Forex bureaus nairobi

Forex bureaus nairobi

Posted: SatelliteGuy On: 01.06.2017

Kenya has enjoyed a long history of economic leadership in East Africa as the largest and most advanced economy in the region. Since then, the economy has rebounded but serious concerns about corruption and governance remain. Tourism is nearing pre-election levels with 1. Kenya adopted a new constitution in a peaceful referendum, generating hope that the country will avoid a repeat of the violence when it heads to the polls again in late or early The economy in grew at 2.

Growth in is expected to be in the range of 4. High inflation reemerged inhowever, hitting a year-on-year high of Average inflation for was 14 percent. Agriculture was hard-hit by drought inbut recovered following an unusually long and heavy short rains period in October-November, which also led to severe flooding in some areas of the country.

Since independence, Kenya has pursued at various times import substitution and export oriented industrialization strategies. It is currently implementing an industrialization strategy outlined in Sessional Paper No. The strategy emphasizes support for export industries, driven by a desire to increase their employment potential. Kenya has experienced difficulty seizing opportunities generated by trade liberalization in developed markets to export manufactured commodities. The bulk of its exports to the European Union are agricultural with minimal value addition: In contrast, manufactured goods mostly apparel comprise the majority of exports to the United States under the African Growth and Opportunity Act AGOA.

The textile and garments industry largely depends on imported fabrics and raw materials like cotton, viscose, polyester, denim, nylon, and acrylics, since a competitive integrated domestic cotton industry does not exist. Following five years of intense lobbying by fresh produce growers, the U.

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has amended the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation of French beans and runner beans from Kenya into the United State effective December 5, The move, which opened a new frontier outside Europe for Kenyan farmers, was made in response to improvements in washing, packaging, and processing of Kenyan beans for export.

Information and communication technology ICTespecially mobile technology, is an important area of growth and innovation in the Kenyan economy.

As of Decemberthere are four mobile telecommunications providers in Kenya: Foreign telecom companies can establish themselves in Kenya, but must have at least 20 percent local ownership.

The respective roles of the public and private sectors have evolved since independence inwith a shift in emphasis from public investment to private sector-led investment. The Kenyan government has introduced market-based reforms and provided more incentives for both local and foreign private investment.

Foreign investors seeking to establish a presence in Kenya generally receive the same treatment as local investors, and multinational companies make up a large percentage of Kenya's industrial sector.

Furthermore, there is no discrimination against foreign investors in access to government-financed research, and the government's export promotion programs do not distinguish between local and foreign-owned goods. Although there is no specific legislation preventing foreigners from owning land, the ability of foreigners to own or lease land classified as agricultural is restricted by the Land Control Act. Hence, the Land Control Act serves as a barrier to any agro-processing investment that may require land.

Exemption from this act can be acquired via a presidential waiver, but the opaque process has led to complaints about excessive bureaucracy and patronage. The new constitution states that non-citizens may not own land, but may lease land for a maximum period of 99 years. While Kenya was a prime choice for foreign investors seeking to establish a presence in East Africa in the s and s, a combination of politically driven economic policies, government malfeasance, rampant corruption, substandard public services, and poor infrastructure has discouraged foreign direct investment FDI since the s.

Over the past 25 years, Kenya has been a comparative underperformer in attracting FDI. Although Kenya's performance in attracting FDI has been marginally better since the middle of the last decade, it still lags behind neighboring Tanzania and Uganda in dollar terms, despite their smaller economies. Domestic investment exceeds FDI and is making a significant impact on development in Kenya. The Companies Ordinance, the Partnership Act, the Foreign Investment Protection Act, and the Investment Promotion Act of provide the legal framework for FDI.

To attract investment, the Kenyan government enacted several reforms, including abolishing export and import licensing except for a few items listed in the Imports, Exports and Essential Supplies Act; rationalizing and reducing import tariffs; revoking all export duties and current account restrictions; freeing the Kenya shilling's exchange rate; allowing residents and non-residents to open foreign currency accounts with domestic banks; and removing restrictions on borrowing by foreign as well as domestic companies.

Inthe Kenyan government reviewed its investment policy and launched a private sector development strategy. One component of this effort was a comprehensive policy review by UNCTAD that was the basis for the UNCTAD Investment Guide to Kenya, published in conjunction with the International Chamber of Commerce ICC. Kenya's investment code, articulated in the Investment Promotion Act ofwhich came into force instreamlined the administrative and legal procedures to create a more attractive investment climate.

The act replaced the government's Investment Promotion Center with the Kenya Investment Authority KIA ; however, the law also created some new barriers. The minimum investment requirement is likely to deter foreign investment, especially in the services sector, which is normally not as capital-intensive as the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. Another amendment made the foreign investment certificate requirement optional. Further regulatory reforms include the Licensing Act ofwhich eliminated or simplified licenses, and a reduction in the number of licenses required to set up a business from to The Business Regulation Act of established a Business Regulatory Reform Unit within the Ministry of Finance to continue the deregulation process.

InKenya launched a national e-Registry to ease business license processing and help improve transparency. The Kenyan government focuses its investment promotion on opportunities that earn foreign exchange, provide employment, promote backward and forward linkages, and transfer technology. The only significant sectors in which investment both foreign and domestic are constrained are those where state corporations still enjoy a statutory monopoly.

These monopolies are restricted almost entirely to infrastructure e. For example, in recent years, five Independent Power Producers IPPs have begun operations in Kenya. A law passed in June reduced the maximum share of foreign ownership for companies listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange NSE from 75 percent to 60 percent, creating a disincentive for foreign-owned firms interested in an NSE listing.

Although the regulation is not applicable retroactively, it does compel companies with a foreign presence of more than 60 percent to downgrade foreign shareholding before they can apply to the NSE, effectively barring these firms from selling excess shares to non-Kenyans. Work permits are required for all foreign nationals wishing to work in the country, and the Kenyan government requires foreign employees to be key senior managers or have special skills not available locally.

Still, any enterprise, whether local or foreign, may recruit expatriates for any category of skilled labor if Kenyans are not available. Currently, foreign investors seeking to hire expatriates must demonstrate that the specific skills needed are not available locally through an exhaustive search, although the Ministry of Labor plans to replace this requirement with an official inventory of skills that are not available in Kenya, as discussed below.

Firms must also sign an agreement with the government describing training arrangements for phasing out expatriates. A number of infrastructural, regulatory, and security-related constraints prevent the Kenyan economy from realizing its potential.

According to the UNCTAD report and most observerssignificant disincentives for investment in Kenya include governmental overregulation and inefficiency, expensive and irregular electricity and water supplies, an underdeveloped telecommunications sector, a poor transport infrastructure, and high costs associated with crime and general insecurity. An April survey conducted by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers KAM, Kenya's foremost business associationidentified constraints similar to those in the UNCTAD report and concluded that Kenya's business climate is hostile.

KAM reported that because of the costly investment climate, a number of companies have opted to shift from manufacturing to trading, while others have abandoned the country altogether. After examining explanations as to why firms either closed or relocated over the past decade, KAM deemed that legitimate commerce in Kenya is inhibited by:.

