
<p>NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya is in advanced talks with the World Bank for “a fairly priced” loan of up to 100 billion shillings ($991.57 million), nearly half of its required external funding this fiscal year, a senior Treasury official said on Friday.</p>



<p>The East African nation wants to cut debt from overseas capital markets, after a borrowing binge in recent years, including Eurobond offerings, a package of Chinese loans and syndicated commercial loans.</p>



<p>The World Bank, which has multiple development funding programs with Kenya worth billions of dollars, is seen as one of the viable alternatives to commercial debt.</p>



<p>The Washington D.C.-based financier lent money straight to the Kenyan ministry of finance for the first time last year, changing past practice where it channelled cash straight to the projects, bypassing the Treasury.</p>



<p>The size of the loan from the World Bank will be determined by how much its own funders can put together, said Julius Muia, the principal secretary in the ministry of finance.</p>



<p>“We are thinking something between 50-100 billion (shillings) depending on what kind of interest there will be,” he told Reuters.</p>



<p>The loan will be cheaper than commercial debt, the official said, in line with the government’s policy of cutting its funding costs.</p>



<p>“It is very competitive, it is fairly priced,” Muia said, adding it was likely to be just above the bank’s concessional rate of 200 basis points in interest.</p>



<p>Kenya became a middle-income country in 2014 after it rebased the economy, meaning it cannot secure funds from the World Bank at the concessional rates offered to low-income states.</p>



<p>The finance ministry has set a budget deficit of 6.3% of GDP for this financial year to the end of June and Muia said about 213 billion shillings is expected from external sources.</p>



<p>The balance of the funds will be raised through Kenya’s first sovereign green bond, he said, with the country taking advantage of next week’s UK-Africa investment summit in London to gauge investor demand for the potential issue.</p>



<p>“It is taking shape as we go,” Muia said.</p>



<p>The Treasury projects that the budget deficit will shrink to 5.7% of GDP in 2020/21. The gap, which peaked at 9.1% of GDP in 2016/17 financial year, is expected to narrow further to the desired level of 3.3% in 2023/24.</p>



<p>Muia said he was confident that this year’s deficit will be fully covered through affordable loans.</p>



<p>“We are very clear in our minds that we want to keep the cost of debt down.”</p>



<p>($1 = 100.8500 Kenyan shillings)</p>



<p>Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman &amp; Shri Navaratnam<br></p>


Kenya is in talks with World Bank for $1 billion loan

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<p>According to the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census results presented to President Uhuru Kenyatta, the country&#8217;s population has expanded by nine million in the last decade. There are 47.5 million people in the country compared to 38.6 million in 2010. Ken Okwaroh, Executive Director at Acepis and International Development Analyst joins CNBC Africa to share on the opportunities and the challenges.</p>


Kenya’s population expanded by 9 million people in 10 years

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<p>Today marks one year since the flagging off of the historic Nairobi to New York daily direct flight. During the launch, President Uhuru Kenyatta said the 15 hour flight to US will open up Kenya and the region to the world and boost the continent’s economic growth. To breakdown how much of an impact this flight has had thus far, Sebastian Mikosz, CEO of Kenya Airways joins CNBC Africa.</p>


What impact has Nairobi-New York direct flights had one year on?

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<p>President Uhuru Kenyatta rejected to approve the Finance Bill and further asked Members of Parliament to scrap commercial lending rate caps that critics say have led to a credit squeeze. To overturn the President’s memorandum, MPs require to marshall a two-thirds majority by 10th of October when they resume their sessions. Reginald Kadzutu, Economic Analyst joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


President Uhuru rejects rate cap – how will this impact Kenyan banks?

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<p>Over the past week we&#8217;ve seen stories coming out of Kenya such as the beginning of operations for the second phase of the Standard Gauge Railway despite viability and funding concerns – President Uhuru Kenyatta rejecting a bill to retain interest rate caps and the country setting up warehouses around the region to drive exports. For more context on these headlines, Analyst and SME Consultant, Victor Otieno joins CNBC Africa.</p>


SGR Phase 2 Operations begin despite viability & funding concerns


<p>NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya has sent out invitations to international commercial banks to subscribe to a syndicated loan worth up to 150 billion shillings ($1.45 billion), the Business Daily reported on Wednesday.</p>



<p>The finance ministry set a budget deficit of 5.6% of GDP in June for the 2019/20 (July-June) fiscal year, targeting to borrow 324 billion shillings or close to half of the shortfall, from external sources.</p>



<p>The loan, which will mature in six years, will come with an interest rate of 645 basis points above the Libor interest rate benchmark, the newspaper reported.</p>



<p>Treasury officials were not immediately available for comment.</p>



<p>A Nairobi-based banker with an international lender said he had not seen the term sheet of the proposed loan but the report was not surprising given the Treasury has pencilled in foreign borrowing of $3.2 billion this financial year.</p>



