The International Monetary Fund (IMF) excluded Kenya from the list of countries granted loan interest payments waivers because it’s per capita income was above $1,215 (Sh128,790).

Kenya, which is classified as a lower-middle-income country, recently joined mounting calls to rich nations like China and Group of 20 (G20) to hold off debt interest payment this year for poor and developing nations amid worsening economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.

As schools countrywide were being closed indefinitely following the outbreak of the coronavirus, Daniel Kabugu together with his fellow students at the Kenyatta University (KU) were devising ways to help Covid-19 patients.

With lectures suspended, they formed an online group where Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) members could pitch prototypes.

“We settled on a ventilator concept,” says Mr Kabugi, 24.

Kenya is forging ahead with its plan to build a Sh121.45 billion pipeline from Lokichar to Lamu to boost its crude oil exports despite the concern over falling prices of the commodity in the global market.

Budget estimates show that the State Department for Petroleum plans to spend Sh648.5 million in the financial year starting July 1 on the oil pipeline, commonly known as Project S.

The allocation is in addition to the Sh777.5 million allocated in the current financial year to undertake research, feasibility studies, project preparation and design for the project.