South Africa to deport illegal migrants to Kenya
13 December 2021
Good Morning. Here are a few things that happened over the weekend:
The Formula One season concluded in a dramatic fashion with Max Verstappen as the new Formula one world champion.
Speaking during the Jamuhuri day celebrations yesterday, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that the cost of electricity will reduce by 15 per cent, by the end of December.
South Africa to deport all illegal migrants including from other nationals to Kenya
As part of a new deal between South Africa and Kenya, aimed at relaxing the current strict Visa restrictions for Kenyans, South Africa will deport all illegal migrants (including from other nationals) to Kenya.
This means that Kenya will have the responsibility of blocking all illegal migrants from entering South Africa through Kenya. Kenya is a key transit point for illegal immigrants moving to South Africa.
Visa restrictions
South African visa restrictions for Kenyan travellers has prevented free entry into South Africa and has made it difficult for Kenyans to do business in South Africa.
In 2020, South Africa exported Sh45.7 billion worth of goods to Kenya, against imports of Sh3.48 billion from Kenya.
MARKETS
1. Treasury calls off the issuance of Ksh 150 billion infrastructure bond
Treasury froze the issuance of the infrastructure bond by KRB (Kenya Roads Board) stating that it breached Kenya’s loan terms with the IMF (International Monetary Fund).
The bond issuance would have expanded fiscal debt and the level of borrowing beyond the authorized limit under the IMF programme.
As of July this year, Kenya’s debt was 7.8 trillion ( 3.8 trillion domestic borrowing and Sh4 trillion from external sources)
2. Confusion at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange
The confusion resulted from the Parliamentary Committee dismissing regulations introduced by the Agriculture Cabinet secretary. The regulations gave the Agriculture & Food Authority (AFA) powers to oversee operations at the Exchange.
Why were the regulations dismissed ? because The Capital Markets (Coffee Exchange) Regulations 2020, gives the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) the mandate to licence and oversee the coffee exchange and brokers.
3. A third of Kenyan loan accounts are negatively listed in CRB (Credit Referencing Bureau)
Data from the CRBs show that 4.6 million out of 15 million accounts are negatively listed, a jump from 3.2 million accounts in April last year.
Data also revealed that most of the new listings are from mobile digital loans.
COMPANIES
Imperial Bank Placed under administration
Last week, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) placed Imperial Bank Limited in liquidation. This is a day after an external audit report submitted to KDIC (Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation ) recommended that the bank be wound up, as it had become insolvent.
Imperial Bank was placed under receivership in October 2015, and the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) appointed as the receiver.
As of June 2020, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) had acquired assets valued at ksh3.2 billion, and assumed liabilities of the same value with the money raised to The CBK said the money raised to be paid to depositors across four years.
TAX
Mobile verification for excise duty stamps
The Kenya Revenue authority launched a new mobile phone app, Soma Label, that will scan and verify the new generation excise stamps that were recently unveiled.
The app will help identify counterfeit products such as counterfeit wines, spirits and tobacco products.
The upgraded excise stamps have a quick response code (QR code) for distributors, retailers and consumers who will use the app to verify the authenticity of the products
Stages of the roll out of Excise Stamps
Water, soft drinks and juices will have the new stamps as from 28th December 2021
Tobacco products and keg beer will be have Stamps as from February 1, 2022.
TRADE
Kenya and Tanzania sign 8 bilateral trade agreements
On Friday, Kenya and Tanzania signed 8 bilateral agreements after bilateral talks between Kenyan and Tanzanian delegations led by President Kenyatta and his Tanzanian counterpart Samia Suluhu in Dar es Salaam.
The bilateral agreements include:
a) Agreements on mutual legal assistance, extradition and transfer of sentenced persons.
b) Memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on immigration, correctional services and animal health.
d) MoUs on cooperation between Kenya Investment Authority and Tanzania Investment Centre.
e) MoU’s on housing and urban development.
The signed agreements will help spur economic prosperity as well as assist in cementing bilateral ties between Kenya and Tanzania.
SUSTAINABILITY
Car free day for Kisumu City Residents
Saturday was a car free day in Kisumu and as a result, 3 major streets were shut down. The car free day marked the start of the Sustainable mobility plan, a partnership project between the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) & the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) to transform Kisumu into a non-motorised area.
The Mobility plan, launched In February by the Governor of Kisumu County, will see Kisumu undergo a redesign to ensure that pedestrians and cyclists enjoy enhanced convenience and safety.
What does this mean
Motor vehicles and motorcycles will soon be barred from entering Kisumu’s central business district.
Major streets in the city centre will be redesigned and converted into single carriageways.
Most parking spaces will be relocated to the backstreets.
More Sidewalks will be constructed.
FUTURE OF WORK
a 4 and a half day work week
The United Arab Emirates made 2 important announcements last week:
The UAE will shift to a four-and-a-half day official working week starting next year.
It will move its weekend to Saturday and Sunday as of 1 January 2022.
The changes indicate the UAE government's efforts to boost work-life balance & enhance social wellbeing while synchronising with global markets in order to advance its economic competitiveness.
Must Know ConversationStarters
Diplomatic boycott of Beijing olympics by the United States - The United States announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics because of the human rights abuses and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang region.
This means that the US will not send any officials to Beijing. However, athletes are free to compete in the olympics.
Kisumu City plans to issue Ksh 1Billion county bond - Kisumu will hold a four-day investment conference from December 19 to 22, to showcase and promote investment opportunities in the county.
This announcement was made by the Governor who also stated that the county plans to issue a Ksh 1 billion bond through its parastatal, the Lake Front Development Corporation, after the investment conference.
Mobile money transactions in Kenya record highest annual growth - Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data shows that Safaricom’s M-Pesa, Airtel Money and Telkom’s T-Kash agents handled Sh5.64 trillion in the 10 months to October, a 38% increase from the same period last year.
Active mobile money agents rose from 287,410 in January to 295,105 in October highlighting the demand for their services.
coffee and banking - Standard Chartered announced its adoption of an office space co-sharing model by partnering with Artcaffe to open three new branches in outlets owned by the restaurant chain in Nairobi, Isiolo and Nanyuki.
Standard Chartered has recently shut branches and cut jobs because of reduced flow of customers in its branches due to increased use of digital banking.
as a bank the times of doing things alone are gone and partnerships are the way to go. Clients no longer want banking done the way it was done traditionally. Clients want to take their coffee or food while doing the transactions - Standard Chartered Bank chief executive.
Kenya Airways (KQ) launch direct flights from South Sudan capital Juba to Khartoum - KQ stated that the new flight will originate from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi flying to Khartoum via Juba and back to Nairobi every Wednesday and Sunday.
Former CEO of Hewlett Packard, eBay, and Quibi Meg Whitman has been nominated as the US ambassador to Kenya
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