Kenya

Banks pump additional Sh135bn to lift Nairobi’s economy

Financial institutions pumped an additional Sh135.55 billion into Nairobi’s economy last year, underlining the critical role that cash-rich banks and insurance companies play in cementing the city’s position as the richest county in Kenya. The latest Gross County Product (GCP) report published by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that the financial and insurance activities contributed Sh885.6 billion to Nairobi’s total output, or 23.2 percent, in 2023. This was an increase of 18.1 per cent from Sh750.06 billion that banks, insurance, pension funds, and investment banks added to the city’s gross value added (GVA).

(Business Daily)

Tanzania

Tanzania keeps lending rate at 6pc for fourth quarter in a row

Tanzania has maintained its central bank rate (CBR) at 6 per cent for a fourth successive quarter as it anticipates more liquidity and inflation control in the domestic economy this year. Emmanuel Tutuba, Governor of the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), said on Wednesday that the decision to keep the CBR unchanged for Ql of 2025 was aligned to the central bank’s aims of ensuring financial market stability for smooth implementation of its monetary policies. BoT’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Dar es Salaam on January 7 concluded that the current rate was still feasible for keeping inflation below the bank’s 5 per cent benchmark and increasing the pace of economic growth to 5.7 per cent by the end of the quarter. BoT introduced a benchmark bank interest rate in January 2024 as part of a policy shift aimed at curbing a worrying spike in interbank lending rates. The CBR replaced a previous policy pegged on money supply factors that had become increasingly unpredictable. The initial rate was 5.5 per cent, which was raised to 6 per cent at the first review in April. Since then it has not changed across three quarters as other East African Community (EAC) countries have struggled to keep their lending rates below 10 per cent.

(The East African)

Uganda

Need for urgent cash forces govt to increase interest in first 2025 bond auction

Investors in government debt last Wednesday hit a jackpot, securing interests of 17.5 per cent on the 15-year bond and 16.75 per cent on the five-year bond. Bank of Uganda data shows that the increase in earlier interest rates was due to the government’s urgency to raise funds through domestic borrowing. The 15-year treasury bond had earlier offered a 15.8 per cent yield but heavy discounts pushed the interest to above 17 per cent for the first time in 18 months, while the five-year bond offered investors nearly a 4 per cent discount, thereby increasing interest from 14.25 per cent to 16.75 per cent.

(Monitor)

Rwanda

Rwanda scraps export license in push for more business

Rwanda has scrapped the export licence to improve the business climate as well as stimulate the growth of small and medium enterprises. The Ministry of Trade and Industry said permits would no longer be required for businesses, except when mandated by the importing country. As part of trade reforms in 2025, Trade and Industry Minister Prudence Sebahizi also reviewed import licences in a bid to reduce red tape for imports from East African Community members and other countries. An export licence is issued by states to authorise the export of specific goods in specific quantities to regional and international destinations. This licence, which is a critical component in international trade, ensures that exports comply with legal standards and international agreements. “Export licences were causing unnecessary delays to our exporters and costing money and time,” Mr Sebahizi told journalists. While export licences help regulate goods that could have a significant impact on national security, foreign policy and economic stability, others have turned into non-tariff barriers.

(The East African)

Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s debt to GDP ratio declines to 13.7%

Planning and Development Minister Fitsum Assefa said Ethiopia’s debt to GDP ratio has declined to 13.7 per cent following the implementation of the comprehensive economic reform. In her briefing regarding the achievements of the macroeconomic reform and next endeavours, the minister noted that the government has been implementing new economic and social policy perspectives to address systematic and structural problems. The new policy perspective focuses on a multi-sectoral approach and prioritises responding to a fair share of citizens by implementing an inclusive system, she added. 

(ENA)

Sudan

World Bank gives $82M for Sudan health services

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday they had received $82 million in funding from the World Bank to improve health services for more than eight million people in Sudan. The funding will address urgent health needs and lay the groundwork for long-term improvements, the organisations said in a joint statement. It will be used to provide essential medicines, train health workers, deliver maternal, newborn, child health and nutrition services, treat severe malnutrition, and strengthen vaccination campaigns and outreach to vulnerable children and families in displaced and host communities.

(Xinhua)

Somalia

East Africa stock exchanges welcome Somalia and Ethiopia into the fold

Somalia and Ethiopia stock markets are set to link up with peers in the East African region, nearly 50 years since the idea of integrating regional bourses was mooted. The Somali Stock Exchange (SSE) and the Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX), which went live on January 10, will officially integrate with the Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda bourses under the East African Securities Exchanges Association (Easa). “We are excited about it as it brings us closer to a wider pool of companies and a wider pool of investors and one regional capital market block with a lot of potential,” Celestin Rwabukumba, Rwanda Stock Exchange CEO and chair of Easa, told The East African on Thursday. “For the EAC, it is a big plus to onboard the youngest but the biggest exchange if they play the cards right. They have got the numbers they can learn from the experience of their predecessors, especially learning from the challenges and mistakes that can help them leapfrog in their development.” Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation after Nigeria, had a stock market for 14 years until 1974 when Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown by the Derg junta, and share trading abolished.

(The East African)