The global economy is entering the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), or Industry 4.0, based on the application of new digital and automated technologies in production processes and service delivery. These changes are bringing emerging markets improved productivity, as well as risks – namely, reshoring and the displacement of human labour by automation. Wealthier emerging markets, such as…
Blockchain – the distributed-ledger technology that underpins cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin – appears set to transform a wide variety of industries and perhaps fundamentally change the way business is conducted across the global economy. While the technology is still taking off, and not everyone is convinced about its potential, many emerging markets are hoping that it will allow them to leapfrog…
A rebound in agriculture and a return to political stability have helped strengthen the momentum of Kenya’s economy in 2018, with the rollout of large infrastructure projects expected to see this growth continue in the medium term. The IMF forecasts GDP willexpand by 6% in 2018, an increase on the 4.9% growth recorded in 2017. The fund’s forecast was supported by data from the Kenya National…
Africa has undergone significant changes since the turn of the century thanks to structural and policy reforms, promises to unlock the continent’s economic fortunes and higher levels of foreign investment. As a result of that, Africa has witnessed significant economic expansion, rising foreign direct investment (FDI) levels, and major improvements in a number of social indicators from schooling to…
Kenya is set to review its incentive programme for charter flight operators, with a view to expand the scope of the scheme by adding to the list of countries covered by the policy and increasing the number of domestic destinations where the programme operates. Ahead of the planned review, the Charter Incentive Programme (CIP) has been extended. The scheme, which was introduced in 2016 to boost international…
As the founding member of both the EAC and COMESA, two economic blocs accounting for approximately 145m and 400m people, respectively, Kenya has historically played an important role in politics and integration efforts in the region. As part of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States (ACP), exports from Kenya benefit from a range of duty reductions when entering the European market. In…
Election years are perceived by many as disruptive of day-to-day life, and 2017 was no exception for Kenya, which experienced an impact on the equity market and the economy at large in light of its vote that year. Nonetheless, despite election jitters, the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) All Share Index hit 24.5% in 2017. The NSE 20 and the NSE 25 also closed the year at levels that were commendable…
Fixed income was billed as an attractive asset class in the capped-interest-rate era. This seems to be borne out by the fact that commercial banks increased their holdings of domestic debt by the equivalent of 2.23% of GDP in 2017, intensifying their grip on safer asset classes in lieu of riskier credit lending. Commercial banks accounted for 49.17%, or KSh947.8bn ($9.3bn), of domestic debt at end-2016;…
For many years Kenya’s interaction with the global exchange-traded fund (ETF) arena was a passive one. The nation’s reputation as a lively frontier market meant that it was frequently a component of foreign-based ETFs which targeted global investors with an interest in the potentially higher returns of emerging markets. For instance, in the US, the PowerShares Frontier Markets Portfolio, VanEck…
The STANLIB Fahari I-REIT (FAHR) is the only listed REIT on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). FAHR is an income REIT (I-REIT), which is a type of REIT that owns and manages income-generating real estate for the benefit of its shareholders. I-REITs are required to distribute at least 80% of their income as dividends. With the listing of FAHR, Kenya became the fourth African country to have a listed…
