Treasury to create Sh7bn peace-keeping fund

Published

2 months ago

January 29, 2023

Treasury to set up Sh7 billion peacekeeping fund

Friday, January 27, 2023

Kenya will set up a Shilling 7 billion fund for peacekeeping operations after delays in United Nations reimbursements for several missions abroad.

Finance Minister Njuguna Ndung’u has released regulations establishing the National Peace Support Operations Fund for peacekeeping missions.

The fund’s initial capital is Shillings 7 billion, with Shillings 1 billion being approved by the National Assembly, with the remainder coming from repayments from the various peacekeeping missions.

Also read: Treasury exceeds spending by Sh65.5 billion in first quarter

“The object and purpose of the fund is to provide funds in support of the participation in peace support operations by the Kenya Defense Forces, the National Police Service or any other organization in accordance with Article 240(8)(a) of the Constitution,” reads the Public Financial Management Regulation (National Peace Support Operations Fund), 2022.

Prof. Njuguna published the rules on December 14 last year.

While Kenya is to be compensated by the UN for its contribution to peacekeeping operations, the UN has been slow to approve payment and the government is being forced to foot the bill.

The establishment of the kitty will ensure that such delays do not lead to fiscal pressures on the national government as the Ministry of Defense budget falls from Sh133.9 billion in fiscal 2021/22 to Sh128.4 billion in the current financial calendar at the end of June .

The fund will be used to fund the establishment of equipment parks, an area designated by the fund’s highest decision-making body, the Defense Council, for the storage of equipment and assets used for the peacekeeping mission.

Money from this fund is also used to purchase training facilities and infrastructure and to fund capacity-building programs, including training.

The money raised will also fund research, monitoring and evaluation of activities related to the peacekeeping mission.

The Ministry of Defense says on its website that every deployment, Kenya spends significant amounts of money preparing troops, maintaining readiness and deploying expensive equipment in support of specific mandates.

Although the UN is expected to reimburse Kenya for approved missions, the ministry adds, such resources may not be immediately available, particularly given that they may not have been budgeted in advance.

“The AMISOM operation was such a case due to the lengthy nature of reimbursement negotiations,” the ministry said.

Also read: Treasury banking on VAT in Sh3.8 trillion revenue growth plan

Kenyan forces joined the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in 2012, joining forces with troops from Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti in the fight against the Al Shabaab terror group.

Currently, Kenya is in 10 countries for peacekeeping missions.

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Rocket Lab targets Neutron launch price to challenge SpaceX

Published

31 mins ago

March 25, 2023

Melissa Bagwell

rocket lab is building a larger, reusable launch vehicle called the Neutron and is targeting a price near $50 million per launch to challenge it Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

“We are positioning Neutron to compete head-to-head with the Falcon 9,” Rocket Lab’s chief financial officer Adam Spice said earlier this week while speaking at a Bank of America event in London on Tuesday.

The company announced Neutron when it went public in 2021, with Spice saying the rocket remains on track to debut in 2024 its fourth quarterly report last month, Rocket Lab said it has begun production of Neutron’s first armor structures, as well as construction of the launch pad for the rocket. The company plans to conduct the first “hot-fire test” of an Archimedes engine that will power Neutron “by the end of the year,” Spice said.

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SpaceX is touting a $67 million Falcon 9 launch, and Spice says Rocket Lab is aiming to match that on a cost-per-kilogram basis for satellite customers. That means Neutron is “targeting a launch service cost of $50 million to $55 million,” Spice said.

Spice also noted that Rocket Lab expects to fly the reusable Neutron boosters “10 to 20 times” each, within range of the current reusable performance of a Falcon 9 booster.

“We ultimately expect margins on Neutron launches to be in the range of about 50%,” added Spice. He estimated the commodity cost of each neutron at $20–$25 million, with “nearly half of that” coming from the rocket’s upper, non-reusable second stage.

Additionally, with SpaceX pushing hard to develop its massive Starship rocket, Spice alluded to the potential for the company to veer away from flying Falcon 9 missions.

