The fund, which is divided into the ‘Fairtrade Africa Producer Relief Fund' and the ‘Fairtrade Africa Producer Resilience Fund', will be directed into safety and livelihood programmes. It will fund purchase of masks and basic protective and medical equipment, wage payments, food security initiatives, awareness of safety campaigns and business continuity costs.

Three UoN staff have been recognized for their outstanding service in helping the country steer through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Prof. Omu Anzala, Dr. Loice Achieng’ Ombajo and Dr. Marybeth Maritim were among the 68 kenyans who received the award.

The President recognized 68 Kenyans with the Presidential order of service,  Uzalendo award during the 57th Madaraka day ceremony.

The UoN management congratulates the doctors.

President Uhuru Kenyatta Monday directed top State officials to fast-track consultations with key stakeholders for gradual reopening of schools and places of worship as more African countries seek partial lifting of coronavirus disease restrictions.

The Head of State said that the guidelines will include protocols like social distancing and hygiene for learners and worshippers’ safety amid the rise in coronavirus cases.

Kenya closed all learning institutions on March 15 while mosques, churches and temples have been closed for two months.

The maturity profile of domestic debt has lengthened to 5.7 years from 4.1 years two years ago on the back of a sustained effort to issue longer-term securities, Central bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced.

CBK governor Patrick Njoroge said during a virtual briefing following the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting last week that the option of having maturing Treasury bills rolled over using medium-term bond offerings is another option that the regulator is considering as a means of lengthening the maturity profile of local debt.

The Kenyan branch of Bank of Africa (BOA) is set to receive $5 million (Sh535 million) worth of insurance against loan defaults from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

BOA intends to expand its lending to small and medium-sized firms by up to $10 million (Sh1 billion) and will get guarantees on half the amount from the international financier.

The discussions with IFC come at a time when the bank has registered losses, forcing it to reduce lending amid breach of critical capital buffers.

Testing for coronavirus disease in the country is being held back by a shortage of test materials in government laboratories.

The Business Daily has established that State institutions like the National Influenza Lab and the Kenyatta National Hospital have a backlog of unprocessed tests, in a sign of the impact of the shortages caused by a worldwide race to acquire test kits.

Some 771, 439 youths lost their jobs in the three months to March and before the imposition of coronavirus disease restrictions that have led to further layoffs and pay cuts.

Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that number of Kenyans between the ages of 20 and 34, who are in employment or running a business, dropped 9.89 percent to 7.02 million.

Young people are the hardest hit by joblessness compared to their counterparts aged above 35 years in an economic setting that is plagued by a hiring freeze on the back of sluggish corporate earnings.

Chinese Ambassador to Kenya, H. E. Wu Peng, observed that the Chinese Government attach great importance to education exchange between Kenya and China. In that regard, they have been over 1,000 students with Chinese Government Scholarships. This has enabled many students to pursue further studies in China.  He pledged to continue supporting the Confucius Institute by building an extra modern library equipped with books, multimedia and that will help people understand better the Chinese culture.

HF Group narrowed its losses 99.6 percent to Sh633,000 in the first quarter ended March compared to Sh158.2 million the year before, thanks to lower costs. The lender, which is shifting from mortgage finance to mainstream banking, saw its operating and interest expenses drop by double digits. This helped offset reduced income from lending and transactions.