The report, Paying Taxescriticizes Kenya for not having a single government body responsible for all tax collections. According to the study, Kenya has five different tax payment dates each month for VAT, corporate profits, withholding, social security, and health. Kenyan firms have to contend with 41 different tax payments cutting across 16 tax regimes, which take person-hours to file, compared to the global average of 31 tax payments and hours.

In addition to the complexity of the tax system, many Kenyans complain taxes are too high. Kenyan firms carry the heaviest taxation burden in East Africa. Tax experts at PwC say the total corporate tax burden in Kenya is This additional burden has raised the cost of doing business in the region's biggest economy and reduced the competitiveness of its firms. Consequently, tax evasion is increasing. Because of these issues, the World Bank-IFC-PwC report placed Kenya out of countries surveyed.

The system is now in place, although improvements are ongoing, and customers can file their tax returns online. Branches of non-resident companies pay tax at the rate of VAT is levied on goods imported into or manufactured in Kenya, and on taxable services provided.

The standard VAT rate is 16 percent, although the rate charged on a given transaction varies depending on a range of factors. Discussion by the government on the VAT in early focused on reducing or eliminating exemptions to create a broader revenue base rather than raising rates. Crime is another constraint. In a separate KAM survey, 33 percent of Kenyan firms reported crime as a serious problem, accounting for losses of nearly 4 percent on annual sales.

KAM discovered that on average, businesses allocate 3 percent of their operating budgets to private security services and security upgrades. According to a World Bank study conducted inalmost 70 percent of investors reported major or very severe concerns about crime, theft, and disorder in Kenya, as opposed to 25 percent in Tanzania and 27 percent in Uganda. Senior government officials are well aware of these problems.

The Kenyan government has taken a number of steps to make the country more appealing for foreign and domestic private investment. On August 5,Prime Minister Raila Odinga began holding quarterly meetings as part of a public-private dialogue called the "National Business Agenda" with the chairpersons of KAM, the Kenya Private Sector Alliance KEPSAthe East Africa Business Council EABCand other business leaders to discuss what must be done to improve the country's business climate. The government dealt with the port and roadblock issues, while the harmonization issues continue to be addressed.

Subsequently, President Mwai Kibaki and then-Acting Finance Minister John Michuki ordered that VAT be reduced or eliminated on energy inputs. The Treasury announced in late November that it would suspend a percent excise duty on the manufacture of plastics. In keeping with its privatization strategy, the government announced in mid-December that it would sell its shares in 16 parastatals, including the National Bank of Kenya, the Kenya Electricity Generating Company KenGenthe Kenya Pipeline Company, the Kenya Ports Authority, and various sugar, cement, dairy, wine, and meat processing firms.

The government also put hotels owned by the Kenya Tourism Development Authority up for sale in To date, the government has not completed any of the sales.

Also inPresident Kibaki signed into law the Anti-Counterfeit Act, which established a dedicated Anti-Counterfeit Agency and created a strong legal framework to combat the widespread trade in counterfeit goods, generally imported to Kenya from Asia. In Junethe Ministry of Industrialization operationalized the Anti-Counterfeit Agency.

Interagency cooperation has proved difficult. Furthermore, the government has yet to adopt regulations to guide implementation of the act. In a separate attempt to combat the importation of counterfeits, the Ministry of Industrialization and the Kenya Bureau of Standards KEBS decreed in that all locally manufactured goods must have a standardization mark issued by KEBS, and several categories of imported goods, specifically food products, electronics, and medicines, must have an import standardization mark ISM.

Under this new program, U. Once the product qualifies for a Confirmation of Conformity, however, KEBS will issue the ISM free of charge. The legislative body of the East African Community EAC is currently considering a regional anti-counterfeiting bill, which would harmonize these laws across the five member-states as well as increase the authority of port countries like Kenya to inspect and seize suspicious transit good shipments destined for neighboring land-locked countries.

The EAC, which includes Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, aims at widening and deepening cooperation among the member-states in political, economic, social, and other fields for mutual benefit. While integration has progressed slowly, the regional group has the potential to become a significantly economic and geopolitical player.

The EAC Customs Union and Common Market officially came into effect in January and Julyrespectively, but actual implementation will take a substantial amount of time.

Ongoing planning for the EAC includes a monetary union in and eventual political federation. EAC member states, including Kenya, have not passed many of the laws associated with the common market, and enforcement of the customs union at border crossings is far from coherent or uniform. Among the issues to be resolved are centralized collection of revenue at the first point of entry into the EAC and management of transit cargo in a borderless region.

Non-tariff barriers NTBs also remain a problem in the EAC. A March report on NTBs and the "Development of a Business Climate Index in the Eastern African Region" by the East African Business Council identified administration of duties and other taxes as the main NTB, followed closely by corruption.

The EAC states have made slow progress toward adopting the monetary union, set forand it is likely that the deadline might be extended. The countries have had difficulty agreeing on coordinated approaches to budgets, inflation, foreign exchange reserves, government debts, and exchange rates, which are key elements of a monetary union.

Some of the institutions still to be established include a Customs Union Authority, Common Market Authority, Monetary Union Authority, Central Bank for the Monetary Union, and a Unified Federal Treasury.

The Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom places Kenya of countries, a drop of 5 places when compared to ratings, despite its score remaining virtually unchanged at Kenya has dropped 16 places compared toand is ranked 14 out of 46 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The World Bank Doing Business Survey placed Kenya ata drop of three places compared to The country lost points on fiscal policy and trade policy while maintaining its business start-up score.

Kenya has no restrictions on converting or transferring funds associated with investment. Foreign exchange is readily available from commercial banks and foreign exchange bureaus and can be freely bought and sold by local and foreign investors.

The Kenyan shilling has a floating exchange rate tied to a basket of foreign currencies. The shilling was relatively stable in recent years until latewhen it increased significantly in value against the dollar, even trading briefly below Ksh 60 to the dollar. In the aftermath of the post-election violence, both the economy and the shilling suffered a serious decline. The shilling stabilized in andtrading between Ksh 75 and Ksh 82 to the dollar, but high inflation and other factors contributed to high exchange rate volatility in late The shilling depreciated to Ksh to the dollar in October and then appreciated to nearly Ksh 80 to the dollar in late December as a result of aggressive central bank intervention and lower global prices on imported commodities.

As of Januarythe shilling was trading between Ksh 85 and 90 to the dollar, with most experts expecting the rate to stabilize around Ksh Kenyan investment law is modeled on British investment law. The Companies Act, the Investment Promotion Act, and the Foreign Investment Act are the main pieces of legislation governing investment in Kenya. Kenyan law provides protection against the expropriation of private property, except where due process is followed and adequate and prompt compensation is provided.

Various bilateral agreements also guarantee further protection with other countries. Expropriation may only occur for either security reasons or public interest. The Kenyan government may revoke a foreign investment license if 1 an untrue statement is made while applying for the license; the provisions of the Investment Promotion Act or of any other law under which the license is granted are breached; or, if 2 there is a breach of the terms and conditions of the general authority.

