Insights

Our guide to the issues likely to impact businesses and the key measures taken by African governments in response to COVID-19.

Kenyans have been in a state of panic since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. From a projects perspective, contractors have been a particularly worried lot, seeing as the pandemic has affected supply chains and their ability to meet their contractual obligations.

In the wake of the spread of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the real estate and loan markets in Kenya are bound to be affected. On 16 March 2020, H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta, the President of Kenya revealed that three (and now 25) patients had tested positive for the virus culminating in presidential directives towards preventing its spread to the rest of the population

The Business Laws (Amendment) (No.2) Act, 2021 received Presidential assent on 30 March 2021 and brought amendments to several statutes into effect, many of which are geared towards improving the ease of doing business in Kenya. One of the affected statutes is the Insolvency Act, 2015 and this article explores the impact of some of the changes on businesses and creditors.

The terms ‘Sustainability’ and ‘ESG or Environmental, Social and Governance’ run the risk of becoming mere buzzwords in today’s green-minded world. Worse still, these terms are often used interchangeably when they do not quite mean the same thing. Sustainability is an umbrella term that encompasses all of an organisation’s efforts to be a responsible steward and includes the three specific ESG pillars that are measurable, as they are data driven.

Countries across the world are increasingly moving towards energy auctions as the preferred method for procuring renewable energy. In fact, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency, the number of countries using energy auctions rose steadily from six in 2005 to sixty seven in 2016. The shift has largely been attributed to the benefits of power auctions, including their ability to assist governments with price discovery, lower costs of power generation and flexibility.

The words Bitcoin or Ethereum may not fall within our everyday lingo but most of us know they are digital currencies or “cryptocurrencies” that are not controlled by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and can be sent to anyone without the need of an intermediary.

“Gentility of speech is at an end - it stinks, and whoso once inhales the stink can never forget it and can count himself lucky if he lives to remember it.” These were the words used by the City Press newspaper to describe the stench emanating from the River Thames at the peak of the summer of 1858. River Thames had been contaminated by industrial effluent and human waste and the smell emanating from it was so awful, that it was nicknamed the “Great Stink”. The river was declared biologically dead as no living creature could survive in it and it became the epicentre of deadly disease outbreaks such as cholera. The catastrophic situation prompted an immediate overhaul of London’s sewer system and happily, today, river Thames is considered one of the cleanest city rivers in the world, serving as home to many species of fish.