|
Morning Africa |
Register and its all Free.
If you are tracking the NSE Do it via RICHLIVE and use Mozilla Firefox as your Browser. 0930-1500 KENYA TIME Normal Board - The Whole shebang Prompt Board Next day settlement Expert Board All you need re an Individual stock.
The Latest Daily PodCast can be found here on the Front Page of the site http://www.rich.co.ke |
read more |
|
30-APR-2018 :: "A new history starts now. An age of peace, from the starting point of history." Law & Politics |
The Events that took place on Friday at the truce village of Panmunjom and during the Inter-Korean Summit were breathtaking for the Hollywood Optics. The Opening Shot of Kim Jong Un surrounded by a Phalanx of North Korean Officials [later replayed as Chairman Kim sat in his Presidential Vehicle surrounded by his Ninja bodyguards] was almost as good as the opening Sequence in PT Anderson's Boogie Nights [Steadicam operator Andy Shuttleworth]. This was Cinema of the highest level which is no surprise when You consider that Kim Jong-Il the Father was obsessed with Cinema and amassed arguably the world’s largest personal film collection: over 20,000 bootlegged 35mm screening copies. Kim Jong-Il also had a penchant for Hennessy Paradis cognac and for two years in the mid-1990s, he was the world's largest buyer of Hennessy Paradis cognac, importing up to $800,000 of the stuff a year. Kim Jong-Il began his career as the head of the state’s propaganda and agitation department and its clear that Kim Jong-Un's sister Kim Yo Jong who holds the same role and evidently handles all the optics, is a chip off the old Block. Friday was tip-top Geopolitical Optics. Mike Pompeo, the newly minted US Secretary of State [His predecessor was fired via Twitter] had visited Pyongyang the previous week and pronounced; that the young North Korean leader was "a smart guy who's doing his homework"
Marwan Bishara was a little jaded by the Optics tweeted
''When pictures are the news and symbols are the facts, cliches become truths and media turns into propaganda or BS''
''For now, We are short on facts long on images and hence any perspective is likely to be speculative. Globally, we are being played in a ‘game of nations’ which could produce more of the same or different ...''
|
read more |
|
12-FEB-2018 :: he is the buffer state between China and more than 30,000 US soldiers parked on their doorstep in South Korea. Law & Politics |
“Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: What is soft is strong,” Lao Tzu
South Korea is set to be peeled off and going by his puppy dog smiles President Moonriver will be in PyongYang before you can pronounce Kim Yo Jong correctly. Russia always had their back. China was never interested in bringing him to heel. After all, he is the buffer state between China and more than 30,000 US soldiers parked on their doorstep in South Korea.
|
read more |
|
18 SEP 17 :: "A screaming comes across the sky" North Korea. @TheStarKenya Law & Politics |
Gravity’s Rainbow is a 1973 novel by Thomas Pynchon which is about the design, production and dispatch of V-2 rockets by the German military. In particular, it features the quest undertaken by several characters to uncover the secret of a mysterious device named the “Schwarzgerät” (black device), slated to be installed in a rocket with the serial number “00000”. As the world watches PyongYang, I cannot help wondering if Kim Jong-Un has read Pynchon which speaks of “A screaming comes across the sky” and North Korea.
“But it is a curve each of them feels, unmistakably. It is the parabola. They must have guessed, once or twice -guessed and refused to believe -that everything, always, collectively, had been moving toward that purified shape latent in the sky, that shape of no surprise, no second chance, no return.’’
|
read more |
|
Eagle-meets-Bear and the Syria tug-of-war @asiatimesonline Law & Politics |
Unknown sources have leaked what is billed as President Trump’s alleged Syria deal discussed with Jordan’s King Abdullah.
Trump would “allow” Damascus, supported by Russian air power, to regain its territory along the borders of Jordan, Israel and Iraq. In return, President Putin and Bashar al-Assad would agree to establish an extended demilitarized zone (DMZ) along these same borders, off-limits to any Iranian forces.
