Safaricom closes TRM shop after staff catches Covid-19

By Hillary Orinde 

Thika Road Mall in Nairobi. Safaricom is housed on the ground-floor of the mall. [File, Standard]

Business News
CEO Peter Ndegwa says all staff at the branch being counselled and screened for the virus.

Telco giant Safaricom has closed its Thika Road Mall (TRM) shop after a staff tested positive for the

International students wonder if U.S. business school worth it in coronavirus era

By Reuters

Uris Hall is seen at Columbia University during the outbreak of coronavirus disease in Manhattan, New York, US. [Reuters]

Business
With the coronavirus still spreading, social gatherings like the sailing trip organised by students are

More workers lose jobs as corona sinks hotels

By Wainaina Wambu

Business
However, others such as PrideInn Hotels say they are planning to reopen this month.

Serena Hotels has sent its entire staff on unpaid leave starting this month as effects of Covid-19 pandemic continue to sink the hospitality industry. Serena joins a growing list of premier hotels hard

Standard, Safaricom in pact to sell digital newspapers

By Standard Reporter

Business
The Sh20 price per newspaper includes data usage, meaning a customer’s data bundle will not be consumed when reading through each paper.

Safaricom has partnered with The Standard Group and other media houses in a deal that will see newspapers made available to smartphone users at Sh20 per issue. The amount will be deducted from

Treasury stretches debt maturity to 5.7 years

The Central Bank of Kenya building in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By CHARLES MWANIKI
More by this Author

Summary

• CBK governor Patrick Njoroge says the option of having maturing Treasury bills rolled over using medium-term bond offerings is another option that the regulator is

Magoha roots for varsity courses tailored for global jobs

Education Secretary George Magoha. PHOTO | LUCY WANJIRU | NMG 

By JAMES KARIUKI
More by this Author

Summary

• Prof Magoha said the future of learning was international and only institutions that

EU unveils Sh8.4bn package for healthcare, cash transfer

EU Ambassador Simon Mordue. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI | NMG 

By KEVIN ROTICH
More by this Author

The European Union (EU) has announced a Sh8.44 billion financial package for Kenya’s universal healthcare coverage (UHC) and cash transfer to vulnerable groups.

The contribution is from the EU (Sh1.2 billion), France (Sh2.4 billion), the Netherlands (1.7 billion),

It’s the moment of reckoning for Kenyan businesses

A truck driver tests for Coronavirus. The cooperation we are seeing between business, the government and NGOs is unprecedented. FILE PHOTO | NMG 
 By JORDAN RITTENBERRY

As the Covid-19 pandemic disrupts lives and damages economies, society is looking to big business for leadership and solutions. So far, however, the private sector has not lived up to expectations,

A future of redesigned public, working spaces

Open office. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By JAMES KARIUKI
More by this Author

Summary

• With the WHO warning that the virus could be here to stay, the possibility of social distancing remain with us for a while looks real.
• On the basis of this eventuality, built environment experts now want public spaces and buildings redesigned to mitigate future pandemics known to thrive in dingy, congested

Why data governance is key to restarting growth

Many businesses still do not have a data governance mechanism. FILE PHOTO | NMG   

By ARNOLD KARANJA

World over, business executives are grappling with the onerous task of leading their organisations towards “Recovery, restoration and reopening” as summarised by Dr Lloyd Minor, Dean of Stanford

SMEs receive fresh guarantees to ease repayment of loans

African Development Bank president Akinwumi Adesina. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By GEOFFREY IRUNGU
More by this Author

Summary

• The AGF Covid-19 Guarantee facility will allow SMEs to pay less over a given period than what they had been paying and therefore cope better in the face of the Covid-19.
• The AGF, however, did not reveal the amount set aside for guaranteeing the SMEs nor

Kenya’s economic stimulus package 2 will fall far short

Youth hired under the National Hygiene Programme waiting to be deployed to various parts of Nairobi. The project seeks to provide jobs to thousands of youths in counties hardest-hit by coronavirus. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE   

By RENALDO D'SOUZA

On May 23, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced a Sh53.7 billion Economic Stimulus Package (ESP 2). This came a few weeks after he announced a raft of tax and expenditure measures to cushion the

EA Cables spared liquidation over Sh285m default

East African Cables plant in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By VICTOR JUMA
More by this Author

Summary

• The cables manufacturer says the maturity date of the loan has been postponed and the collateral changed, without giving further details.
• SBM is among the banks that had taken measures to recover their loans on which the firm had defaulted due to a mix of losses and sales decline in the past five years.
• Ecobank Kenya in February appointed a receiver manager to take over certain assets of the cables manufacturer, which had stopped servicing a Sh161 million loan from the

500,000 homes in dark despite power connection subsidy

Kenya Power Managing Director Bernard Ngugi. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NMG 

By EDWIN OKOTH
More by this Author

Summary

• Only 48 percent out of 1.02 million targeted households have been connected to the

Post-Corona recovery plan tops agenda as MPs return

National Assembly in session. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By JOHN MUTUA
More by this Author

Summary

• The lawmakers are expected to discuss President Uhuru Kenyatta's Sh53.7 billion stimulus package aimed at jump-starting an economy that has been ravaged by the

Kenya eyes new investors in Galana after Israeli firm row

Maize farm at the Galana-Kulalu Irrigation Scheme in Tana River. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE 

By GERALD ANDAE
More by this Author

Summary

• Water and Irrigation Principal Secretary Joshua Irungu said the ministry was in the

State starts audit to weed out ghost elderly receiving Sh2,000

The State has kicked off an audit to remove the dead from the registry of old people receiving the Sh2,000 monthly stipend from taxpayers. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By LYNET IGADWAH
More by this Author

Summary

• The State has kicked off an audit to remove the dead from the registry of

Pension crisis as 60,000 set to retire

Pensioners in court to press for their dues. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By BONFACE OTIENO
More by this Author

Summary

• Treasury data show that more than 10 per cent or 59,400 of the half a million public sector workers will retire by June 2020, amid fears that the State will be forced to retain some workers beyond the retirement age of 60 due to a skills shortage.
• The most affected staff are in the senior management levels and technical cadres with

WHO: Higher incomes lift life expectancy across world

When citizens have access to better health care, they live longer. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By NG'ANG'A MBUGUA
More by this Author

Summary

• According to WHO, life expectancy at birth for Kenyan men stands at 64.4 years, compared to 68.9 for women. The average for both sexes is 68.7 years.
• This is about six years above the average for poor countries, which stood at 62.7 years.

Revealed: Top money makers in sports world

Roger Federer (left) and Lionel Messi. PHOTOS | AFP  

By ALEX MWANGI

Summary

• Roger Federer went against the norm and topped the 2019 list, rising up for places from fifth position the previous year.
• Football players Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar were ranked second, third and fourth respectively having earned $105 million, $104 million and $95.5 million in 2019.
• Last year alone, Federer earned $100 million through endorsements for brands like Rolex and Mercedes Benz. His prize money stood at $6.3 million.

Sugar imports rise 23pc in first four months

Imported sugar is loaded onto trucks at the port of Mombasa. At least 5,000 bags of sugar suspected to contain mercury have been stolen from the Bollore godown in Changamwe, Mombasa. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Summary

• Total sugar closing stock held by all the factories at the end of March was 20,031 tonnes against 3,138 tonnes in March last year.
• The ex-factory sugar price was Sh4,235 at the beginning of the year before increasing to

Uganda, Kenya scramble to resolve Malaba border crisis

Thousands of trucks stuck in traffic jam at Malaba border on May 27, 2020. PHOTO | TONY OMONDI | NMG 

By The EastAfrican

Despite an agreement arrived at on Wednesday by government officials from Kenya and Uganda on

Uganda backs out of compulsory use of container port in Naivasha

First transshipment cargo load at Naivasha Inland Container Depot. Kenya wants all goods destined to neighbouring countries picked up in Naivasha. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP  

In Summary

• The truck drivers have complained that more than $5 billion worth of their investments in the Northern Corridor could go down the drain if the directive is implemented without adequate transition time.
• Early this month, Kenya Railways Corporation launched direct SGR freight services for all

Kenyans sue Uganda over ‘excess water’ on Lake Victoria

Efforts. Researchers collecting samples of water from Kisumu Resort on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kisumu, Kenya. PHOTOS BY RACHEL MABALA 

In Summary

• According to the applicants, whenever more water is needed to meet growing power demands, Eskom allows more water to flow out of Lake Victoria, which in turn leads to lower levels in

I Can't Breathe: U.S. police brutality against African Americans

VIEW GALLERY 10 Photos

BEIJING, May 30 (Xinhua) -- The police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old black man, in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota on Monday evening has sparked waves of outrage across the United States.

For the fourth straight night following the death of Floyd at the hands of a white police officer while in custody, thousands of demonstrators have poured into streets in multiple U.S. cities to denounce police brutality and racial discrimination.

 

The latest instance of police violence has once again brought the public attention to the racial divide which has kept tearing the U.S. society apart. (Xinhua/Wang Ying, Michael Nagle, Angus Alexander, Marcus DiPaola, Bao Dandan, Gu Xingnan, Yin Bogu, Jim Vondruska, Dane Iwata).

By

Xinhua 

Image Zoom

2 of 10

Image Zoom

3 of 10

Image Zoom

4 of 10

Image Zoom

5 of 10

Image Zoom

6 of 10

Image Zoom

7 of 10

Image Zoom

8 of 10

Image Zoom

9 of 10

Uganda records highest daily increase in COVID-19 cases

By

Xinhua 

KAMPALA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Uganda's ministry of health late Saturday reported 84 new cases of

World No Tobacco Day: Rwanda focuses on youth protection

Every year on May 31, the world observes the World No Tobacco Day. It is meant to encourage a 24-hour period of abstinence from all forms of tobacco consumption across the globe.

The day is further intended to draw global attention to the widespread prevalence of tobacco use and its negative health effects. Globally, tobacco use accounts for eight million deaths annually, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

 By

Bertrand Byishimo 

Due to the coronavirus epidemic, Rwanda did not organize a national event to mark the day,