30 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI,Kenya Mar 30 – Hotel  brand Hemingways Collection has joined dozens of other hotels in the country which have suspended operations due to the coronavirus pandemic which has already scuttled numerous businesses. The group has suspended operations in Ol Seki Mara and Hemingways Nairobi…

30 Mar 2020 - Singapore, Singapore, Mar 30 – Here are the latest developments in Asia related to the novel coronavirus pandemic: – Markets resume sell-off – Asian markets fell following a steep drop on Wall Street as the jubilation from last week’s enormous US stimulus package faded and investors returned their…

30 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 30 – Stanbic Bank Kenya has offered a short-term repayment plan for SMEs and its customers to cushion them against the negative impact of coronavirus outbreak. In a statement on Sunday, Stanbic Bank Kenya’s Chief Executive Charles Mudiwa said the move is to assist the debtors…

30 Mar 2020 - Beijing, China, Mar 30 – China’s central bank on Monday cut an interest rate on loans to banks by the largest margin in five years and injected 50 billion yuan ($7 billion) into the financial system to help the world’s second-largest economy weather the coronavirus impact. The People’s Bank of…

29 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 29 – Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala has set up a National Tourism Crisis Steering Committee to come up with mitigation measures for any emergencies that will dim the industry’s performance in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The move comes at a time…

28 Mar 2020 - MOMBASA, Kenya, Mar 28 – The Kenya Ports Authority board of directors has appointed Engineer Rashid Salim as the acting Managing Director after the resignation of Dr. Daniel Manduku. The board, which met for a whole day at the port of Mombasa during the 372nd Special Board Meeting to deliberate on…

28 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 28 -Tourism stakeholders are predicting losses worth tens of millions should Coronavirus continue spreading across the world. The projection comes at a time when different countries continue to adopt measures that restrict global traveling to combat the spread of the disease.…

28 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 28 – South African pay-tv operator MultiChoice says the current coronavirus pandemic has disrupted production across the continent as well as caused massive delays. In a statement, MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela says the company has had to completely halt production in South…

28 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 28 – The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) has conducted a raid and seized uncertified sanitizers products produced by Laser Chemicals at Saika Estate, Jirani Court along Kangundo road in Nairobi. The raid was conducted by the KEBS market surveillance team led by Nicholas Nzesya…

27 Mar 2020 - LONDON, United Kingdom, Mar 27 – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Friday that he is self-isolating after testing positive for COVID-19. “Over the last 24 hours I have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus,” he said on Twitter, posting a video message. “I am…

27 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 27 – Starting mid next week, Kenyans will start paying less for key commodities after the government gazetted the reduction of Value Added Tax to 14 percent Value Added Tax, down from 16 percent. The legal notice sent by Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani is cited in the…

27 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 27 – Microfinance lender Faulu Kenya has posted a 68 percent increase in gross profit for the 2019 financial year to reach Sh482 million up from Sh287 million posted the previous year.  The Bank, a member of Old Mutual Group, attributed improved performance to a 20 percent…

27 Mar 2020 - BULIISA, Uganda, Mar 27 – It was the promise of oil — billions of barrels of black gold, discovered locked beneath Lake Albert — and the riches to follow that brought electricity to Buliisa.  Roads, piped water, and other unthinkable luxuries came next, as the poor farming village on the great lake…

26 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 26 – Kenyan firms were hit with 37.1 million cyber-attacks, between October and December 2019, according to a new report by the Communications Authority of Kenya. This is a 47.3 percent rise of the crimes reported compared to 25.2 million registered in the second quarter that…

26 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 26 – Matatu and Boda Boda operators have warned of a 60 percent fare hike if the Government will not cushion them from the drastic measures issued to curb the spread of coronavirus. In their list of demands, the operators want the Government to exempt them from monthly levies…

26 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 25 – National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale wants the National Treasury to consider establishing long term government bonds to bolster efforts to cushion the economy from collapsing due to the impact of the Coronavirus. Duale is proposing that the 50-70-year government…

26 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 26 – Safaricom may review its data price to support students and employees working from home after the government shut down schools and public offices. The telco’s Chief Customer Officer Sylvia Mulinge says they have been approached by a section of learning and corporate…

26 Mar 2020 - LONDON, United Kingdom, Mar 26 – Gold, prized by investors in times of crisis as a safe haven, is experiencing surging demand in the face of the coronavirus outbreak — from both commodity traders and retail buyers. The precious metal had forged a seven-year peak on commodity markets this month as…

26 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 26 – Online passenger vehicle firm SWVL is set to offer free rides for commuters on certain routes who must travel for work following the crisis caused by the outbreak of coronavirus in Kenya. SWVL general manager Dip Patel says it will announce the routes with the high demands…

26 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 25 – Horticultural farms in Kenya are losing up to Sh250 million a day, owing to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, which has shut down supply chains around the world. This is according to Kenya Flower Council Director Clement Tulezi who told the AFP that the country’s…

25 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 25 Kenyans who will fail to pay their dues by April 1 will not be listed in the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) following a directive by President Uhuru Kenyatta. The directive did not cover at least 3 million Kenyans listed in CRB. The move, President Kenyatta, however, cautioned…

25 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 25 – President Uhuru Kenyatta has ordered for a hundred percent tax relief for persons earning gross monthly income of up to Sh24,000, as part of measures announced to cushion Kenyans against the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Kenyatta has also ordered for the reduction of…

25 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 25 – President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto will take an 80 percent pay cut, to free-up monies to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking from Statehouse Nairobi, Kenyatta also announced that Cabinet Secretaries and Chief Administrative Secretaries will take 30…

25 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 25 – The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority has warned that it will revoke licenses of traders found to have hiked Liquefied Petroleum Gas prices as Kenya battles with Covid-19 pandemic. In a statement, the Authority’s Director-General Pavel Oimeke says it requires all…

25 Mar 2020 - NAKURU, Kenya, Mar 25 – On a Kenyan flower farm, workers stick to their daily schedule of cutting some of the world’s finest roses.  But instead of flying them to Europe or the Middle East for weddings, funerals and romantic gestures, they take them to an improvised dump where tens of thousands of…

25 Mar 2020 - STOCKTON, United States, Mar 25 – The scoffed-at idea of paying everyone a basic income as machines take people’s jobs is getting a fresh look as a possible remedy for economies cratered by the coronavirus pandemic. Lambasted until recently as too costly or too “socialist,” paying people for simply…

25 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 25 – Stock Analyst Aly-Khan Satchu said Kenya will only be able to implement a total lockdown if it agrees on a stimulus package for millions of Kenyans ravaged by the COVID-19 crisis. Satchu said the economy, whose largest percentage of workers are in the informal sector,…

25 Mar 2020 - DAKAR, Senegal, Mar 25 – African nations have ordered curfews and lockdowns in response to the growing coronavirus epidemic, raising fears of turmoil for low-income workers and cash-strapped governments across the continent. Cases have risen across the world’s poorest continent over the past week…

25 Mar 2020 - NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 25 – The EABL Foundation has partnered with private companies to help distribute sanitizers across the country. The Foundation has committed Sh50 million to fund the production of 135,000 litres by two Nairobi-based industries. EABL Foundation Trustee Eric Kiniti said: “We have…

25 Mar 2020 - WASHINGTON, United States, Mar 25 – The Senate and White House have reached agreement on a $2 trillion stimulus package for the US economy and millions of Americans ravaged by the coronavirus crisis, top lawmakers said early Wednesday. “At last, we have a deal,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch…