Group Chairman’s Statement
Dear Stakeholders,
On behalf of the Board of Directors, it is my pleasure to present to you the Group’s financial and nonfinancial performance report for the year ended 31st December, 2022.
Economic and Business Environment
2022 was a very difficult year from an economic and business perspective. The major factors that contributed to this economic slump in East Africa included the ballooning wage bill, the devaluation of the currency and increase in public debt.
The economies of East Africa largely contracted with the growth in Kenya decelerating more than earlier estimates from 7.6% in 2021 to 4.8% in 2022; Uganda’s GDP was at 4.6% in 2022 compared to 6.0% in 2021 and Rwanda’s GDP shrunk from 10% in 2021 to 6.9% in 2022. Tanzania’s economy marginally grew from 4.3% in 2021 to 4.6% in 2022. This was caused by commodity price shocks resulting from drought and war, decreased disposal incomes and reduced spending by private sector during the elections.
The situation in Kenya, which contributes 70% of the Group turnover, was made worse with the country experiencing the worst drought in 40 years impacting more than 5 million people resulting in devastating effects on food security and livelihoods. This led to stunted growth in sectors of the economy that are our major advertising clients. Agriculture which contributes 21.2% of Kenya’s GDP decelerated from -0.4% in 2021 to -1.6% in 2022. The education sector was also negatively impacted with more than 7,000 private schools shutting down in the last 4 years, highlighting the struggles of such a major sector amid economic hardships caused by theCovid-19 pandemic.