<p>Under President Uhuru Kenyatta, who took office in 2013 and was re-elected in 2017, total debt has rose to more than 50% of GDP, from 42% of GDP.</p>



<p>The government has defended the increased borrowing, saying the country must invest in its infrastructure, including roads and railways.</p>



<p>Public anger at the government’s higher appetite for debt has grown as the country’s top prosecutor has in the past year ordered the arrest of dozens of current and former government officials for involvement in graft in many government ministries and agencies.</p>



<p>The finance minister who set the borrowing targets for this financial year, Henry Rotich, was charged with corruption last month over the loss of billions of shillings in two dam construction tenders.</p>



<p>He denied the charges and was granted bail by the court, before Kenyatta replaced him with Labour Minister Ukur Yatani as acting finance minister.</p>



<p>Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Maggie Fick </p>


Kenya seeks 150 billion shilling syndicated loan, what you need to know about


<p>NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Office equipment for Kenya’s parliament donated by China has gone missing after being loaded onto a shipping container, authorities from both nations said on Thursday.</p>



<p>Like other African nations, Kenya has deepened ties with Beijing, receiving loans, investments and scholarships. But the container of equipment arrived empty this week at its National Assembly, China’s “shocked” embassy said in a statement.</p>



<p>Kenyan police have begun an investigation into the disappearance of the electronic equipment, whose value has not been given, and parliament officials declined to comment.</p>



<p>Kenya has been beset by widespread cases of corruption and theft over the years and President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government had been trying to crack down on the problem.</p>



<p>Reporting by John Ndiso and Humphrey Malalo; Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne</p>


China’s donation of equipment to this East African country’s parliament goes missing

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<p>Recently we reported on &#8220;Made in Kenya Friday&#8221; an initiative by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in a bid to boost local textiles and reduce reliance on second hand clothing in the country. Now, as second hand clothing is on the outs in Rwanda and the country is also committed to developing the local textile and clothing industry, we will delve into how practical it is today to be a fashion entrepreneur. Moses Twahirwa, Founder of Moshions joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


How the ‘Made in Rwanda’ initiative is boosting the textile and clothing industry


<p>By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/anmar-frangoul-profile--cnbc/">Anmar Frangoul</a> <br></p>



<p>Africa’s largest wind farm, the Lake Turkana Wind Power project, has been officially inaugurated.</p>



<p>The 310-megawatt (MW) facility was opened by President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya on Friday.</p>



<p>“We are pleased to note that Kenya is without doubt on course to be a global leader in renewable energy,” he said in a speech given at the launch.</p>



<p>“This will not only ensure that our nation’s scenic beauty and unique ecosystems are preserved and protected for both present and future generations, but will also ensure that we become energy independent and that our energy supply will be safe as well as predictable,” he added.&nbsp;<br><br>The Lake Turkana Wind Power project is made up of 365 turbines, each having a capacity of 850 kilowatts. It is located 600 kilometers from Nairobi in the Loiyangalani District, Marsabit County. Construction of the facility started in October 2014 and it began full commercial operations in March 2019.&nbsp;<br><br>The International Renewable Energy Agency has described Africa as being “rich in renewable energy sources” such as hydro, wind and the sun.&nbsp;<br><br>The Lake Turkana project is one of several large-scale renewable energy schemes to be developed on the continent in recent years.&nbsp;<br><br>In December 2018, it was announced that ground had been broken on West Africa’s “first utility-scale wind power project,” located in Senegal.</p>



<p>The 158.7 MW Parc Eolien Taiba N’Diaye, or PETN, is set to be completed in 2020, according to renewable energy firm Lekela.</p>



<p>The 46-turbine facility will use turbines from Danish company Vestas and will generate more than 450,000 megawatt hours of energy annually, boosting Senegal’s generation capacity by approximately 15 percent, Lakela said.</p>



<p><em>This article first appeared on CNBC </em><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/22/the-biggest-wind-farm-in-africa-is-officially-up-and-running.html"><em>https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/22/the-biggest-wind-farm-in-africa-is-officially-up-and-running.html</em></a><em> and is republished with its permission.</em></p>


The biggest wind farm in Africa is officially up and running in this East African nation

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<p>During the launch of the Rivatex East Africa Textile Company in Eldoret, Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced the &#8216;Made in Kenya Friday&#8217; Initiative, in which he urged all public servants and the private sector to support the local textile and clothing industry by wearing at least one garment that is made in Kenya every Friday. But with the import of second hand clothes reaching all-time highs at the end of last year, how feasible is this move? Kenyan Professional Stylist, Amandine joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


How feasible is ‘Made in Kenya Friday’?