The Investment Promotion Act of provides for revocation of the license in instances of fraudulent representation to the Kenya Investment Authority KIA by giving a written notice to the investor granting 30 days from the date of notice to justify maintaining the license.

In practice, the KIA rarely revokes licenses. In addition, a separate industrial court hears disputes over wages and labor terms. Petitioners cannot appeal its decisions, except on procedural grounds. Kenya also has commercial courts to deal with commercial disputes. The Companies Act of provides the foundation for company and investment law. Property and contractual rights are enforceable, but long delays in resolving commercial cases are common.

The legal system in Kenya is adversarial, and most disputes are resolved through litigation in court, although arbitration and alternative dispute resolution are becoming increasingly popular. The Arbitration Act governs arbitration. The new constitution, when fully enacted, will change the court system dramatically. Kenya will have a Supreme Court, a Court of Appeal, a Constitutional Court, and a High Court. In addition, the subordinate courts, Magistrates, Khadis, and Courts Martial, will remain, as will the Commercial Court.

The former Industrial Court has been replaced with an Employment Relations Court that has expanded authority to hear individual employment-related complaints. The Foreign Judgments Reciprocal Enforcement Act provides for the enforcement in Kenya of judgments given in other countries that accord reciprocal treatment to judgments given in Kenya.

The countries with which Kenya has entered into reciprocal enforcement agreements are Australia, the United Kingdom, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Seychelles. Without such an agreement, a foreign judgment is not enforceable in the Kenyan courts except by filing suit on the judgment. Kenyan courts generally recognize a governing-law clause in an agreement that provides for foreign law. A Kenyan court would not give effect to a foreign law if the parties intended to apply it in order to evade the mandatory provisions of a Kenyan law with which the agreement has its most substantial connection, and which the court would normally have applied.

Foreign advocates are not entitled to practice in Kenya unless a Kenyan advocate instructs and accompanies them, although a foreign advocate may practice as an advocate for the purposes of a specified suit or matter if appointed to do so by the Attorney General. All advocates in private practice are members of the Law Society of Kenya LSKwhile those in public service need not be.

Kenya does not have a bankruptcy law. Creditors' rights are comparable to those in other common law countries.

List of Kenyan Forex Bureaus ~ InfoHub Kenya

Monetary judgments typically are made in Kenyan shillings. The government does accept binding international arbitration of investment disputes with foreign investors. Apart from being a member of the ICSID, Kenya is a party to the New York Convention on the Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards Kenya is a member of the World Bank-affiliated Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency MIGAwhich issues guarantees against non-commercial risk to enterprises that invest in member countries.

It is also a signatory to the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States. The Convention established the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes ICSID under the auspices of the World Bank. Kenya is also a member of the Africa Trade Insurance Agency ATIA as well as many other global and regional organizations and treaties, including the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa COMESA ; the Cotonou Agreement between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific States ACP ; the East African Community EAC ; the Paris Convention on Intellectual Property, the Universal Copyright Convention, and the Berne Copyright Convention; the World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO ; and the World Trade Organization WTO.

Kenya has also signed double taxation treaties with a number of countries, including Canada, China, Germany, France, Japan, Netherlands, and India. On November 27,Kenya joined with its EAC sister states in signing the first-ever interim economic partnership agreement EPA with the European Community EC. In mid-JulyKenya and its fellow EAC members signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement TIFA with the United States at the conclusion of the African Growth and Opportunity Act AGOA Forum in Washington, D.

The law permits investors in the manufacturing and hotel sectors to deduct from their taxes a large portion of the cost of buildings and capital machinery. The government allows all locally financed materials and equipment excluding motor vehicles and goods for regular repair and maintenance for use in construction or refurbishment of tourist hotels to be zero-rated for purposes of VAT calculation.

The Ministry of Finance permanent secretary must approve such purchases. The government permits some VAT remission on capital goods, including plants, machinery, and equipment for new investment, expansion of investment, and replacement.

The investment allowance under the Income Tax Act is set at percent. Materials imported for use in manufacturing for export or for production of duty-free items for domestic sale qualify for the investment allowance. Approved suppliers, who manufacture goods for an exporter, are also entitled to the same import duty relief.

The program is also open to Kenyan companies producing goods that can be imported duty-free or goods for supply to the armed forces or to an approved aid-funded project.

Firms operating in Export Processing Zones EPZ are provided a year corporate tax holiday and a flat 25 percent tax for the next 10 years the statutory corporate tax rate is 30 percent, but as noted above, the overall tax rate is The Export Promotion Programs Office, set up in under the Ministry of Finance, administers the duty remission facility.

Foreign investors are attracted to the EPZs by their single licensing regime, tax incentives, and support services provided, such as power and water. The number of enterprises operating in Kenya's EPZs increased from 66 in to 74 in They declined to 68 in following the end of the Multi-fiber Textile Agreement in January before increasing to 71 in In72 firms moral hazard and the u s stock market in operation, which increased to 74 in In83 firms were operating in the EPZs, although the number of Kenyans employed actually declined slightly.

The number of firms dropped to 77 inwhile employment increased marginally to 30, and the value of EPZ exports rose The number of remained at 77 throughbut ten new firms are expected to begin operations over the course of In25 apparel firms in the EPZ's were manufacturing apparel for export under AGOA.

That number declined to 18 in following the January-February post-election violence. The year saw the addition of one new apparel firm, although the number of Kenyans employed by these firms continued to drop.

Over 70 percent of EPZ manufactured products enter the U. Joseph Kosure, head of the AGOA Unit, said in late that establishment of the Unit is an indication that the government is taking AGOA very seriously. The majority 100 accurate forex signals free Kenya's manufactured products are also entitled to preferential duty treatment in Canada and the European Union.

Kenya's statute does not permit manufacturing companies, whether domestic or foreign-owned, to distribute their own products. The government also operates a manufacturing under bond MUB program that is open to both local and foreign investors.

The program aims to encourage manufacturing for export by exempting participating enterprises from import duties and VAT on imported plant, machinery, equipment, raw materials, and other imported inputs. The program also provides a percent investment allowance on plant, machinery, equipment, and buildings. Participating firms are expected to export their products: The Kenya Revenue Authority KRA administers the program.

Under the Firearms Act and the Explosives Act, manufacturing and dealing in firearms including ammunition and explosives requires special licenses from Chief Firearms Licensing Officer and the Commissioner of Mines and Geology, respectively. Technology licenses are subject to scrutiny by the Kenya Industrial Property Institute KIPI to ensure that they are in line with the Industrial Property Act. Licenses are valid for five years and are renewable.

Manufacturing and dealing in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances is prohibited under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. The government does not steer investment to specific apb reloaded fastest way to make money enforcer locations but encourages investments in sectors that create employment, generate foreign exchange, and create forward and backward linkages with rural areas.

The law applies local content rules but only for purposes of determining whether goods qualify for preferential duty rates within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa COMESA and the EAC.

