Kenya Will Create Sovereign Wealth Fund Before Crude Output
Kenya plans to set up a sovereign wealth fund to invest revenue from future output of oil that Tullow Oil Plc (TLW) and Africa Oil Corp. (AOI) expect to start pumping as soon as 2016, central bank Chairman Mbui Wagacha said.
The country’s attorney general is “fine-tuning” a draft framework for the fund, which will shield the economy from cyclical changes in commodity prices, build savings for future generations and be used to invest in infrastructure, he said.
“We are unique in Kenya in that we are setting up our sovereign wealth fund prior to the phase of exploitation of natural resources,” Wagacha told reporters today in the capital, Nairobi, according to a live television broadcast. “The resources that we own today also belong to our future generations.”
Packaging in Africa: Fast-Moving Consumer Goods
Bagged milk, foil-wrapped cashews, and paper-wrapped take-away of an oily African dish are the headaches of daily life in Africa. Such packaging no-no’s are not a problem if you are selling the product on the street to a passersby and anyone else who does not have an extra few minutes to decipher between a good product and a bad product.
There are numerous variables that make a good product. But ultimately packaging is the one variable that can always make a good product look like a bad product. This week’s article looks at packaging in Africa and its intricate role in the development of Africa’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector.
When you talk fast-moving consumer goods in Africa, the opportunity is generally built around consolidating the value chain onshore within the country. Africa’s growing consumer class pays higher prices for imported products and partially imported products (i.e. those products that largely include imported raw materials).
Kenya to use Kshs. 10.3 billion to relocate Kipevu Oil terminal
Kenya government has began relocating Kipevu Oil terminal as it tries to increase capacity and reduce the frequent oil shortages.
According to the Kenya Ports Authority chairman Danson Mungatana the $120 million facility will take five years to be completed and will serve to reduce fuel prices as the country will be able to export huge amounts of fuel.
Formerly importers have heard to pay huge costs in demurrage costs resulting from ships stranded in the high seas as the Kipevu terminal has limited capacity.
Above the construction cost the project will also cost another $1.7 million to come up with a detailed design.
“Preliminary design of the new facility has been undertaken and the relocation agreed upon by all stakeholders. The detailed design will cost 1.7 million dollars while construction of the facility will cost about 120 million dollars,” said Mungatana.
Africa's Emerging Market Boom
These days, the mere mention of emerging markets is probably enough to make investment bankers break out in a cold sweat. Recent darlings of the investment world—India, Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia, Russia and others—have all stumbled, in part as a result of the US Federal Reserve’s decision to dial back its economic stimulus. Yet African markets appear more buoyant relative to their emerging market peers.
Currently home to five of the world’s dozen fastest-growing economies, Africa’s comparably strong performance over the past five years is about more than commodity supercycle and the boon of debt relief. Improved macroeconomic management has played its part, and increasingly, so has the rise of the African consumer.
