The increase in the number of beneficiaries is in line with KCB Foundation’s expansion of the entire scholars programme, which now includes an apprenticeship element as well as university and tertiary education scholarships.

The program intends to actively and intentionally support marginalized, underserved, minorities and vulnerable students to access education from all 47 counties.

Speaking on the programme, KCB Group Director, Marketing, Corporate Affairs and Citizenship; Rosalind Gichuru said that the increase in capacity has been informed by the long-lasting effects that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on various households, both economically and socially.

The adverse impact of the pandemic has placed financial strain on households and widened the poverty gap, affecting access to education for many young Kenyans, Rosalind said.

“As such, we increased the scholarship capacity to ensure that more of these bright students have a chance to continue their education and change their future. The revamp also means we be able to support their transition from high school to institutions of higher learning, both university and TVETs” she said.

The window for the application is open until Monday, 11th April 2022.

The KCB Foundation scholarship is comprehensive, covering fees for all four years, catering for personal effects, learning materials, school uniforms, transport to and from school, termly school-based mentorship sessions with a KCB staff and an annual group mentorship and networking with fellow scholars.

The 2022 class will form the fifteenth cohort of the scholar’s programme, with 1,320 students currently in school, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 3,535 since its inception in 2007.

Ultimately, the scholars programme aims to increase the transition rate from primary to secondary schools and aid in the attainment of every one of the 17 sustainable development goals.

The post KCB Foundation to inject KES 252M to boost its Scholars Programme appeared first on Biz Post Daily.

The event will feature Kenya’s top artists including Nviiri the storyteller, Bensoul, and top DJs namely DJ Grauchi, DJ Shinski, Moh Spice, DJ Kym and K The DJ in a fire combo geared to keep revellers on their feet. Ticket sales for the Fireboy concert are ongoing @mticketsevents.

Adedamola Adefolahan, known professionally as Fireboy DML, put the Afro music world on notice when his breakthrough single “Jealous” first appeared on YBNL Nation’s collaborative album YBNL Mafia Family (2018), before being re-released on 25 March 2019.

The song; composed of guitar riffs, traditional drums, and percussion; captivated audiences across the continent.

“We are excited to host Fireboy in Kenya for the first time and give an electric performance to our loyal consumers who are looking forward to meeting him. The artist is also part of the ongoing Guinness campaign dubbed “Black Shines Brightest,” a Pan African campaign celebrating the iconic black liquid enjoyed all over the continent for over a century.

Guinness is working with real culture makers from across the continent including Tanzanian Artist Nandy who demonstrates how Black Shines Brightest in a range of different ways. The critically acclaimed artist is set to showcase his talents on the Kenyan stage for the first time”, said Guinness Marketing Manager, Wanjiru Murage.

Fireboy DML has continued to rise as an afro-pop star. The artist has over 250 million streams worldwide, with his greatest hallmark featuring Ed Sheeran to create his latest hit, ‘Peru’ the song has since been a club banger, greatly appreciated among the Kenya audience.

His song Scatter from his debut album Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps was included in the FIFA 21 game soundtrack and his hit “Champion” was used by FC Bayern Munich for their 2021 UEFA Super Cup celebrations.

Fireboy DML describes his sound as “Afro-Life” and said he writes songs that audiences can relate to. His sound has been characterized as “slow-groove pop” and is said to tell stories centred around love and the complicated feelings that go along with it with an adept formulaic structure.

His music has successfully combined African harmonies with elements of country and soul music and is set to thrill his fans during his highly anticipated live performance in Nairobi.

The post Peru Hitmaker, Fireboy, to Perform in Nairobi this Weekend at a Guinness Sponsored Concert appeared first on Biz Post Daily.

“M-PESA’s success has been achieved on the back of consistent focus on the needs of our customers by ensuring that we are constantly delivering innovations that add value to their lives. We thank all our customers for getting us to the 30 million monthly active customers milestone. As the country goes digital with growing smartphone usage, we are committing to continue exploring and delivering life-changing innovations in a digital world” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO – Safaricom.

