East Africa Economic Report

Over the last seven years, I have attended several investor conferences in Kenya in which, western and Chinese investors among others, were invited. One thing stood out that explains the growing Chinese presence in Africa . Africa urgently needs investment in infrastructure (roads, rail roads, oil pipelines, Hydro-electric dams, name them) and other economic resources-be they mines or factories. Western investors do not appreciate this urgency. Many want ideal conditions that perhaps do not exist elsewhere. Others are plainly cynical. In a 2004  investor conference in Nairobi sponsored by Financial Times, European investors could not believe that the Nairobi stock exchange in Kenya, can raise US$100 million in three-weeks. Roads under construction in Kenya by Chinese contractors.  We  shall assess Chinese workmanship a year down the roa d Yet the bourse had just two months earlier mobilized US$300 million in just the same period for the local electric...

Demand for infrastructure exceeds Govt.’s ability to finance An Estate: This 500 unit estate will use several septic Tanks  A fter the massive construction of Major roads and other transport infrastructure, Kenya is set to  embark on another round of developments of social infrastructure. The country is experiencing a major shortage of houses which has buoyed activity in the housing development sector. Demand for houses, says the government’s official data is 150,000 units a year while supply is just about 30,000 to 40,000 units a year leaving a yawning gap of 110,000 units. Activity in the housing sector has been boosted by the development in roads which has opened up many areas within Nairobi City and its satellite towns. Still demand is way ahead of supply. Adding to the pressure is the new constitution that has devolved governance to the regions creating 47 county governments. These new governments and their attendant bureaucracy will demand offices an...

Omar El-Bashir: Sudanese President   Tension between South Sudan and the Northern Sudan is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon, South Sudanese government sources say. There may be temporary truces, but the tensions will remain and could sometimes explode into full scale military combats, said the source. The bone of contention is the $20 billion a - year-oil wealth. Before South Sudan seceded from the then Republic of Sudan in July this year, the country was producing some 0.5 million barrels of crude every day. That earned the country an estimated US$ 54 million per day at the price of US$108 per barrel or $1.62 billion a month. Shared equally between the North and the South that meant a whopping $810 million in its coffers a month or $9.72 billion a year. Before the 2005 CPA, Khartoum used to pocket the whole lot, the equivalent of US$19.44 billion at current prices. Hugging or Back stabbing: with Salva Kiir President of South Sudan The secession of ...

A Kenyan High Court ruling made last week spawned a noisy exchange between the executive and the Judiciary. The ruling, in response to an application by an NGO, ordered the government to arrest the Sudanese President, Omar El- Bashir, and hand him over to the ICC “should he visit Kenya .” The government immediately rejected the ruling thus opening the noisy exchange with the judiciary and some human rights activists. It also opened a diplomatic spat between Kenya and Sudan . The three- pronged spat has raised critical Questions among Kenyan analysts. The first is; for who does the Kenyan law and the Kenyan Judiciary exist? Whose interests should come first in the dispensation of justice? What does the independence of a judiciary mean? What should it limits be and who defines such limits? What is the role of the Judiciary in the protection of Kenyan interests world-wide? When it come to arbitrating international disputes what should be the guiding yard stick? In attempt ...