April 2019

01Apr

Kenyan, U.S. pension fund managers mull infrastructure investment

Kenyan and U.S. pension fund managers are in Nairobi evaluating the investment potential and opportunities in infrastructure in the East African nation. The World Bank said the three-day meeting, which kicked off on Monday, will see the Kenya Pension Fund Investment Consortium (KEPFIC) host 30 representatives of major U.S. pension and asset management funds to discuss investment opportunities with KEPFIC and its membership of 12 Kenyan fund managers, which currently manage 200 billion shillings (2 billion U.S. dollars) in...

April 1, 2019
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March 2019

05Mar

Kenya’s pension firm enters Uganda’s market

A new pension administrator, Enwealth Financial Services, has entered Uganda’s pension market upon securing an operation license from the regulator, Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority (URBRA). The firm that joins nine other pension administrators in the country plans to offer pension retirement services, training and consultancy services. Founded in 2011 in Kenya, it currently manages pension assets worth over Shs2trillion for 120 clients in 12 countries within Africa. Nelson Kuria, the company’s chairman Board of Directors said at the...

March 5, 2019
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December 2018

05Dec

Kenya. Review of pensions law underway: Yatani

There is need to review the pensions law to ensure what retirees are paid reflects prevailing cost of living, Labour and Social Protection CS Ukur Yatani has said. "In pursuit of your association's objectives, working in close collaboration with your representatives, my ministry has developed a memorandum that will be submitted to the Cabinet soon for consideration and necessary action,” said Mr Yatani during the annual general meeting of Kenya Association of Retired Officers (KARO). The memorandum highlights, among others,...

December 5, 2018
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October 2018

15Oct

October Rout Will Test Pensions’ Wall Street Crash Protection

Large pension funds are snapping up Wall Street protection against a market crash, but it isn’t clear the products will help limit losses in the current pullback. Worried their portfolios were too risky, public-pension managers in California, Hawaii and Rhode Island have shifted more than $25 billion over two years or so into “crisis-risk offset” strategies, while others are in the process of such moves. Typically, these tactics aim to limit investor losses by buying long-term Treasury bonds, whose price...

October 15, 2018
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12Oct

Kenya. Banks, pension schemes top finance sector sources for real estate funding

Funding options in Real Estate (Sh billion) Banks’ credit to the real estate grew by 30.82 percent in 2017 compared with 18.33 percent growth rate for pension funds. Bank loans and retirees’ savings remained the largest finance sector source of funds for property developers and homebuyers in 2017, fresh statistics show, amid declining average house sales and rent prices. Commercial banks increased their investment in real estate by Sh87.56 billion last year, the highest allocation in a single year despite the September...

October 12, 2018
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08Oct

Kenya. Pension burden as State to spend Sh104bn on retirees in two years

Kenya will spend Sh104 billion in the next two years to pay retired civil servants, raising the red flag on the government’s ability to support its retiring workers. The dilemma, however, remains how much State workers should set aside for their sunset days in an environment of increasing cost of living thanks to the tax burden. And the increasing number of pensioners and government’s struggles to support them in their old age is a major cause for concern, according to Enwealth...

October 8, 2018
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05Oct

Survey of the Kenyan Private Equity and Venture Capital Landscape

By Shanthi Divakaran (World Bank), Patrick McGinnis (World Bank), Sam Schneider (Independent) This paper discusses the landscape for private equity and venture capital financing in Kenya. It provides an overview of the private equity and venture capital market in the country, describing key players, including funds, fund managers, investors, and public sector entities. The paper provides an analysis of key market drivers and impediments, as well as legal/regulatory/taxation drivers and impediments that affect Kenya's private equity and venture capital industry. ...

October 5, 2018
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01Oct

Kenyan campaigners urge enhanced protection for elderly persons

Kenya requires a radical policy shift in order to cushion senior citizens from abject poverty, homelessness, illiteracy, diseases and social exclusion, campaigners said on Sunday on the eve of the International Day of Older Persons. The elderly campaigners said that promoting the welfare of the ageing population through robust social safety net programs is key to realize socio-economic progress in Kenya. "Today in Kenya, older activists are campaigning for universal quality healthcare, improved access to social protection, more affordable and accessible...

October 1, 2018
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September 2018

28Sep

Kenya. Pension schemes pool resources to fund infrastructure projects

Pension schemes under their newly-formed umbrella body, the Kenya Pension Fund Investment Consortium is eyeing big-ticket investment projects by pooling their resources. Zamara Group Chief Executive Officer Sundeep Raichura says that teaming up of local pensions funds will enable them invest in alternative investment asset classes including affordable housing, private equity, energy and infrastructure projects which would ordinarily be challenging if pension funds were to invest individually. The Kenya Pension Fund Investment Consortium is currently made up of 10 pension funds...

September 28, 2018
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August 2018

29Aug

Theresa May In Africa: The Future Of Fintech In South Africa, Nigeria And Kenya

A delegation of UK fintech specialists joined Prime Minister Theresa May on her first official trip to Africa and will visit South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya to meet with entrepreneurs to establish trading and export ties in these emerging markets. Representatives from Azimo, the Financial Conduct Authority, Standard Chartered, Farm.ink, the London Stock Exchange Group and the Prime Minister’s Ambassador for Fintech were just some of the 29 leaders that accompanied May on the trip in order to forge connections...

August 29, 2018
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