“We don’t have any hard data on that, but if that were to happen, that would certainly be an incredibly optimistic thing for Neutron,” Spice said.

In the meantime, Spice said Rocket Lab aims to maintain its position as the “dominant player” in the small satellite launch market sub-sector with its Electron vehicles. The company expects to launch three Electron missions in the second quarter, two of which have already been completed, and is “on track” to launch 15 missions this year, Spice said.

More than rockets

Spice also stressed to the Bank of America audience that Rocket Lab is “much more than” just a rocket company. In fact, the company’s acquisitions and expansion into building satellite components and spacecraft have become the majority of its quarterly revenue.

“All of this leads to the biggest opportunity in space that’s really on the application side,” Spice said.

As CEO Peter Beck has previously notedRocket Lab’s goal is to create an “end-to-end platform for customers” who need space-based services. Spice said the company wants to operate satellites and “deliver data to our customers and develop a recurring revenue stream from it,” essentially eliminating the need for other companies to build and operate their own satellites.

“A lot of the companies that we are [launching to orbit on Electron] are very unnatural space facility owners,” Spice said, adding that “the best space facility owner is someone who can launch.”

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Business

Rivian Automotive wants more engineers working at its manufacturing plant

Published

32 mins ago

March 25, 2023

Melissa Bagwell

Electric vehicle company Rivian plans to go public — News from Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) is reportedly planning to move more of its manufacturing engineering team to its Normal, Illinois manufacturing facility to accelerate production of electric trucks and SUVs

Sources indicate a will to reorganize May be announced Soon, a “significant portion” of the engineering team working on manufacturing issues will relocate to either the Illinois site or Rivian’s headquarters in Irvine, California. That would be a departure from the pandemic years, when engineers could work from different parts of the US. Rivian is just one of many companies trying to improve efficiency by having employees work remotely and geographically.

Rivian Automotive (RIVN) currently has around 14,000 employees.

Shares of Rivian (RIVN) closed 0.66% on Friday but still managed a gain of more than 7% for the week.

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Tesla Stock: Cathie Wood Sells $27 Million Of TSLA To Buy The Dip On Coinbase, Block

Published

33 mins ago

March 25, 2023

Melissa Bagwell

Fund manager Cathie Wood and her firm ARK Invest Management sold millions of Tesla shares on Thursday, inviting shares of Tesla coin base (COIN) as the crypto exchange stock fell after receiving a Securities and Exchange Commission warning.

Tesla Stock Sale

Wood unloaded a total of 139,642 Tesla (TSLA) shares on Thursday were valued at $26.84 million based on the closing price of 192.22, according to an investor update on Thursday night. The company sold 119,630 shares of its ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) and 20,012 shares from the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW).

Coinbase stock crashes as SEC turns aggressive

The sale ended a Tesla buying streak for Wood. Added ARC Tesla shares valued at $12.6 million on March 8th after buying 1.3 million shares in December and January, according to Barron’s data. Tesla shares closed Thursday 5.5% higher than their March 8 close and 1% below their Dec. 1 close. Tesla stock is up 76% so far this year.

TSLA shares tumbled 0.9% on Friday.

Buy the Coinbase Dip

Meanwhile, ARK Invest added 268,928 shares of Coinbase worth $17.83 million based on Thursday’s close of 66.30. ARK added 230,599 shares to ARKK and 38,329 shares to ARKW, respectively.

COIN shares fell 14% on Thursday after the company announced it received a Wells Notice from the SEC late Wednesday, warning that the regulator intends to recommend enforcement action for potential securities violations. Coinbase and its executives remain firm in their belief that their products are compliant.

On March 21, Wood sold 160,887 shares of Coinbase from the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) to mark ARK’s first COIN stock sale of the year.

COIN stock rose 2.3% on Friday. Coinbase shares have rocketed 101% year-to-date. Still, shaken by crypto panics, Coinbase stock remains well below its all-time high of 368.90 set on Nov. 9, 2021.

Wood and ARK also bought 320,557 shares of the payment processor block (Q), valued at $19.84 million based on Thursday’s close of 61.88. SQ stock slipped 2% on Friday.

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