IGIHE

Tag: GreatLakesNews

  • Uganda’s Umeme Makes First Trade at Nairobi Stock Exchange

    {{Uganda power distributor’s shares traded for the very first time on Wednesday at the Nairobi bourse, following the activation of the regional inter-depository transfer mechanism (RITM).}}

    Umeme’s shares were cross-listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) seven months ago but the lack of an appropriate infrastructure to allow for the quick transfer of shares has hindered trading, despite the counter being one of the most traded at the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE).

    The counter saw a trade of 1,000 shares at the NSE at Ksh13 ($0.15) compared to 125,059 shares traded at the USE at an average price of Ush360 ($0.14).

    NSE said that the shares traded following the successful transfer of Umeme shares at the USE’s Securities Central Depository (SCD) to Kenya’s Central Depository and Settlement Corporation (CDSC) using the new system which went live early this week.

    “This will benefit investors and issuers of cross listed securities such as Umeme. It gives great leverage to shareholders as they are able to decide on which exchange to trade and in which currency,” said Peter Mwangi, chief executive officer, NSE.

    He said that the successful implementation of the regional inter-depository transfer mechanism would enhance the efficient movement of securities across the East African Community region.

    Last week, members of the East African Securities Exchange Association (Easea), at a meeting in Zanzibar signed a memorandum of understanding for the establishment of the inter-depository transfer system.

    Easea, which brings together the NSE, USE, Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE), Kenya’s Central Depository and Settlements Corporation (CDSC) and Burundi’s yet to be established securities market, had said the system would go live on Monday.

    The activation of the RITM cuts down the time it takes to move the assets by electronic settlement, to at most four days from more than two months.

    In the past, the lengthy clearance process hindered the trading of cross-listed shares in other markets other than where they are primarily listed.

    Apart from increasing the liquidity of cross-listed shares and providing exposure for the companies, investors will also be able to take advantage of pricing differences in the different markets, if they can make a profit from the strategy.

    Shares of Nation Media Group (NMG) and KCB Group which are primarily listed on the NSE are cross listed on the USE, DSE and RSE while East African Breweries Limited (EABL), Kenya Airways and Jubilee Holdings are also cross listed on the USE and DSE.

    Data from the Dar es Salaam bourse shows that in the first six months of this year, none of the cross listed counters traded at the DSE, compared to 200 Kenya Airways shares traded in 2012 and a combined 11,834 NMG, Kenya Airways and EABL shares traded in 2011.

    In the first half of this year, 1,094 Centum, 8,205 Equity Bank and 200 NMG shares were traded at the USE compared to only 591 KCB Group shares traded last year.

    In 2011 at the USE, Centum traded 5.4 million shares; Equity Bank traded 2,088 and KCB Group 1,850 shares.

    {Businessdaily}

  • I deserve State privileges, says former PM Raila Odinga

    {{Raila Odinga has said he deserves some State privileges by virtue of being a former Prime Minister.}}

    Mr Odinga dismissed claims by government spokesman Muthui Kariuki that he has mounted an illegal siren in one of his cars to manoeuvre his way through traffic.

    But responding to the accusations, Mr Odinga said he is entitled to some of the privileges he enjoys and deserves to have vehicles and bodyguards seconded to him by the government for having been a Prime Minister and a co-principal to former President Kibaki in the grand coalition government.

    “I am a former Prime Minister of this country and was a co-principal in the grand coalition government and so I am entitled to some of these privileges,” he told journalists at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi Wednesday night after arriving from Texas, US.

  • South Sudan’s Kiir names new Cabinet

    {{South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has named new cabinet ministers, but he is yet to name a vice president.}}

    In a presidential decree on Wednesday evening, Mr Kiir named 19 ministers and 10 deputies, barely a week after sacking his former Vice President Riek Machar and dissolving the entire cabinet.

    Mr Machar has indicated that he is now eyeing the presidency.

    The list is a mixture of new and old faces. Notably, President Kiir named the governor of the restive Jonglei State and career soldier, Kuol Manyang Juuk, as the new defence minister.

    A former member of the Sudan’s Islamist Popular Congress Party who ran against President Omar al-Bashir in April 2010, Abdhalla Deng Nhial, has been named minister for Electricity, Dams and Water Resources.

    Mr Kiir also named the former chairman for the-then southern sector of Bashir’s ruling National Congress Party, Mr Riek Gai, as the new health minister.

