Equitel processed 87.9 million mobile commerce transactions between April 2018 and June 2018, up from 77.6 million transactions in the preceding quarter, representing a 13% increase. At the same time…
KenGen has ended a two-year dry spell to declare a dividend of Sh0.40 per share for the financial year ending June 30, 2018. Profit Before Tax improved by 2% to Sh11.75b from Sh11.46b realising over a similar period last year attributable to increased generation revenue and steam sales. Profit After Tax reduced by 12% to Sh7.89 billion from Sh9 billion in 2017. During the year under review, the company commissioned the Olkaria 280MW realising capital allowance for which tax credits were realised in the last financial year. Tax expense for the year was Sh3.855 billion compared to Sh2.455 billion the…
Focus Softnet, a software development and enterprise applications provider, has launched its next-generation ERP solution – Focus 9, powered by Pronghorn server – the company’s feature-rich proprietary design built with in-memory computing capabilities for lightning speed transactions, in the Middle East and Africa region. Built to, Focus 9 supports organizations to transform business values with advanced analytics and real-time insights. Focus 9 is built on the next-generation in-memory computing technology and other upgraded features to amplify speed and efficiency of operations, forming a strong connection between the enterprise and its workforce, business networks, and departments. The ERP’s modular structure lets…
A global payments technology company, Visa Inc., has appointed Marianne Mwaniki as its senior vice president of social impact. Ms Mwaniki will lead the Visa Foundation, which was established in 2017 to build on the firm’s long history of corporate giving and to accelerate the delivery of the company’s social impact goals by helping small and micro-enterprises thrive. Actually, she will be responsible for the company’s comprehensive strategy in terms of corporate social responsibility, corporate giving programs, financial inclusion and financial literacy. With more than 20 years of experience working in the banking sector across the world, she is expected to…
A major new report published by Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI)last month revealed that losses due to fall armyworm are lower than projected in 2017 and the pest is still primarily focused on maize rather than any other potential host crops. Better monitoring, swift responses by governments and farmers and an increase of natural enemies attacking the pest all help in mitigating the devastating crop losses it can cause CABI, a not-for-profit inter-governmental development and information organisation focusing primarily on agricultural and environmental issues in the developing world says. In the report, funded by the UK Department for International…
Samsung Electronics, the South Korean multinational electronics company, has opened an interactive store with 700sq feet at the Two Rivers Mall. The new shop is the largest Samsung Experience Store in Africa. According to Sung Yoon, President and CEO of Samsung Electronics Africa, the new store was going in line with the firm’s strategy, which is to realign its business operations in Africa for greater efficiency in the sales and marketing roles with a focus on the consumer experience. “We remain committed to delivering quality products and technological solutions to our consumers in an accessible manner. Customers have expectations and…