East Africa Economic Report

 Terror  Map July-August 2015 AFTER   series of brazen attacks on security installations during the Month of Ramadhan (Mid-June- Mid July), the battle for Somalia has turned against Al-Shabaab. In June to mid-July during the Ramadan Holy Month) , the insurgents held sway in this war attacking Police stations and Military bases in a murderous orgy that saw 321 people, among them Police officers and troops dead. An attack in Leego in early July was the turning point. Leego, an AMISOM military camp 30KM west of Mogadishu, the capital was manned by Burundian soldiers.  Reports then said that there were up to 1000 and in any event not less than 500 Al-shabaab fighters confronting a camp of 120.  The camp was simply overwhelmed and at the end of the siege, 50 Burundian soldiers were dead. The camp was emptied of all military hardware. Several other camps were overrun in a similar manner in just one week. In response, the African Union Mandated A...

TWO WEEKS AGO, the government of Kenya closed down the analogue broadcast system in some parts of the country. That meant all broadcasters had to shift to the digital broadcast system. While others were crossing the bridge, three leading media house chose to shut themselves even from the digital platform on which they were broadcasting previously. Their argument, they have not been in the digital broadcast platform and that the digital carriers were carrying the content of KNT, NTV and Citizen TV illegally.  That move sparked off a debate that is still raging. The context of this piece is not to plunge into the Cacophony of noise that is passing for debate. Mine is to explain the new business model into which the media houses are moving.  The noise and shenanigans is a reflection of the failure by the media houses and their supporters- some of who claim some place in the intellectual world- to understand the concept of private Public Partnerships and what it involves. ...

LOW AND DECLINING energy costs are set to be the catalyst for economic growth in Kenya this year.  And - depending on how long the price of oil remains low- energy prices could remain key drivers in the short run. Analysts, including the World Bank expect crude oil prices to remain depressed into 2017. This means Energy prices, coupled with infrastructure development, will determine the pace of economic growth, employment, investment, the shilling’s exchange rate and wealth distribution in Kenya. And going by the current energy trends, we may not be wide off the mark.  Forget tourism, forget agriculture and insecurity.  Oil and electricity prices, coupled with infrastructure development, will drive growth in Kenya between 2015- and 2017.  Let’s look at some numbers:  Crude Oil prices have declined from US$110 in January last year to US$43 yesterday, January 2015.  In January 2014, geothermal power provided only 179 MW or 24 per cent of the 747 ...