Author: James Wambua

The last time I visited St Teresa, a children’s home in Huruma, Nairobi, for charity work, I spent a fair share of my time washing clothes for the kids. Another team fed the children, some with special needs. We also took time to play with the youngsters, and seeing their faces brighten with joy for the donations we made and time spent together was both humbling and very satisfying. As we scrubbed the foam into bubbles in lively conversations with my friends Justus Muthee and Anthony Ndegwa, washing clothes for the children took our minds about a dozen or so years down memory lane before…

NCBA Group has reported a 147 percent increase in foreign exchange trading income to Kes12.5 billion for the year ending December 2022, a boon for the bank in a period when traders experienced a biting shortage of the US dollar in the markets. In the 12-month period under focus, importers in Kenya have been grappling with an acute foreign exchange crunch, with Central Bank’s US dollar reserves dropping to their lowest in eight years amid a weakening of the shilling against major global currencies. The tough market conditions saw Investments, Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria early this month come out saying some lenders…

A rise in premiums has seen Kenya Re’s net profit increase by 15 percent to Kes3.62 billion for the fiscal year ending December 2022. The strong performance was attributable to a rise in gross written premiums that went up by 23 percent to Kes24.98 billion while net earned premiums grew by 16 percent to close at Kes22.15 billion. In the period, the company’s investment income edged up by two percent to Kes3.74 billion with the corporation noting this was due to the effects of full containment of the Covid-19 pandemic on the investment environment. In the period, Kenya Re’s operating expenses dropped by 16 percent…

Kenya’s push to integrate digital skills in primary and secondary school teaching and learning has received a welcome boost from the Safaricom Foundation as the charity organization moves to enhance roll out of technology skills in its focus and reach under its education support pillar in the next three years. The Foundation is now seeking to step up the education outcomes of students across Kenya by partnering with Teacher Training Institutions with a view to upskilling the tutors’ competencies and in turn the learner outcomes through the training of tutors to effectively impart digital skills to millions of students. “In this 2023 to 2026 Safaricom…