    Ms Awut Deng Achuil, who had resigned as Labor and Public Service Minister, has been taken to the gender docket.

    Most of the former ministers have been dropped.

  • ‘Oil threat’ to DR Congo’s Virunga National Park

    {{The conservation group WWF is calling on a UK-based company to abandon its plans to explore for oil in Africa’s oldest national park.}}

    The charity says Soco International’s proposals could put the Virunga National Park in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo at risk.

    The park is home to more than 3,000 different kinds of animals, including endangered mountain gorillas.

    Soco denied that its activities threatened the environment of the park.

    The company said it was currently only evaluating the resources there.

    ‘Gone for good’
    In a report, WWF says the exploitation of oil concessions in the park, which is a World Heritage Site, could cause widespread pollution and environmental damage, as well as create conflict.

    “Once you turn it into an oil field you sell it once and it’s gone for good. It’s going to get destroyed, polluted – the beauty of it will go to waste,” said Raymond Lumbuenamo, country director for WWF-Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

    Soco is the only company of its kind working in Virunga after France’s Total said it would not do so.

    WWF says instead of oil exploration, sustainable activities such as hydropower generation, fishing and ecotourism, should be developed.

    The Virunga National Park, which contains lakes, forests, savannah and volcanoes, was founded in 1925 by King Albert I of Belgium.

    It is home to some 200 endangered mountain gorillas, according to its website.

    The International Gorilla Conservation Programme says there are currently 880 mountain gorillas in the world.

    Tourism in Virunga is currently suspended due to insecurity in the region, with armed groups continuing to operate.

    BBC

  • Somali Suspects FOund Guilty of Piracy

    {{Kenyan court in the coastal city of Mombasa sentenced nine Somalis to five years in prison each for attempting to hijack the German merchant vessel MV Courier in the Gulf of Aden in March 2009.}}

    The men were arrested by international anti-piracy forces before being handed over to Kenya to be prosecuted, as Somalia was not considered able to try them properly.

    Although the number of attacks has fallen markedly since 2011 thanks to tougher security aboard ships and increased Western naval patrols, piracy emanating from the Horn of Africa nation may still cost the world economy about $18bn a year, the World Bank said in April.

    Prosecutors told the court on Tuesday the men attacked the ship armed with a rocket launcher, an AK-47 rifle, a pistol, a SAR80 carbine rifle, and other weapons.

    “The suspects used violence to hijack the vessel, and took control of it, putting in fear the lives of those aboard,” prosecutors said in the charge sheet.

    Kenyan officials said 18 crew on board survived the ordeal.The nine suspects were held in custody at one of Kenya’s maximum security prisons during the trial period. They all denied the accusations.

    While handing out the sentence, the court noted that the accused had already served a long term in jail while the trial was in progress, and therefore were given shorter jail terms.

    “I am satisfied with the evidence presented by the prosecution, which proves beyond reasonable doubt that an act of piracy was committed,” judge Stephen Riech said. Riech ordered the nine to be deported to Somalia after serving their sentences.

    Last month another nine Somalis were handed a similar sentence at the same court, after also being found guilty of hijacking a ship in the Gulf of Aden in 2010.

    Source: Agencies

  • Juba Releases Ugandan Journalists

    Two Ugandan journalists who were arrested and detained in South Sudan at the weekend have been released but banned from entering the country.

    Mr Justin Dralaze and Mr Hilary Ayesiga were arrested and detained at the National Security headquarters in Juba on grounds that they were filming key government and security facilities without authorisation.

    According Mr Asan Kasingye, the Director of Interpol, the duo is scheduled to fly to Kampala Wednesday evening.

    The government Tuesday ordered its embassy in South Sudan to secure the release of the two journalists.

    The journalists who are attached to the China-based CCTV were reportedly working on a project in South Sudan.

    South Sudan has remained under curfew after President Salva Kiir sacked his Vice President Riek Machar and the entire Cabinet.

    NMG

  • Regional Leaders attend ICGLR Summit in Nairobi

    {{Several heads of State are in Kenyan capital Nairobi for the special summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) to discuss mainly the hostilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).}}

    The leaders are also expected to discuss: tension between the two Sudans over the oil pipeline and rebellions, pacification of Somalia and the crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR).

