President William Ruto and his US counterpart Joe Biden on Thursday announced a raft of multibillion-shilling new investment deals in Kenya as the two countries marked 60 years of partnership.
The new investment deals, announced on the final day of President Ruto’s four-day State visit to the US, largely focus on green energy, security, education and governance.
Dr Ruto became the first African leader to make a State Visit to Washington in 16 years since John Kufuor of Ghana in 2008.
“Decades of strong security cooperation between the United States and Kenya have played a critical role in East Africa and beyond,” the White House said on Thursday in a fact sheet of the State Visit. “This partnership extends to areas including international peacekeeping, peace negotiations, security governance, refugee inclusion, and cooperation in cybersecurity.”
The White House said Dr Ruto’s State Visit has strengthened the partnership between Washington and Nairobi on combating terrorist groups in East Africa, largely targeting al-Shabaab and ISIS elements in the region.
As a result, President Biden was later Thursday evening set to designate Kenya as a major non-NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) ally, reflecting Kenya’s status in cooperating with the US counterterrorism operations in Africa. Such a designation underlies Kenya’s growing status.
The United States has committed $4.9 million (Sh642 million under prevailing conversion rates of $1 is equal to Sh131) in new funding for Kenya and other East African countries to improve cooperation and coordination in fighting international criminal networks and holding criminals accountable.
The funding will go towards capacity building and reform efforts within the Kenyan police and justice sectors at a time when the country has committed to deploy its police to lead the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to provide security assistance to Haiti.
The two countries also announced a new $7 million (Sh917 million) partnership to advance and strengthen the modernisation and professionalisation of Kenya’s National Police Service, largely focused on staff and training development.
In an effort to reduce overcrowding in Kenya’s prisons and improve conditions in detention centres, Washington has announced a new $2.2 million (Sh288 million) initiative to provide training, mentoring, and technical assistance to implement priority reforms. Dr Ruto’s visit came on the back of Washington through 2024 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE), complaining of entrenched bribery, extortion and political interference in Kenya’s judicial system as a barrier to attracting investments. In this regard, the US said it will provide $1.55 million (about Sh203 million) towards programmes aimed at combating corruption.
That funding comprises $500,000 (Sh65.5 million) under the new Fiscal Integrity Programme to enhance transparency in Kenya’s budget processes, by enhancing inclusivity and increasing citizen engagement.
A similar amount will go towards broadening the reach and effectiveness of anti-corruption advocacy by empowering civil society actors to create and disseminate multimedia content that engages citizens and mobilises action against corruption.
Some $250,000 (Sh32.75 million) will be injected into supporting the Kenyan government to combat corruption through the Global Accountability Programme, while $300,000 (Sh39.3 million) will go to Kenya’s proposed Whistleblower Protection law aimed at strengthening the country’s anti-corruption legal architecture.
Dr Ruto’s foreign policy realignment with traditional partners such as the US will also likely see increased funding towards the civil society groups, whose activities were largely curtailed during the previous regime of Uhuru Kenyatta.
The US and agencies announced $2.6 million (Sh340.6 million) towards supporting independent civil society groups. This comprises an additional $1.3 million (Sh170.3 million) of funding by US Agency for International Development (USAID) under youth empowerment programme to strengthen political engagement at the subnational level and $600,000 (Sh78.6 million) to advance disability inclusion.
The US also plans to spend $700,000 (Sh91.7 million) in new assistance to support these efforts to institutionalise groundbreaking, global best practices for civil society protections after Dr Ruto executed the legal instruments to operationalise the 2013 Public Benefits Organization Act on May 9. That support is in addition to the $2.7 million (Sh353.7 million) funding the US is already providing to improve civil society engagement in and oversight of governance processes.
“Washington is showing that Kenya is a major ally of the US,” David Monda, a Kenyan international relations scholar who teaches political science at the City University of New York, said via email. “Washington is indicating to other continental powers like South Africa that have taken positions antagonistic to the US on the Russia-Ukraine War and the Israel-Hamas conflict, that Washington has alternatives on the continent.”
Other major deals announced during Dr Ruto’s visit to the US include $1.5 million (Sh196.5 million) in new technical assistance to support Kenya’s electoral legal framework reform process aimed at strengthening the election commission, political parties, and campaign finance.
The US has also committed $3.6 million to support the accelerated connection of more homes, businesses, and institutions in Kenya to cleaner electricity as part of its Empowering East and Central Africa programme.
Meanwhile, the Kenya National Highways Authority (Kenha) and US-based Private Equity Everstrong Capital LLC have signed a deal to start the construction of the $3.6 billion (Sh472.9 billion) expressway from Mombasa to Nairobi. Dubbed Usahihi Expressway, the toll road will upset the Chinese-built Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), as a major rival for traffic.