That would set the scene for Trump’s already announced desire to extract US forces out of Syria before October and the US mid-term elections. The president would be able to declare the proverbial “Mission Accomplished” in defeating Daesh or Islamic State.
The heart of the matter remains Syria’s territorial integrity and the legitimacy of the government in Damascus. Russia, Iran and, after countless circumvolutions, even Turkey are for it. The NATO-Gulf Cooperation Council alliance is ferociously against it – especially after having, over the past few years, funded and weaponized those notorious “moderate rebels,” the overwhelming majority of which are nothing but takfiri jihadis.
Back to Daraa
And so, as a gloomy serpent biting its own tail, the tragic war in Syria is back to where it first started, seven and a half years ago, to a dusty, dirt-poor, religiously intolerant, back of beyond Daraa. Just across the border with Jordan, it is splendidly convenient crossroads for weapons smuggling destined to the takfiri hordes.
The key problem remains how to make Trump understand what’s at stake in terms of US forces leaving Al-Tanf. The Pentagon and the CIA absolutely love the idea of having the Maghawhir takfiris constantly attacking the SAA on the only available crossing between Syria and Iraq on al-Qaim-Albu-Kamal.
The reality, though, will soon set in. Russia is sending extra Special Forces. The SAA is already preparing for the offensive. And the Iraqi People Mobilization Units (PMUs) will also join, everything coordinated by an operations command in Baghdad.
All that is evidence the US does not “have” southern Syria. What the US does have is roughly 2,000 Special Forces embedded with the Kurdish YPG in the landlocked northeast and eastern Syria near the Turkish and Iraqi borders. Absolutely no one wants them there, except the YPG.
It’s no secret the usual War Party suspects want Syria balkanized and unable to concentrate on economic recovery, with help from Russia, China and Iran, to become a key node in Eurasia integration.
As for Putin’s priorities, they are crystal clear: Syria’s territorial integrity, the stability of the government in Damascus and The Gates of Hell for all takfiri jihadis, whatever their denomination, so there won’t be any further blowback in the Caucasus.
It’s up to Trump, or the CIA, or the Pentagon if they insist on considering “No Takfiri Left Behind” a sound geopolitical strategy.
|
read more |
|
The world's largest virtual currency exchange is still making money hand over fist @business International Trade |
Binance expects a net profit of $500 million to $1 billion in 2018, according to its chief executive officer. First half revenue was about $300 million, Changpeng Zhao said in an interview. Average daily turnover at his venue, which opened a year ago, is roughly $1.5 billion, and Binance now has 10 million users, he said.
Zhao’s figures illustrate how some cryptocurrency exchanges are thriving despite a rout in digital assets that’s seen Bitcoin lose 52 percent of its value this year as buyers pull back, venues are repeatedly hacked and regulators increase their scrutiny.
Binance, which has had run-ins with authorities in Japan and Hong Kong, plans to soon allow customers at venues in Uganda, Bermuda and Malta to convert their virtual tokens to fiat currencies including the euro, as it looks to build on its rapid growth.
Zhao has previously said that Binance had 2 million users at the start of the year. He started the venue in July 2017, opening 11 days after raising $15 million in an initial coin offering. As the crypto frenzy peaked late last year, the exchange was hosting as much as $11 billion of trades a day. Binance topped Coinmarketcap.com’s ranking of exchanges in the past 24 hours, with $1.3 billion worth of trading.
Conclusions
The Crypto Business to be in.
|
read more |
|
Emerging Markets |
Interestingly, FOMC flagged the ‚notable‘ depreciation in EM currencies relative to the Dollar as #Argentina Peso has devalued by 28% in past 3mths, #Brazil Real 15%, #Turkey Lira 12%.
|
read more |
|
Ethiopia reform wave rolls on, opposition no longer "terrorists" @ReutersAfrica Africa |
The sacking of the head of the prison service, along with four senior colleagues, came hours before a Human Rights Watch report that detailed torture at one notorious prison and urged the government to hold officials to account.