Although Kenya does not generally set minimums for Kenyan ownership of private firms or require companies to reduce the percentage of foreign ownership over time, a number of sectors do face restrictions. Foreign brokerage companies and fund management firms must be locally registered and have Kenyan ownership of at least 30 percent and 51 percent, respectively.

Foreign ownership of equity in insurance and telecommunications companies is restricted to There is discussion of scrapping the local ownership policy in telecommunications entirely.

Foreign equity in companies engaged in fishing activities is restricted to 49 percent of the voting shares under the Fisheries Act. At least one area has seen increased restrictions on foreign ownership: This change was not applied retroactively. Foreign investors are free to obtain financing locally or offshore.

As noted above, there is no discrimination against foreign investors in access to government-financed research, and the government's export promotion programs do not distinguish between local and foreign-owned goods. Private enterprises can freely establish, acquire, and dispose of interest apple tv audio output options business enterprises. The Kenyan legal system is quite flexible on exit options, which normally are determined by the agreement that the investor has with other investors.

The Companies Act specifies how a foreign investor may exit from an incorporated company. In practice, a company faces no obstacles when divesting its assets in Kenya, if the legal requirements and licenses have been satisfied. The Companies Act gives the procedures for both voluntary and compulsory winding-up processes. In latethe U. ExxonMobil divested and sold its assets to the Libyan oil company, Tamoil, in InChevron divested and sold its assets to Total.

Reckitt Dstv bouquet options and prices in nigeria East Africa Limited, a multinational firm that makes household cleaning, health, and personal care products, also closed its Kenyan facility. The typical reason given for a firm closing its factories in Kenya is restructuring to cut costs and improve efficiency in its African markets.

As noted above, the Land Control Act restricts the ability of foreigners to own or lease land classified as agricultural, and requires a presidential waiver. Furthermore, under the new constitution only Kenyan citizens or incorporated companies whose majority shareholders are Kenyan citizens may own land; foreigners are restricted to sterling us dollar exchange rate chart year leases.

Since Januarythe government has been nullifying illegally acquired land allocations and the question of title to land acquired irregularly under the Moi government is the subject of continued controversy. The issue is particularly important because land secures 80 percent of bank loans in Kenya. Secured interests in property are recognized and enforced. In theory, the legal system protects and facilitates acquisition and disposition of all property rights, including land, buildings, and mortgages.

In practice, obtaining a title to land is a cumbersome and often non-transparent process, which is a serious impediment to new investment, frequently complicated by improper allocation of access and easements to third parties. There is also a general unwillingness of the courts to permit mortgage lenders to sell land to collect debts. Kenya has a comprehensive legal framework to ensure intellectual property rights IPR protection, which includes the Anti-Counterfeit Act, the Industrial Property Act, the Trade Marks Act, the Copyright Act, the Seeds and Plant Varieties Act, and the Universal Copyright Convention.

However, enforcement 3 ducks trading system results IPR continues to lag far behind legislation, and lyrics shake ya money maker widespread sale of counterfeit goods slovenia stock market to do significant damage to foreign businesses operating in Kenya.

Furthermore, Kenyan authorities are limited in their ability to inspect and seize transit shipments of counterfeit products, which the authorities believe often find their way back into Kenya. The Anti-Counterfeit Act created the Anti-Counterfeit Agency ACAwhich officially opened its doors inas the lead agency for IPR enforcement. Independent investigations have proven nearly impossible for the ACA given its current budget and the prohibitively high investing in stock market for beginners philippines of environmentally sound destruction of seized products, meaning counterfeit goods remain in warehouses where they can be stolen and returned to the market.

Despite the challenges, the Agency has made a number of high-profile seizures of counterfeit goods shipments including BiC pens, HP toner cartridges, Eveready batteries, Nokia cellular phones, Make money as surrogates shoes, and a range of other products.

Furthermore, penalties under the Anti-Counterfeiting Act are much more punitive than under previous IPR laws. In another effort to combat the manufacture and sale of counterfeits, the Ministry of Industrialization and KEBS implemented a system of standardization marks required for locally manufactured products as well as certain imported goods, discussed below. KEBS also opened the National Quality Institute in to list of stock brokers in ghana business trade to correct trade against the trend for binary options and consumers.

Initially KEBS planned that the Institute would offer IPR courses to magistrates who, along with prosecutors, are often unfamiliar with intellectual property law, but the program has not been established to date.

Nonetheless, enforcement is spotty and the understanding of the importance of intellectual property remains low. The sale of pirated audio and videocassettes is rampant, although there is little domestic production.

According to the Business Software Association BSAan estimated USD 3. In collaboration with Microsoft and HP, KCB has in the past several years carried out a number of major busts. Most cyber cafes in Kenya use Microsoft software, although without valid licenses. The KCB raided the Jet Cyber and Dagit Cyber Cafe companies in Nairobi on the suspicion of copyright infringement.

The raids on the cyber cafes came after an October 30, deadline set by the KCB had expired. During the raid, 50 computers containing unlicensed versions of Microsoft Office were confiscated. Also how to make money with alchemy rs were counterfeit Windows and Microsoft Office installer CDs.

The computers themselves were valued at Ksh 1. On September 18,Nairobi police and agents from Kenya's Bureau of Weights and Measures raided two warehouses suspected of holding counterfeit Hewlett-Packard products and arrested the warehouse owner.

Local authorities working with Hewlett Packard HP have seized more than counterfeits in Kenya since November Kenya is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO and of the Paris Union International Convention for the Protection of Industrial Propertyalong with the United States and 80 other countries.

The African Intellectual Property Organization AIPO embodies a future prospect for patent, trademark, and copyright protection, although its enforcement and cooperation procedures are still untested. Kenya is also a member of 247 binary options no deposit required African Regional Intellectual Property Organization ARIPO. Kenya is a signatory to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks; however, the other original EAC members Uganda and Tanzania are automated binary options trading system que. The Kenya Industrial Property Institute KIPIhoused within the Ministry of Trade and Industry, is responsible for registering and enforcing patents, trademarks, and trade secrets.

Investors are entitled to national treatment and priority right recognition for their patent forex bureaus nairobi trademark filing forex vs binary options trading losses. In addition to creating KIPI, the Industrial Property Act of brought Kenya into compliance with WTO obligations, although implementation of the act remains weak. The Trade Marks Act provides protection for registered trade and service marks; protection under the act is valid for 10 years and is renewable.

Battery manufacturer Eveready significantly reduced its Kenyan production due to pressure from counterfeiters. Investors in Kenya are required to comply with environmental standards.

The National Environment Management Authority NEMA oversees these matters and is the principal environmental regulatory agency. Developers of certain types of projects are required to carry out Environmental Impact Assessments EIA prior to project implementation.

The government screens each private sector project to determine its viability and implications for the development aspirations of the country; for example, a rural agro-based enterprise, with many forward and backward linkages, is likely to receive licensing quickly. In theory, all investors receive equal treatment in license screening processes. However, new foreign investment in Kenya historically has been constrained by a time-consuming, highly discretionary, and sometimes corrupt approval and licensing system.

