Global food prices rose 1.6% in February driven by higher vegetable oil, sugar and dairy prices, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Friday. The FAO Food Price Index, which measures the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities, averaged 127.1 points in February 2025, up 1.6% from January and 8.2% higher from February 2024.The uptick was driven by a faster increase in the price of sugar which was up 6.6% from January on the back of looming tighter global supplies in the 2024/25 season coupled with dry weather conditions in Brazil and depressed production…
Author: Zainab Hafsah
London listed Marula Mining’s subsidiary Muchai Mining Kenya has signed a deal with Baosteel Resources South Africa, a subsidiary of the world’s biggest steel producer, to purchase and sell manganese ore from the Kilifi manganese processing plant. In the contract that began on 1st March 2025, Marula will supply manganese from its Kilifi Manganese Processing Plant, scaling from 5,000 to 20,000 tonnes per month.Muchai Mining will handle mining, loading process and transportation to the designated handover destination while Baosteel Resources will handle export and sales logistics.Baosteel Resources is a wholly owned subsidiary of state-owned China Baowu Steel Group – the…
The government through the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has raised KSh 130.8 billion from two reopened infrastructure bonds in the February sale. In the auction, which closed on Wednesday, the CBK received bids worth KSh 193.9 billion against the targeted KSh 70 billion – a 277% subscription rate.The CBK accepted only 67.5% of the total received, with KSh 63.1 billion worth of bids rejected as the apex bank continued to nudge rates lower.The 14-year paper with a weighted average rate of 13.9784%, attracted bids worth KSh 93.1 billion while the 17-year paper with a weighted average rate of 14.2806%, attracted…
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has lowered the benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points to 11.25% at its final Monetary Policy Meeting (MPC) of 2024, marking the third consecutive rate cut in the year. The decision was prompted by the easing inflation, coupled with a slower economy in the first half of 2024 and a stable currency. Kenya’s inflation has eased progressively to the CBK’s lower bound target of 2.5% – 7.5% with the latest data showing a 2.7% reading, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).The final MPC meeting of 2024 was also the first for…
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has cut the benchmark lending rate by 0.75% to 12.00%, as expected, to support economic activity. The decision, delivered by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), was fueled by the easing inflation coupled with the slowdown in private sector growth in the Q2 2024. Kenya’s inflation has eased progressively to the CBK’s lower bound target of 2.5% – 7.5% with the latest data showing a 3.6% according to the Statistics body.Private sector credit growth decelerated to 1.3% in August from 3.7% in June. The CBK noted an uptick in gross non-performing loans which stood at 16.7%…
The US Dollar, as measured by the DXY Index, extended losses on Thursday to trade below the 101 mark, amid expectations that the Fed will deliver more interest cuts in the last quarter while the prices of gold and oil remain sensitive to escalations in the Middle East. The greenback weakened against a basket of currencies, falling about 0.08% today and 0.57% year-to-date with investors geared up for the latest PCE price index report, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.The bold 50 basis points cut by the Fed last week impacted the dollar’s strength against major currencies making…
The Capital Markets Tribunal has rejected a bid by Kakuzi PLC (Ticker: KUKZ) and its directors to bar the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) from investigating the listed agricultural company’s financial dealings in a case involving directors and a former employee. The Capital Markets Tribunal chaired by Paul Lilan, rejected Kakuzi’s application and ruled that CMA was acting within its mandate. The officials under probe include 8 directors of the company, one director who is a secondee to the company and a former employee of the company who retired in 2022.In 2021, the directors of Kakuzi were allegedly involved in financial impropriety…
Kakuzi Plc, a listed agricultural firm, has posted KSh347.5 million net profit for the 6 months to June 2024 – a 195.8 percent increase compared to the same period in 2023 on the back of recovery in both the macadamia and avocado market. Following the lower market supply from the traditional high volume in international markets, especially South America, avocado profits shot up 42 per cent to KSh951 million from KSh670 million in the same period in 2023.Similarly, Macadamia earnings recovered from a KSh329 million loss up to the profit zone, posting a KSh32 million profit in the first half…
The Bank of Uganda (BOU) has cut the key lending rate to 10.0 percent from 10.25 percent, the first time this year the apex bank has lowered the benchmark rate. The easing is on the back of the recent recovery of the Ugandan shilling- at least 2 percent from the June meeting – and the moderating inflation, hence an improvement in the overall outlook.The annual headline inflation edged up slightly to 4.0 percent in July 2024 from 3.9 percent in June, largely driven by services inflation which increased to 6.5% in July 2024, buoyed by the increases in passenger transport,…
The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has gazetted a settlement it made with KCB last year following a complaint that the lender had mislead a client on credit card charges and billing cycles on an advertisement. KCB had advertised a 45-day interest free period for holders of the bank’s Platinum Credit Card, but billed a client interest anyway. Moreover, CAK the bank did not inform the complainant on the repayment cycles and the credit billing thus creating confusion. In a CAK report released earlier this year, KCB was forced to refund more than KSh 20,000 to Anthony Nderitu who had borrowed about…
The Bank of Uganda’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) maintained the Central Bank Rate (CBR) at 10.25% at its June meeting. Headline inflation rose to 3.6% in May from 3.2% in April 2024 primarily due to rising healthcare, education and transportation service costs and price increases of liquid and solid fuel.Services inflation rose to 6.2% from 5.4% while electricity, fuel and utilities rose to 9.5% from 7.4%.According to the MPC, the inflationary pressures have been eased by “tight monetary conditions, declining global inflation, and a favourable domestic food supply.” The monetary authority said that considering upside risks to inflation, it was…