The growth in M-PESA customer usage has been driven by the launch of various innovations over the years including financial services such as M-Shwari, KCB M-PESA and Fuliza. Safaricom has equally established both local and global partnerships that enable customers to send and receive money, and to make payments across the world including with PayPal, AliExpress and Western Union.

The last two years have seen M-PESA record explosive growth in business usage with the number of businesses accepting payments on its Lipa Na M-PESA service more than doubling from 173,000 in April 2020 to more than 387,000 today.

Safaricom and Vodacom are focusing on growing the service in other markets with a goal of bringing them to the same level of maturity as Kenya. The two organisations announced the launch of M-PESA Africa in April 2020 with a goal of consolidating M-PESA’s resources, strategy and roadmap across the continent.

M-PESA Africa is investing in a common platform that will empower all markets to offer M-PESA’s entire range of services and products. It has also invested in an M-PESA Super App both for customers and for businesses, with the customer app available in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In addition, M-PESA Africa is looking at growing continental and global partnerships with other financial service providers to introduce new International Money Transfer solutions.

The post Safaricom Celebrates 30M Active Mpesa Users in Kenya appeared first on Biz Post Daily.

Equity’s Eastern and Central Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan is envisaged to provide financing of up to 2% of the combined GDP of the six economies, in which the Group operates, to the private sector in the form of blended financing of short-term overdrafts, medium-term loans and credit facilities which require long-term project and development financing.

While launching the Recovery and Resilience Plan Dr. James Mwangi, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO said, “A total of Kshs 678 billion (USD 6 billion) will be available to 5 million MSMEs and 25 million individual borrowers for the next 5 years. The plan conceives that the 5 million businesses largely comprising MSMEs will create 50 million jobs, 25 million jobs directly and an equal number of jobs indirectly as the ecosystems of business become more cohesive, connected, and ultimately synergize and grow.”

“The recovery plan will have special focus on youth and women, supporting them to be the primary drivers of creating and expanding opportunities in the real economy. Under the Young Africa Works Initiative in partnership and collaboration with the Mastercard Foundation, the plan will build capacity in young people through financial literacy, entrepreneurship training and digital literacy. To ensure that no one will be left behind, lending to young people will be complemented with credit guarantee facilities to mitigate default through our credit risk pricing model that has opened inclusive credit access to all. Risk based credit pricing has enabled us to adopt a transparent, all-inclusive interest rate, at the current average central bank rate that ranges from 13% to 18.5% for the lowest risk and the highest risk categories respectively,” added Dr. Mwangi.
The Regional Development Plan through recovery and resilience initiatives focuses on five thematic areas:
• Primary sectors of Food and Agriculture, and extractive sectors
• Manufacturing and Logistics
• Trade and Investments
• Micro small and medium enterprises
• Social impact and Environmental investments

Under the primary sectors, principally Food and Agriculture, the focus will be on unlocking productivity gains and value addition ecosystems to achieve food security for the region while increasing value creation in the primary sectors, which are the highest employers, highest foreign exchange earners and the highest contributors of export goods. The plan targets agricultural transformation by enhancing value chain coordination, capacity building of smallholder farmers-anchoring them better to formal value chains, financing mechanisation and credible inputs. A significant plank of the plan is agro processing which adds and enhances the value of agricultural exports, while processing food for easy access by an urbanising population and production of building materials to support construction and housing development.

The recovery and resilience plan seeks to leverage on productive capacities and comparative advantages to transform the region into a manufacturing hub that converts agricultural raw material into finished products for export and national use. The plan covers value addition for all primary products including retaining value in mineral processing to export semi-finished and finished products. The plan targets financing of in-country manufacturing and regional supply chains to replace broken global supply chains following COVID-19 disruptions. This will build regional resilience against global supply chain shocks while contributing to economic recovery and growth of the region, creating employment opportunities for young people and markets for local producers.