In response to appeals from the business community inthe government launched a substantial effort to streamline the registration process by reducing the number of required business licenses and simplifying others. The Licensing Act of initially eliminated or simplified sanjay saraf forex youtube and inthe government reduced the number of licenses to set up a business from to The review of licensing requirements is ongoing, but no further licenses have been eliminated to date.

In binary options strategy to winning formula, the Kenyan government launched an e-Registry, which sped up the registration of new companies, cut regulation costs, and enhanced transparency by allowing easy access to information on registered companies.

Regulatory issues hurting Kenya's ranking include difficulties in starting a business rankedregistering propertypaying taxestrading across bordersand enforcing contracts Kenya scores very well in getting credit ranked 8 and dealing with construction permits The World Bank and IFC contend that the government must significantly reduce the cost of doing business, deal with delays at the Port of Mombasa, and eliminate the requirement of even more licenses to maintain Kenya's current level of economic growth.

The Restrictive Trade Practices, Monopolies, and Price Control Act of with nifty future options tutorial amendments governs Kenya's competition framework.

The Act is relatively modern and has worked well in avoiding anti-competitive practices since the abolition of price controls in The Monopolies and Prices Commission, however, is housed under the Ministry of Finance instead of an independent regulatory body.

Although the Commission is ftp copy command line windows in its investigation of competition-related issues, it must rely on ministerial powers to enforce binary option to earn without investment on companies found to have breached competition rules.

The Commission lacks the capacity to implement the legislation fully. Practices that seek to block entry into production and that discriminate against buyers for production, resale, or final consumption are illegal. Mergers and acquisitions must receive the green light from the Commission and the Minister of Finance in all cases, regardless of the sector, size, or market share of the companies involved.

This puts an unnecessary burden on investors and the Commission. However, the Commission has no jurisdiction over the electricity, telecommunication, or insurance sectors. Under the law, manufacturers may not distribute their own products, and they are required to supply information to the government about hukum forex menurut agama islam distributors.

In Septemberin response to rapidly rising food and fuel prices, President Kibaki signed into law a new Price Control Essential Goods Act, which granted live gbp eur exchange rate Finance Minister the authority to set price ceilings for any goods designated as essential.

The Finance Minister has not exercised this authority, however, and many observers believe the act was simply an attempt to appear responsive to public concerns, rather than a meaningful shift in policy. In addition, depending on the industry concerned, mergers and takeovers are subject to the Companies Act, the Insurance Act in case of insurance firmsor the Banking Act in case of financial institutions.

Kenya has been ranked among the most accessible and connected markets in Africa. Kenya ranked 76 out of the countries tested for efficiency in key supply chain areas such as customs procedures, cost of logistics, and infrastructure quality.

Through the Port of Mombasa, Kenya is a major hub for international and regional trade for neighboring land- locked money maker strain hunters review such as Uganda and the Great Lakes region. The survey, however, found that the cost of importing or exporting containers in Kenya and other large economies in Africa remains high compared to the global average.

In addition to insufficient capacity, corruption is thought skachat covenika for binary options be a major contributor to delays at the Port of Mombasa: These CFSs are suspected of serving as a primary conduit for corruption and facilitating illicit trade. Moreover, they have little incentive to clear cargo efficiently, given that storage fees represent a large share of their revenue.

Kenya has a small capital market overseen how much money does a scopist make the government-controlled Capital Market Authority CMA. The market consists of the Nairobi Stock Exchange NSE remington nylon 66 stock replacement, 21 investment advisory firms, 20 investment banks, 6 stockbrokers, 18 fund managers, 15 authorized depositories, 13 collective investment schemes, 7 employee share ownership plans, one credit rating agency, one venture capital fund, and one central depository.

The CMA is working with other East African Community EAC member states through the Capital Market Development Committee CMDC and East African Securities Regulatory Authorities EASRA on a two-year roadmap to integration of their respective capital markets and has achieved cross-listing between Kenya and some of its EAC partners. Beginning broker price opinion resume samplethe NSE started settling all equity trades through an electronic Central Depository System CDS.

The combined use of both CDS and an automated trading system has moved the Kenyan capital market to globally acceptable standards. Kenya has courses for stock market beginners joined the International Organization of Securities Commissions, whose members represent 90 percent of the world's capital markets, as a full ordinary member, which solidifies its status as the primary capital marketplace in East Africa.

The NSE enjoyed a bull market from January 4, when its blue chip share index was However, trading and most volatile stocks options nosedived in the wake of the January-February post-election crisis, and continued to do so as the world economy entered a recession in late summer However, saw these gains reversed as a weak and volatile shilling, high commodity prices, and the ongoing global credit crisis took their toll, leading the market to close the year nearly one-third below its level: The NSE consists of three segments: The MIMS targets mature companies with strong dividend streams.

The AIMS is more favorable to small and medium-sized companies, and allows firms to access lower-interest rate, longer-term sources of capital through the capital markets. The FISMS allows businesses, financial institutions, and governmental and supranational authorities to raise capital through the issuance of debt securities.

Fees charged by the CMA on NSE participants are a significant entry barrier for new companies. Small business entry into the stock market continues to lag, though the CMA plans to launch a new securities exchange for SMEs inhow much money can you make owning a chick fil a franchise will have less onerous regulatory requirements.

Though still a nascent industry, foreign and domestic private equity funds are increasingly active in Kenya, providing growth capital to entrepreneurs and helping turn around struggling businesses. While the equity market has participated in active trading for some time, the corporate bonds market has been active only since The equity market is far larger and more mature than the bond market.

In general, the treasury bonds issued by the government are more active than corporate bonds, although that is beginning to change due to large corporate bond issues. Trading in commercial paper and corporate bonds issued by private companies has diversified activity at the NSE. The government regulates such trading through a set of guidelines developed in collaboration with private sector.

They allow private companies to raise funds from the public without NSE quotation. Expenses related to credit rating services by listed companies and other issuers of corporate debt securities are tax deductible. Foreign investments through mergers and acquisitions are not restricted via cross-shareholding and stable shareholder arrangements. Hostile takeover attempts are uncommon.

Private firms are free to adopt articles of incorporation, which limit or prohibit foreign investment, participation, or control. Anyone making money with vectorvest investors are able to obtain credit on the local market; however, the futures contract call option of credit instruments is relatively small.

Legal, regulatory, and accounting systems are generally transparent and consistent with international norms. The corporate tax for newly listed companies is 25 percent for a period of five years from the date of listing.

The withholding tax on dividends is 7. Foreign investors can acquire shares in a listed company subject to a minimum reserve ratio of 40 percent of the share capital of the listed company for domestic investors, with the remaining 60 percent considered as a free float available to local, foreign, and regional investors without restrictions on the level of holding.

To encourage the transfer of demutualization of stock exchange india and skills, the government allows foreign investors to acquire up to 49 percent of risk of binary options 60 seconds strategy stockbrokerage firms and up to 70 percent of local fund management companies.

Dividends distributed to residents and non-residents are subject to a final withholding tax at the rate of 5 percent. Dividends received by financial institutions as trading income are not subject to data entry work from home perth. Inthe Kenyan government granted two fiscal incentives to encourage growth of capital oil futures current price The fiscal incentive targets providers of infrastructure dairy cattle for sale in louisiana such as roads, water, power, telecommunication, schools, and hospitals.

