Kenya News Archives - Page 8 of 17

4Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Agriculture, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya News, Uganda News

African climate innovators dominate global climate prize at COP26

Four African climate innovators were named as winners at 2021's presigious Ashden Awards held on November 4 at the global climate summit COP26 in Glasgow, UK. Three more of the continent’s low carbon pioneers were announced as runners up. The Ashden Awards honour pioneering organisations from the UK and low-income countries lowering carbon emissions and building a fairer world. World leaders and international organisations are gathering in Glasgow from November 1 to 13 to agree a global plan for tackling the climate crisis. The key note speech at the awards ceremony was given by Costa Rican President, Carlos Alvarado, who said: “We share the conviction that sustainable development goes hand in hand with economic growth, as well as a deep commitment to decarbonization and to promote nat...

31Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Energy, Ethiopia News, Kenya News

Underwriting facility set to energise geothermal development in Kenya and Ethiopia

FSD Africa, the UK Government’s flagship financial sector programme in Africa, and Parhelion, a UK-based specialist energy and climate risk finance advisory company, have today announced plans to launch a first-of-its-kind underwriting facility, backed by East African insurers, to de-risk early-stage development of geothermal energy projects with the capacity to significantly expand electricity access and energy sector resilience in Kenya and Ethiopia. The need The energy sectors in Kenya and Ethiopia face several systemic issues: Large numbers of people continue to live without electricity — 12.5 million in Kenya and 42 million in Ethiopia are still unconnected. Growth in energy demand is outstripping supply — Kenya’s power demand is growing 20% faster than GDP, while recent a...

22Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, Kenya News, Nigeria News, South Africa News, Startups

Nigerian Fintech, Brass, Secures $1.7mn Financing Round “to bet on African SMEs”

“Africa’s new bank for startups and SMEs” to expand to South Africa & Kenya following funding Brass, a Nigerian digital bank delivering easy access to affordable premium banking services for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), has today secured $1.7mn in funding to address the heavily underserved banking needs of local entrepreneurs, traders and fast-growing businesses. The financing round sees participation from Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola (Co-Founder of Flutterwave), Ezra Olubi (Co-Founder of Paystack, acquired by Stripe), Hustle Fund, Acuity Ventures, Uncovered Fund and Ventures Platform. The new funding will play a key role in accelerating Brass’ expansion into South Africa and Kenya - just a year after launch, and will kickstart a range of new product categories, including an ex...

18Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Kenya News

Autochek Officially Launches in Kenya

African automotive company aims to increase its footprint across East Africa Nairobi, Kenya - Autochek, the automotive technology company that aims to facilitate auto finance across Africa, has officially widened its operations to Kenya as part of its pan-African expansion. To lead its Kenya operations, Autochek has appointed Bilhah Muriithi as the Country Manager. Having recently acquired automotive marketplaces Cheki Kenya and Cheki Uganda from ROAM Africa (Ringier One Africa Media), the move into the Kenyan market signals Autochek’s focus on building digital solutions that will increase market adoption for auto loan financing and drive partner prosperity for its core stakeholders, such as dealerships, garages and financial institutions. With credit penetration in Kenya at 27.5% and ...

17Oct

By Denny Da SilvaNo Comments

Kenya News, Main, Nigeria News, South Africa News

New global tax rules will help address imbalances in tax revenue in Africa

By Denny Da Silva, Associate Director, Tax, Baker McKenzie, Johannesburg One hundred and thirty six of the 140 members of the OECD G20 Inclusive Framework, including South Africa, have agreed on a new set of global tax rules that will reform the world’s tax system. Notably, two African countries that are members of the Inclusive Framework have not yet joined the agreement - Kenya and Nigeria. The two-pillar system will be presented to the G20 Leaders’ Summit at the end of October 2021. It will result in a reallocation of taxing rights from resident to source countries of certain multinational enterprises (MNEs), if thresholds are met, in addition to a 15% global minimum tax rate for certain organizations, implemented from 2023. The agreement aims to redress global tax revenue imbalances a...

17Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Kenya News

Adenia acquires leading grower of premium roses in Kenya

Adenia Partners, a private equity firm investing in Africa, has acquired a majority stake in Altilands SA, the parent company of Red Lands Roses (“Red Lands”), a leading grower of premium fresh-cut roses in Kenya. Red Lands is internationally recognized for its green horticultural practices that respect people and the environment. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Established in 1996 by agronomist, Isabelle Spindler, Red Lands operates a farm of 28 hectares, 35 kilometers northeast of Nairobi, at approximately 1,565 meters above sea level. Red Lands’ premium fresh-cut roses have fuller heads, longer stems, and an enviable vase life of 12 to 21 days which not only provides value for its targeted premium florist market, but also ensures an overall lower carbon emissions...

10Oct

By Jana BothaNo Comments

Kenya News, Main, South Africa News, Startups

Africa: tax implications of digital transformation in the consumer goods and retail sector

By Jana Botha, Tax Consultant, and Prenisha Govender, Associate, Tax Practice, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg The pandemic-fuelled growth of the digital economy and unabated demand for online retail products across Africa have led to extensive disruption in the Consumer Goods and Retail Sector (CG&R) sector. Due to a growth in demand for online retail, CG&R companies in Africa have been rapidly adapting their digital operating models, and multinational e-commerce platforms operating in the region have attracted a record number of new customers. This digital transition, and resultant growth in the e-commerce sector, has tax implications for digital CG&R businesses operating in Africa. The OECD’s Pillar One and Two Multilateral international tax changes currently being implemente...

9Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Business, Kenya News

DPI raises one of the largest Africa funds at US$900m to invest in innovation-led companies

Development Partners International (DPI), a premier investment firm focused on Africa, announced on 4th October that African Development Partners III Fund (ADP III), has exceeded its US$800 million target, and is set to hold a final close at US$900 million, with an additional US$250m of dedicated co-investment capital. This brings a total of US$1.15 billion for investments on the continent. The fundraising establishes ADP III as one of the largest funds dedicated to investing global capital in Africa. ADP III will invest in established and growing companies in industries that benefit from Africa’s fast-growing middle class and the increasing digital transformation of the continent. All investments have the highest standards of impact and environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) work. ...

7Oct

By Josephine WawiraNo Comments

African News, Kenya News

Kenya Plastics Pact launches to tackle plastics waste in the country

An ambitious, new collaborative initiative to tackle plastics waste and pollution has today launched in Kenya. The Kenya Plastics Pact (KPP) will bring together stakeholders across the plastics value chain to create a circular economy for plastics. The Pact brings together businesses, governments, researchers, NGOs, civil society, informal waste sector players, and other stakeholders across the whole plastics value chain, to set time-bound commitments to transform the current linear plastics system into a circular plastics economy. Plastics waste and pollution have captured the attention of businesses, governments, and citizens in Kenya. Today, published data shows that only 8% of plastic is recycled, with the remainder being landfilled or incinerated – or in the worst-case scenario, endi...

22Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, Kenya News, Mozambique News, Nigeria News, South Africa News

Banks across Africa Turn to IBM Hybrid Cloud and AI Solutions to Accelerate Digital Innovation

Africa’s leading banks including EcoBank, Nedbank, Attijariwafa Bank, United Bank of Africa, Co-operative Bank of Kenya and Banco Mais are tapping into IBM technologies to help advance financial inclusion across the continent IBM today announced that major financial institutions across Africa have selected hybrid cloud and AI capabilities from IBM to unlock digital innovation and continue their work to develop digital-first solutions, ultimately broadening access to financial services on the continent. COVID-19 continues to accelerate the already rapid changes that were happening across the financial services sector in Africa, fast-tracking the adoption of digital technologies to boost financial inclusion. With over 475 million Africans expected to be mobile internet users by 2025 GSMA –...