The US has also lined up $250 million (Sh32.75 billion) in new investments in Kenya through the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), including $180 million (Sh23.58 billion) for a major affordable housing project. That will bring DFC’s portfolio in Kenya to over $1 billion (Sh131 billion).
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Britam half-year net profit hits Sh2bn on higher investment income
Insurer and financial services provider Britam posted a 22.5 percent jump in net earnings for the half-year ended June 2024, to Sh2 billion, buoyed by increased investment income.
The rise in half-year net profit from Sh1.64 billion posted in a similar period last year came on the back of net investment income rising 2.5 times to Sh13.27 billion from Sh5.3 billion.
“We are confident in the growth and performance trend that Britam has achieved, supported by its subsidiaries in Kenya and the region. Our business is expanding its revenue base while effectively managing costs,” Britam Chief Executive Officer Tom Gitogo said.
“Our customer-centric approach is fueling growth in our customer base and product uptake, particularly through micro-insurance, partnerships, and digital channels.”
The investment income growth was fueled by interest and dividend income rising 34 percent to Sh9.1 billion, which the insurer attributed to growth in revenue and the gains from the realignment of the group’s investment portfolio.
Britam also booked a Sh3.79 billion gain on financial assets at a fair value, compared with a Sh1.8 billion loss posted in a similar period last year.
The increased investment income helped offset the 12.7 percent decline in net insurance service result to Sh2.13 billion in the wake of claims paid out rising at a faster pace than that of premiums received.
Britam said insurance revenue, which is money from written premiums, increased to Sh17.8 billion from Sh16.6 billion, primarily driven by growth in the Kenya insurance business and regional general insurance businesses, which contributed 30 percent of the revenue.
The group has a presence in seven countries in Africa namely Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, Mozambique, and Malawi.
Britam’s insurance service expense hit Sh13.6 billion from Sh11.3 billion, while net insurance finance expenses rose 2.6 times to Sh12.3 billion during the same period.
“Net insurance finance expenses increased mainly due to growth in interest cost for the deposit administration business driven by better investment performance. This has also been impacted by a decline in the yield curve, which has led to an increase in the insurance contract liabilities. The increase has been offset by a matching increase in fair value gain on assets,” said Britam.
Britam’s growth in profit is in line with that of other Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed insurers, which have seen a rise in profits.
Jubilee Holdings net profit in the six months increased by 22.7 percent to Sh2.5 billion on increased income from insurance, helping the insurer maintain Sh2 per share interim dividend.
CIC Insurance Group posted a 0.64 percent rise in net profit to Sh709.99 million in the same period as net earnings of Liberty Kenya nearly tripled to Sh632 million from Sh213 million, while Sanlam Kenya emerged from a loss to post a Sh282.2 million net profit.
Africa: Rwanda Gets a Grip Of Marburg, But Mpox ‘Not Yet Under Control’
Monrovia — The Rwanda Minister of State responsible for Health, Dr. Yvan Butera, cautioned that while the country is beginning to see positive signals in its fight against the Marburg virus, the outbreak is “not yet over”. He, however, expressed hope that “we are headed in that direction”. The minister said the epidemiology trend, since the disease was first discovered in the country more than a month ago, is moving towards fewer cases.
Dr. Butera, who was giving updates during an online briefing yesterday, said in the past two weeks, only two deaths were recorded while 14 people recovered from the disease. He said Rwanda was expanding its testing capacity with 16,000 people already inoculated against the disease.
The priority right now, Butera said, is “rapid testing and detection”.
Marburg is a highly virulent disease transmitted through human-to-human contact or contact with an infected animal. The fatality rate of cases, which has varied over the period, is more than 50%, according to the World Health Organization. WHO said the highest number of new confirmed cases in Rwanda were reported in the first two weeks of the outbreak. There’s been a “sharp decline” in the last few weeks, with the country now tackling over 60 cases.
At Thursday’s briefing, a senior official of the Africa Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, said mpox – the other infectious disease outbreak that countries in the region are fighting – was been reported in 19 countries, with Mauritius being the latest country to confirm a case. He said although no new cases have been recorded in recent weeks in several countries where outbreaks occurred previously – including Cameroon, South Africa, Guinea, and Gabon – Uganda confirmed its first Mpox death. This, he said, is one of two fatalities reported outside Central Africa.
Dr. Ngashi revealed that there was an increase in cases in Liberia and Uganda. He said mpox cases were still on an upward trend.
“The situation is not yet under control.”
Source: allafrica.com
Zanzibar Airport Authority to audit ground handlers
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