“We learned and developed a lot of knowledge while setting up PPE production and manufacturing in Kenya during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to replace the broken global PPE supply chains, Equity Group Foundation donated Kshs 1.1 billion (USD 11 million) jointly with its partners to protect doctors and medical staff of 116 national referral, county, and faith-based hospitals for the last two years. Through the initiative to establish and strengthen local production and manufacturing, Kenya has become self-sufficient in PPE and a leading African exporter of PPE. Our current plans include supporting the manufacturing and production of COVID-19 drugs, anti-infectives and vaccines in the region,” said Dr. Mwangi.

Focus on trade and investments will enable expansion of markets for the primary sectors of Food and Agriculture and the manufactured products, along with the realisation of investments to support growth of the two sectors. The East African Community, following the inclusion of DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo), will provide an expanded regional market with similar characteristics and requirements. The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) presents, with it opportunities that the Plan seeks to fully utilize by signing an implementation and collaboration partnership with the AfCFTA Secretariat to position Equity Group as an implementation partner. The plan also seeks to fully utilise existing Trade and Investment Agreements such as the European Union Trade Agreement, the United States of America’s AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) framework, and the capacities of the Commonwealth community. -Pilot testing of these initiatives was undertaken with the December 2021 Kenya DRC Trade Mission between the Governments of the DRC and the Government of Kenya with support of Equity Group. The mission which has generated a sizeable deal pipe provided us invaluable lessons on how to mobilise, organise and support the private sector in stimulating cross-border trade and investment for purposes of scaling,” said Dr. Mwangi.

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the largest vehicles for indigenous capital and entrepreneurship and will contribute significantly to local capital formation and employment. Mass market and MSME financing is a key strength of Equity Group with 72% of its loan and credit portfolio held in this segment. The Group has rolled out a plan to lend and advance loans to 5 million MSMEs and 25 million individuals to stimulate participation of the local community and population, with a bias to young people and women.
To enhance the success rate among MSMEs and young people, the plan involves credit risk sharing mechanisms and capacity building through financial literacy and entrepreneurship training.

“The Group has pilot tested lending to young people under the Young Africa Works in partnership with Mastercard Foundation with a resounding success rate of 436,000 MSMEs trained and funded to the tune of Kshs 136 billion, and 1.2 million jobs created by the enterprises as they expand and grow on access of financing,” said Dr. Mwangi. “The objective of the plan is to formalise the informal sector of MSMEs by linking them with formal manufacturing and primary food and agriculture sectors and by populating their value chains and ecosystems to achieve growth and resilience while accelerating recovery of the MSME sector,” added Dr. Mwangi.

The Regional Recovery and Resilience Plan seeks to enhance the social contract with society while targeting sustainability on the basis of resilience by including environmental and climate change considerations. The plan strives to achieve a social economic transformation of the region in a socially ethical and environmentally sustainable manner. Being a purpose driven plan, inclusion is at the centre of consideration to ensure nobody is left behind and the plan is fully anchored on sustainability.

“We seek to use our AAA+ rated finance brand to ensure the plan enhances its social contract with society by seeking partnership and collaboration with local communities to ensure their participation and involvement. The plan incorporates strong principles and practices to assure all stakeholders of transparency and openness, under ESG (Environmental Social Governance) considerations,” said Dr. Mwangi.

Equity Group recognises that it cannot single-handedly deliver the development of Africa. Cognisant of this fact, the Group has chosen to champion the socio-economic transformation of Africa jointly with like-minded partners and to seek their collaboration and partnership to synergise the combined capabilities and competencies of public-private partnerships, which will help mobilise the requisite strength to execute the Plan. The Group has socialised and negotiated partnership with the United Nations Resident Coordinators in the 6 countries in which it operates for collaboration and participation of all the UN Agencies operating in the region under the auspices and delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) collaboration framework.

