4. The Central Bank of Kenya is considering issuing a Central bank digital currency (CBDC) that will take on the the transaction fees currently charged on digital payments on platforms like M-pesa:
8. A small trip to Nigeria where Flutterwave [@theflutterwave] made waves by becoming the most valuable startup in Africa at ~USD 3B (Tripling the valuation in 1 year!)
The company was launched in 2016 btw & is now bigger, in valuation, than any listed bank in Nigeria!
9. We posted a chart showing Mwalimu sacco as the biggest SACCO in Kenya by asset size with KES 58B in assets.
10. Kenyan MPs petitioned the Treasury to include an additional KES 11.7B in the budget for free cars for each, a sendoff package for their aides & extra millions for a mortgage and medical insurance payments.
12. FYI, 2500 trees were brought down to pave way for the Expressway.
This week, Nema [@NemaKenya] gave the contractor, China Bridge and Road Corporation until the end of March to plant 3,000 assorted seedlings along the Expressway. Iko Kazi.
13. We also learnt that Kenyan taxpayers continued to pay the salaries of 50 doctors who were sent to work in Seychelles during the Covid-19 response campaign.
14. The National Oil Corporation of Kenya wants a KES 13B bailout from the National Treasury to partly to pay bank loans (KES 6.6B) and meet operating costs (KES 3B).
Starting 5th May 2025, NEMA will begin implementing the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Regulations under the Sustainable Waste Management Act (L.N. 176 of 2024).
1/ A KES 150 levy will be introduced per item of packaging. ๐งต
2/ Whatโs Affected?
The levy applies to nearly everything: plastic, glass, aluminium, paper, cardboard, rubber, leather, textiles, and composite packaging.
Think food wrappers, medicine boxes, cosmetic bottles, even sanitary pad packaging all fall under this.
3/ NEMA says the KES 150 will apply to "standard packaging" but that term isnโt clearly defined.
For example, if Panadol tablets are packed in strips, which come in boxes, the boxes packed into cartons, and the cartons stacked onto pallets - what exactly is considered the chargeable item?
Is it the strips, the box, the carton, or the pallet?
โThe Transmission Master Plan (TMP) projects the need for an additional 9,600 km of transmission lines and a $5.2B investment by 2042 to support industrial growth and electrification.
โKETRACO is exploring Public-Private Partnerships to bridge the funding gap
2. Why PPPs?
โKETRACO projects have historically been financed through loans from development partners like the World Bank, AfDB, JICA, and Exim banks.
โThe next set of funding from these partners is estimated to be available after the financial year 2028/2029.
โTotal Assets: +17.7% to 3.5B
โNet Income: +8.5% to 235M
โPAT: +3.8% to 116M
โDividend rate on deposits: 20%
โInterest rate on member deposits: 11%
2. Magereza DT Sacco:
โTotal Assets: +12.7% to 7.9B
โNet Income: +33.4% to 606M
โPAT: +53.9% to 129M
โDividend rate on share capital: 10%
โInterest rate on member deposits: 6%
10 Key Takeaways from the CBK Post-MPC Briefing by the Governor.
1. CBK is keen on the separation of Safaricom & M-Pesa:
"One of the factors that has been delaying this..is the tax liability which is fairly significant in the order of at least KES 75B & what to do with it"
2. There has been a sharp rise in remittances to Kenya this year:
"If one were to compare the first two months of 2024 (Jan & Feb 2024), we see remittances for those two months compared to the two months in 2023 have increased by more than 20%"
3. There was a slowdown in growth in credit to the private sector in Feb 2024 from 13.8% to 10.3%
"A certain amount of private sector loans is denominated in dollars & therefore, when the exchange rate appreciated the level of credit to the private sector did decline"