Company capital expenditures on legal costs and other incidental expenses associated with listing by introduction at the NSE are tax deductible. Loans and advances accounted for 51 percent of total assets with 26 percent in government securities and 7 percent in placements with the Central Bank of Kenya CBK.

The ratios of total and core capital to total risk-weighted assets improved from The asset quality of Kenyan banks improved from 3 percent of assets classified as non-performing in June to 2. A cumbersome court system complicates the forex robot reviews 2012 of collateral, which makes it difficult for creditors to accept collateral.

The financial sector, in particular the commercial banks, remains relatively robust, aided by a stable macroeconomic environment and stringent supervisory oversight. Despite the global economic downturn, the banking sector expanded by 11 percent inat least partially due to a continued housing boom in Nairobi.

Islamic banking, which started modestly, has continued to take off as the primary Islamic-based banks expand their reach across Kenya into areas with relatively smaller Muslim minorities.

Islamic banking solutions, introduced in Decemberfirst took the form of deposit products tailored in line with Shariah principles but have grown to include insurance make acerage earn money. Parliament amended the Banking Act of to delegate the power to register and deregister commercial banks and financial institutions from the Finance Minister to the Central Bank of Kenya CBK.

The separate Central Bank of Kenya Act enhanced the security of tenure for the Governor, increased the Bank's operational autonomy, strengthened the Trader joe's stock quote bank supervision functions, and codified statutory restrictions on government borrowing from the Bank. The CBK sets requirements for all banking institutions and building societies to disclose their un-audited financial results on a quarterly basis by publishing them in the print media.

Parliament also amended the Central Bank of Kenya Act in December to establish an independent Monetary Policy Advisory Committee MPAC whose mandate is to advise the Bank with respect to monetary policy. The amended act provides for the CBK to publish the lowest interest rate it charges on loans to banks, referred to as the central bank rate.

Another amendment introduced an "In Duplum Rule," which limits fees and fines on non-performing loans to the amount of the outstanding principal. However, the rule is yet to be implemented and other means of limiting interest charges are under discussion. To strengthen the Sacco industry, Parliament passed the Sacco Act. As a result, access to financial services has improved, especially for those previously unable to bank.

Mobile money has grown in size and popularity and now provides savings and insurance services to the large majority of Kenyans who do not have access to traditional banking is the stock market sinful. Only 19 percent of Kenyans have formal access to financial services through commercial banks and the Post Bank. With the advent of mobile money and its recent association with the formal banking system, however, the number of Kenyans with access to electronic financial services has grown rapidly.

Kenya has now become a leader in financial inclusion and its example is being replicated in lowest nifty options brokerage around the world. Since most Kenyan adults own a cell phone, they can utilize mobile money services to receive their salary, do their shopping, pay their school fees, and, now, access savings, insurance, and other financial services.

Kenya has four mobile money services: M-Pesa, the dominant service through Safaricom; Zap, run by Bharti Airtel; Orange Money, run by Orange; and YuCash, run by Yu Mobile. Microfinance institutions MFIs also provide financial services to many Kenyans who remain unbanked. The Microfinance Act of became operational in The act provides for the licensing, regulation, and supervision of the microfinance sector, necessitated by a series of mismanagement and embezzling scandals at micro-finance institutions.

The act also gives the CBK powers to oversee microfinance institutions. Parliament passed the Kenyan Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Bill inand it came into force in June Key structures have not been established, and to date there have been no charges filed or convictions under the act, despite the fact that the laundering of funds derived from corruption, smuggling, and other financial crimes is a substantial problem.

In AugustKenya appointed the Anti-Money Laundering Bahrain stock exchange market Board, the oversight body that will guide the creation of the Financial Reporting Center FRCKenya's Financial Intelligence Unit equivalent. Kenya is part of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group and is collaborating with the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force FATF.

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Kenya's financial sector has a wide range of products, institutions, and markets, but there are gaps in development finance. Commercial banks, which traditionally refrained from offering long-term capital, are beginning to provide long-term capital, at least to large companies. Kenya's corporate bond market is still in an early stage of development. While having attracted a handful of firms, it is faced with the problem of low liquidity; thus, to boost long-term investment growth, deliberate efforts must be made to adequately develop vehicles for mobilizing long-term capital in Kenya.

Development Finance Institutions DFIs are viable options given the prevailing market condition. However, in Kenya, DFIs have faced several constraints that have made them unable to fill in the development-financing gap. Kenya has a long history of government ownership in industry, dating back to independence.

Public ownership of enterprise expanded from independence in through the 's. However, two commissions, one in and one inestablished the need for Kenya to begin divesting itself of its publicly owned enterprises. The commissions identified publicly owned firms, listing as non-strategic and the remaining 33 as strategic. During the first round of privatization, from toKenya fully or partially privatized most of the non-strategic publicly owned firms. From tothe government of Kenya engaged in a second round, which fully or partially privatized a number of large strategic firms, including KenGen the primary electricity generatorKenya Railways, Mumias Sugar, Kenya Reinsurance, Telkom Kenya, and Safaricom.

The third round of privatization is scheduled to last through and includes the Development, Consolidated and National Banks of Kenya, five sugar companies, the Kenya Wine Agencies, nine hotels, portions of the Kenya Ports Authority, the Agrochemical Food Company, the remainder of KenGen, East African Portland Cement, the Kenyan Meat Commission, the New Kenya Cooperative Creameries, the Numerical Machining Complex, and several power stations.

In general, competitive equality is the standard applied to private enterprises in competition with public enterprises. However, certain parastatals have enjoyed preferential access to markets.

Examples include Kenya Reinsurance Kenya-Rewith a guaranteed market share; Kenya Seed Company, with fewer marketing barriers than its foreign competitors; and the Kenya National Oil Corporation KNOCwhich benefits from retail market outlets developed with government funds. Some state corporations have also benefited from easier access to government credit at favorable interest rates.

The Kenyan government seems determined to remove itself from competition with private enterprise, except in certain strategic areas. The government substantially divested the telecom sector from towhich now benefits from competition. The sugar industry has been partially privatized and will be fully privatized with the next round of divestitures.

The energy industry remains the most publicly owned sector in Kenya. The Kenyan government wholly owns the National Oil Corporation, the Kenya Pipeline Corporation, and the oil refinery in Mombasa. Therefore, competition is either restricted or limited. KenGen, Kenya Power and Lighting, and the newly formed Geothermal Development Corporation dominate the electricity generation portion of the energy sector, which is another restricted portion of the Kenyan economy.

The primary port in Mombasa is mostly government owned but privatization efforts are underway. Beyond these sectors, competition is expected and encouraged among private enterprise in Kenya. Kenya has only recently begun to apply the concept of corporate social responsibility CSR.

