Stamp Relic

Today, for the first time in 2006, with ⅞ of the year gone, I bought and used a stamp to mail a personal letter.


relic

q1: Do you know how much is costs to send a letter anymore?

The stamp is a relic today to many like me. I send out maybe 10 text messages a day, and make a similar number of phone calls, and e-mails as well – not to mention blog comments and internet chats. Everyone I know has a cell phone, or can reach me by phone or e-mail – and only secondarily by post.

q2: When was the last time you gave anyone a P O Box address?

Hope for the post office
I also send out official letters from the office – but this is still not good for the post office because messenger companies (who we use) work with physical/office addresses not postal box numbers and take our letters from office to office – that way clients are assured of timely and reliable deliveries which they can track.

I still rely on a mailbox though ro receive electricity, water & telephone bills (fixed & mobile), postcards, corporate annual reports & dividends, Kenya gazette, bank statements, magazines arrive every week and this I guess provides enough revenue for the post office.

a1: 25 shillings
a2: Can’t remember no more steamy letters in high school, but I should be sending out some success cards in November to relatives once I get their school addresses.

Shortages Part II

See Part I

We have been taught time & again that shortages are opportunities to be taken advantage of.

Aircraft
Kenya Airways half-year results were released on Friday and the airline's management mentioned plans to replace their Saab turboprops with jet aircraft.

The airline appears to be stretched, as their smallest 737 jets are used for routes such as South Africa, Dubai, India and Turkey, while filled-up 777s to Mombasa are not a rare occurrence. Meanwhile frequent travellers on the Kisumu route, opt for the Fokker 50s of East African Safari Air, which make the flight in 25 minutes compared to the Saab’s of KQ, which do it in about 45 minutes. So regional jet to serve local and short hop regional overland routes would be welcome for KQ.

Cement
(i) When you drive past Athi River, there’s a long line trucks outside Bamburi Cement Company waiting to collect cement from teh company
(ii) EAPC has just advertised for a huge clinker tender
(iii) Floods in Mombasa have washed away two bridges, cutting off the clinker plant of Athi River Mining Company
(iv) Regional problem now as Tororo Cement plans to open a plant next to parent Bamburi (at Athi River) to sevre the Ugandan market where power rationing/shortages have hit the energy intensive cement production industry

Investor information

Total reassures
Total Oil held a cocktail for all shareholders at the Hilton on Friday to review and explain their 9-month performance to September 2006 which they had published earlier in the week.

Management were keen to explain the dip in profits in line with various industry issues and reassure investors that the company was strong. The event immediately made one wish that Uchumi, board and management had done more in terms of informing shareholders when the company’s quarterly results were released after the rights issue.

The company profits dipped about 9% while its inventory and accounts receivable were both up about 80% from a year before. Chairman Nguer of Total mentioned the overall world oil price rise, competitor Kenol’s half year performance (30% down), entry of Tamoil (Libya) into the Kenyan market, government threats to regulate fuel prices, inefficiencies at at Kenya pipeline company and Kenya oil refineries and the new large Kengen contract whose costs were being felt but benefits would accrue later among other issues as he sought to reassure shareholders that Total was a great long term investment.

We need EDGAR
He also mentioned a 100 million shilling court award to be paid to the company by oil marketers, after conferring with his company secretary that the same information would be immediately released to the Nairobi stock exchange (NSE) for other investors not present.

One problem is that corporations like Kenya Airways, EABL and other NSE-listed companies hold briefings for select corporate investors, and the media, the news of which is occasionally posted on their websites (if they exist/are ever updated) and bits of which may appear in the newspapers or on TV news.

What Kenyan investors needs is an EDGAR where all company information sent to the Nairobi Stock Exchange is instantly published, compiled, archived and available for all investors to read/access free so we can understand better how/why shares like Barclays and Sasini both rose 25% in three days this week.

Stockbrokers
Riba Capital has a great review of stockbroker services.

18 stockbroker firms were enough to serve a market a few years ago, but today they are woefully unable to cope,with the flood of new shareholders brought in by Kengen Scangroup and anticipation of Kenya Re, Mumias and Safaricom IPO's.

Nairobi land
Driving through Mlolongo which has been a rapidly growing town, its amazing that it all started with a road block i.e. weigh bridge, where all Nairobi and up-country bound trucks would stop for weight checks.

But, many significant buildings from houses to hotels, schools, nyama choma joints, churches, petrol stations and kiosks now spot distinctive painted X signs indicating that they are marked for demolition by ministry of roads as it seeks to expand the road into a dual carriageway.

