News Kenya Koast: Kenya withdraws financial impropriety case against Flutterwave
The Kenyan government has withdrawn the financial impropriety case against Nigerian fintec company Flutterwave.
News Kenya Koast: Stigma and poverty stymie cancer treatment as rates rise in Kenya
But the most painful part of the librarian's cancer journey has been the crippling financial burden, with each round of chemotherapy costing 35,000 Kenyan shillings ($280.11), more than a month and a ...
News Kenya Koast: Stigma, poverty impede cancer treatment in Kenya
STORY: Like many people in Kenya, Sperenza Maina didn’t believe it when she was diagnosed with breast cancer about five years ago."I was in denial, I didn't tell anybody. I just kept quiet…”That meant the librarian delayed important treatment.But the worst part, she says - was the crippling financial burden.Each round of chemotherapy costs $280.... more than a month and a half of an average salary in the East African country.Maina had to borrow money.People started avoiding her calls.“But anyway, there are those who have been there for me and I just thank them." // “I believe; people in Kenya don't die because they have cancer, they die because they don't have money for medication."As is the case in much of Africa, most cancer cases in Kenya are diagnosed at an advanced stage.That means treatment options are limited and families make huge financial sacrifices…. according to a World Bank report.It said less than 20% of Kenya’s 53 million people are enrolled in the national health insurance scheme… meaning healthcare costs push more than a million of them into poverty each year.And as the country gets wealthier overall, cancer diagnoses are on the rise.The annual incidence increased by almost a third between 2012 and 2018, according to health ministry data.Improved life expectancy, and increasing risky behaviors like unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, alcohol abuse and smoking contribute to the problem, according to the ministry.But stigma makes it all worse.Dr. Bridgette Nyabuto at Nairobi’s radiotherapy and cancer center says women are afraid to get a diagnosis for common cancers such as cervical and breast.“There is a lot of stigma associated with cancer of the cervix. We have to factor in that a lot of our cultural backgrounds find any topic to do with sex, the female reproductive system, a bit taboo. So what tends to happen, a lot of these women have early symptoms of the disease but fear coming out to have them attended to."As for Maina, even though her cancer has come back, she said she’s feeling more hopeful after overcoming her fears and financial woes.“I know that having cancer is not a death sentence. You have to live to tell the story”
News Kenya Koast: Kenya
financial services and formal job market. The more than 8,000 community members - who have settled in Kenya’s coastal counties of Kwale, Kilifi, Mombasa and Lamu - have been stateless for decades.
News Kenya Koast: Kenya to reduce fiscal deficit
Kenya's capital, that the government targets to reduce the fiscal deficit from 6.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of the 2021/22 financial year which ended in June 2022 to 5.8 ...
News Kenya Koast: Kenya’s financial markets outlook
The Central Bank of Kenya's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) maintained the Central Bank Rate (CBR) at 8.75 percent following its meeting on Monday.The MPC meeting took place against the background of a weak global growth outlook, the decline in global commodity prices, easing inflationary pressures, geopolitical tensions, and persistent uncertainties, and measures taken by authorities to address these developments.During the meeting of the...
News Kenya Koast: Kenya's bonds rise as Supreme Court upholds election result
Kenya's sovereign bonds rose on Monday after the country's Supreme Court upheld the victory of William Ruto in the Aug. 9 presidential election and rejected opposition challenges. Bond prices, which ...
News Kenya Koast: Kenya's forex reserve falls to a 5-year low as shilling weakens
This is the third week Kenya's FX reserves are below the regional benchmark. Kenya's debt increases by Sh40 billion anytime the shilling drops by a unit against the dollar. Efforts by the Central Bank ...
News Kenya Koast: Kenya's forex reserve dips further as shilling hits new low
•Kenya's reserves have fallen by at least Sh275 billion from $9.63 billion it was same time last year.weakens•Reserves dropped Sh3 billion on Friday to $7.34 billion (Sh887 billion) billion from $7.37 ...
