In March 2021, the Ministry of Information Communication and Technology (MoICT) published amendments to the equity participation requirement contained in the National ICT Policy Guidelines, 2020 (ICT Policy) that was gazetted in August 2020 (the Amendment Notice) that are aimed at providing clarity to the initial policy.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, through a special Gazette Notice No. 3076 published on 29 March 2021 (the Gazette Notice), appointed a taskforce primarily assigned with undertaking a comprehensive review and analysis of all power purchase agreements (PPA) entered into between various independent power producers (IPPs) and the Kenya Power and Lighting Company Limited (KPLC) (the Taskforce).
Article 20 of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement establishes a Dispute Settlement Mechanism (the DSM) that will be administered by the Protocol on Rules and Procedures on the Settlement of Disputes (the Protocol). The Protocol entered into force on 20 May 2019 together with the AfCFTA Agreement, the Protocol on Trade in Goods, and the Protocol on Trade in Services. Notably, the wording of the Protocol borrows heavily from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU).
The Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Energy, through Gazette Notice No. 2219 published on 12 March 2021, appointed a committee primarily assigned the review and renegotiation the existing power purchase agreements entered into between various independent power producers and the Kenya Power and Lighting Company Limited (KPLC) (the Standing Committee).
Status of the Agreement
On 3 November 2020, Kenya and the UK signed the Kenya-UK Economic Partnership Agreement (the EPA) to continue the preferential zero tariff and zero quota trade of goods between the two countries.
Following the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 (the Constitution) the Government of Kenya has been reviewing policies and legislation to align them with the Constitution. The Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife (the Ministry) has released a new Wildlife Policy, 2020 (the Wildlife Policy). The Wildlife Policy updates the existing wildlife policy, published in 1975, and aims to align the current wildlife conservation and management practices and legislation with:
Currently, Kenya does not have a legal framework governing digital borrowing. However, with the increasing clamour to rein in rogue operators in the industry, Parliament has stepped in to introduce regulatory supervision of the sector through the Central Bank of Kenya (the CBK).
Following several debates, the Kenyan Parliament on 9 March 2021 finally ratified the Kenya-UK Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) which seeks to ease long-term trade between the two countries for a 25-year duration. Through an explanatory memorandum analysing the EPA, some of its expected benefits include an increase in market access to the UK, greater foreign direct investment as well as a gradual opening of Kenyan markets.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis have caused significant financial distress to many businesses in Kenya and across the world. Euler Hermes,[1] which maintains the Global Insolvency Index, predicts that the pandemic is creating an “insolvency time bomb” and estimates that global business insolvencies are set to increase by more than 35% by 2021.[2]
Just over a year after the enactment of the Data Protection Act, 2019 (the DPA) Ms. Immaculate Kassait, the former Director of Voter Education, Partnerships and Communications at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission was recently appointed as the first Data Commissioner of Kenya (the Data Commissioner) by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
