Biz Hub Africa

The tumble of the Akasha dynasty began on November 11, 2014, when Kenyan and US agents burst into the palatial homes of the drug lord's sons in Nyali and captured them. The sons of slain drug lord Ibrahim Akasha, Baktash and Ibrahim, were detained alongside Indian felon Vijaygiri "Vicky" Goswami and Gulam Hussein of Pakistan. They spent close to six months seeking freedom on bond and two years fighting extradition to the US. Also detained was Vijay's girlfriend Mamata Kulkarni, a former Bollywood actress. She was freed without charges and returned to India. Events leading to the arrest were dramatic. A day earlier, the entire anti-narcotics unit in the Coast was transferred from the region and the skeleton that remained was not even aware that US agents and Kenyan colleagues from Nairobi were swarming on the Nyali residences to detain the suspects. It became clear within 24 hours that the four men had been arrested on the strengths of an Interpol Red Notice and i...

Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed lost out to Chad’s Moussa Mahamat in the race to become the chair of the African Union Commission in the Round Seven vote. Ms Mohamed fell to a strong onslaught fronted by countries from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) after seven rounds of voting that saw three other candidates fall by the wayside early in the voting. Amina, 56, lost to Mahamat after heads of state voted in the seventh round. Yesterday’s elections in Addis Ababa, which were delayed for two hours after the opening ceremony, took up to 3pm, eating into the time of the voting for the AUC chairperson that was scheduled to take place at 2pm The African Heads of State and Government were forced to break and resume the voting session at 4pm. The African leaders took their seats at the assembly summit at 4.30pm and the voting started. In the first round, Amina was leading with 16 votes against Chad's candidate who had 14 vote...

President Uhuru Kenyatta in consultation with Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed. Kenya has gone all out in its bid to have Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed elected to head the Africa Union Commission. Pundits in diplomatic circles say the country’s push to have Ms Mohamed at the helm of AU has much to do with the ripple effect of the now collapsed International Criminal Court (ICC) charges against President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto. According to Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi, Ms Mohamed had proved a strong force in arguing Kenya’s case at the ICC. Because of the ICC case, the Uhuruto government kicked off a strong Pan African agenda and Ms Amina pursued the goal expertly and with major successes. If elected the chairperson of the AU Commission, she will be some sort of a foreign minister for Africa, this will give Kenya good visibility and attract foreign investment,” said Mr Murungi. Murungi said Amina had the best credentials to resto...

The government of Canada has updated the settlement funds requirement for applicants under the  Federal Skilled Worker Class (FSWC) and  Federal Skilled Trades Class (FSTC) . Candidates who receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) under the  Canadian Experience Class  (CEC) are not required to show settlement funds. In addition, candidates authorized to work in Canada and who have a valid job offer from an employer in Canada are not subject to the settlement funds requirement. Together, these three Canadian immigration programs make up the federal economic programs that receive applications through the  Express Entry  selection system. The increase in the settlement funds is marginal, at just over one percent for each family size. However, it is possible that this increase could affect some candidates’ eligibility. Consequently, all candidates are encouraged to double-check the new figures to ensure that they have the required funds. The new settle...