    The heads of States and governments will also discuss a number of others issues including trade, according to Ken Vitisia of Kenya”s ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    President Yoweri Museveni the the Chairman of the ICGLR, Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Jakaya Kikwete (Tanzania), Joseph Kabila (DRC) ,Pierre Nkurunziza (Burundi) and the host Uhuru Kenyatta are attending the summit. South Sudan, Sudan, Angola, Zambia and CAR as well as the UN and development partners such as the African Development Bank, African Union and the World Bank are expected to send delegations.

    ICGLR member countries are: Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo (Brazzaville), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.

    A media alert sent out by the ICGLR indicated that the summit will open at United Nations Complex, Gigiri after which the heads of State will shift to the Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club where the rest of it will take place.

    At a July 25, 2013 consultation of the Great lakes Region Foreign Affairs Ministers in New York, the M23 rebels were asked to stop attacks on DRC government forces and the DRC Government to exercise restraint. The consultation was arranged by the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary- General for the Great Lakes Region on the margins of the high-level Security Council debate on the Great Lakes Region.

    They also recognised that the swift conclusion of the Kampala Dialogue between the DRC Government and the M23 would contribute to addressing the current situation in the eastern DRC.Among the issues of to be addressed during the Nairobi summit are the issues of refugees, the impending regional economic integration, investments in infrastructure and increased regional trade.

    According to Vitisia, the summit will provide an opportunity for Kenya to take a leadership role in regional peace, stability and development.

    He said Kenya will take the opportunity to push its agenda for the region to invest heavily in intra-regional infrastructure development. Kenya will also lobby for diplomatic support in its quest for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for the 2017-2018 period.

    NV

  • CAR President Kept Waiting at Kenya Airport

    Kenya Government has denied reports that it intentionally kept the new Central African Republic President waiting in his plane after arriving in the East african country on Tuesday and there was no one from the Kenyan side to recieve him.

    On Tuesday, Central Africa Republic leader Michel Am-Nondokro Djotodia’s plane touched down at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at around 4pm. He kept waiting for over an hour.

    A senior official in the Kenyan Foreign Affairs Ministry , Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho said the protocol accorded to first-time visiting heads of state is different and requires longer clearances.

    And later Kenya’s Army commander Lt-Gen Joseph Kasaon was sent to receive the CAR president something seen as a diplomatic incidence.

    However, Mr Kibicho said it should not be an issue who was sent to receive the president.

    “There was no intention to delay him even for one second. Indeed, he was only undergoing protocol as is required of head of state visiting for the first time,” Mr Kibicho said.

    The CAR leader is in Kenya for a special summit on the International Great Lakes Region together with 11 other regional leaders. The heads of state are expected to discuss security and regional trade.

  • UN gives DR Congo rebels 48 hours to hand in weapons

    The UN has given rebels from the M23 group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo 48 hours to disarm, warning force will be used if they fail to do so.

    A new UN intervention brigade made up of 3,000 troops will help the DR Congo army set up a security zone in Goma.

    It has been given a mandate to use lethal force against the rebels, who they say have killed civilians in the region surrounding the city of Goma.

    Renewed clashes broke out between the rebels and the army earlier this month.

    A statement by the UN mission in the DR Congo has given everyone in the city of Goma and surrounding areas until 2000 GMT on Thursday to hand in their weapons to the city’s UN base, warning that anyone caught after this would be considered a rebel.

    “They will be considered an imminent threat of physical violence to civilians and [UN mission in DR Congo] Monusco will take all necessary measures to disarm them, including by the use of force in accordance with its mandate and rules of engagement,” the statement read.

    Only soldiers will be allowed to carry weapons, it adds.

    The UN accuses M23 rebels of causing civilian casualties with “indiscriminate and indirect fire” in fresh clashes with the army in Mutaho, about 7 km north of Goma on 14 July.

    An escalation and deterioration in the security situation led to the ultimatum, which was aimed at blocking an apparent attempt by the rebels to advance on Goma.

    agencies

  • East African Breweries shares fall after profit warning

    Shares in Kenya’s East African Breweries tumbled as much as 6 percent in early trade on Wednesday, a day after the beer and spirits maker warned that its net profit would drop by more than a quarter in the year to June.

    By 0645 GMT, the shares had recovered some ground to trade down 4 percent at 335 Kenyan shillings ($3.83). The shares closed at 349 shillings on Tuesday.

    ($1 = 87.4000 Kenyan shillings)

    wirestory