Announcing the dismissals, Attorney General Berhanu Tsegaye said prison officers must respect individual rights outlined in the constitution, a rare public rebuke to the country’s security apparatus.
His remarks echoed Abiy’s stunning criticism of security forces last month in which the 41-year-old, who holds a doctorate in peace and security studies, acknowledged widespread police brutality and likened it to state terrorism.
“Does the constitution stipulate that prisoners should be flogged and beaten? It does not,” he told a televised sitting of parliament. “Police flogged. This is unconstitutional. Police were terrorists.”
In office for just three months, Abiy has turned politics on its head in the Horn of Africa nation of 100 million.
Foremost among his reforms was the launch last month of peace talks with neighbour and sworn enemy Eritrea, against whom Ethiopia waged a 1998-2000 border war in which 80,000 people are thought to have died.
He has also rescinded a state of emergency and announced plans to partially open up the economy, including attracting foreign capital into the state-run telecoms company and national airline - both mouth-watering investment prospects given Ethiopia’s size and pacy growth.
Following the recent release of political prisoners, parliament ruled on Thursday the Oromo Liberation Front and the Ogaden National Liberation Front, two secessionist groups, and the ‘Ginbot 7’, an exiled opposition movement, were no longer “terrorist” groups.
The shake-up by the polyglot former soldier from the Oromo ethnic group, Ethiopia’s largest, has won plaudits from Asmara to Washington and drawn comparisons to the 1980s ‘perestroika’ reforms of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
However, it has also attracted opposition from hardliners in the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the ethnic Tigrayan party that has dominated the ruling EPRDF coalition - and by association the country and economy - for nearly three decades.
Two people were killed in a grenade blast at a massive pro-Abiy rally in Addis Ababa last month, with the finger of blame pointed at those opposed to his reform drive.
There has been no claim of responsibility but the attack underscored the scale of Abiy’s challenge and raised fears - including from Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki - that Ethiopia’s new leader may not prevail.
“Ethiopia is now at a turning point or transition. What is the destination? How will this be achieved?” Isaias said last month in Asmara’s first response to Abiy’s peace overtures.
In Tigrayan areas near the Eritrean border, locals criticised Abiy’s olive branch to Asmara, while the TPLF warned that it would “not take part in any process that harms the people of Tigray”.
It later struck a more conciliatory tone, saying it welcomed Eritrea’s positive response to Abiy’s overtures. However, some former top-level ‘securocrats’ are not going quietly.
Major-General Teklebrhan Woldearegay, who quit as head of the INSA cyber-security agency in April, told a Tigrayan radio station this week Abiy was “being undemocratic and acting like a king”.
Gebreyesus Gebregziabher, the axed prisons chief, is a TPLF member while his replacement is from Abiy’s party, the Oromo People’s Democratic Organisation.
Abiy was elected to the helm of the four-party EPRDF in March after three years of violent protests by ethnic Oromo and other groups who felt they were being exploited and abused in an economic development drive.
Conclusions
|
read more |
|
02-JUL-2018 :: Ethiopia Rising. @TheStarKenya Africa |
Abiy Ahmed Ali (Amharic: አብይ አህመድ አሊ, Oromo: Abiyyi Ahimad Alii; born 15 August 1976) was appointed the 12th Prime Minister of Ethiopia on 2 April 2018. He grew up in a Muslim family (Ahmed Ali, his Oromo father; Tezeta Wolde, his mother) and with Oromo Muslim and Christian grandparents. He is evidently a Virilian and Gladwellian Figure.
“To create one contagious movement, you often have to create many small movements first.”
“Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not, With the slightest push — in just the right place — it can be tipped.” — Malcolm Gladwell
He has been Prime Minster for 90 days. During those 90 days, he has criss crossed the Country, he has ended a State of Emergency, released thousands of Political Prisoners, thawed relations with Eritrea [29 Mar 2018 H.E. Abiy Ahmed @PM_AbiyAhmed - It is time. Lets build a wall of love between #Ethiopia & #Eritrea], bagged a $1b from the U.A.E.'s MBZ, announced a dramatic economic about-turn and thats not the end of it. In Matters language and linguistics he has tapped into a ''Nelson Mandela'' 1994 mood. These 90 or so days represent the most consequential arrival of an African Politician on the African Stage since Mandela walked out of prison blinking in the sunlight and constructed his ''Rainbow Nation''
I was watching the France Argentina Game and the arrival of Kylian Mbappe on the World Stage at the tender age of 19. I recalled watching the Whirling Dervishes of the Mevlevi order on a night of a full moon in Konya, Turkey. And i thought to myself what do they all have in common with Abiy Ahmed. Its all about Speed and Velocity. Paul Virilio terms it 'dromology', which he defined as the "science (or logic) of speed“. He notes that the speed at which something happens may change its essential nature, and that which moves with speed quickly comes to dominate that which is slower.
'Whoever controls the territory possesses it. Possession of territory is not primarily about laws and contracts, but first and foremost a matter of movement and circulation.'
Virilio argues that the traditional feudal fortified city disappeared because of the increasing sophistication of weapons and possibilities for warfare. For Virilio, the concept of siege warfare became rather a war of movement.
Abiy Ahmed has moved at lightning speed, the Old Guard is like ''the traditional feudal fortified city''
He said on 19 JUN 18 "The ppl of Tigray are still begging for a drop of water; TPLF [the party[ is not the people of Tigray"
On the same day he said, "we are in debt, we have to pay back but we can't. And secondarily, we aren't able to finish projects we have started." and announced his economic Pivot. Of course, the downside risk of all this infrastructure is plain to see and Sri Lanka and the Tale of its Hambantota Port is now a cautionary Tale. FX reserves were at less than a month's worth of imports and something needed to be done. Expectations are high. The Prime Minister needs to execute real quick on the economic front but if he levels the playing Field, a whole Troop of folks will be looking to pile in. That Troop will include the Ethiopian Diaspora, Foreign Investors and i am sure our very own Safaricom who must have already presented the Prime minister with a copy of the MIT research on M-Pesa which confirmed access to mobile-money services increased daily per capita consumption levels of two percent of Kenyan households, lifting them out of extreme poverty.
Abiy Ahmed's first 90 days have been as remarkable as the less than 90 minutes of France's Mbappe's performance on Saturday.
|
read more |
|
Djibouti launches 'Africa's biggest free trade zone' Africa |
The Horn of Africa nation, located at the mouth of the Red Sea and south of the Suez Canal, in 2017 unveiled three new ports and a railway linking it to landlocked Ethiopia, as part of its bid to become a global trade and logistics hub.
Somalia's president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, hailed the free-trade zone as a "victory for East Africa", in comments echoed at the ceremony by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.
Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, was also there.
The zone, which is connected to Djibouti's main ports, aims at diversifying the economy, creating new jobs and luring foreign investment through tax-free incentives and full logistical support.
The pilot phase launched Thursday comprises a 240-hectare (593-acre) site.
On its scheduled completion 10 years from now, the $3.5-billion initiative will span 4,800 hectares -- the largest free-trade zone on the continent.
The project hopes to see foreign companies setting up manufacturing plants within the zone, adding value to products instead of merely importing and exporting raw materials.
"The volume of goods travelling to East Africa keeps increasing. Every time a product arrives in the continent without being transformed it is a missed opportunity for Africa," said Aboubaker Omar Hadi, chairman of the Ports and Free Zones Authority.
|
read more |
|
Zimbabwe currency crisis stymies reform Africa |
A security company entrusts one of its guards to collect US$4,000 from a client. The client hands over not just $4,000 — but an extra ten dollars. And yet the guard is charged for allegedly stealing from his employer.
While the case that came before magistrates in May in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second city, sounds topsy-turvy, the explanation is simple. The guard was accused of being given US dollars by the client but handing over to his employer “bond notes”, a surrogate dollar in the southern African nation.
While bond notes are officially worth the same as the real thing, their street value is far less. Fencing the dollars and substituting bond notes allegedly meant a huge profit for the guard, had miscounting the money not raised suspicions.
The guard was acquitted, but the bizarre accusation sheds light on the severity of a cash crisis that some fear jeopardises the country’s economic recovery following the end of Robert Mugabe’s decades-long rule.
Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was installed as president when army commanders overthrew Mr Mugabe last year, has declared Zimbabwe “open for business”. His government has courted investors from London to Beijing and promised to change laws that are hostile to foreign investment.
“Zimbabwe’s opening up for everybody . . . it is certainly more open for business than it has been for decades,” says Adonis Pouroulis, a member of a South African mining family whose investments include Tharisa, a London-listed company that has forged ahead with deals to invest in platinum and chrome mines in Zimbabwe since Mr Mnangagwa took power.
But the influx of foreign cash needed to resolve the currency crisis and spur economic growth hinges on presidential elections this month and whether Mr Mnangagwa’s ruling Zanu-PF reverts to type and rigs the polls. Without that international investment, closed ATMs, empty petrol stations and a convoluted daily hustle to find petty cash will remain a fact of life in Zimbabwe.
Last month the crisis also became a mortal threat to Fastjet, the low-cost southern African airline that expanded rapidly in Zimbabwe. Fastjet has almost $7m of its cash reserves trapped in the country, which led it into an emergency share issue after warning that it might have to halt trading.
“This economy is bullshit,” said Takudzwa, a trader in the sprawling Mbare Musika market in Harare, the capital. “What’s the actual change taking place? When Mugabe was there, things were tight [with cash]. But now it’s worse,” the 22-year-old says, counting a crinkly wad of the violet and green bond notes.
“In the papers they say that they’re equal — but if I can get 100 [real] dollars, someone will offer me $130 [in bond notes],” another trader in Mbare said. He would be offered about $145 in EcoCash, a form of mobile money, reflecting an even deeper distrust of electronic dollars.
The scarcity is due in part to too few dollars flowing into Zimbabwe. Export industries declined under Mr Mugabe and instability in Zanu-PF in the last years of his presidency scared off foreign investment.
But the government has also run up huge electronic balances to service a budget deficit, including a $1.2bn central bank overdraft as of February this year. This has bloated the financial system, with about $8bn in deposits versus less than $70m cash in banks, leading many to store up physical cash.
“I left $6.5bn in the system, but Zimbabwe got fiscalitis — spend, spend, spend,” said Tendai Biti, an opposition politician. Mr Biti oversaw the old currency’s abolition as finance minister in a forlorn power-sharing arrangement with Zanu-PF between 2009 and 2013. The MDC Alliance, a coalition of several opposition parties including Mr Biti’s that is contesting the July 30 poll, said it would abolish bond notes if it wins.
This is an economy that is operating without a currency,” said Yvonne Mhango, Sub-Saharan Africa economist for Renaissance Capital. “The slowdown we are seeing is due to the liquidity crisis
But more aggressive action may be needed given how the shortage has distorted economic activity. OK Zimbabwe, the country’s biggest retailer, said that the difficulty of finding foreign currency was pushing prices up. Hotels and restaurants still accepting bond notes at the official rate said that they may also have to raise prices to keep up with the real value. Queues outside banks, where account withdrawals are increasingly limited to $20 a day, often start at 1am.
“This is an economy that is operating without a currency,” said Yvonne Mhango, Sub-Saharan Africa economist for Renaissance Capital. “The slowdown we are seeing is due to the liquidity crisis.”
