Category: Trading

Village elders in Timbwani ward of Likoni Constituency have ventured into the public service transport business as an income-generating project.

More than 50 elders contributed Sh400 monthly since 2020 towards the purchase of a three-wheeled famously known as a tuk-tuk, a major mode of transport in the coastal city of Mombasa and its environs.

The village elders mooted the business idea in 2019 after they were trained on entrepreneurship skills, with the support of local leaders led by area MP Mishi Mboko Sh700, 000 was raised in a fundraiser. They bought a tent, chairs, and a tuk-tuk.

‘The challenges we faced made us think out of the box. Some of us lack even rent to pay for the houses we live in. We appeal to the government to consider our welfare,’ said Aboud Athman, Chairman of Timbwani Village Elders Welfare.

Athman urged Parliament and government to fast-track the implementation of the National Government Coordination (Amendment) bill, 2023 sponsored by Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse which enables village elders to be remunerated by the government.

‘The bill should be implemented to facilitate our work sometimes we lack fare or airtime to furnish the government officials with information. If they cannot pay us the County and National governments should initiate projects. Our target is to come up with other projects to be able to pay the village elders Sh4000 monthly,’ said Athman.

The tuk-tuk was launched by area MP Mishi Mboko who said the village elders’ relentless efforts to realise their dream of starting an income-generating project have borne fruit.

Village elders, she said, do a lot of community work in cooperation with the office of the Chiefs and Deputy County Community in sensitizing the public on government projects and how they will benefit their localities.

‘They play a pivotal role in security matters because they are the first contact person at the grassroots but it is sad, they don’t receive any remuneration even a stipend, token, or allowance. As legislators we have discussed their issues in Parliament for village elders to get allowances,’ said Mboko.

Mboko noted that giving monthly stipends to village elders will boost their morale and motivate them to carry out their duties and responsibilities with zeal.

She said: ‘If we really want to improve security it is imperative to empower the village elders because if they want to report a case for example sometimes, they lack even fares.’

The MP lauded the village elders for restoring peace in Likoni which had witnessed a surge in juvenile crimes with daylight robbery of businesses and members of the public.

She advised the elders to remain united devoid of divisions which may make the venture to go bankrupt. She promised to take them for training in business management.

‘They should take it seriously as a business maintaining their balance sheets. The business capital should not be distributed to members to ground to a halt the tuk-tuk due to lack of fuel or maintenance,” advised Mboko.

On his part, Timbwani Deputy OCS Jacob Lenaiyarra hailed Likoni MP for empowering the elders exhorting them to continue volunteering information to security agencies.

‘Without village elders and Assistant Chiefs Timbwani cannot be peaceful. These are the people who made the ward to be peaceful from our analysis. Through collaboration with village elders and the office of the Deputy County Commissioner we have reduced crime cases involving knife-wielding gangs,’ said Lenaiyarra.

He hailed the MP for empowering the village elders. He assured the village elders of the utmost confidentiality of information shared with the police.

‘Any information you share will not be released to anyone and will remain classified and your security is guaranteed,’ said the Deputy OCS.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The government has affirmed its’ commitment to streamline the mining sector to be a key driver of to the economy.

Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya introduced a raft of sweeping reforms to revive the sector.

Mvurya says the once-dormant National Mining Corporation received a budgetary allocation of Sh349 million for the financial year 2023/2024.

The National Geological Survey, CS Mvurya divulged is at 95 percent with only the blue spaces that have not been looked into showing the country is endowed with resources

‘We have a responsibility to inspire the economy through mining. The country has enormous mineral resources,’ said CS Mvurya Friday when alongside PS for Mining Elijah Mwangi met Heads of Departments at the Kenya School of Government (KSG) Mombasa campus.

Mvurya said the government aims to increase revenue from the mining sector from the current one percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to ten percent in the next three years.

‘We have just concluded the geo survey report which has identified 970 mineral occurrences across the country. We have been able to identify key minerals across the 47 counties.

We have now embarked on a process of ground trothing to be able to quantify and see the economic value of our minerals,’ said CS Mvurya.

