Is there no end to the SME sector woes?

First it gets beaten black and blue by the unintended consequences of the Rate Cap Law.

While still down, it then gets kicked in the jewels by Covid related business shutdowns.

It can barely stand back up, yet we are now slapping it with the minimum Tax on Turnover, not to mention numerous recently introduced license fees that set high entry barriers.

Could it be that some interested parties are deliberately killing it off? Perhaps the multinationals, or the local billionaires?

https://www.standardmedi...-steel-firm-hits-a-snag

Athi River steel under receivership

Moody Report
-Negative 2021 outlook for Nigeria 🇳🇬, South Africa, Kenya and entire Sub-Saharan African region as debt costs will intensify post pandemic

"Most Sub saharan african governments' debt burdens will stabilize at materially higher levels in 2021 with the average debt burden for the region at around 64% of GDP in the near to medium term "says Kelvin Dalrymple, VP & Senior Credit Officer

Report's Highlights
-Tourism dependent economies like Kenya, Mauritius and Tanzania will particularly see a slow recovery
-Low domestic revenue mobilization will continue to plaque SSA sovereigns particularly Nigeria, Ethiopia 🇪🇹 and Ghana 🇬🇭.

"Contingent liabilities from state owned enterprises also pose additional risk."

"We do not expect debt burdens to come down in the foreseeable future as revenue generation capacity remains weak.Higher debt loads, lower government revenue and higher interest costs will increasingly challenge debt affordability.

-Shock to export and foreign exchange generating sectors will continue to weigh on current account imbalances.
-External vulnerability stress will rise as foreign reserves decline, further exacerbating economic challenges

I think KCB/NBK and Coop/JBB were CBK engineered.

I&M is looking at $23mn which is reasonable for I&M which has a modest dividend payout. It seems this discussion was on for a while.

Equity cancelled the dividend and that was equivalent to the BCDC purchase. Cash neutral. We know this deal was going on for a while.