The Weekly Brief, by The Kenyan Wall Street, is a newsletter that goes out to 25k+ subscribers every Monday morning at 9 am (EAT).

Welcome to March.

At the end of Feb, Naivas’ owner bought a minority but controlling stake in African Originals, makers of the Kenyan Originals and other beverages, Equitel launched its 5G service, and Kenyan won the bid to host the 2024 Transform Africa Service.

In this week’s issue, Kenya’s energy regulator has plans to avert future gas disasters, Zambia declares a national disaster due to food and energy crisis, and what Centum’s CEO plans for the Two Rivers service sector SEZ.

Gas Tragedies: EPRA promises to do better

The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) will collaborate with security agencies to detect illegal LPG filing stations, among other plans to prevent gas tragedies.

• The authority will request for a National Intelligence liaison officer and DCI officers to track down criminals in the gas distribution sector.

• It will also engage the public prosecutor's office to have its legal officers appointed as prosecutors.

• The heightened surveillance and prosecution plans will be combined with extensive public awareness campaigns on safety.

The energy regulator outlined its plans to prevent any future tragedies in its submissions to Parliament's Committee on Energy. The committee is investigating the Feb 1st gas explosion in Embakasi that killed seven people and left hundreds injured.

EPRA will also update its LPG data verification process to ascertain the safety of the products from importation to retail.

In the report, EPRA identified the owner of the illegal LPG filling plant as Derick Kimathi and said it had declined licensing the facility three times over the course of five months in 2023. It rejected the application because the business did not provide a Qualitative Risk Assessment (QRA) despite being located in a residential area. 

• Kimathi also owns Maxxis Nanyuki Energy, which was licensed to transport petroleum products (except LPG).

• The gas explosion was caused by a leaking gas tanker belonging to Klear Mwiki Gas Suppliers, which was licensed to transport LPG.

• The regulatory authority has since suspended both licenses.

Earlier, Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum Davis Chirchir had told the Senate Energy Committee that 138 LPG facilities across the country will be shut down because they did not exceed the technical audit score of 50%. He added that EPRA had already suspended 49 licenses of LPG plants located within a 200-meter radius of residential areas. 

Headlines You Might Have Missed

• Disruptive innovations in Africa’s digital payments, Kora’s dashboard and API have been designed in a manner that helps businesses track their financial transactions easily.

• 8 Web 3.0 investors in Africa to watch out for in 2024 including Enza Capital, EMURGO Africa, and 4DX Ventures.

• The EU parliament has approved the bloc’s economic partnership with Kenya.

• KenGen posts Kshs. 4.8bn profit before tax, tax expenses rise by 26%, in H2 2023.

• Food prices fell, LPG prices rose in February, according to KNBS inflation data.

• Uganda’s Microfinance regulator is protesting a planned move to the ministry of finance, arguing that independence is important for its role.

Zambia Declares National Disaster Amidst Food and Energy Crises

Zambia has declared a state of national disaster and emergency due to a severe drought that its president, Hakainde Hichilema, attributes to the "the el Niño weather phenomenon, influenced by climate change."

• 84 out of the country's 116 districts have been affected, with 1mn hectares of maize destroyed and a growing 430MW power deficit.

• In total, nearly half of the country's planted area has been decimated by the ongoing drought.

• In late February, the government restricted the export of maize and maize four and deployed security personnel in smuggling routes.

In a televised address on Thursday Feb 29, President Hichilema laid out plans to address the situation, which include restructuring the 2024 budget, umping humanitarian aid, and importing and rationing electricity. Several countries in the region are facing similar weather changes as el Niño weather patterns shift from extreme rain to rainfall shortages.

Read More.

Upcoming Events

Connected Banking East Africa: 6 March. Nairobi

Propak East Africa 2024: 12-14 March, Nairobi

AmCham Business Summit 2024; 24 April, Nairobi

Nairobi Global Business Expo and Conference: 11 April, Nairobi

16th US-Africa Business Summit: 6-9 May, Dallas, USA

Africa CEO Forum 2024; 16 & 17 May, Kigali, Rwanda

AFDB Annual Meetings 2024; 27 - 31 May, Nairobi

GITEX Africa; 29 - 31 May 2024, Marrakech, Morocco

Interview of the Week

Dr. James Mworia’s big plans for the Two Rivers International Finance & Innovation Center SEZ

Have a great week!