- At the beginning of the year, Kenya’s share of this market stood at 32 percent. Latest statistics, according to a local daily, now place this at 38 percent following increased demand.The demand boost has presumably been largely caused by a decision by UK’s Tesco supermarket chain – the largest in the country – to reveal research findings that there was no direct correlation between distance covered by horticultural products in air transportation (referred to as food miles) and contamination of the environment through harmful carbon emissions.A few months ago, there had been suggestions by environmental activists in the UK that horticultural commodities that had been…

- Tourism is Kenya’s biggest single foreign exchange earner, expected to generate more than Ksh 60 billion (US$ 896 million) by the end of this year. This will mark a growth of about 7 percent from last year. That has been the trend over the past three or so years.This growth has been generated by a steady rise in numbers of tourists coming into the country. And now, as one way of expanding accommodation facilities, the government is beginning to send signals that it will officially recognise home stays as an alternative to hotel accommodation.Recently, the Ministry of Tourism announced that it was considering instituting guidelines to encourage and license individuals with extra space…

- 12 June 2007, by Elly Wamari in Nairobi. The 22 kilometre journey from Kitale town to Saiwa Swamp National Park appears to have taken too long. It is already 6.40 am, and we will stand no chance of spotting the rare sitatunga antelope once the sun goes a little further up. We are not about to let that happen, so we quickly disembark from the Toyota Lancruiser vehicles as soon as they stop at the entry point, and leave one of our guides to sort out the usual administrative matters. Within seconds, we are through the gates that give entry into the marshy park. “You catch up with us!” we tell him almost in unison and disappear into the paths. A group of 11 journalists and five officials…

-  7 May 2007, by Elly Wamari in Nairobi, Kenya. Mergers. Partnerships. Expansions. When these become buzzwords among businessmen and women, the simplest conclusion that can be drawn from the scenario is that here are markets that are sensing good prospects.  Which is precisely the situation in Kenya at the moment. For the past roughly four months, company CEOs and directors have been thumping their chests and talking mergers, partnerships, and expansions, discussing those that have already taken place and revealing planned ones.  Starting with mergers, two not so big banks in the Kenyan market — CFC Bank and Stanbic Bank — are about to amalgamate, and when they do so, the res…

-  7 May 2007, by Elly Wamari in Nairobi, Kenya. A major shift in the structure of trade between Kenya and the countries that make the European Union takes effect from January 1, 2008, if the schedule is not disrupted.  From the Kenyan point of view, the expiry of the 30-year-old ACP-EU Partnership Agreement at the end of this year signals some tough agricultural export challenges, while for the EU, this eventuality may imply an easier export penetration into African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. That is why Kenya"s trade and industry minister, Mukhisa Kituyi, and head of the European Commission to Kenya, Eric van der Linden, have lately been discussing the ACP-EU af…

-  7 May 2007, by Elly Wamari in Nairobi, Kenya. Kenya Tourists Board (KTB) managing director, Dr Ongong"a Achieng", is impressed by the performance of tourism in the country so far, and he is now suggesting that more investment in the sector would be a positive venture. The benefits are written on the wall. "The current tourist arrivals by air and sea performance from January this year to March has showed a 12 percent increase over the same period last year," he says. This has translated into an 18 percent rise in tourism earnings within the same period. Last year, tourists brought in about €162 million between January and March. This year, the figure is €192 million over the…

23 February 2007, by Elly Wamari in Nairobi, Kenya. If you are planning to invest in sub-Saharan Africa, consider Kenya, at least according to the World Bank Group. The country is turning out to be a favourite investment destination in sub-Saharan Africa.A report published last November by the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) – an arm of the World Bank Group established in 1988 to promote private investment flow to developing member countries – provides the reasons. - Snapshot Africa: Benchmarking FDI Competitiveness in sub-Saharan African countries, gives the country"s impressive port system as one of them. The availability of cold storage facilities and computerised port pro…

