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Recent Topicals

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Real Estate Developers Regulatory Framework

Feb 26, 2023

The performance of Kenya’s Real Estate sector has been on a positive trajectory, with the sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP recording a 5-year Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.0% to Kshs 749.7 mn in Q3’2022 from Kshs 560.8 mn in Q3’2017. Additionally, the sector contributed 10.5% to the total GDP in Q3’2022, coming in as the second largest contributor to Kenya’s GDP, only behind the Agricultural sector that contributed 14.8%. This impressive performance of the Kenyan Real Estate sector in Q3’2022, surpassing perennial major contributors to GDP such as transport at 10.3%, both financial and insurance and product taxes at 8.9% each, while both manufacturing and trade contributed 8.5% each, points to the increased significance of Real Estate to the economy and paints a positive outlook. However, the lack of proper regulation and oversight over developers and other stakeholders poses significant challenges that could claw...

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Currency and Interest Rates Outlook

Feb 19, 2023

The Kenyan shilling has recorded a Year to date depreciation of 1.8% against the US Dollar to close at Kshs 125.6 as at 17th February 2022, from Kshs 123.4 on 3rd January 2023, adding to a 9.0% depreciation in 2022 and further depreciation of 3.6% and 7.7% in 2021 and 2020 respectively. Key to note, this is the lowest the Kenyan shilling has gone against the dollar. The continued depreciation has been mainly driven by an ever present current account with of Kenya being a net importer and the import bill being in US Dollars. Being a net importer has also left Kenya susceptible to external shocks that have inflated the import bill and negatively affected the shilling such as the high global crude oil prices occasioned by persistent supply chain constraints worsened by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. The inflated import bill has led to increased dollar demand from importers against a lower supply of hard currency. Additionally, the aggressive public debt accu...

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Update on Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC)

Feb 12, 2023

The Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC) is as a non-deposit taking, public-private partnership (PPP) firm formed by the Government of Kenya and regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). The primary mandate of KMRC is to ensure sustainable home financing in the country, by providing long-term funds to primary mortgage lenders (PMLs) such as; banks, microfinance institutions, and SACCOs at low and fixed interest rates. KMRC was incorporated in April 2018 under the Companies Act 2015, and authorized by the CBK to begin lending operations in September 2020. During 2021, the company received 12 applications and disbursed funds worth Kshs 1....

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Unit Trust Funds Performance, Q3'2022

Feb 5, 2023

Unit Trust Funds (UTFs) are Collective Investment Schemes that pool funds from different investors and are managed by professional fund managers. The fund managers invest the pooled funds in a portfolio of securities such as equity stocks, bonds or any authorized financial securities, with the aim of generating returns to meet the specific objectives of the fund. Following the release of the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Quarterly Statistical Bulletin-Q4’2022, we analyze the performance of Unit Trust Funds, whose total Assets Under Management (AUM) have been steadily increasing, being among the most popular in...

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Equities Outlook:

Jan 29, 2023

In 2022, the Kenyan equities market was on a downward trajectory with NASI, NSE 20 and NSE 25 declining by 23.7%, 12.4% and 16.6%, respectively. Large cap decliners in 2022 included Safaricom, Bamburi, KCB Group, Diamond Trust Bank (DTB-K) and Equity Group of 36.7%, 17.5%, 16.4%, 16.0% and 15.6%, respectively. The performance during the year was mainly attributable to increased sell offs by foreign investors as they exited the market. Additionally, interest rate hikes in developed economies such as United States caused dollar investments to be more appealing and thus lowering their appetite for risky investments in emerging markets such as Kenya. Following the poor performance in the equities market in 2022, the market valuation closed the year at a price to earnings ratio (P/E) of 6.7x, 42.0% lower than the 11.5x recorded at the end of 2021 and 47.0% below the 12-year historical average of 12.6x. On the other hand, the equities market closed the year at a dividend yield of...

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