Key value addition centers have been identified across the country in line with the mining value addition and mineral processing policy.

‘The establishment of the value addition centres aims to reduce the amount of exported raw for example in the building industry Kenya has sufficient limestone and gypsum where we can process clinker, we don’t need to import clinker from other countries,’ said CS Mvurya adding that jobs will be created in the mining sectors.

Artisanal miners will be organized into cooperative societies to access training and linked with financial institutions to have purchasing power of modern mining equipment for mineral exploration.

To curb smuggling of mineral products CS Mvurya said Madini House will be upgraded to be a modern laboratory and lab services will be decentralized to all mining regions.

The Ministry plans to cancel 1,500 dormant licenses and await cabinet approval. ‘In our analysis of the cadaster we have found out that there are quite a number of people who are holding licenses which we have now categorized as inactive,’ revealed CS Mvurya.

The Ministry will collaborate with the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to introduce transit checks and containers transporting minerals will be sealed at the point of source and opened at the point of exit to prevent alteration of documents.

‘All rogue officials who have been doing that will be brought to book so that they can be accountable to the public and the government,’ warned CS Mvurya.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Tunisia has managed to repay almost 74% of its cumulative external debt service, defying predictions by several parties that the country would not be able to meet its commitments in this regard, according to statistics published by the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT).

As of September 10, the value of debt repaid reached TND 6,653.1 million, compared to TND 8,945 million projected for this year in the 2023 budget law.

According to BCT statistics, the cost of servicing the external debt was covered by tourism receipts and remittances from Tunisians abroad, totalling TND 10.7 billion, a coverage rate of 161%.

This situation has had a general impact on external sector indicators, with net foreign exchange reserves showing an improvement, to TND 26.4 billion (equivalent to 116 days of imports) at September 15, 2023, from TND 23.7 billion (equivalent to 111 days of imports) at the same date the previous year.

Tunisia’s net external financing has declined significantly, from TND 3,411.9 million at the end of June 2022 to TND 932.8 million at the end of March 2023, according to the latest data published by the Ministry of Finance.

This decrease is mainly attributed to the general decline in foreign loans, reflecting the government’s reliance on own resources. Tax revenues increased by 8.3%, while state budget expenditures grew by no more than 7%, resulting in a surplus of TND 58.8 million at the end of June 2023.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

A Tunisian-Algerian business forum is due next October 3 in Algiers. It is organised by the Export Promotion Centre (French: CEPEX) on the sidelines of the 22nd session of the High Joint Commission (October 2-4).

The event offers the opportunity for Tunisian companies to expand their business network and forge sustainable partnerships through multisectoral B2B professional meetings.

The volume of trade between Tunisia and Algeria amounted to $1620.57 million in 2022. It stood at $975.67 million in H1 of 2023.

Tunisia’s balance of trade with Algeria shows a deficit of over 3 billion dinars in spite of a 38% rise in exports.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

A number of Bomet farmers have urged the county Agricultural sector and Bomet leaders to distribute fertilisers to all sub-counties.

They said that most farmers at the moment have to travel for many kilometres to Bomet town to get the input which in turn is very costly.

‘We are struggling to get fertiliser not because they are out of stock but because the distance and transport cost is straining our resources,’ said Peter Cheruiyot from Konoin Sub-County.

Cheruiyot said he has been forced to spend a lot of money traveling due to long queues at the Cereals and Produce Board Offices. He further stated that decentralising the distribution of fertilizer would save them a lot of time and money.

‘We travel daily from far-flung areas to come and wait to get the inputs and sometimes we come for a whole week due to long queues experienced at deports and other fertiliser picking points,’ he said.

Cheruiyot said the County leadership led by Governor Hillary Barchok should move with speed and set up fertiliser stalls all the way to the ward levels.

‘There is nothing difficult in setting up the stores, the County Government has offices in all the wards and they should turn them into distribution zones for fertiliser from the Ministry of Agriculture,’ he added.

John Bore from Chepalungu said the subsidisation aspect by the National Government was losing its meaning to them because of the traveling cost. Bore added that many farmers are opting to buy expensive fertilizers from local Agrovet shops and distributors because of the traveling costs and added headache of queueing for days on end.

He further added that it was sad that farmers’ pleas and grievances to the relevant authorities were going unattended.

‘We have been pushing for the County Government to set up stores in our wards from the time the subsidized fertilisers were available but nothing has been done which has forced some of the farmers to buy this precious commodity from the local stockist despite being expensive,’ added Bore.

Bomet County farmers rely on two NCPB stores in Bomet town and Ndanai in Sotik Sub County.

More than 250,000 farmers from the County who have registered for this government-subsidized fertilizer are forced to get this farm input from the only two NCPB depots in the County which has caused a backlog.

However, Bomet Governor Hillary Barchok while launching the ongoing listing of farmers promised to address this problem that farmers have faced.

He said the ongoing listing of farmers will give clear information on where distribution centers will be set up.

‘As you are aware, there is an ongoing listing of farmers and one of the things we are seeking to know is the nearest centers for every farmer so that we can set up fertiliser stalls and pick points to bring services closer to farmers.,’ said Barchok.

The Governor while pleading with farmers to be patient said soon, they will get the fertilizers and other inputs from the government at their doorsteps.

‘We understand the challenge as the government and it is only a matter of time before the issue is resolved,’ he added.

Source: Kenya News Agency

SasaPay, a digital payments service provider, has unveiled new strategy as the company targets to increase its customer base both in Kenya and the diaspora market.

The new strategy centres around the provision of cutting-edge seamless financial solutions which will ensure a secure payment experience for a diverse range of businesses including financial services sector players, banks, Saccos and digital lenders, as well as SMEs in general trade and healthcare facilities.

The company envisions playing a pivotal role in the Kenyan economy by acting as a bridge between businesses and capital providers.

Further, the firm announced that it will facilitate quick, affordable access to working capital for businesses thus spurring business growth.

‘Through our rebrand, we aim to redefine the role of the payments and act as the meeting point between Kenyan businesses and their customers. Key to this will be empowering them to operate more efficiently to accelerate growth,’ SasaPay Chief Operating Officer and CEO Daniel

Njoroge said.

Njoroge stated that the firm shall apply its AI-based innovative technology to enable businesses upscale by providing timely and accurate data to capital providers that will in turn fasten its decision making in funding SMEs.

This way, he continued, the businesses will grow, provide more employment and hence provide more households with dignified lifestyles.

Further, the firm unveiled models that will focus more on strategic partnerships engineered to enable its customers derive more value from their wallets.

‘Customers are assured of solutions in Savings, Lending, Investments and automated payments,’ maintained Njoroge.

According to the CEO, SasaPay plans that SMEs will no longer pay any fee to get paid viaSasaPay wallets, instead, customers shall see their wallet balances earning them interest through collaborative partnerships with financial institutions in line with the firm’s philosophy of Shared Prosperity.

‘Similarly, individual users will enjoy the most competitive transaction charges in the market and will see their wallet balances automatically earning them interest when not transacting.

SasaPay users shall also be able to Shop and Pay later through its model dubbed ‘Shop Now Pay

Later’,’ he added.

Speaking at the event, SasaPay Chairman Dr John Munyu disclosed that the company is also eying the diaspora market with seamless transfer of funds from the diaspora to Kenya and cross-border payments from Kenya.

He added that the firm also eyes transaction for platform for Kenyans in the diaspora to empower them transact with their families, business interests and investments in Kenya seamlessly from wherever they are in the world.

‘The latest CBK’s FinAccess report shows that usage of mobile money rose from 28 percent in 2009 to 81 percent in 2022,’ said Munyu, as he noted that the proportion of Kenyans who use two or more financial services simultaneously has quadrupled, from just 18 per cent of the population in 2006 to 75 percent in 2022.

In his closing remarks, the CEO Njoroge said that SasaPay seeks to establish Kenya as the gateway to Africa through a robust financial ecosystem.

‘We are connecting SasaPay to diverse payments gateways across the world to ensure an individual or a business on the SasaPay platform can do business or any form of payment transactions with anyone from any part of the world,’ he reiterated.

Source: Kenya News Agency