- 29 January 2007, by Elly Wamari in Nairobi, Kenya. About three years ago, sugar manufacturers in Kenya had reason to give the government a huge friendly pat on the back. Now they are shadow boxing in warm-up for a possible conflict with the managers of the country"s affairs, if their latest request goes unheeded.On March 1, 2004, the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (Comesa) allowed Kenya to impose a four-year safeguard measure that restricted duty-free sugar imports into the Kenyan market, from other Comesa country members. Kenyan authorities had spiritedly negotiated for this, hence the friendly pat on the back. The country had argued that Comesa protection was necessary to all…

- 1 December 2006, by Elly Wamari in Nairobi. Anxiety awaits the sale of shares to the public, of East Africa's most profitable company. Kenya's Safaricom, a mobile telephone service provider jointly owned by Vodafone Plc (UK) and Telkom Kenya Ltd (a quasi-government telephone company), is likely to cause a major shift at the already busy Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) after plans to list it there are finalized.A decision to float a percentage of the company's shares is expected before end of the year. Hopefully, trading then begins within the first few months of next year. With a pre-tax profit of Sh 12.2 billion (US$ 172 million), Safaricom will be a major attraction for the public as well a…

- 17 January 2007, by Elly Wamari in Nairobi, Kenya. A flourishing air transport sub-sector in Kenya just got an international boost, thanks to the entry of a UK business into ownership stakes. Lonrho Africa, whose investments across the continent are mostly in hotels and lodges, recently acquired a 49 percent ownership of a fledgling domestic airline company called Five Forty Aviation. The new airline is being marketed under the banner Fly540, and that, therefore, is the title it is more commonly known by.With Lonrho Africa pumping in about US$1.5 million into the company"s coffers to gain the part ownership, Fly540, which is being touted as a "low-cost" airline, just got a boost to ho…

- 8 January 2007, by Elly Wamari in Nairobi, Kenya. When a Chinese travel consultant recently said that the number of tourists from China to Africa had doubled in 2006 to more than 200,000, it was simply more of a confirmation of what was already visible. Because of their distinctive physical features, the Chinese are among some of the easiest people to spot. It makes no sense, therefore, to dispute the observation by Mr Zhang Yuanxiang – the general manager of China Travel Services (Kenya) – when the frequency with you will bump into a Chinese in Nairobi (Kenya"s capital and one of the most vibrant cities in Africa) has visibly shot up.But many of these people are no ordinary tourists thoug…

- 21 January 2007, by Elly Wamari in Nairobi. Kenya"s sudden economic growth from a paltry 0.6 percent in 2002 to 5.8 percent by the end of 2005 is creating quite some remarkable excitement. Just about every economic pundit is throwing in an opinion or two over what the growth portends for the nation, and what should be done to sustain it.Amidst the various debates are intimations that a slight rise might actually have been recorded in 2006 to push the growth figure to about 6 percent. Obviously, the Government is flaunting the rosy figures at every opportunity, and promising an even rosier scenario.A few weeks ago, the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development released a statem…

- 15 December 2006, by Elly Wamari in Nairobi, Kenya. Finally, the value of financial remittances by Kenyans living abroad is getting wider attention. Two new entrants into the money transfer business have been recorded within the past few days, suddenly raising competition in the sub-sector to between four institutions from the traditional two.Western Union and MoneyGram have been the only recognised money transfer institutions operating in the country. They have been handling millions of dollars in brisk business, mostly in partnership with commercial banks. Kenyans living abroad send about US$ 725 million (KSh 50 billion) back home annually to relatives and friends. Now PostaPay, introduc…

- Elly Wamari (1968) has practised journalism since 1996. He holds a bachelors degree in Agricultural Economics (Honours) and certificates on short media training courses. He ventured into journalism as a freelance agricultural writer, before becoming a columnist and going on to write on co-operative issues, general business, and the environment.Areas of interest: general human interest stories, art and culture, people features, and special reports on development matters.