Friday, October 28, 2005

Last October Weekend

Kenya not safe
Another travel advisory against Kenya has been issued by the US state department warning on the potential for violence in association with Kenya's upcoming constitutional referendum on November 21. Note that the number of visitors from the US to Kenya was up by 45% in the first half of the year.

Local online classifieds
In the tradition of craiglist, city search, city guide, and E-Bay’s Kijiji comes Nairobist - short for {Nairobi's list} a free service that connects the local community in Nairobi and also home of NairobiWiki. Postings can include CVs, for sale, gigs/events, housing, jobs, personals and services. (Was tipped to it by a service offering sponsorship for free GMAT/GRE exams

Another cool site on tourism mainly at the Kenya coast.

Kenyan hip hop documentary
"Hip Hop Colony" is a documentary detailing the art form of hip hop in Kenya. View the trailer online.

Britain divests
British investment giant CDC has offered a block of 6,245,482 shares of Housing Finance Company of Kenya (HFCK) for sale at Kshs.11.00 per share. According to the Daily Nation this follows regulatory pressure from local banking authorities.

graduate opportunity
Barclays Leadership Programme is seeking talented, ambitious, individuals to apply for its two years session beginning in January 2006. Applicants should be self-driven motivated individuals who can demonstrate initiative, and innovation, and who have attained 1st class or upper 2nd honours from recognized universities in various degrees - preferably business/finance related studies (also additional post graduate degrees are an advantage).

Apply online for this graduate opportunity (you’ll need pen, paper, ID/passport number as an online assessment is included in the application) by November 4th. Results of assessment will eb e-mailed within 2 days, while only sucessful applicants will be contacted after November 18.

Give your thumbs a rest
Safaricom’s 50% daytime discount on SMS comes to an end this weekend. After Monday, all local SMS will revert back to Kshs. 5 per message.

Sports Weekend
Local horse racing, and numerous golf tournaments.

Saturday 29 October
2:30 PM SS3 Tottenham vs. Arsenal & SS6 Wigan Athletic vs. Fulham
5:00 PM SS3 Chelsea vs. Blackburn & SS6 Liverpool vs. West Ham
7:15 PM SS3 Boro vs. Man Utd
9:00 PM SS7 La Liga:: Real Betis vs. Real Madrid

Sunday 30 October
7:00 PM SS3 FA Premiership:: West Brom vs. Newcastle
11 PM SS3 La Liga:: Barcelona vs. Sociedad

Tuesday 01 November
10:15 PM UEFA: Liverpool vs. Anderlecht & Inter vs. Porto & PSV Eindhoven vs. Milan,

Wednesday 02 November
10:15 PM UEFA:: Arsenal vs. Sparta & Benfica vs. Villarreal & Lille vs. Man Utd,

Next weekend:
Saturday: Rugby returns with Wales vs. NZ, Argentina vs. SA, and France vs. Australia
Sunday 06 November Man Utd vs. Chelsea

5 comments:

Guessaurus said...

Not to sound patronising but does anyone listen to those tourist warnings anymore, especially when they come from the US - paranoid - unless there is an obvious threat that you have to be stupid to ignore.

LOL at people resting their fingers - just send the most important sms and then cascade down and limit the words :)

Anonymous said...

The potential for violence is very real. It will probably not affect the major tourist spots BUT let's take Amboseli. If there is a standoff between the morans & KWS, could it lead to deaths?

What if Orange & Bananas happened to meet at Serena? Expect from fistcuffs!

In the US, elections (ok, Kenya has a referendum but you get the idea) are hardly violent. No matter how contentious, it is rare to have someone's car burnt!

All is not well in the USA but the barbaric acts of violence are very uncommon.

If Kenya had an election issue like the Bush-Gore stalemate, it will be fought in the streets NOT the courts!

Orkoiyot said...

I wonder what impact the sudden loading of CDC's HFCK shares into the market will have on the share price. hmmnnn...

bankelele said...

Guessaurus: the travel advisories (esp. Brit ones) have lost value since the boy cried wolf too often - but the US probably feel that they have to advise or they'll get blamed/sued if they don't and something happened

Also I will greatly miss the 'cheaper' SMS.

Kuoasan: the potential for violence is there, but totally unnecessary e.g. let Tuju hold his rally in Kisumu, and anyone interested should be able to attend peacefully. I also agree with you that Kenyans can't handle a Bush/Gore type election cliffhanger peacefully. (but ironically, war-torn Liberia can)

Kibet: the shares were probabluy sold investment banks, who will then off load smaller portions slowly, but keep the price stable. (CDC off-loaded Mumias in the same manner last year at around 11/12 shillings)

Anonymous said...

CDC were FORCED to sell while Barclays, SCBK, etc are allowed to keep their 25%+ holdings... Anyway, it makes no sense to force HFCK to sell coz let them stay on as LONG-TERM investors....

I smell a rat....

Anyway, the shares were sold in one block thru CFCFS (Financial Standard Tuesday Nov 1)

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