7 interesting things that made the news this week (3rd Feb – 9th Feb)

Busy week didn’t give you time to catch up with all the relevant news? Relax, HerBusiness will be summarizing the most important things that made the news every week.

The headlines in Kenya this week were dominated by the deportation of Miguna Miguna. Is that allowed? Did he renounce his citizenship? I’m not really lawyer material, I have a soul. Anyway have a look at these 7 other interesting things that came to fore:

Kenya and Tanzania promise to make-up

It’s so nice that they are doing this on Valentine’s month. Kenyan and Tanzania officials came to a consensus on the need to resolve trade disputes between the two countries. They account for 45% of all trade within EAC. It was determined that regulatory authorities will start being more proactive in settling disputes. Areas of contention include charge of levies, preferential treatment, delays at border points and inspection fees. All of which hinder export trade.

Importers forced to use SGR?

The Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (kifwa) wrote to the ports authority over the directive by Government that it will be mandatory for all imports through Mombasa Port will have to be cleared at the Inland depot in Nairobi – after a ride on the SGR. They appealed for a “willing buyer willing seller” basis on use of SGR. This story has raised questions on sustainability of the SGR.

‘Tuskys has made no profit since 2012’

Yusuf Mugweru, 17.5% shareholder in Tuskys, continued his campaign, objecting to the supermarket chain’s rescue plan for Nakumatt. One reason he gave, in a suit, is that Tuskys is yet to solve its internal wrangles. He also said the company had no financial muscle to pull off the plan as it had not turned a profit since 2012. Interesting.

Nairobi buildings to be repainted

“We need to invest in transforming the city to continue attracting more foreign investors.” These were some of Mike Sonko’s words to justify the directive to have all buildings within the Nairobi CBD, and its environs, to be repainted. This will be part of the city’s beautification program. Don’t lynch me, but I think a literal one-stop registration of businesses by local investors would be better priority.

South Africans can’t hang in Kenya?

Kenya may be dysfunctional more often than not. But you have to give credit for not being dominated by South African multinationals as is the norm in Sub-Saharan African countries (at least not directly). Now OLX, owned by Napsers, made the decision to shut down its Nairobi offices. “Consolidation” was the reason OLX gave in a statement. Operations will still continue. All this puts e-retail into perspective.

Campaign kicks off to encourage small businesses to sign up for pension schemes

What’s your retirement plan? The best retirement plan is death, jk. The Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) has teamed up with MSEA to increase members in pension schemes among informal, micro and small enterprises. RBA Chief, Nzomo Mutuku said they partnered with MSEA because, “it will be easy to work directly and engage the small enterprises and encourage them to start or join pension schemes.” The campaign has already started in Machakos, Kisumu and Kakamega counties.

Only a third of formal workers in Kenya are women

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics released its findings on the make-up of formal employment in Kenya. It turns out that only 880,000 women are formal workers, in comparison to 1.68 million men (barely 2 million people). Women trail in the key sectors of agriculture and manufacturing. There are 49,000 Kenyan women in manufacturing compared to 252,000 men. Women do lead in the services sector though, at 66,000 against 61,000. Read this article on the need for better women representation at this level.