(PHOTO CREDITS: Courtesy CITIZEN DIGITAL)

Kenyan Gov’t to be paid Ksh.538M after court throws out lawsuit by Canada-based geothermal firm

By Citizen Reporter For Citizen Digital Published on:  July 11, 2020 17:04 (EAT)
 

The Kenya Government is to be paid an estimated Ksh.538million after a lawsuit by a Canada-based geothermal firm was dismissed.

The arbitration at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes had been filed by WalAm Energy Inc, a United States/ Canadian geothermal company headquartered in Canada.

“The dispute relates to Suswa geothermal fields and was filed in ICSID in February 2015. The hearing took place in London in May 2018,” a statement from Attorney General Paul Kihara Kariuki reads.

According to the AG, WalAm Energy Inc. sued the Kenyan Government following the cancellation of its Geothermal Resources License.

He stated that WalAM Inc. contended that the Government of Kenya unlawfully revoked the Geothermal Resources License thereby breaching its obligations under the Geothermal Resources License and the Geothermal Resources Act, including, the unlawful expropriation and the violation of the minimum standard of treatment of foreign investors.

(PHOTO CREDITS: Courtesy THE STAR)

The Kenya government prevailed in an ICSID international arbitration case against WalAm Energy at Washington based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

The arbitration had been filed by the US/Canada based geothermal company called WalAm Energy Inc.

The dispute relates to Suswa geothermal fields and was filed in ICSID in February 2015 and the hearing took place in London in May 2018.

 WalAm Energy Inc. sued the government following the cancellation of its Geothermal Resources Licence.

WalAM contended that the Kenyan government unlawfully revoked the Geothermal Resources Licence, hence breaching its obligations under the Geothermal Resources License and the Geothermal Resources Act, including, the unlawful expropriation and the violation of the minimum standard of treatment of foreign investors.

(PHOTO CREDITS: Courtesy BLOOMBERG)

The U.S. and Kenya started negotiating a free-trade agreement on Wednesday, paving the way for President Donald Trump’s push for bilateral pacts in Africa.

“We look forward to negotiating and concluding a comprehensive, high-standard agreement with Kenya that can serve as a model for additional agreements across Africa,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a joint statement with Kenyan Trade Secretary Betty Maina.

Trump is moving to reset U.S. trade relationships with regions and nations across the world including Mexico, Canada, China, Europe, the U.K. In sub-Saharan Africa, he prefers bilateral agreements to the African Growth Opportunity Act, which allows about 6,500 products from 39 nations preferential access to the U.S. and expires in 2025.

“To the U.S., it’s largely symbolic,” said Gyude Moore, a Washington-based Center for Global Development senior policy fellow and a former Liberian minister. “The Trump administration gets to show a substantive outcome for its ‘Prosper Africa’ objective of doubling two-way trade.”

The U.S. sells products including aircraft and equipment to Kenya, while the East African nation ships textiles, flowers, fruit and vegetables. Kenya, which is the largest supplier of flowers to Europe, wants to rapidly increase its shipments of blooms to the U.S., Maina said by phone.

Trade between the two nations was about $1 billion last year, and Kenya isn’t among the U.S.’s top 90 trading partners, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

(PHOTO CREDITS: Courtesy DAILY NATION)

Kenya on Wednesday launched talks to seal a free trade agreement with the United States which it hopes will transform its economy, despite criticism it will undermine regional integration.

Trade Minister Betty Maina said striking the bilateral trade agreement was crucial to “secure trade and investment relations” ahead of the lapse of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) in 2025, which eliminates import tariffs on goods from eligible African nations.

Kenya hopes to promote the export of textiles, clothing, tea, coffee and fish to the US – currently Kenya’s third-largest export market and seventh overall trading partner.

More than 70 percent of Kenya’s exports are duty-free under Agoa.

“We estimate that if we can only capture five percent of the US market for these products we could increase our export revenue by more than two trillion shillings ($18.8 billion, 16.5 billion euros),” Maina said.

(PHOTO CREDITS: Courtesy THE STANDARD)

Kenya’s negotiations for a free trade deal with America has received opposition from organisations drawn from across Africa. Several trade lobby groups from Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania have written to the government, voicing their opposition to the proposed trade deal.

They argue the deal will stifle the growth of local industries and lead to dumping of cheap US imports in the region.“The agreement portends the danger of crippling sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing and disintegrating of the Kenyan economy,” states the letter signed by the 27 lobby groups.

They include the National Association of Nigerian Traders, Econews Africa, West African Institute for Trade and Agricultural Development, Kenya Human Rights Commission, Haki Madini Tanzania and the Centre for Trade Policy and Development.Other signatories include the South Sudan Human Rights Society for Advocacy, Third World Network Africa, Tax Justice Network Africa and ADIR Burundi.

(PHOTO CREDITS: Courtesy GOV.UK)

The Prime Minister spoke to Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya, this morning.

He congratulated the President on Kenya’s recent appointment as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.

The two leaders discussed the challenges posed by Coronavirus and agreed on the importance of international collaboration in the fight to tackle the virus.

They also agreed to continue our countries’ close cooperation on issues of trade and security, including in the fight against al-Shabab.

(PHOTO CREDITS: Courtesy FINANCIAL FORTUNE)

Government tax bases are shrinking as digital services and global businesses continue to expand, but there’s little global consensus on how to protect public revenues.

That challenge, according to experts could continue into the foreseeable future due to the absence of a unified approach geared towards aggressive tax plans.

Thulani Shongwe the head of African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) and a member of the Illicit Financial Flows Working Group believes more needs to be done with regard to the effective enforcement of such tax rules against companies that do not have a physical presence within the country.

“This is an important debate that has been going on for a very long time now, and the United Nations needs to play a leadership role on this front” he said.

Many African countries continue to express concerns over the tax challenges they face as their economies become increasingly digitalized while tax agencies designed for brick-and-mortar activities still oblivious to new disruptive business models.

That digitalization enables multinational enterprises (MNEs) to carry out business in African countries with no or very limited physical presence in those countries. This makes it difficult for African countries to establish taxing rights over the profits the MNE is making from the business activities it carried out in the specific African country.