KENYA

Kenya's benchmark AA coffee grade fetched a new all-time high of $1,022 per 50 kg on Tuesday, reflecting a trend of soaring commodity prices due to political upheavals in north Africa.

Kenya's Centum Investment Co is poised to tap the booming property market in east Africa to meet the growing demand of the bulging middle class, its chief executive officer said on Tuesday.

New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram has been cleared to travel to the World Cup after sustaining an injury before the team's one-day match against Pakistan on Saturday.

Kenya has halted plans to build a toll road through its capital, its roads minister said on Thursday, a day after World Bank said it would not fund the project as it did not comply with its financing standards.

A political storm in Kenya over the presidential appointment of top judicial figures is likely to rage on after a court declared the nominations illegal, and the speaker of parliament declined to rule on the controversy.

The International Monetary Fund on Monday approved, as expected, a $509 million credit facility to help Kenya boost its international reserves.

Kenya's inflation rate rose to 5.42 percent year on year in January from 4.51 percent in December on higher food prices, rents and school tuition costs, a source at the statistics office said on Monday.

Kenya's biggest sugar miller, Mumias Sugar Company on Monday forecast it could earn 2 billion shillings from a new ethanol distillation plant once it is in production next year.

Shares in Rwandan brewer Bralirwa jumped 62 percent on their market debut as the country's stock exchange opened for business on Monday.

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Saturday declared the appointment of top judicial figures by the country's president null and void because he had not been consulted.

The African Union said on Friday it would form a panel of heads of state to solve the leadership crisis in Ivory Coast which would come up with a legally binding settlement within one month.

Kenya's central bank cut its benchmark lending rate on Thursday for the first time since July, in a surprise move seen as a bid to curb rising Treasury bill and bond yields.

Canada's Africa Oil Corp said on Wednesday it had completed a farmout agreement for three east African exploration blocks to London-listed Tullow Oil Plc, which now holds a 50 percent stake in each of them.

The average price of the top Kenyan tea grade edged higher to $3.83 per kg at this week's auction from $3.81 per kg at the previous sale, although many lower quality teas remained unsold, brokers said.

The Kenyan shilling ended unchanged on Monday against the dollar but is expected to come under pressure from end-month corporate dollar demand while stocks eased as investors sold off Kenya Power and Lighting.

Favourable weather and currencies boosted Kenya's 2010 tea crop and export earnings to record levels, and the sector overtook horticulture as the country's top hard currency earner, officials said on Monday.

The Kenyan shilling was barely moved against the dollar on Friday as traders squared positions but they said high oil prices were likely to stoke dollar demand and weigh on the local currency next week.

Plans for a delayed 300 MW wind farm in Kenya can now proceed after lenders agreed to rely on the government's assurance that it backed the plan, instead of proper guarantees, the chairman of the project said.

Safaricom's second tranche of its five-year medium-term note worth 4.5 billion shillings was fully subscribed, the Kenyan mobile phone operator's chief executive said on Thursday.

Mauritius private equity group Ciel Capital plans to venture into Kenya, east Africa's biggest economy, in the first half and is in talks with key players in various sectors, a senior partner said.

Barclays Bank of Kenya, majority-owned by British lender Barclays, is cutting 200 management-level staff, or about 5 percent of its workforce, to cut costs by an unspecified amount.