Property prices in Nairobi are soaring, and Somali pirates are getting the blame.
The hike in real estate prices in the Kenyan capital has prompted a public outcry and a government investigation this month into property owned by foreigners. The investigation follows allegations that millions of dollars in ransom money paid to Somali pirates are being invested in Kenya, Somalia’s southern neighbor and East Africa’s largest economy.
Even as housing prices have dropped sharply in the United States, prices in Nairobi have seen two- and three-fold increases the last half decade. Read the rest of this entry »
Bourse Africa, a unit of Financial Technologies, plans to set up an electronic exchange to trade African commodities futures by the second half of next year, Director of Strategy Adam Gross said. 
Kenya, East Africa’s largest economy, plans to begin operating a commodities exchange by December so that farmers can act on better price information, improving incomes for rural residents.
Seacom, the $600 million underwater fibre-optic cable, has opened the prospect of much greater competition in one of the developing world’s most expensive and limited telecommunications markets. 
Safaricom Ltd., Kenya’s biggest mobile-phone company, released what it describes as the world’s first solar-powered mobile phone, Chief Executive Officer Michael Joseph said. 
Tadiran Telecom, a leading global IP business telephony and communications supplier, has signed a distribution agreement with Teledata Technologies Ltd. This collaboration leverages the extensive expertise of both players in order to target the vast opportunities of the African telecommunications market.
KenCall, a Kenyan call center company, is planning an initial public offering (IPO) on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) or the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in 2011 to expand its operations in Africa.
“We want to become the pre-dominant player in sub-Saharan Africa and then go global,” Nicholas Nesbitt said. The company aims to generate sales of $10 million this year, Nesbitt said. 
