East Africa Economic Report

Men at work: KPLC employees  The cost of power in Kenya is unlikely to come down any time soon. And this places Kenya Power and Lighting Company between a rock and a hard place. And it is likely to remain sandwiched in that unenviable position for a long time. The bone of contention with its customers is high electricity cost. This is a paradox: Kenyans are protesting high electricity bills at a time when more Green energy is coming live on the national grid in droves. The total combined output of Hydro and geothermal power is expected to rise to 2,339.9 MW in a country whose peak demand is 1775 MW. So where is the problem? Is it taxes, corruption, inefficiency, or the billing policy?  It could be a bit of all these plus the Power Purchase Agreements signed with thermal energy producers. The IPPs signed a 20 year Power Purchase Agreements with KPLC. Three of the IPPs with a total capacity of 225MW  have relatively new PPAs, being less than 10 years old. I...

The PMI index up to may this year The Kenyan economy is expected to hit 6.0 per cent growth this year, analysts say. The economy has posted a robust growth in the first quarter which is expected to continue in the second quarter. National GDP growth is expected to accelerate in the second -half of this year A Flurry of reviews on the Kenyan economy project an economy on the go. Data on the first quarter review by KNBs shows that the economy posted a strong growth, in the region of 5.5-5.8 per cent. And the players in the private sector expect good tidings this year, says a survey by Central Bank of Kenya. The barometer of industrial activity, the Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) has been on the growth trajectory since last October when it hit rock bottom at 34.4. It closed last month at 55.1 down from the previous month’s 56.1. The April level was the highest in 16 months. The PMI is a composite measure of economic performance month-on-month covering 400 firms in Kenya’s...