East Africa Economic Report

    Hardly a month since they raided the WestGate Mall in Nairobi,the Kenya defense forces have attacked and wrecked an al-shabaab training camp in Somalia. KDF have confirmed that the "courtesy call was successful."  However, It is not clear who else was involved. intelligence sources have hailed the attack as pay back time. Two days ago, intelligence reports say, two senior commanders were killed in a drone attack in Baraawe in South Somalia. Among the dead was a commander named Anta, a Bomb expert. Kenya Defense forces were also reported to have assaulted an al-shabaab camp in “Jillip deep in South Somalia.” And now as we write, the same sources report that a training camp in South Somalia is under drone attack. An intelligence source in London is quoted as reporting heavy Bombardment at a camp Known as Hurguun 30 Km from Dinsoor. There are reports of continuous bombardment of the camp which is characteristic of Military jets, rather than drones. The number ...

Ashegoda windfarm: The largest wind project in Africa ETHIOPIA HAS JUST commissioned a 120MW wind power farm, the largest operating wind power farm in sub-Saharan Africa so far. This brings to 170MW the quantity of Ethiopia’s electricity produced by wind power. In the process, Ethiopia has now become the leader in wind power generation in Africa beating Kenya, to a poor second- at least for the time being.  Kenya has very ambitious plans, including being home to Africa’s largest wind power project, the Lake Turkana Wind power Project, which is just crawling off the ground.  Other projects include the proposed 100MW Kipeto Energy sponsored by the American multinational GE in the Ngong area at a cost of US$ 300 million; Aeolus (Kinangop and Ngong Hills) and Isiolo Wind farm.  The Ashegoda project in Ethiopia cost US$ 290 million was built by French firm Vergnet SA was funded by concessional loans from BNP Paribas and the French Development Agency (AFD). T...

AS NEW OIL discoveries are made almost on a monthly basis, it is time to face hard questions and seek answers. Among these are question as whither oil supply in the next decade and beyond? Whither the price? Who will be the losers and who shall be the winners? What impact on world economic growth? Specifically will Africa gain or lose? Transport and energy Infrastructure  are what Africa need to trade with itsel f Africa, which is likely to be fastest growing region in the next five years, stands at the threshold of rapid balanced, all inclusive development, experts say. Although some countries could suffer temporary setbacks due to revenue declines, continent is well poised to maintain its development thrust. This is because some of the fastest growing countries in the continent are just now discovering Fossil fuels such as oil and LNG.  They have not even sold a single barrel and have thus not tasted oil money. To these countries energy prices are the bottle n...

FOUR MONTHS AGO, when the African Union raised issues with the ICC, we asked whether Africa’s assertiveness can be ignored http://eaers.blogspot.com/2013/05/assertive-africa-can-it-be-ignored.html .   At that time we focused on economic causes for Africa’s confidence saying the world must take note. Bujagali Hydro project in Uganda: We ended our analysis with the question; who shall blink first, Africa or the West?   Following last week’s no nonsense AU summit where Africa gave the UNSC an ultimatum, the West has blinked first. Now western Diplomats are said to be drafting a resolution to be adopted by the UNSC adjourning the ICC trial of President Uhuru Kenyatta and His deputy William Ruto for a year, subject to extension.  In our analysis mentioned earlier, we advised the west to respect Africa’s new found boldness.   It seems like the west has finally realized that Africa has come of age and will brook no nonsense. It should brace for more of Afr...

  WE ALL KNOW that the informal sector is the leading employer in Kenya. Official data shows that in 2011, the formal sector employed 2.123 million people while the informal sector employed 9.9 million Kenyans. This leads to the question: where do these people live? A majority lives in informal urban settlements, popularly known as slums. Much of what we hear about slums is squalor and debauchery.  A section Of Kibera: The slum has more TVs than the affluent neighbourhoods True, there is poverty, moral decadence and dirt: There are no flash toilets in the slums, nor is there running water and plush homes. But slums are bustling with entreprenuers. Thanks to robust economic growth in Kenya, slums are turning into beacons of enterprise rather than by-words for squalor, Poverty, crime, debauchery. A one week survey by this publication established that slum dwellers are an enterprising lot. Many earn more per day than their peers in the formal sector employment. Perha...