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<p>Recently we&#8217;ve seen a variety of business headlines coming out of Tanzania, from an unexpected rise in the inflation rate to Tanzanian President Magufuli working with his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta to ease cross border trade. Ivan Tarimo, Partner at Bankable joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


How Tanzania’s rising inflation impacts cross border trade in East Africa

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<p>Recently Kenya&#8217;s President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that in a bid to fight among other things corruption, money laundering and counterfeit currency, the country&#8217;s 1,000 shillings note would be discontinued by October 1st. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Arnold Kwizera caught up with Henry Rotich, Kenya&#8217;s Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury at the Africa 50 GSM for more.</p>


Henry Rotich on demonetisation of Kenyan currency


<p>NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has renewed Central Bank Governor Patrick Njoroge’s term, local station Citizen Television said on Thursday.</p>



<p>Njoroge was first appointed to his post in June 2015 for a four-year term, which is renewable once.</p>



<p>Njoroge is a U.S.-educated economist and worked as an adviser at the International Monetary Fund before becoming governor in 2015.</p>



<p>During his first term, the government introduced a cap on commercial lending rates in 2016 as well as moratorium on the issuance of new commercial bank licences in 2015.</p>



<p>His first term saw the government introduce of caps on commercial lending rates in 2016, the introduction of a moratorium on issuance of new commercial bank licences in 2015.</p>



<p>At the time, the temporary closure of Chase Bank Kenya, which followed the closure of Imperial Bank, another mid-sized lender, and Dubai Bank Kenya, a smaller lender, had dented confidence in the industry, which has also seen a jump in bad debts.</p>



<p>Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Angus MacSwan</p>


Kenya’s president Kenyatta renews central bank governor’s term, what you should know…

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<p>President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Mali Boubakar Keita have joined Rwandan leader Paul Kagame for the opening of the 5th Transform Africa Summit in Kigali.</p>


Heads of state address Transform Africa Summit 2019 in Kigali

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<p>Beginning next month, Kenyan employees will pay 1.5 per cent of their salary to fund the government’s project to build 500,000 affordable homes by 2022. The housing fund levy which is part of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big 4 agenda was largely met with backlash from the public. Johnson Denge, Senior Manager &#038; Regional Markets at Cytonn Investments joins CNBC Africa to discuss this.</p>


Uproar over Kenya’s 1.5% housing levy

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<p>Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has pledged his country will cover more of its land with trees in a bid to fight climate change. Even though Africa makes a mere 4 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gasses it is estimated that 65 per cent of Africans will suffer from climate change. Kenyatta believes it’s time for action. President Kenyatta was speaking at the One Planet Summit in Nairobi.</p>


Kenyan president pledges to fight climate change through tree planting

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<p>Fifteen people have been confirmed dead after the deadly attack by Al-Shabab in Kenya&#8217;s Nairobi hotel complex. This was due to shooting and bomb blast at a hotel complex in the capital city. A standoff between soldiers and attackers continues with some shooting heard throughout the night. Joining CNBC Africa is owner of a restaurant which was also attacked yesterday, Andrew Musanga.</p>


Uhuru Kenyatta

Kenya is in talks with World Bank for $1 billion loan

Kenya’s population expanded by 9 million people in 10 years

What impact has Nairobi-New York direct flights had one year on?

President Uhuru rejects rate cap – how will this impact Kenyan banks?

SGR Phase 2 Operations begin despite viability & funding concerns

Kenya seeks 150 billion shilling syndicated loan, what you need to know about

China’s donation of equipment to this East African country’s parliament goes missing

How the ‘Made in Rwanda’ initiative is boosting the textile and clothing industry

The biggest wind farm in Africa is officially up and running in this East African nation

How feasible is ‘Made in Kenya Friday’?

How Tanzania’s rising inflation impacts cross border trade in East Africa

Henry Rotich on demonetisation of Kenyan currency

Kenya’s president Kenyatta renews central bank governor’s term, what you should know…

Heads of state address Transform Africa Summit 2019 in Kigali

Uproar over Kenya’s 1.5% housing levy

Kenyan president pledges to fight climate change through tree planting

15 people confirmed dead after bombing attacks in Nairobi

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Uhuru Kenyatta

Kenya is in talks with World Bank for $1 billion loan

Kenya’s population expanded by 9 million people in 10 years

What impact has Nairobi-New York direct flights had one year on?

President Uhuru rejects rate cap – how will this impact Kenyan banks?

SGR Phase 2 Operations begin despite viability & funding concerns

Kenya seeks 150 billion shilling syndicated loan, what you need to know about

China’s donation of equipment to this East African country’s parliament goes missing

How the ‘Made in Rwanda’ initiative is boosting the textile and clothing industry

The biggest wind farm in Africa is officially up and running in this East African nation

How feasible is ‘Made in Kenya Friday’?

How Tanzania’s rising inflation impacts cross border trade in East Africa

Henry Rotich on demonetisation of Kenyan currency

Kenya’s president Kenyatta renews central bank governor’s term, what you should know…

Heads of state address Transform Africa Summit 2019 in Kigali

Uproar over Kenya’s 1.5% housing levy

Kenyan president pledges to fight climate change through tree planting

15 people confirmed dead after bombing attacks in Nairobi

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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