VenturesNow

Kenya, Japan companies in $620 million deals for auto assembly and eco-energy

Published

3 months ago

February 8, 2024

Kenya has committed to many agreements with Japanese companies, notably the Toyota Tsusho Corporation, geared towards investments in car assembly and renewable energy worth up to Ksh99 billion ($620.7 million).

Kenyan President, William Ruto, posted on social media that “in Tokyo, Japan, I witnessed the signing of the Framework Agreement for Collaboration between Kenya and Toyota Tsusho Corporation and later toured the Toyota Motamachi Factory.

“The pact entails Ksh15 billion ($94 million) in Meru Wind Farm Energy, Ksh8 billion ($50.2 million) Isiolo Solar Energy, Ksh800 million ($5 million) in Thika Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers (KVM)’s initial investment, Ksh75 billion ($470.22 million) in Menengai Geothermal Plant and Electrified Vehicles promotion.”

President Ruto went on to say that talks, which he claimed were moving forward well, were being held with Toyota about the possibility of opening a car plant in Kenya in order to meet the country’s expanding demand for its goods.

“The manufacturing project would reduce the number of used vehicles we continue to import and create jobs for our skilled manpower. I am glad that Toyota Tsusho Corporation finds the project viable. We undertake to provide sufficient incentives to multinational automotive manufacturers to set up shop in Kenya,” Ruto said.

The Toyota agreement was first inked in October during the G7 Session of Trade Ministers in Osaka, Japan, between the Japanese company and the Kenyan government. The purpose of the agreement was to renovate the local assembly factory, whose production capacity had been restricted by budgetary limitations.

Trade Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano confirmed the agreement at the time, however she did not specify what Toyota planned to invest in.

“Noting that the Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers, one of the local automotive assembly facilities in Kenya, is experiencing financial difficulties, it was agreed that Toyota Tsusho, as one of the stakeholders in the industry, step in to save the facility from eminent collapse,” stated Miano last October.

VenturesNow

Nigeria wants managers for proposed $10 billion diaspora fund

Published

7 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A tender paper shows that Nigeria is looking for fund managers for a $10 billion diaspora fund to bring in dollars and foreign investment for the economy.

The fund wants to pool the billions of dollars that its people send back to the country every month so that they can be used for local investments in things like healthcare, education, and infrastructure.

The World Bank says that Nigeria got more than $20 billion in payments from people living outside of Nigeria last year.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade in Nigeria said in a public post that it was looking for “fund managers for the development and establishment of a multisectoral, multilateral private sector-led investment fund to form the $10 billion Nigeria Diaspora Fund.”

The tender paper said that the fund manager’s job is to plan and set up the fund’s legal, operational, financial, and administrative structures.

The investment is intended to last for three to five years, and then more money will be put in after that. The government said the fund would last for 10 years and could be used for an extra two years.

The trade ministry’s tender said that people who want to run the fund must have done business in Nigeria in the last five years and must have a track record of raising money and running big, profitable venture capital funds.

Anglo-American turned down BHP Group’s $39 billion takeover offer on Friday, saying it was way too low for the London-listed company and its future.

In a statement, Minister of Industry and Trade Doris Anite said that it was a “once-in-a-lifetime chance for our citizens in the diaspora to drive Nigeria’s economic growth.”

The naira is under pressure because of a lack of foreign currency because of lower crude oil exports. This has led companies and people to buy dollars on the black market.

Nigeria is going to issue migrant bonds later this year to bring in even more foreign currency.

VenturesNow

World Bank grants Malawi $57.6 million for food crisis

Published

1 day ago

April 27, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

As a response to its food crisis, the World Bank said on Friday that it would give Malawi $57.6 million in “quick release” grants.

“This support comes in the context of the severe food crisis the country is suffering due to El Niño conditions in the wider southern Africa region,” the World Bank said in a statement.

“A series of intense disaster events over the last few years has left almost no time for the country to recover and has resulted in a severe erosion of food security at the national level.”

Malawi is one of the least developed countries in the world. It is ranked 170 out of 187 countries in the 2010 Human Development Index. Almost 16 million people live there, and 90% of them make less than $2 a day. That’s 53% of the total population.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says that 46,000 children in Malawi are seriously malnourished. In 2023, UNICEF said that more than 500,000 Malawian children were at risk of not getting enough food.

Now, Malawi has a lot of programs in place to deal with things like poverty, and climate change, and to make the business and agriculture more diverse.