Business Daily

Image sourced from Techweez The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has pressured Safaricom into dividing its dividend payouts in order to “shield the weakening shilling when the telecommunications firm seeks dollars for repatriation to foreign investors”, reports Business Daily. Kenya’s local currency has faced immense pressure in recent months following the collapse of the tourism sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to people familiar with the matter, the CBK’s push is one of the “key factors for the firm to break its tradition of making a single dividend payment in August or September” – this comes after the telco announced its first-ever interim dividend of Sh0.45 in February. “Safaricom has to buy dollars from the market then repatriate the dividends. The dollar demand associated w...