Kenya’s private sector activity contracts at slower pace in January compared to December
The survey said many companies also encountered slowing sales due to lower customer spending and cashflow problems, while others experienced higher sales.
World’s largest automaker Toyota adjusts profit growth upwards to $33 billion, rivals forecast drop
Toyota CFO Yoichi Miyazaki said that efforts to adjust production to better respond to demand for popular models had helped the automaker sell vehicles without resorting to the usual discounts and incentives.
Emerging market debt sales hit January record despite elusive flows, will rise to $165b this year
According to JPMorgan calculations, adding coupons to maturities and comparing to gross issuance should have left dedicated emerging markets hard currency funds with a $78 billion cash pile to invest over the past two years. But taking into account outflows, that would have shrunk to just $8 billion, the bank said in a recent note to clients.
World Bank President Banga denies IFC cover up of rampant sexual abuse in Kenya school investments
Civil society groups have expressed concern, opens new tab that IFC ignored evidence of child sexual abuse at some of Bridge’s Kenya schools until the World Bank’s Office of Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) received complaints from parents in 2018 and opened an investigation, opens new tab.
Why Kenyan President Ruto’s copy-and-paste Singaporean low-cost housing model faces resistance from taxpayers, courts
The history of affordable housing in Singapore is – too – replete with instances of colonial government involvement. However, the policies were modified to align with the programme with rapid economic growth that resulted in a rapidly rising housing demand powered by booming economy and sharp rise in labour-force from foreign countries.
Iran-made Shahed-136 is the ‘loitering munition’ of choice Houthis use to attack merchant ships
The Shahed-136 , which has been extensively used by Russian forces in Ukraine, can be fired from truck-mounted containers at a slightly upward angle. A small rocket booster helps propel the drone into the air before being jettisoned. Its main piston engine then takes over to power the flight.
How Houthi militants in Yemen attack ships in one of world’s busiest maritime trade routes
Houthi attacks have targeted ships in the southern Red Sea and the neighbouring Gulf of Aden, which are joined by the Bab al-Mandab strait, a chokepoint between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.
Bayer announces plan to outsource pharma business in Kenya, 3 other African countries
Bayer will hand over the warehousing, distribution and sales representation of the medicines business, including for oncology and ophthalmology, to an unidentified third company beginning in May, it said.
Spanish farmers plan protests in February that are expected to spill over to farmers in Kenya
Spanish farmers say they are also struggling to compete with products imported from outside the EU at lower prices. Among other demands, the Spanish organisations plan to ask Brussels to halt negotiations with the Mercosur trade bloc, as well as trade agreements with Chile, Kenya, Mexico, India and Australia.
Kenya considering Eurobond buyback in February or March, then return to money market – President Ruto
Ruto also said the government was no longer counting on the Trade and Development Bank (TDB), an African development finance institution, to organise a $1 billion syndicated loan for Kenya, as initially planned.
