Nairobi's Satellite Towns Grow, Tiktok Faces Regulatory Onslaughts

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Kenyan Wall Street April 21, 2024

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What's Inside

• Real Estate in Nairobi’s Satellite Towns Soars
• TikTok’s Regulatory Onslaught: Ban in the US, Quar …
• Don't forget to attend these events...
• Headlines You Might Have Missed
• Interview of the Week

Real Estate in Nairobi’s Satellite Towns Soars

Ksh. 1 Million invested at the end of 2007 would have been worth KES. 11.79M if invested in land in Nairobi Satellite. Source: Hass Consult Land Price Index

Although Nairobi’s high activity suburbs still attract the highest land prices and rents, 9 out of 14 satellite towns are now making double digit price gains annually, led by Ongata Rongai at 16 percent, according to a recent report by real estate firm Hass Consult.

• In the towns, Kiserian, Limuru and Ongata Rongai led quarterly price gains at 9.4 percent, 8.4 percent and 7.8 percent respectively in Q1 2024.
• The average value of land in 14 highest activity satellite towns has risen from KSh 2.4 million in December 2007 to KSh 28.8 million in March 2024.
• The average value of land in Nairobi’s 18 highest activity suburbs has gone up from KSh 30.3 million in December 2007 to KSh 203.7 million in March 2024.

“Satellite towns are driving the revival of land as a competitive asset class with the average annual growth of over 10 percent,” Sakina Hassanali, Head of Development, Consulting and Research at Hass Consult said.

In the first quarter of 2024, the average value of an acre of land in Nairobi’s Upperhill was KSh 480.9mn-the highest among suburb bracket- while land in Karen remained the lowest among the high activity suburbs, averaging KSh 66.6mn per acre followed by Langata at KSh 82.3mn.

Other Highlights

In the Nairobi Suburb Property Index, apart from Muthaiga and Ridgeways which recorded negative 2.4 per cent and negative 1.3 per cent rental price decline respectively, all other suburbs saw an increase in rental price in the first quarter 2024.

• The?Hass Property?price index for Q1 2024 shows a 2.7 percent growth in asking prices across all property despite high interest rates that have raised financing costs for developers and buyers.
• Ridgeways and Loresho led suburbs in quarterly price expansion at 2.9 percent and 2.7 percent respectively, while in satellite towns, the top performing areas were Juja at 3.4 percent, Ngong at 2.7 percent and Limuru at 2.2 percent.
• Properties in Nairobi’s Westlands area remained attractive in the first quarter of 2024 with rental prices in the district increasing 5.8 per cent during the period under review.

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TikTok’s Regulatory Onslaught: Ban in the US, Quarterly Reports in Kenya

A high-ranking official in the ICT ministry told the National Assembly last week that TikTok will provide compliance reports with the Kenyan government every three months.?

• The Principal Secretary for ICT, John Tanui, said that this was part of the agreement the Kenyan government and the social media app made last year.
• According to the PS, the Ministry considers regulation better than a total ban.
• In Africa, Somalia and Senegal have banned the app, while other countries such as Uganda and Egypt are considering similar restrictions.

“To facilitate easy community reporting, TikTok is required to share quarterly compliance reports with the Ministry, clearly showing content removed and reasons for the same,” said PS John Tanui.?

Last week, the US affirmed its decision to ban TikTok unless its parent company, ByteDance, divests its unit in the country. In a statement in the lead up to the latest vote, TikTok outlined the platform’s scale in the country: it has 170 million users, 7 million businesses, and contributes $24bn to the economy every year.

As the app continues to face crackdown globally, pundits are concerned whether calls for regulation are meant to give greater control to the governments.

Don't forget to attend these events...

Finnovex East Africa

Glee Hotel, Nairobi.

April 24, 2024

The AmCham Business Summit

April 24-25, 2024

TEMS Africa ICT expo 2024

Sarit Expo Center, Nairobi.

April 25-26, 2024

Headlines You Might Have Missed

• Unease among civil servants as Kenya moves to reduce wage bill by 35% against revenue by 2028.
• Trader Terence Hove analyses whether 2024 is the year of Gold and Nasdaq100 and cryptocurrency with the outlook being likely cuts in US interest rates.
• Ride-hailing app Safeboda has introduce the “electric boda’ option in its menu, as the sector broadens mobility options for customers.
• Donald Trump Leads Joe Biden with over 63% among Kenyans in recent TKWS poll asking “If you were voting in the upcoming US election, who are you casting a ballot for?”
• Kenyan retailers are expecting their April-June sales to increase after the sector recorded low business in the first quarter of this year, according to ILAM Consumer Spending Index for the first quarter of 2024.
• Digital lenders are against the 20% excise duty charged on interest and fees, on top of other taxes, arguing that it has raised the cost of credit and stifled innovation in the fintech sector. This week, read about why lenders argue that the tax will be counterproductive, only on The Kenyan Wall Street.

Interview of the Week

https://youtu.be/aAgkbIvtUaU