The Plan has won the support and participation of IFC, AfDB, European Development Banks (Team Europe), the Commonwealth Secretariat, the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement Secretariat and the European Union, as well as support from the national governments of the six countries the Group operates in. “We are grateful for the enthusiasm shown towards collaborating and partnering to jointly execute on the social and economic recovery and resilience of Eastern and Central Africa, particularly in mobilising USD 6 Billion in financing for the fund,” said Dr. Mwangi.

The post Equity Group Launches Kshs. 678 billion Regional Private Sector Economic Recovery and Resilience Stimulus Plan appeared first on Biz Post Daily.

The money packed as a parcel containing USD 2 million was seized following a wrongful declaration on the intended destination.

Upon arrival, the passenger made a declaration of the currency indicating the origin as Banque de Credit de Bujumbura (BCB) to a recipient Brinks Global Services, Kenya.  After clearance by Customs Unit at the airport, the traveller later presented the same money at the Swissport Cargo shed with different export documents for shipment to Global Services, UK. The documents produced to support the export request were different from those produced on entry into the country.

After noting the inconsistencies in information provided by the passenger, KRA has invited Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) to assist in investigating the matter as a possible money-laundering attempt.

The money has been held and the matter is under investigation.  KRA encourages passengers to correctly declare all cargo/items at the Ports of entry and exit as required under the provisions of the Second and Third Schedules of the EAC Customs Management Act, 2004.

The post KRA Customs Officers intercept Kshs. 238 Million at JKIA appeared first on Biz Post Daily.

Alternative Foods launched in 2019, offering a range of bakery products and liquid egg alternatives including OGGS® Aquafaba – a unique patented liquid egg alternative and Scrambled OGGS®.

This collaborative partnership provides an opportunity to accelerate towards a more sustainable, natural plant-based food system – a transition that forms part of the core strategy for both companies.

Upfield and OGGS® will work together to expedite the growth of the already leading egg-alternative products, by leveraging Upfield’s global distribution network and foodservice channel, Upfield Professional. The partnership will also enable further R&D innovation in liquid egg alternatives and the plant-based protein category through collaboration with Upfield’s state-of-the-art Food Science Centre.

Upfield and OGGS® align on providing natural plant-based products that meet consumer expectations around taste and nutrition.

Through continuous innovation using natural ingredients, consumers are being given access to more allergen-free and sustainable options. In fact, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Upfield’s margarine and spreads^[1] found they have, on average, a 70% lower climate impact, occupy two-thirds less land and use less than half the water; while its plant-based cheeses^[2] have less than half the climate footprint and occupy less than one-third of the land in comparison to their dairy equivalents.

OGGS® has undertaken a similar LCA assessment for Aquafaba and Scrambled OGGS® which were found to have less than 70% Co₂e in comparison to chicken eggs, proving plant-based alternatives to the non-vegan equivalents are the climate-friendly choice for consumers.

Upfield has pledged to be 95% plastic-free by 2030 and to display carbon footprint labels on half a billion products by 2025. Similarly, environmentally aware OGGS® has planted 6,000 trees and protected 60,000 trees in association with carbon offset company, 8 Billion Trees. It also uses 100% recycled plastic in its packaging and has saved enough CO₂e to drive around the world 81 times through 2.2m fewer eggs being used in cooking and baking.

Speaking on the partnership David Haines, Group CEO for Upfield, said, “Our vision for ‘A Better Plant-Based Future’ means we are dedicated to ensuring consumers have a range of choices to try plant-based diets. This partnership takes us into a new category of plant-based protein, enables us to offer even more options and we expect strong sustainable growth. We have been aware of the innovative technology that OGGS® has been perfecting and we’re excited to become part of that and help drive the plant-based egg category forward through the combination of our global footprint and growing foodservice sector.”

Hannah Carter, Founder and CEO of Alternative Foods, added: “We are on a mission to remove unnecessary animal products from the food chain to improve the planet and animal welfare; i.e. the use of animal products that don’t provide nutritional benefit, such as egg white in bread. Our Egg Alternative range offers consumers tasty plant-based egg alternatives, and OGGS® provides foodservice and manufactures a viable liquid egg alternative for the first time, no longer limiting innovation.

With Upfield as a partner, we can scale up distribution and awareness of our OGGS® Egg Alternative range; Aquafaba and Scrambled OGGS® and create positive change faster than we can achieve on our own.”

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During the visit, the CEO will be accompanied by a delegation which includes the Vice President, Sub- Saharan Africa, Mr. Justin Maier, General Manager for West, East & Central Africa, Mr. Joseph Umunakwe and Chief Financial Officer, Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr. Michael Miano.

Commenting about the visit, The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Florian Seiche said, “Kenya has always been and continues to be a strategic location for our East African business. We recognize the innovative nature of the market and are committed to meeting and satisfying the needs of our customers. In addition, in Kenya, I am extremely proud to note that we are a leading provider for smartphones and feature phones.”^[1]

Justin Maier, Vice President, Sub- Saharan Africa added “The visit is a high reflection of the impact the Kenyan business has had on the company.  We continue to listen to our customer’s needs and design products that suit their everyday needs that they love, trust and want to keep for longer.”

The visit comes as the company recently celebrated its 5^th year anniversary globally. The East African market has seen the introduction of the C-Series, X-series, G-series range of phones and the tablet category which have revolutionized the mobile industry in the region.

The entry of the company in the country has brought good tidings for mobile phone customers in the region. HMD Global has ensured production of phone products that consumers love which is versatile for all occasions; Trust in their daily needs as they experience award winning quality phones and keep for long, where consumers can be able to work, learn and play for longer.

To make HMD phones more accessible, the company now finances the Nokia device purchases. HMD Global has partners who offer a financing program that allows one to purchase devices in easy instalment plans. The device can be sold with a pre-loaded soft-lock solution. The company also invest heavily in cybersecurity R&D dedicated to software, security, and services.

The company recently unveiled the new Nokia T20 tablet which brings the classic Nokia phone quality to the big screen, with a range of versatile features and a long-lasting battery life that helps customers excel at work and relax when it’s time to play.

The Nokia T20 is packed with innovative and accessible features consumers would love, including a crystal clear 2K screen plus three years of monthly security updates and two years of free operating system (OS) upgrades and an Android Recommended device (AER) that meet Google’s strict enterprise requirements, marking an entry into the world of tablets.

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The ruling in favour of KRA follows an audit conducted by the Commissioner for Domestic Taxes (DTD) on the financial and business affairs of Dr. Kidero. Despite the former governor and the Commissioner reaching a consensus that funds raised for political party campaigns are not chargeable to tax, both parties failed to agree on whether Dr. Kidero who was then vying for Nairobi gubernatorial seat had demonstrated the funds so raised had actually been expended in political campaigns.

Audits carried out by the Commissioner established that the proceeds from fundraisers by the former governor were being deposited together with other business proceeds into his personal bank accounts. When tasked to avail a bank account for his campaign funds, Dr. Kidero furnished the Commissioner with names of various contributors and a single page document titled ‘Statement of Receipts and Expenditure’ indicating the monies received and expended on various items. Dissatisfied with this information, the Commissioner raised a tax assessment for KShs.427,269,795.00 that precipitated an appeal at the Tax Appeals Tribunal (TAT).

The Tribunal returned a verdict in favour of Dr Kidero holding that he had showed the source of the funds and that it was up to the Commissioner to establish if the funds had been utilised for the campaigns, thus shifting the burden of proof to the Commissioner.

The Commissioner, aggrieved by the judgement of the Tribunal moved to the High Court on appeal challenging the holding by the Tribunal.

In his judgement, the Hon. Majanja faulted the Tribunal’s judgement and held that the burden of proof was on Dr. Kidero to demonstrate that the funds raised for the campaigns were actually utilized for that purpose. This would not constitute taxable income. On the other hand, if the money was retained or diverted to his own personal use, it would be taxable income to him and liable to income tax.

