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Kenya's government to sell more of its stake in Safaricom, finance minister says

Kenya's government to sell more of its stake in Safaricom, finance minister says

Time of India26-05-2025
NAIROBI: Kenya's government plans to sell more of its shareholding in telecom operator
Safaricom
, Finance Minister
John Mbadi
was cited as saying in Kenyan newspaper Business Daily on Monday.
The government aims to raise 149 billion shillings ($1.16 billion) in the 2025/26 financial year through the sale of stakes in companies it has share in, including selling more of its ownership of Safaricom, Mbadi told the Business Daily in an interview.
At present, the government owns a 35% stake in the operator after it sold a 25% stake in it via an initial public offering in 2008.
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Kenya taps development banks for airport expansion after ditching Adani deal
Kenya taps development banks for airport expansion after ditching Adani deal

Time of India

time16 hours ago

  • Time of India

Kenya taps development banks for airport expansion after ditching Adani deal

Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Kenya has invited international development lenders to finance a $2 billion expansion of its main airport in Nairobi nine months after it cancelled a deal with Adani Group after founder Gautam Adani was indicted in the United States The East African nation , which is seeking new ways to finance infrastructure projects due to sharply rising debt, will also issue a securitised bond for 175 billion shillings ($1.36 billion) locally and abroad next month for road construction , Transport Minister Davis Chirchir told reporters on said the government had "written" to development agencies "to basically tell them there's an opportunity to build the airport through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, borrowing on its balance sheet."The Japan International Cooperation Agency, China Exim, KFW, the European Investment Bank and the African Development Bank had been contacted, Chirchir airport expansion includes a second runway at the airport and a new terminal building. Chirchir said once the funds were secured, the government would then look for a contractor to carry out the work."Instead of bringing concessioning to build the airport, we build the airport that we can concession later," he said, referring to the difference with the previous plan which would have seen Adani carry out the expansion and then handed a 30-year lease to operate the plan was scrapped last year when U.S. authorities indicted Gautam Adani and several executives, alleging they paid bribes to secure Indian power contracts and misled U.S. Adani Group has rejected the allegations as "baseless" and said it was cooperating with legal the bond issue for road construction, Chirchir said the government would securitise a portion of the fuel levy it charges motorists, adding the bond would be split into two halves for both a local and an offshore was too early to say in which foreign market the bond would be sold, Chirchir said.($1 = 128.9000 Kenyan shillings)

Somalias camel milk revolution improving nutrition, creating jobs
Somalias camel milk revolution improving nutrition, creating jobs

News18

time04-08-2025

  • News18

Somalias camel milk revolution improving nutrition, creating jobs

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China's belt and road Initiative: A trillion-dollar trap
China's belt and road Initiative: A trillion-dollar trap

India Today

time26-07-2025

  • India Today

China's belt and road Initiative: A trillion-dollar trap

China's trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative was sold as a gift to the world, global infrastructure, mutual prosperity, shared growth. But beneath the glossy public relations lies a darker reality: corruption, debt traps, and geostrategic manipulation. China isn't building bridges out of goodwill, it's laying down anchors of control. The Scale of Ambition The Belt and Road isn't a single highway, it's a tangled web of influence stretching across continents. With over 140 countries involved and more than $1.17 trillion committed by 2024, the scale is jaw-dropping. Projects range from Kenyan railways to European ports, from African power grids to digital silk roads. Beijing's banks bankroll it all, mostly through state loans that come with more strings than $634 billion has gone into construction contracts and $419 billion into non-financial investments. These aren't charity projects, they're loans, often at commercial rates, with sovereign guarantees. When countries default, Beijing doesn't write off debt; it renegotiates, sometimes demanding control of key Sri Lankan WarningSri Lanka exemplifies what happens when countries can't repay China. It borrowed heavily from Beijing to build Hambantota Port, a white elephant in the middle of nowhere. When Colombo couldn't service its debt, China didn't forgive it. It took the port for 99 years. That's not investment, it's strategic colonization, sitting just a few hundred miles off India's southern China's supposed "iron brother," looks more like a financially dependent client state. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor represents a $60+ billion venture cutting through disputed Indian territory. India calls it illegal; China shrugs. Meanwhile, Pakistan's debt balloons, blackouts continue, and insurgents target Chinese Opposition and Hidden CostsWhat began as soft power is turning into hard liability. The annual burn rate of BRI investments outpaced even U.S. foreign commitments in its early years, but the return on investment remains disappointing. Chinese firms operate in risky environments, chasing influence over profits while defaults has sparked protests in Kenya, corruption trials in Malaysia, and unrest in Pakistan. Locals complain of Chinese labor replacing local workers, environmental disasters, and overpriced projects. In Europe, Italy called its BRI membership an "atrocious mistake."India's Strategic ForesightFrom Day One, India opposed the BRI's flagship project, viewing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as territorial violation rather than investment. India rightly called BRI opaque, exploitative, and neo-colonial. While neighbors queued up for Chinese money, India chose sovereignty over checkbooks—a decision that now looks like strategic foresight rather than stubborn sees China's ports in Gwadar, Hambantota, Chittagong, and Kyaukpyu not as infrastructure but as strategic bases, links in a noose surrounding Indian territory. Each port represents a potential outpost for Chinese naval expansion in Beijing's maritime monopoly Human and Environmental CostBeyond numbers and ports lie real people. Chinese labor dominates projects while local workers are sidelined. Reports of forced labor, passport confiscation, and wage theft are well-documented. BRI often ignores environmental impact assessments, dams flood ecosystems, railways slice through forests, and ports displace "Digital Silk Road" exports Chinese surveillance technology to partner nations, with countries getting connectivity while Beijing gains access to sensitive data. The African Union discovered their Beijing-built headquarters was secretly sending data back to China Failing GambleInside China, BRI has become a political hot potato. Projects abroad are flailing while domestic voices question spending billions abroad as unemployment rises at home. With global opposition mounting and domestic returns fading, Beijing may soon face scaling back its most ambitious foreign policy refusal to compromise sovereignty for short-term investment helped it avoid the traps that ensnared others. By investing in regional partnerships and multilateral forums like the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor, India offers transparency, trust, and technology, not just Belt and Road Initiative promised global connectivity but has delivered debt, dependency, and disillusionment for many participants. The monetary cost is staggering, but the political cost—lost sovereignty, broken alliances, and compromised futures, is worse. For India, staying out looks smarter with every passing year. The world must ultimately decide: Is infrastructure worth the influence it surrenders?- EndsMust Watch

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