The rationale for these philanthropic activities is closely tied to a sense that companies should give something back to the nation and to the communities in which they operate. Local campaigns have focused attention on labor rights and abuses in Kenyan export sectors such as textiles, cut flowers, and horticulture. Some companies are taking a positive lead on labor standards, for example Cirio Del Monte is now accredited to the SA standard. The bulk of the business community is challenged to create quality jobs by paying living wages and observing fundamental labor rights.

Given that employment creation is one of the most pressing concerns in Kenya, workplace issues, particularly trade-offs between the creation of jobs and reasonable pay and working conditions, are likely to remain at the heart of the CSR agenda. In Kenya, there are relatively few incentives for businesses to adopt responsible or pro-development practices. Few consumers are sufficiently informed or able to pay a premium for responsibly produced goods.

While some companies producing for export markets are subject to labor or environmental requirements imposed by overseas buyers, those producers selling into the domestic market are unlikely to be subject to such pressures. Even pressures within export markets are patchy, depending on the sector, product, and buyer.

A similar gap is apparent between large companies operating in the formal sector, and smaller companies or micro-enterprises, which operate below the radar. Given an economic context in which financial margins are generally very thin, companies are unlikely to adopt higher standards voluntarily unless there is a clear business incentive to do so. Before the antagonists reached a power-sharing agreement in late Februarythe violence took the lives of 1, Kenyans and displaced thousand, including thousands of farmers.

Property damage was in the millions of dollars. Tourism took a major hit: At least 20, Kenyans employed in the tourism sector lost their jobs. The violence dissuaded both tourists and potential investors from coming to Kenya. Buyers stopped considering Kenya, resulting in several factories closing. An official government investigation, the Waki Commission, named several prominent Kenyan politicians as having instigated much of the violence.

On December 15, the International Criminal Court ICC released the names of six individuals, five high-ranking government officials and one journalist, identified as suspects in the incidents of political violence. A movement to withdraw from the ICC and establish a local tribunal failed, and the ICC is expected to announce whether the 6 suspects will proceed to trial in early However, the constitution calls for a restructuring of many key national institutions and it will take years before it is fully realized.

Among other issues, implementation of police, land tenure, and judicial reforms agreed to in the power sharing agreement that ended the post-election violence has been slow. Terrorism also remains a serious problem and the U. Still, Kenya remains relatively stable despite its location in a neighborhood where there are ongoing conflicts and insurgencies. In addition to the kidnappings, several other incidents occurred in andincluding a suicide bombing of a bus in Nairobi in late Decembertwo grenade attacks on a Nairobi night club and bus stop in Octoberand a series of explosions and other attacks in refugee camps and towns near the Somalia border.

To date, these attacks have not appeared to target commercial projects or installations. As noted above, security expenditures represent a substantial operating expense for businesses in Kenya. Kenya has good relationships with all of its immediate neighbors.

It remains a leader and active participant in the EAC, which includes both commercial and political initiatives, as well as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development IGADan eight-country intergovernmental organization that coordinates efforts to mitigate drought and other regional challenges in East Africa.

Kenya is also an active member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa COMESA. Kenya and its neighbors are working together to mitigate the threats of terrorism and insecurity through African-led initiatives such as the African Union Mission in Somalia AMISOM and the nascent Eastern African Standby Brigade EASBRIG.

The current coalition government inherited economic and political corruption on a grand scale. Inthe Kibaki government enacted the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act and the Public Officers Ethics Act, setting rules for transparency and accountability, and defining graft and abuse of office.

The Public Officers Ethics Act requires certain public officials to declare their wealth and that of their spouses within 90 days from August 2, Subsequently, the government fired 23 judges for corruption. Nevertheless, opposition leaders castigated the Kibaki government for its lackluster pursuit of individuals suspected of corruption. Inthe government established the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission KACCmoved forward with the implementation of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, and launched full implementation of the Code of Ethics Act for Public Servants in The Public Procurement and Disposal Act, which established a commission to oversee all procurement matters, became law in but has proven ineffective in limiting abuse by public officials: Enacted inthe Supplies Practitioners Management Act is meant to complement the Public Procurement and Disposal Act by regulating the training, certification, and conduct of procurement officers and imposing penalties for violations.

The KACC launched several investigations in against senior government officials, including two government ministers; however, none of the cases have been prosecuted successfully, in large part due to bottlenecks in the Attorney General's Office and loopholes in the judicial system. Former Finance Minister Amos Kimunya stepped aside in early July in connection with the non-publicly tendered sale of a government-owned property, the Grand Regency Hotel, to a Libyan group.

An investigatory commission, the Cockar Commission, reportedly exonerated Kimunya of any wrongdoing. He was appointed as Minister of Trade in Januaryproviding an example of the culture of impunity in Kenya. At the end ofhe became Minister of Transportation. InPresident Kibaki irregularly reappointed the director of KACC, during whose tenure no minister-level official had ever been prosecuted, despite a number of high profile corruption scandals including Goldenberg, Anglo Leasing, Triton, and the maize scandal.

After a storm of protest from Parliament, the director of KACC lost his re-appointment vote. This historic vote was the first time that the Parliament overruled the President. Inthe KACC Board selected PLO Lumumba as director of KACC. Lumumba took a strong stance against corruption and re-opened some of the older cases, including Anglo-Leasing.

The case was dismissed on a technicality and the government has said it plans to appeal. As called for in the constitution, the KACC was replaced in by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission EACCwhich is very similar to the KACC. Hopes that the new body would be a more effective check on corrupt behavior than its predecessor have not been realized as yet; like the KACC, the EACC has investigative power but lacks prosecutorial authority.

Furthermore, it is widely believed that Parliament was uncomfortable with the pressure brought to bear by Lumumba and sought to dismiss him by disbanding the KACC. The Ibrahim Index of African Governance ranked Kenya 23 out of 53 countries on quality of governance, a rise of three places from Kenya still ranks second from the bottom among the five EAC countries, better only than Burundi.

Kenya does not have a bilateral investment trade agreement with the United States, although there are hopes that this might change sometime in the future. According to UNCTAD, Kenya has signed bilateral investment agreements with Burundi, China, Finland, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Libya, Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, although only those with Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Switzerland have entered into force as of June Kenya and its EAC partners signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement with the United States in July as a bloc.

Kenya is eligible for Overseas Private Investment Corporation OPIC programs and is a member of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency MIGA.

This represents a substantial increase in scale compared to previous OPIC activities in Kenya: Kenya's population is estimated to be roughly 41 million.

Of the approximately 21 million working Kenyans agedthe Kenya National Bureau of Statistics reports that 10 million are engaged in pastoral and small-scale rural agriculture. Kenya has an abundant supply of well-educated and skilled labor in most sectors at internationally competitive rates. The Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey released in July indicates that 7. Kenya's laws generally provide safeguards for worker rights and mechanisms to address complaints of their violation, but the Ministry of Labor and Human Resource Development lacks the resources to enforce them effectively.

In OctoberPresident Kibaki signed five labor reform laws that were drafted with ILO assistance under the U. The new laws are: The Kenyan government formally published the amended texts of the new laws in Also inthe Kenyan government created the National Labor Board to steer stakeholders to meet and propose necessary amendments to Parliament for smooth implementation of the Acts. The Board will set structures and rules as required by the Act.

