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Recent Topicals

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Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Progress Update in Kenya

Feb 18, 2024

Kenya's Real Estate sector has been a significant contributor to the country's GDP, growing at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.5% for the past 5 years. In Q3’2023, the sector expanded by 5.4%, reaching Kshs 785.9 bn compared to Kshs 743.4 bn recorded in the same period in 2022. This surge in growth highlights the sector's increasing importance, with its contribution to the national GDP reaching 10.5%, up from 10.0% in the previous quarter. Several factors have contributed to the Real Estate sector's growth, including; i) the government’s continued emphasis on the affordable housing agenda, ii) aggressive expansion strategies pursued by both local and international retailers, iii) rapid population and urbanization growth rates, iv) the reopening and expansion of the hospital...

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Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Market Outlook:

Jan 28, 2024

According to the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects 2024, growth in the Sub-Saharan Africa region is expected to rebound to 3.8% in 2024, from the estimated growth rate of 2.9% recorded in 2023 mainly attributable to the easing inflationary policies, reduction in prices of key imports such as fertilizers, metal and fuel, improved fiscal support and the expected increase in domestic demand. However, the projections remain subject to key downward risks such as: Monetary Policy tightening across the region to address inflation which may lead to reduced economic activity in the region. Additionally, expected policy hikes in developed economies such as the US are to put pressure on the region’s investment landscape as a result of increased capital outflows to more attractive markets, Persistent global inflationary press...

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Review of the Affordable Housing Bill 2023

Jan 21, 2024

Over the years the Kenyan government has put its best foot forward towards delivering affordable housing to its citizens. The current regime, since assuming office, has shown consistent commitment to addressing the existing housing deficit in the country, integrating housing and settlement as one of the five pillars of its Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda(BETA). The plan envisages delivering 250,000 new homes annually and growing the number of mortgages from 30,000 to 1,000,000, thereby increasing the percentage of affordable housing supply from 2.0% to 50.0% by 2027. The Affordable Housing Bill 2023 represents a strategic attempt by the government to develop...

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Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) Eurobonds Performance in 2023

Jan 14, 2024

Eurobonds are fixed income debt instruments issued in a currency other than the currency of the country or market in which they are issued, mostly denominated in a currency that is widely traded and accepted globally, like the US Dollar or the Euro. Generally, Eurobonds allow issuers to tap into a broader investor base allowing for diversification in capital sourcing. Hence, Sub-Saharan Eurobonds, of which most are listed on the London and Irish stock exchanges, allow governments and corporations to raise funds by issuing bonds in a foreign currency. Majority of countries in the region issue Eurobonds to finance maturing debt obligations, finance their budget deficits and undertake heavy infrastructural projects. In 2023, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) was largely excluded from the international Eurobonds market due to high interest rates demanded by investors. The only outlier was Gabon, which issued a USD 0.5 bn blue bond, but even this was an exception as it was a swap for a ch...

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Currency and Interest Rates Review

Jan 7, 2024

In the first week of the year the Kenyan Shilling experienced a 0.6% depreciation against the US Dollar, closing at Kshs 157.9 as of January 5, 2024, compared to Kshs 156.9 at the beginning of the year. This adds to the 26.8%, 9.0%, and 3.6% depreciation in 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively. Notably, this is the lowest the Kenyan Shilling has reached against the US Dollar. The ongoing depreciation is primarily fuelled by a stable dollar currency globally after gaining in 2022, a persistent current account deficit, negative trade deficit and lower inflows into the capital markets. The interest rates have seen significant increases over the last one year with the 91-day treasury bill rates getting to a high of 16.0%. In the Euro bond market, the rates have been high with Euro bonds trading at rates of over 15.0% in December 2023. The high interest rates have increased due to increased demand for cash by government as they continue to run a fiscal deficit and as they seek to g...

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