Only one in five tenants is willing to purchase the units they are currently living in, pointing to a possible mismatch between housing supply and what prospective home owners would want. Analysis of data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) Housing Survey Basic Report 2023/2024 details these complexities around meeting the demands of prospective home owners. The report notes that a majority of tenants would rather build their units – a bungalow or maisonnette – rather than purchase the unit they are renting at the moment. However, a majority of them also have no plan in place towards…
Author: By Graham Kajilwa
Members of parliamentary energy committee during a tour of a mini hydroelectricity plant at Mathioya River. [Photo/Boniface Gikandi] KTDA Power Company Ltd, a subsidiary of Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), has reported a 32 per cent surge in electricity production from its operational hydropower projects. Currently, Imenti, Lower Nyamindi, Gura, North Mathioya, Chania, and Nyambunde hydro-projects are fully operational. A statement from KTDA said these six operational power plants generated 3.28 MKWhrs in February 2025, and 4.33 MKWhrs in March 2025. “The increase is attributed to the ongoing heavy rains, which have significantly boosted river flow and output. These hydro-power…
Co-operatives PS Patrick Kilemi before the National Assembly’s Trade Committee at Bunge Towers,Nairobi.August 22nd,2024. [Elvis Ogina,Standard The government is facing a challenge in dealing with non-remittances of Sacco contributions, even as the law allows the Commissioner of Co-operative Development to reprimand culpable employers. Principal Secretary in the State Department for Co-operatives Patrick Kilemi says while the law has bestowed powers to the Commissioner of Co-operative Development, the recent business environment and symbiotic relationship between the National Treasury and public institutions make applying this law a challenge. He says in cases where the business environment has been understandably a challenge, such cases can…
A livestock officer shows butchers how to remove skin from an animal while at the slaughter house.Skins and hides bring about Sh 128 million revenue. [FILE] Poorly equipped tanneries in countries like Kenya are among the reasons behind the slow growth of the leather and leather products sector, which has led to an influx of imports from China, a regional trading bloc says. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) has listed the challenges affecting the leather sector, citing the lack of chemical industries in the region, finances, qualified personnel, and flaying techniques that result in poor quality…
Kakuzi Plc Managing Director Chris Flowers at the Kakuzi PLC in Avocado farming in Thika 19th May 2022. [David Gichuru,Standard] The Kakuzi board of directors has recommended a Sh8 dividend per share after the agricultural firm reported a loss of Sh130.4 million for the year ended December 2024. The firm attributed the performance to challenges in shipping routes, strengthening of the shilling against the US dollar, drop in avocado exports, and adverse weather conditions. In the year ended December 2023, the firm reported a profit of Sh455.6 million. In the released financial statements, Kakuzi, however, notes improvements in its macadamia,…
Retirements Benefits Authority wants pension funds for public entities not to be categorised as public funds. [Courtesy] An ageing workforce in the public sector has been cited as one of the key reasons why investment firms concentrate their assets under management in government paper, even as the regulator is pushing for diversification. According to the Retirements Benefits Authority (RBA), Treasury bills or T-bills and bonds are among the top five preferred asset classes for investment firms, yet the regulator has a broad list of 15. An industry report from RBA shows that as of June 2023, 47.79 per cent of pension…
Delegates during the 9th Sacco Leaders’ Convention hosted by Kuscco Ltd at Sarova Whitesands in Mombasa County, on February 21, 2024. [File, Standard] The financial troubles bedevilling the Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives (Kuscco) have sent Saccos back to the drawing board as they seek to regain the trust of the industry responsible for close to Sh1 trillion of Kenyans’ savings. Players in the sector maintain that Saccos are still the best bet for those keen on growing their wealth and safeguarding their future, despite the panic elicited by the corruption scandal at the umbrella organisation for cooperatives,…