But some help is on its way. CDC, the British development finance group, in May launched a $100m loan facility with Standard Chartered aimed at Zimbabwean businesses struggling with shortages of foreign currency. It is an implicit bet on the currency being normalised in Zimbabwe: borrowers will have to pay dollars back. But Ms Mhango said between $1bn and $2bn might be needed to begin tackling the shortage — money that would only materialise if the July elections are credible and international lenders return to the table for talks.
Others are braced for a devaluation of Zimbabwe’s surrogate dollars. “They need to address the exchange rate. Our banking system is compromised beyond belief,” said one Harare-based investment manager who believes that devaluation is inevitable.
Ms Mhango agreed devaluation is likely. “Whatever your electronic balance is showing, you may take a haircut on that . . . it may take up to 30 per cent,” she said. “It needs to happen. There’s no other way around it.”
|
read more |
|
Zimbabwe minister sees election boost to 'collapsed' economy @YahooNews Africa |
In an interview with AFP, Patrick Chinamasa, one of President Emmerson Mnangagwa's closest allies, predicted the ruling ZANU-PF party would "resoundingly" win the July 30 vote, the first elections since Mugabe was ousted last November after 37 years in power.
Mnangagwa is banking on victory to provide a much-needed endorsement of his presidency and lure foreign investors to an economy wrecked under Mugabe's long rule.
After the seizure of white-owned farms triggered hyperinflation, GDP nearly halved between 2000 and 2008 -- a decline described by the World Bank as the sharpest contraction of its kind in a peacetime economy.
"I'm very confident that our president, Mnangagwa, is going to win resoundingly. ZANU-PF also is going to win resoundingly," Chinamasa told AFP after a day of campaigning in his constituency in the east of the country.
"We thank the former president for sticking it out in order to resolve the land question. We paid a price, and the price was that the economy collapsed," he said.
"Now the task before President Mnangagwa is to recover the economy and that is what he is doing now by re-engaging not just economically, but also politically, so that we normalise political relations."
"I projected 4.5 percent growth and I consider that conservative in the light of the measures that we have taken," Chinamasa, a former Mugabe loyalist, told AFP.
"It is very clear that we are going to achieve at least six percent growth this year (because) much of the environment which investors were complaining about has been corrected."
The reforms, including of the unpopular indigenisation policy which forced foreign firms to cede 51 percent stakes to locals, have "generated a lot of goodwill, a lot of interest," said Chinamasa.
"We find ourselves completely overwhelmed by the business delegations which have been visiting us. Some of them have already materialised into concrete and substantial investments, some will mature as we go along."
"As we re-engage, that is... our expectation, to have access to capital. If we have that, this country will lift up."
Conclusions
|
read more |
|
We're over borrowing ceiling, says @CBKKenya Governor @njorogep @KTNNews Kenyan Economy |
Kenya cannot afford to take more loans since mega infrastructure projects undertaken by the Government are not making any money to repay debts. Central Bank Governor Patrick Njoroge said the State had to abandon the model of borrowing and let the private sector drive the economy. “We have less headroom to borrow and we are running out of space. We need to look at public-private partnership and build operate and transfer models,” said Dr Njoroge. “We have had 15 per cent rise in debt over the past few years but what is the return? In fact it is negative, infrastructure is costing us money. We do not have to look very far, Hambantota port in Sri Lanka is gone,” said Rich Management CEO Aly Khan Satchu. Break even Operations at the Standard Gauge Railways will take at least three years before it breaks even, according to Kenya Railways Corporation Managing Director Atanas Maina. And until then the Government is sinking in more money to run it. “Any business takes about five years to break even and we are targeting three. We want to have a surplus by five years,” said Mr Maina. He said he could not provide the exact cost-plugging the Government was doing because factors keep changing, citing the number of trains they are running, which will soon grow to seven, as an example. In energy, Kenya is paying billions of shillings for over-capacity and guarantees to firms for idle plants, including Sh13.9 billion to Lake Turkana Wind Power and Sh37 billion to Lamu Coal-fired plant. On roads, the Government