The post Dr. Evans Kidero Ordered to Pay KRA Sh 400M in Taxes appeared first on Biz Post Daily.

The Index tracks the performance of public companies committed to advancing gender equality in the workplace, and WPP’s inclusion in the 2022 GEI is a recognition of its progress and achievements in policy development, representation and data transparency.

The global standard set by Bloomberg is measured across five pillars: female leadership & talent pipeline; equal pay & gender pay parity; inclusive culture; anti-sexual harassment policies; and pro-women brand.

This year, the GEI threshold was raised and includes a total of 418 best-practice companies from 45 countries and regions, covering a wide range of sectors and industries.

Reacting to the recognition, WPP CEO Mark Read said, “WPP is a people business and our client work directly benefits from having diversity in our teams; different perspectives and backgrounds fuel our creativity and help us connect with consumers. We’re proud of our recognition in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index which reflects our continued investment in our people and culture, and our progress in driving greater gender balance throughout the company.”

Bloomberg Foundation Chairman, Peter T. Grauer cited WPP and 417 other companies included in the 2022 GEI for their commitment to transparency and setting a new standard in gender-related data reporting.

“Even though the threshold for inclusion in the GEI has risen, the member list continues to grow. This is a testament that more companies are working to improve upon their gender-related metrics, fostering more opportunity for diverse talent to succeed in their organisations, ” he said.

In Kenya, WPP Scangroup owns nine companies dealing in brand communications, advertising, marketing and public relations.  These include Scanad & JWT, Ogilvy Africa, Squad Digital and MediaCom among others.

The post WPP recognised in Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for fourth consecutive year appeared first on Biz Post Daily.

This is in preparation of the GirlsRun Marathon that will be taking place in October this year.

The GirlsRun initiative seeks to support the Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) program run by the Women Development Centre (WODEC) which supports girls through this stage of life and locally produces reusable sanitary pad kits.

RUBiS Energy Kenya Group Managing Director Mr. Jean-Christian Bergeron said social initiatives are a key component of RUBiS Energy’s commitment to being a responsible company that brings a positive impact to the community.

“The GirlsRun gives us the opportunity to promote health, education and physical activity as a catalyst to raise awareness and support around the issue of girls health and wellbeing. Our focus on menstrual hygiene and period poverty initiatives through the donation of the reusable sanitary pad kits, will help the girls access the products they need and boost their confidence while uplifting women’s groups and the local economy in an environmentally conscious manner,” said Mr. Bergeron.

Speaking during the event, the Women Development Centre Director, Milkah Cherotich said “We are pleased to partner with RUBiS to support girls stay in school and reach their potential. Through their funding, we have been able to host sessions on Menstrual Hygiene Management, produce and distribute washable sanitary pads to the hard-to-reach girl populations in Kenya.”

The event was attended by over 600 participants comprising girls from select schools in the area and various athletes from the region. The athletes included Caroline Jepchirchir winner of Belfast and Edinburgh Marathon, Sarah Lagat – Champion – TrailRun Spain 2021 and Lynn Chebet among others. The initiative targets to distribute 1500 reusable sanitary pad kits to school-going girls in Elgeyo-Marakwet County.

“We are extremely grateful to RUBiS for trusting us to organize this sports event aimed at overcoming ‘period shame’ by providing vulnerable girls with sanitary towels and information about menstrual management. We are also very proud to see that sport is being used as an avenue to raise awareness on key issues affecting our communities”, said Wesley Chirchir, CEO of Kenya Community Sports Foundation.

RUBiS Energy Kenya plays an active role in corporate social responsibility activities themed around education, health, safety, and environment. The oil marketer has most recently supported initiatives in areas of social integration and improvement of livelihoods through partnership with the Kibera Black Stars Association, and in education through the RUBiS Energy Kenya Education Scholarship Fund.

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