Kenya Archives - The African Mirror

Sep

28

2023

‘Tightrope’ debt situation not unique to Kenya, finance minister says

BUSINESS

KENYA'S struggle with a heavy debt load and pressure on its hard currency reserves is not unique since other nations are facing the same situation, its finance minister said. Njuguna Ndung'u was responding to a research note by U.S. investment bank JPMorgan which said on Tuesday that the East African nation was "walking a tightrope" to avoid a crisis due to a maturing dollar bond and persistent currency weakness. "All low- and middle-income countries are walking a tightrope given the current economic constraints globally. The Kenyan case is being featured because of the Eurobond 2024," the minister told Reuters, referring…

Jul

13

2023

By The African Mirror

Gold fraud: The Goldenberg scam that cost Kenya billions of dollars in the 1990s – and no one was jailed

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE Goldenberg scandal in the early 1990s is Kenya’s largest documented gold fraud. The scheme involved Goldenberg International Limited, which pretended to export gold and diamonds, and in exchange received substantial subsidies from the government for “earning” foreign exchange. Kenyan businessman Kamlesh Pattni – who was at the centre of the scandal and was charged with fraud but eventually acquitted – was recently named in a new investigation into gold fraud. This time his operation is allegedly being run through Zimbabwe from his base in Dubai. Economists Roman Grynberg and Fwasa Singogo, who have researched the Goldenberg case, and the…

Jul

13

2023

By The African Mirror

Eyeing wider trade ties, Iran’s Raisi starts Africa visit

NEWS

IRANIAN President Ebrahim Raisi received red-carpet welcomes from his counterparts in Kenya and Uganda in launching a three-country tour of Africa that Tehran has touted as a "new beginning" in relations with the continent. Raisi's trip to Africa, which will also take him to Zimbabwe, is the first by an Iranian president in more than a decade and represents a bid to diversify Iran's trade relations in the face of crippling U.S. sanctions. Iran stepped up diplomatic outreach to developing world countries after then-U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from Tehran's nuclear accord with world powers in 2018…

Jul

09

2023

By BIRD STORY AGENCY

The rise of Nigerian rugby

SPORT

AFTER a long absence from serious regional or international rugby - dominated in Africa by South Africa, Kenya, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Madagascar and Tunisia - Nigeria has startled stalwarts in the African rugby scene by making it into a qualifying tournament for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. A recent surge in performance indicates a promising future for the sport in Africa's most populous nation, with the Black Stallions just one tournament away from securing a spot in the 2024 Olympics. The team's talent, determination - and a new coach in Steve Lewis - were all on display at the Mauritius…

Jul

09

2023

By LUCY GITHUGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

State of the news: Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa push African countries high up the media trust ladder, TikTok advancing rapidly

EDITORS CHOICE, MEDIA FREEDOM

ACCORDING to the recently released Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2023, Kenya has the second-highest level of trust in the news of all countries included in the global report. At 63%, Kenyans' trust in the news is remarkably high, surpassed only by Finland (at 69%). Kenyan commercial TV outlets are that country's most trusted news sources, alongside the Daily Nation newspaper and its associated website, according to the report. Portugal ranked third with a score of 58%, while Nigeria and South Africa tied for fourth place with 57% each, according to the twelfth edition of the report, published by the…

Jul

06

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenya to delay re-opening Somali border over “wave of attacks”

NEWS

KENYA will delay re-opening its border with Somalia because of a "wave of attacks" it blames on al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants, interior minister Kithure Kindiki said. In May the two governments agreed to reopen within 90 days several border posts including Mandera, Liboi, and Kiunga, which have been closed since 2011 when Kenya sent its forces into southern Somalia to help fight al Shabaab. Advertisement · Scroll to continue More than a dozen people have been killed along their shared border in the last month, part of what security analysts say are ongoing efforts by al Shabaab to pressure Kenya into withdrawing its…

Jun

23

2023

By AYENAT MERSIE and MUKELWA HLATSHWAYO

LGBTQ rights: Kenya to follow Uganda?

NEWS

MOHAMED Ali doesn't believe gay Africans exist. He says homosexuality is a Western invention imposed on the continent. Openly gay Africans are liars seeking visas to the West or money from rights groups, he adds. Ali is a member of Kenya's parliament. He is desperate to follow neighbour Uganda by unleashing a sweeping legislative crackdown on LGBTQ people. Even if he happened to be sick in intensive care, he would ask to be dragged to parliament to approve it. "I will ask them to take me to vote for that, to kick them out, kick LGBT people out of Kenya…

Jun

20

2023

By DUNCAN MIRIRI

Kenya signs trade deal with European Union to safeguard exports

NEWS

KENYA signed an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union that will guarantee duty-free access for its farm produce into its biggest export market. European goods entering Kenya will see tariffs reduced over a 25-year period under the agreement, officials said at a signing ceremony in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. The deal took seven months to negotiate, making it one of the fastest the EU has ever struck, officials from both sides said. Kenya, Africa's seventh-largest economy, is a major exporter of tea, coffee, flowers, fruits and vegetables. The EU accounts for 21% of its overall exports. "Beyond trade, the…

Jun

20

2023

By CONRAD ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Investors train eyes on African youth with gaming campuses

NEWS

IN early June, Maliyo, a game studio in Nigeria began training its pioneer class of 27 participants, drawn from the West African country as well as Kenya, Cameroon and South Africa, while this July, Microsoft is scheduled to run a 2-day virtual gaming camp that will take place across four African cities: Cairo, Lagos, Nairobi, and Johannesburg. Also lining up in a growing list of gaming academies and short-term learning experience camps springing up on the continent is ‘Level up Africa’ with a planned student intake in early 2024. Organisers of all these virtual and onsite programs -lasting from two…

Jun

18

2023

By The African Mirror

Mama Ngina Kenyatta at 90: the quiet power behind Kenya’s famous political family

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

FEW witnessed the building of the young Kenyan state from within as did Ngina Kenyatta, the widow of Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta. Mama Ngina, as she is known, will mark her 90th birthday on 24 June 2023. She was by her husband’s side when Kenya won independence 60 years ago and for many turbulent years thereafter. Although Kenyatta was polygamous, it was the younger Mama Ngina who took on the role of first lady. Authors ANAÏS ANGELO, Elise Richter Fellow, Senior Postdoctoral Researcher, Universität Wien CATHELINE BOSIBORI N, Adam Smith Fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University Ngina married Jomo…