Adani, Get lost!

Your daily dose of financial news

Hello 👋 

It's Brian from The Kenyan Wall Street.

On our top stories today :

▶️ ️ President William Ruto cancels Adani deals on JKIA, KETRACO during the State of the Nation address.

▶️ Adani Group in the mud after US prosecutors indict Gautam Adani and his associates over bribery allegations.

▶️ Co-op Bank, KCB, and ABSA bag awards at an event convened by the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA).

🪦President Ruto Cancels All Adani Deals

Hours after the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Opiyo Wandayi, announced that the ensuing fiasco between US authorities and Adani Group will not affect the deals the government has struck with the conglomerate, President William Ruto has ordered for their cancellation. The controversial deals involved Adani Energy's investment in KETRACO power lines at the cost of US$700 million and Adani Airport Holdings proposed ownership of JKIA for 30 years as part of a renovation plan. But now the blot on the Indian tycoon is too much to erase. The government can only save its skin by abandoning their commitment to agreements that roused more fury than appreciation from Kenyans. What did the president say about Adani during the State of the Nation Address?

⚖️ Indian Businessman Gautam Adani faces US$250mn bribery charges in the US

Gautam Adani’s name is in the global newsreels for the wrong reasons again; this time, New York prosecutors are pursuing him for allegedly bribing Indian government officials with US$250 million to secure solar energy contracts. Adani, 62, plus other top executives of the renewable energy company, including Sagar R Adani and Vneet S Jaain, were hoping to bag the contracts worth US$2 billion between 2020 and 2024. US prosecutors said that the renewable energy company also raised more than U$3 billion in loans and bonds during this period based on false and misleading statements. Facing parallel charges levelled by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Adani's troubles are sizzling and every country, including Kenya, is now trying to dissociate itself from the conglomerate. Kenyan leaders have been at the forefront of defending Adani, going as far as exonerating them from controversy…an uphill task that bore no fruit.

🏦 Kenyan Banks Feted for Sustainable Finance Initiatives

26 banks have been recognized for their excellence in adopting sustainable finance practices with Cooperative, KCB and ABSA bank emerging as the overall winners in number 1,2 and 3 respectively. The banks were awarded by the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), in collaboration with IFC and WWF Kenya. The partners launched the revamped Sustainable Finance Guiding Principles and the Landscape of Sustainable Finance in Kenya’s Banking Industry Report as part of ongoing efforts to deepen financial inclusion and sustainability within Kenya’s financial services sector. The Sustainable Finance Initiative is reported to have enabled over 50,000 bank employees to make lending decisions that benefit the environment, society, and economy. Read this article to learn more about what went down at the KBA event…

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