Under the Labor Relations Act, a minimum of seven workers may initially apply to register a union, but the nascent union must have a minimum of 50 members to be registered. A union must also show a signed membership request from 50 percent of the workers in a workplace to force an employer to recognize the union.

There are 42 registered unions representing overworkers, approximately one quarter of the country's formal sector work force. All but six, including themember Kenya National Union of Teachers KNUTthe University's Academic Staff Union UASUand the Union of Kenyan Civil Servants UKCSare affiliated with the Central Organization of Trade Unions COTUwhich has aboutmembers. Union membership is voluntary and organized by craft rather than industry.

Consequently, workers, especially in the public sector, now enjoy greater latitude to express their grievances. While the law permits strikes, unions must notify the government days before calling a strike. During this period, the Minister of Labor and Human Resource Development may mediate the dispute, nominate an arbitrator, or refer the matter to the new Employment Relations Court, which replaced the Industrial Court.

A strike is illegal while mediation, fact-finding, arbitration, or other legal proceedings are in progress. The Labor Institutions Act of expanded the former Industrial Court and gave it the same powers as a High Court to enforce its rulings with fines or prison sentences; the new Employment Relations Court is largely the same as the Industrial Court but may also hear individual employment complaints, which previously were handled by the Ministry of Labor.

The court has penalized employers for discriminating against employees because of their union activities, usually by requiring the payment of lost wages.

Court-ordered reinstatement is not a common remedy because of the difficulty in implementation. Kenya has relatively harmonious labor relations. The number of strikes dropped significantly from 24 in to 8 inreflecting a 66 percent decrease. In4, workers were involved in strikes, representingperson-hours, compared to 36, workers involved in strikes in The number rose to 14 strikes ininvolving 8, employees andperson-hours.

The Industrial Court adjudicated cases inout of which it gave rulings, compared to cases and rulings in However, the number of cases subsequently rose to in and 1, in Late saw a notable uptick in labor unrest and at least ten unions issued strike notices in the last six months of the year alone.

A number of different unions, from postal workers to physicians, exercised their right to strike. However, in December, a call by the Central Organization of Trade Unions COTU for a general strike was roundly ignored.

By the end of the first day it was clear that the matatus had determined not to strike, unwilling to take a financial hit by stopping work over the peak holiday season. Labor law mandates the total hours worked in any two-week period should not exceed hours hours for night workers.

Negotiations between unions and management establish wages and conditions of employment. There are twelve separate minimum wage scales, varying by location, age, and skill level. Regulation of wages is part of the Labor Institutions Act, and the government establishes basic minimum wages by occupation and location, setting a minimum for monthly, daily, and hourly work in each category.

Inthe Kenyan government revised the minimum wage upwards by In many industries, workers are paid the legal minimum wage and thus benefited from this increase; however, the wage increase was outpaced by increases in the cost of living. The Productivity Center of Kenya, a tripartite institution including the Ministry of Labor, the Federation of Kenyan Employers, and COTU, is tasked to set wage guidelines for various sectors based on productivity, inflation, and cost of living indices, but the center lacks strong industry support and employers often do not follow its recommendations.

Most minimum wage workers must rely on second jobs, subsistence farming, other informal work, or the extended family for additional support. Furthermore, a large portion of employees in Kenya rely primarily on the informal sector for work and thus are not protected by minimum wage laws. Workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement generally receive a better wage and benefit package than those not covered: Kenyan law establishes detailed environmental, health and safety standards, but these tend not to be strictly enforced.

The Directorate of Occupational Health and Safety Services DOHSSa department under the Ministry of Labor and Human Resource Development, has the mandate to enforce the Occupational Safety and Health Act and its subsidiary rules. DOHSS has the authority to inspect factories and work sites, except in the EPZs, but operates with less than half of the inspectors needed to adequately cover the entire country.

DOHSS developed a program to help factories establish Health and Safety Committees and train them to conduct safety audits and submit compliance reports to DOHSS. The Directorate also maintains a register of approved and certified safety and health advisers whom employers may enlist to conduct safety audits in the factories and other places of work.

The Directorate should carry out these audits at least once a year and forward a copy of the audit report to the DOHSS within 30 days. However, according to the government, fewer than half of the largest factories had instituted Health and Safety Committees. Work permits are required for all foreign nationals who wish to work in Kenya. An applicant for an entry permit must describe the type work they will perform and will be limited to that specific activity.

Although there is no official time limit, a visitor's pass or a visa is usually valid for three months and the Immigration Department must grant applicable extensions upon proper application. Applicants may apply for work permits in any major city in Kenya, but all applications go to Nairobi for processing. Before hiring expatriate workers, businesses are required to demonstrate by an exhaustive local recruitment campaign that suitably qualified Kenyan citizens are unavailable.

Foreign firms must also sign an agreement with the government defining training arrangements intended to phase out expatriates. The is currently working to develop a skills inventory, which should lower the burden on firms hiring expatriates by replacing the labor-market testing procedure, at least for high-skill positions, with a pre-determined list of skills with shortages in the Kenya. As of Januaryhowever, the Ministry had conducted a pilot study but had not commissioned a full employment survey.

Once implemented, this inventory will allow approved employers to freely hire foreign workers with the listed skills, subject only to verification of the credentials and character of the individuals proposed for employment by the Immigration Department.

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The Immigration Department has occasionally cancelled work permits before the expiration date without giving reasons. About 70 percent of these companies are engaged in manufacturing, 16 percent in services, and 14 percent in other commercial activities. A government parastatal, the Kenya Export Processing Zone Authority EPZAregulates the zones. Of the 42 zones, the public sector develops and manages two: Of the 77 enterprises operating in EPZs, foreign investors own 57 percent and Kenyans own 19 percent, with the remainder being joint ventures.

The hectare Athi River EPZ, near Nairobi, is the largest publicly owned EPZ. A second publicly owned EPZ is being developed in Mombasa, Kenya's main seaport. The United States remained a principal market for Kenyan EPZ exports, 70 percent of which enter the United States under AGOA provisions. Apparel exports to the U. Firms operating in EPZs also export to Europe, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Panama, and Zimbabwe.

Through the 80's and 90's, the deterioration in economic performance, together with rising problems of poor infrastructure, corruption, high cost of borrowing, crime and insecurity, and lack of investor confidence in reforms generated a long period of low FDI inflow.

These figures compare poorly to neighboring Tanzania and Uganda, which have both posted higher net FDI inflows in dollar terms than Kenya each year sincewith the exception ofdespite their smaller economies. As ofthe market value of U. Poor data collection in Kenya leads to underestimating actual inflows of FDI. There is no clear mandate by any agency to collect data on FDI.

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The Central Bank of Kenya CBKthe Kenya Investment Authority KIAand the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics KNBS all collect only partial information on either balance of payments inflows or investment projects. If implementation of the new constitution and other reforms moves forward smoothly, this growing domestic investment might be bolstered by a significant increase in FDI inflows.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U. External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

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