Donation Amount. Min £2

Money

 

NAIROBI, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's trade deficit widened marginally year-on-year to September as exports and receipts from tourism rose, the National Treasury said on Thursday in an economic report.

The deficit stood at 740 billion shillings (about 6.02 billion U.S. dollars), an equivalent of 5.4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in September, from 5.73 billion dollars or 5.2 percent of GDP in September 2021, the Treasury in its quarterly economic and budgetary review report.

"Net receipts on the services account improved by 1.51 billion dollars to 1.86 billion dollars in September. This was mainly on account of an increase in receipts from transportation and tourism as international travel continues to improve," said the Treasury.

During the period in review, exports similarly grew by 14 percent to 7.41 billion dollars, up from 6.5 billion dollars in September 2021 primarily driven by improved receipts from tea and manufactured goods despite a decline in receipts from horticulture, the Treasury said.

The increase in receipts from tea exports reflected improved prices attributed to demand from traditional markets, added the Treasury.

On the other hand, imports increased by 18 percent to 19.9 billion dollars in the year to September mainly due to increases in shipments of oil and other intermediate goods, according to the Treasury. - Xinhua

 

Kenya is among Africa's top three recipients of diaspora remittances behind Nigeria and Ghana, according to a World Bank report.

Even so, Africa recorded the slowest growth in diaspora remittances compared to other continents in 2022, according to the bank's latest Migration and Development Brief. 

According to the report, Kenya received $4.1 billion (Sh503 billion) by end of November compared to $20.9 billion (Sh2.6 trillion) for Nigeria and Ghana's $4.7 billion (Sh577 billion).

Senegal and Zimbabwe have collected $2.7 billion and $2 billion respectively (Sh245.4 billion), closing among the top five nations in the region. 

Diaspora remittances continues to be the leading forex earner for Kenya for the fourth year running after outpacing tea, coffee and tourism. 

Last week, the earnings boosted the country's dwindling forex reserve, pushing them to 3.9 months of import cover compared to 3.7 months of import cover, lowest level since 2011. 

Even so, remittances as a share of GDP are significant in the Gambia (28%), Lesotho (21%), and Comoros (20%).

Sending $200 to the region cost 7.8 per cent on average in the second quarter of 2022, down from 8.7 per cent a year ago.

Remitting from countries in the least expensive corridors is on average 3.4 per cent compared to 25.2per cent for the costliest corridors.

World Bank says digital technologies allow for significantly faster and cheaper remittance services.

"However, the burden of compliance with Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism regulations continues to restrict access of new service providers to correspondent banks," the lender says. 

World Bank says that remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa, the region most highly exposed to the effects of the global crisis, grew an estimated 5.2 per cent to $53 billion in 2022, compared with 16.4 per cent last year.

The growth, though three times lower compared to the previous year is mainly due to strong flows to Nigeria and Kenya.

"Remittances in 2023 are projected to soften to 3.9 per cent growth as adverse conditions in the global environment and regional source countries persist,''World Bank says.

The report shows remittances to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) withstood global headwinds in 2022, growing an estimated five per cent to $626 billion.

"Africa stands to be the most severely exposed to the concurrent crises, including severe drought and spikes in global energy and food commodity prices".

Remittance flows are estimated to have increased 10.3 per cent to Europe and Central Asia, where rising oil prices and demand for migrant workers in Russia supported remittances, in addition to the currency valuation effect.

The Migration and Development Brief analyses trends in migration-related SDG indicators: increasing the volume of remittances as a percentage of GDP, reducing remittance costs, and reducing recruitment costs. - Victor Amadala, The Star

 

Rwanda Utility Regulatory Authority (RURA) has announced that prices of fuel and diesel will remain unchanged for the next two months.

Effective Monday, December 5, pump price will still be at Rwf 1,580 per litre for fuel and Rwf 1,587 for diesel.

According to the announcement released by the regulatory body on Sunday, the prices remain the same based on adjustments in the petroleum products at international market.

In addition, they pointed out that although the global prices for fuel has increased, the government has maintained current fuel pump price to mitigate the eventual adverse impact on inflation.

« Since May last year, the government has stabilised fuel pump prices by foregoing some taxes on imports of selected petroleum products, » read part of announcement

RURA revises fuel pump prices every two months which means that the new prices will be announced in February next year. - Aurore Teta Ufitiwabom, The New Times

About IEA Media Ltd

Informer East Africa is a UK based diaspora Newspaper. It is a unique platform connecting East Africans at home and abroad through news dissemination. It is a forum to learn together, grow together and get entertained at the same time.

To advertise events or products, get in touch by info [at] informereastafrica [dot] com or call +447957636854.
If you have an issue or a story, get in touch with the editor through editor[at] informereastafrica [dot] com or call +447886544135.

We also accept donations from our supporters. Please click on "donate". Your donations will go along way in supporting the newspaper.

Get in touch

Our Offices

London, UK
+44 7886 544135
editor (@) informereastafrica.com
Slough, UK
+44 7957 636854
info (@) informereastafrica.com

Latest News

Drama in Makindye as Besigye supporters attempt to free him from army

Drama in Makindye as...

Kizza Besigye in court Tension and drama flared up at the General Court Martial in Makindye today a...

DCI urges landowners to be cautious of cartels conning buyers

DCI urges landowners...

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has cautioned land owners to beware of land cartels...

Angola: Biden’s visit ‘dramatic break with history’ – analysts

Angola: Biden’s visi...

Analysts contacted by Lusa consider Joe Biden’s only trip to Africa and the first by a US president...

Tanzania buys Chinese freight wagons as standard gauge railway gets off to flying start

Tanzania buys Chines...

The SGR is set to increase the importance of Dar es Salaam (Image: Sohadiszno/Dreamstime) Tanzania...

For Advertisement

Big Reach

Informer East Africa is one platform for all people. It is a platform where you find so many professionals under one umbrella serving the African communities together.

Very Flexible

We exist to inform you, hear from you and connect you with what is happening around you. We do this professionally and timely as we endeavour to capture all that you should never miss. Informer East Africa is simply news for right now and the future.

Quality News

We only bring to you news that is verified, checked and follows strict journalistic guidelines and standards. We believe in 1. Objective coverage, 2. Impartiality and 3. Fair play.

Banner & Video Ads

A banner & video advertisement from our sponsors will show up every once in a while. It keeps us and our writers coffee replenished.