KENYA

Kenya slides in credit default rules enforcement survey (Source: Business Daily)

Kenya’s failure to enforce rules to reduce credit default risks locking out local and foreign investors in the financial market and reduce the country’s attractiveness for investment, a report has shown.

The Absa Africa Financial Markets Index 2021 shows Kenya lost 29 points in an index that measures enforcement of rules that reduce defaults for commercial and investment banks, scoring 28 out of 100.

The drop saw the country slip four places in the Africa financial market attractiveness survey—to 11th spot from seventh in 2020.

The measure looks at the enforceability of standard financial markets master agreements that help cut risks and create a better investment environment for investors.

Uhuru Kenyatta to lead climate talks at UN conference (Source: Business Daily)

President Uhuru Kenyatta will lead talks on Africa’s crucial role in tackling the climate crisis at the United Nations Climate Conference (COP26) starting in Glasgow, Scotland, next week.

President Kenyatta and Evgeny Lebedev, the British-Russian tycoon owner of the Evening Standard and The Independent newspapers, will convene a side event to discuss the importance of protecting Africa’s carbon-rich natural landscapes.

The event staged by Kenya, The Independent and the international conservation NGO – Space for Giants – will also discuss how private and public sector investment can help preserve crucial carbon sinks.

State eyes record Sh150bn bond sale to clear debt and fund roads (Source: Business Daily)

The government is set to float a record Sh150 billion infrastructure bond next month, whose proceeds will be used to offset debt to contractors and finance the completion of ongoing road projects.

Infrastructure Principal Secretary Paul Mainga said the Treasury, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), and the Attorney-General had approved the sale of the bond.

“The National Treasury and other government agencies have agreed as a matter of urgency that we float a Sh150 billion roads bonds to pay contactors and complete ongoing works,” he told the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday, 26 October, 2021.

UGANDA

Complaints against financial institutions decline – BoU (Source: The Monitor)

The level of financial service complaints against supervised financial institutions has significantly declined, according to the Bank of Uganda.

In details contained in the Bank of Uganda June 2021 annual report, the Central Bank said complaints against supervised financial institutions had declined by 33.7 per cent compared to a rise in the same period ended June 2020.

“The decline in number of complaints by 33.73 per cent contrasts with a rise of 6.96 per cent, [which] partly reflects the effects of Covid-19 on financial services usage,” said the Central Bank.

Afreximbank’s platform to promote cross-border trade in Africa (Source: The Independent)

The African Export-Import Bank’s new digital Customer Due Diligence (CDD) platform, called Mansa, is set to promote cross-border trade in Africa, says product head Maureen Mba.

Mba, who spoke during the launch of the platform in the East African Community in partnership with the East African Business Council in Kampala on October 20, said 965 businesses have already been uploaded onto the platform consisting of financial institutions, corporates and the Small and Medium Enterprises across Africa.

Some of Uganda’s institutions on the platform include; Absa Bank, dfcu Bank, Cairo Bank, Opportunity Bank, Ecobank, Finance Trust Bank, NCBA Bank and Tropical Bank.

TANZANIA

Tanzania clears its capital arrears in Shelter Afrique (Source: Standard Media)

Tanzania has cleared its capital arrears in Shelter Afrique after paying $407,284.97 (KSh45 million), Pan-African housing development financier has disclosed.

The move increases Tanzania’s shareholding in the company to 1.72 percent, up from 1.54 percent.

Last month, Tanzania paid $2.7 million (about KSh300 million) in capital injection to the firm, increasing its stake in the housing financier.

Uganda, Tanzania to see 60% increase in FDI due to oil – PSFU (Source: The Monitor)

Private Sector Foundation of Uganda (PSFU) has said Uganda and Tanzania will see an increase of more than 60 per cent in Foreign Direct Investment just within the construction phase of East African Crude Oil Pipeline project.

Speaking at the launch of the Tanzania-Uganda Oil and Gas symposium due in Dar-es-Salaam, Dr Elly Karuhanga, the PSFU chairman, said the symposium which will run under the enhancing private sector participation in the oil and gas sector, is an undertaking that is expected to see investment in the oil and gas projects total to $20 billion, with the pipeline alone, standing at more than $3.5 billion.

RWANDA

What should feature in a Rwandan business’s data privacy policy? (Source: The New Times)

In a recent attempt to catch up with the rest of the world with respect to personal data and privacy, Rwanda just gazetted Law nº 058/2021 of 13/10/2021 relating to the protection of personal data and privacy.  This law generally establishes the manner in which personal data shall be processed, stored, shared and what rights the data owner has. 

This law requires anyone who wants to collect personal data to seek the affirmative or informed consent of the data owner which may be obtained through an oral, written, or electronic statement or by a clear affirmative action that signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her.

ETHIOPIA

Lacking Coherent Policy USA is Reacting to Media & Human Rights Reports: American Journalists (Source: ENA) 

Threats of economic sanctions of the US administration have come with no real coherent policy but in reaction to media and human rights reports, American journalists said.

The two journalists working at Break Through News (BT) stated that the US policy and its calculation are not understandable.

They cited the threat of America to destroy Ethiopia’s economy by suspending economic partnerships and sanctioning the government over the conflict with the TPLF, adding that “many are surprised that Washington would go to such extreme lengths to alienate and potentially destabilize a long time ally.”

EthSwitch obtains license to integrate Mobile Money Operators (Source: The Reporter Ethiopia)

EthSwitch obtained a license from the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) to integrate mobile money operators. Issued on October 27, 2021, the license is a key step forward in realizing the launch of a unified mobile money platform EthSwitch has been working on for the past year.

“We have secured the go ahead from the central bank,” Marketing and Business Development director at EthSwitch, Fikru Woldetinsae, told The Reporter.