has realised that the Road Maintenance Levy factored in retail fuel prices has not been adequate to cater for road repairs, and hence use of major trunk roads will attract a fee as the Government sets up toll stations along them. The three were speaking yesterday at the Moody’s fifth Annual East Africa Summit in Nairobi where the ratings firm pointed out that commercial borrowing has contributed to worsening debt affordability. “Interest payments take up a larger share of Government revenue in all four East African countries compared with five years ago,” Moodys said in a report. “The deterioration in debt affordability has been most severe in Kenya; interest on debt took up 19 per cent of revenue in FY 2016/17, up from 11 per cent in FY 2011/12, which was already above the B-rated median,” the ratings agency said. Despite the clarion call for Public Private Partnerships to deliver the Government’s agenda, Treasury has continued to run huge deficits and targets to borrow Sh562.7 billion in the current financial year. The debt levels have hit Sh5 trillion and with large repayments pushing interest and redemption to Sh870 billion, including two syndicated loans and the part of the 2014 Eurobonds. The Government says that debt which is currently 60 per cent of the GDP is still manageable, maintaining that the tipping point is 74 per cent. “If we are talking about 74 per cent of the GDP are we deluded? We are extremely fortunate that the shilling strengthened because of growth in remittances,” said Mr Satchu. The CBK boss, however, said fiscal consolidation targeting 5.7 per cent of GDP will be good for the economy, offering hope that the State will borrow less. Treasury wants to offload pension burden to a scheme where civil servants contribute, control procurement and pre-approve any new projects to limit spending.
|
read more |
|
Fresh impetus for bilateral relations: President Berset to visit Kenya Kenyan Economy |
Bern, 04.07.2018 - Switzerland and Kenya want to broaden their relations. To strengthen contacts at the highest political level, President Alain Berset will travel to Kenya on an official visit. Official talks with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta are scheduled for Monday, 9 July. On Tuesday, 10 July, Mr Berset will visit the Kakuma refugee camp.
The meeting will focus on economic and political relations between the two countries. Other important topics include cooperation in the fight against corruption and discussions on the health sector. The political situation in Eastern Africa and international cooperation between Switzerland and Kenya will also be on the agenda.
Mr Berset will hold a meeting with Chief Justice David Maraga. In addition, meetings are planned with representatives from the Kenyan civil society, members of the arts scene and the Swiss community.
On Tuesday, 10 July, Mr Berset will visit the Kakuma refugee camp in Turkana County in northern Kenya. Kenya has half a million refugees, most of them from Somalia, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where parts of the civilian population have fled internal conflicts. Swiss Humanitarian Aid is active on Kenyan territory: in Kakuma, where 186,000 people have found refuge, it finances vocational training and other projects.
Kenya is one of the most influential countries on the African continent. Relations with Switzerland are good and have been expanding. Kenya is one of Switzerland's five most important trading partners south of the Sahara. There is potential for closer economic relations in various fields such as the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors.
|
read more |
|
Bilateral relations Switzerland-Kenya Kenyan Economy |
In 2013, Kenya was Switzerland’s fifth-largest trading partner in Sub-Saharan Africa; the volume of bilateral trade in 2013 amounted to CHF 108 million. Switzerland imported almost exclusively agricultural products, while it exported primarily pharmaceuticals and chemical products. The SDC regional office for the Horn of Africa is based in Nairobi. It provides humanitarian aid in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Somalia. Droughts regularly occur in the north and north-east of the country, as was the case in 2011, when more than 3 million people were rendered dependent on humanitarian aid. In addition, Kenya is again confronted with large flows of refugees from neighbouring Somalia. The largest refugee camp in the world is in Dabaab in eastern Kenya not far from the border with Somalia. With a total budget of CHF 140 million (94.32% of which is contributed by the SDC), the 2013–2016 Cooperation Strategy for the Horn of Africa covers conflict zones in Somalia and environs, including Kenya.
In addition, 950 Swiss citizens live in Kenya (2015).
|
read more |
|
|
|
|