The Kenya Business and Economics Times

  An unmistakably audible sigh of relief was heaved across the world last week when, for the first time since the beginning of the Russia-Ukrainian conflict, global oil prices fell back below $100 amid ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine. This comes after a month of heightened anxiety over the rising oil prices driven by the Russia-Ukrainian conflict which saw per barrel oil prices surge close to record levels of about $146 per barrel set in 2008, propelled majorly by concerns over supply disruption and the impact of economic sanctions by the West on pugilistic Russia. Already, morbid fear was starting to grip the world amid speculation that the US and British bans on Russian oil imports- and pressure on Europe to follow suit were likely to prompt a supply shock equivalent to the 1979 oil crisis, which led to a severe global recession. To really understand this, we have to put the 1979 oil crisis into context. In January of 1978, Iranian youth, students and recent immi...

  Presently, there are two topics that are the mainstays of any conversation by typical Kenyans: the first is of course the country’s political discourse while the second is the skyrocketing costs of living. It is not uncommon to hear a Kenyan lament, Uchumi imeharibika.   On Monday, the 14 th of March, the Energy Petroleum Authority (EPRA) released the petroleum review prices for the period 15 th March to 14 th April which saw diesel and petrol prices hit a 10 year high. Diesel and Super petrol jumped by sh5 a litre to sh134.72 and sh115.60 in Nairobi respectively. This increase is bound to cause cataclysmic effects on the costs of living. In response to the petroleum review, matatu owners yesterday threatened to hike bus fares. Additionally, the transportation costs for businesses will shoot and this increase in transportation costs will certainly be passed on to the consumer. It is almost a given that most food processing industries such as bakeries, maize millers ...