The World Bank will no longer finance upstream oil and gas projects after 2019, apart from certain gas projects in the poorest countries in exceptional circumstances, it said on Tuesday, drawing praise from environmental groups.

U.S. President Donald Trump fired back at British Prime Minister Theresa May over her criticism of his retweeting of anti-Muslim videos, saying that she should rather focus on the radical terrorism in Britain. “Theresa @theresamay, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine,” Trump tweeted.

Indonesian authorities have raised alarm over an imminent major eruption of Bali's Mount Agung, whose evacuation zone around the volcano has widened. Video footage shared by the disaster agency showed cold lava flows (lahar) at a number of locations on the mountainside. Lahar carrying mud and large boulders can destroy houses, bridges and roads in its path.

The Government is targeting a budget deficit of 6.9 per cent in the 2016/17 fiscal year.

Barclays Bank of Kenya has earmarked Sh30 billion for lending to small and mid-sized business as it seeks to catch up with profit growth at rivals.

Financial group CFC Stanbic Holdings pre-tax profit for first-half 2015 fell 34 per cent to Sh2.87 billion for the period ending June 30, 2015

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has delayed commencement of trading in derivatives, which enables investors to hedge against risk, to this quarter from the earlier target date of the second quarter to adequately prepare the market for the launch, it said Wednesday.

The shilling weakened yesterday due to importer dollar demand from oil firms and comments by the Central Bank reiterating that it had no preferred level for the local currency.

"I have seen oil companies buying (dollars). They are taking advantage. They had budgeted at a slightly higher rate of 102, 103. So the current rates are quite appealing for any buyer," a trader at one commercial bank said.

The shilling fell shortly after the Central Bank (CBK) injected dollars into the market Tuesday for the second consecutive trading session.

A new mining law, which will give the Government a 10 per cent stake in new projects and aims to spur growth of the sector, should be in place by September.

With an active presence in several African countries, Mahindra and Mahindra hopes the expansion will help spur a 10-fold increase in business over the next five to seven years.

The shilling weakened yesterday, reversing the gains it made a day ago but traders said it was likely to come under pressure in the days ahead due to the end-month demand for dollars from importers.

Listed marketing services group, Scangroup Limited, has changed its name to WPP Scangroup Limited to reflect its majority shareholder.

Safaricom has reported an increase in profit after tax by 38 per cent to Sh31.9b for the year ended March 31, 2015.

The steady weakening of the shilling continued yesterday, propelled by a slight increase in dollar demand from the energy sector.

Kenya Commercial Bank group's first-quarter 2015 pretax profit rose 12 percent to 6.23 billion shillings ($65.54 million) from the same period last year, helped by higher interest income, the bank said on Wednesday.

Kenya’s shilling was flat at three-year lows yesterday but traders were anticipating a weakening bias for the local currency with energy companies seeking to buy dollars.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) will work with three banks to set up a clearing house for its planned offering of derivative instruments from the second quarter of this year, its chief executive said on Friday.

Africa-focused oil explorer Taipan Resources is seeking at least $10 million (Sh910m) in damages from EAX, its partner in a Kenyan oil field and a subsidiary of London-listed oil firm Afren.

Kenya’s raw sugar production is expected to rise 4 per cent to 617,039 tonnes in 2015, buoyed by extra factory capacity and improved supply of cane, the industry regulator has said.

Uganda’s three largest sugar refiners are expected to produce 11.5 per cent more this year, helped by an expanded cane acreage, an industry official said yesterday.

Centum Investment will start building a coal power plant after a challenge for the award of the tender by a rival bidder was rejected by a tribunal.

Kenya's earnings from its coffee exports rose 17 per cent to $254.2 million (Sh22.9b) during the 2013/14 (Oct-Sept) crop season due to improved production and higher prices, the industry regulator said on Thursday.

A special sitting of the National Assembly was Thursday disrupted when chaos broke out during a session in which the Security Amendments Bill was to go for third reading.

The shilling strengthened Thursday when the Central Bank sold dollars after the currency touched a new three-year low earlier in the session, traders said.

Islamist al Shabaab militants killed 36 non-Muslim workers at a quarry in northeast Kenya on Tuesday, beheading at least two of them in revenge for Kenyan military action against the group in neighbouring Somalia.

Local authorities along the coast plan to introduce new taxes on mining and oil exploration despite resistance from the country’s central government.

Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) has given preliminary approval to a joint bid by Safaricom and Airtel for the mobile assets of Essar Kenya and the final nod could be given next month.

Standard Chartered plans to hire at least 1,000 more staff in Africa in the next couple of years, an increase of more than 10 per cent, even as its expansion elsewhere has slowed.

An upward revision of Kenya’s economic output shows that the country’s economic reforms are paying off, with the potential for future growth to exceed 6 per cent a year, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) official has said.

The shilling lost ground against the dollar yesterday, after companies bought the US currency to avoid excessive exposure to the shilling over concerns about how the Government would fund its new national Budget.

The government is set to enact laws to regulate use of petroleum revenues following continued oil discoveries in the country.

Uganda’s economic growth should accelerate to just above 6 per cent in the next fiscal year through June 2015 despite the risk of reduced foreign aid and unrest in the key export market of South Sudan, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday.