Business News Kenya

NAIROBI, Feb 19- Kenya's biggest telecoms operator Safaricom will consider awarding a contract to China's Huawei as it rolls out its fifth generation network this year, its acting chief executive said on Wednesday. We don't have that situation in Africa, "Acting CEO Michael Joseph said. "They would have to figure a way of working it out just the same way that the UK is...

NAIROBI, Feb 18- Kenya's government plans to cut state spending in the financial year starting in July to 23.6% of gross domestic product from 26.0% in the current fiscal year, the Finance Ministry said in its budget policy statement. The Treasury plans to borrow 222.9 billion shillings locally to plug the budget gap and tap another 345.1 billion shillings from...

ABERDEEN, Scotland, Feb 11- Total Chief Patrick Pouyanne dismissed the idea it might buy its partner in East Africa and Guyana, Tullow Oil, whose share price slumped to 19- year lows in December over a string of bad news, stoking takeover speculation. Offshore Guyana, Tullow owns 60% and Total 25% of the Orinduik block, estimated to hold around 5.1 billion barrels of...

Feb 11- Gold prices held steady on Tuesday after climbing to a one-week peak in the previous session, as concerns about the coronavirus epidemic that has claimed more than 1,000 lives in China offset an uptick in equities. *China's Hubei province, the epicentre of a coronavirus outbreak, reported 2,097 new cases and 103 new deaths on Feb. 10, the local health...

COPENHAGEN, Feb 10- Google's plans to buy a 12.5% stake in Africa's largest wind farm have been canceled after delays to the project, Danish wind turbine maker Vestas said on Monday. The 310 megawatt Lake Turkana wind farm in Kenya was initially set for completion 2017, after which Google had committed to buy the stake from Vestas. But the delay led to the...

COPENHAGEN, Feb 10- Google has cancelled plans to buy a 12.5% stake in Africa's largest wind farm after delays to the project, Danish wind turbine maker Vestas said on Monday. The 310 megawatt Lake Turkana wind farm in Kenya was initially set for completion 2017, after which Google had committed to buy the stake from Vestas. But the delay led to Google canceling in...

KAMPALA, Feb 10- Uganda has started to spray swarms of desert locusts that invaded over the weekend, posing a major threat to livestock and key crops such as coffee, a government official said on Monday. The plague of locusts has already caused extensive damage to pastures and crops and threatened food security in several countries in the east and Horn of Africa,...

The plague of locusts has already caused extensive damage to pastures and crops and threatened food security in several countries in the east and Horn of Africa including Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.

WASHINGTON, Feb 6- The United States and Kenya on Thursday agreed to launch negotiations that could lead to the first U.S. bilateral trade deal with a sub-Saharan African country amid growing American concerns about China's investments across the continent. "We believe this agreement with Kenya will complement Africa's regional integration efforts,"...

WASHINGTON, Feb 6- The United States and Kenya on Thursday agreed to launch negotiations that could lead to the first U.S. bilateral trade deal with a sub-Saharan African country amid growing American concerns about China's investments across the continent. "We believe this agreement with Kenya will complement Africa's regional integration efforts,"...

WASHINGTON, Feb 5- Kenya sees no conflict in pursuing close ties with both the United States and China, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Wednesday, a day before he meets U.S. Kenyatta said his country had no interest in being drawn into some proxy war between the world's two largest economies after decades of Cold War tensions between the United States and...

*Cape Town, Dublin offices may close. FLORENCE, Italy, Feb 5- Tullow Oil plans to cut a third of its staff to save about $20 million, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, after the firm was hit by weak output in Ghana, delays in East Africa and lower-than-hoped-for oil quality in Guyana. Industry sources have also said the Africa- focused firm aimed to sell its...

*Cape Town, Dublin offices may close. FLORENCE, Italy, Feb 5- Tullow Oil plans to cut a third of its staff to save about $20 million, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, after the firm was hit by weak output in Ghana, delays in East Africa and lower-than-hoped-for oil quality in Guyana. Industry sources have also said the Africa- focused firm aimed to sell its...

Mobile money services have proved hugely popular in parts of Africa, with Kenya's Safaricom a pioneer of mobile phone cash transfers via its M-Pesa mobile payment service. It will add well-known retail brands to the platform from May, Felix Kamenga, MTN's South Africa chief officer of mobile financial services, said at the launch of the service in Johannesburg,...

DAR ES SALAAM, Jan 24- Canada's Barrick Gold Corp signed a deal with Tanzania on Friday in which the government will take stakes in three gold mines, ending a long-running tax dispute and setting a template for negotiations with other firms. It was signed by Barrick CEO Mark Bristow and Tanzanian minerals minister Doto Biteko at a ceremony in the commercial...

*Tullow under pressure after problems in Guyana and Ghana. LONDON/ PARIS, Jan 23- Total and Tullow Oil aim to reduce their stakes in Kenya's first oil development with a joint sale that could see Tullow exit completely amid uncertainty over the project's launch, banking and industry sources said. However, the sources said it is now willing to sell the entire stake...

TOTAL AND TULLOW LAUNCH JOINT SALE OF STAKES IN KENYA'S SOUTH LOKICHAR OIL PROJECT- SOURCES.

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 22- Social media has become a hotbed of extremism, used to undermine democracy, a think-tank said on Wednesday, calling for reforms to restore trust in government and banish fringe elements. The Kofi Annan Commission on Elections and Democracy in the Digital Age said in a report that unchecked by regulators or operators, political parties,...