The town falls in Mavoko where the county council issued letters of allocation for many years that enabled these settlements near the road that fuelled the towns’ growth. The cost of land appreciated over the years owing to demand, and many of the original allootees sold their land to new owners even though they never got title deeds – which were never issued by the Land ministry since the lots were still marked as road reserve.

The demolition process is likely to be delayed in court as business owners will challenge the outright demolition of their buildings on genuinely, if improperly, allocated land through the courts. The government should do the humane thing and compensate these building owners, using their formula for land buying. That way the politics of the demolitions will be removed.

Next: A popular idea circulating, first mentioned by Karanja Kabage, is that the Nairobi National Park be reduced in size or eliminated, by having the animals relocated to other parks, to increase the land available for Nairobi’s growth.

Water
Water rationing will be effected in various residential estates/zones (typically for ½ a week) of Nairobi and according to the Nairobi water company it is due to unexpected demand for water from unplanned developments. This is expected to continue until the next rains begin (probably November)

October 27 Jobs

Junior officers at Bank of India

Sales manager at Create Africa. Apply to jerry@createafrica.com.

Chief financial officer, marketing director, procurement manager, and a credit manager at Equity Bank. Apply to jobs@ebsafrica.co.ke by 10/11

Accountant, purchasing manager at HLB Zainash. Apply to consult@ashvir.com by 3/11

Transport manager at Homegrown Flowers.apply to Hrd.NboHQ@f-h.biz by 25/11

Senior manager – development program at Industrial Promotion Services (IPS) apply to HR@ipskenya.com by 24/11

Office director & project head, and a senior researcher – both in Addis Ababa at the Institute for security services. Apply to jobs@issafrica.org by 3/11

In house health systems consultant at Japanese Internal Cooperation Agency (JICA). Apply to res_oso_rep@jica.go.jp by 6/11

Policy research economists (in macroeconomics, transport & communications, trade, and industry) and a macroeconomic modeling expert at Kenya institute for public policy research & analysis (KIPPRA). apply to jkimeto@kippra.or.ke by 8/11

Director of operations and a sub grant manager at National democratic institute – Sudan.apply to kssadmin@ndi.org by 10/11

Program coordinator, at UNDP Kenya details at their site

TV anchors at an upcoming TV station. Apply to anchors.2006@yahoo.com

Sales and marketing manager at un-named Mombasa company. Apply to recruit@adeptsystems.co.ke by 10/11

Green Card anyone?

It’s that time of the year: The US 2008 diversity visa program is on, and applications are to be submitted online by Sunday, December 3. Once again it s important to inform people that the application process is free. Kenyans are still eligible to win green cards to the USA, though early this year some green cards lottery winners were arrested at the Nairobi Embassy for adding on relatives

Related
- Kenyans pay 270 million shillings in visa fees a year to the UK and US embassies while Nigerian pay 1.4 billion shillings a year to the UK in visa fees.

Other
Sudan’s economy, fuelled by oil exports and trade with Arab and Asian counties, is booming – projected to grow by 12 % this year despite a US embargo.

Cost of going shags & other observations

Made a similar trip before, and this time I decided to quantify the trip in terms of the expenses. People upcountry ask why I visit so little and I try and explain that the distance and the cost are a burden.

Trip Costs
5,200 shillings ($72) for car fuel on the 950-kilometre journey
13,200 Car repair
10,000 (Pre-trip) car service
4,000 Cash handouts
3,200 Drinks
1,800 Fuel (diesel and kerosene for others)
1,500 Hotel
1,000 Food shopping (for others)
900 Food (mine)
250 Supplies
200 Newspapers
Total spent 41,250 shillings ($573)

Lessons learnt
- Avoid driving own car unless absolutely necessary. It's better to take a bus and remove the pain (really bad roads) and cost of car travel out. (68% of this trip costs were car-related including 13,000 shillings for a pair of new shock absorbers after I hit a pothole)
- Keep your movements as mysterious as possible, just show up and leave before people discover you’re around and try not to be expected.
- Eating costs are not much, because food is served in households and it is so much that you can get by on one (lunch) meal a day.
- Radio and TV are still the primary way that people get information up-country. Newspapers are not widely circuited – I had to make 3 phone calls to arrange to get the Friday newspapers and reliable cyber café to browse the Internet or check mail are rare things - cybers are not seen as a viable business and have very short hours. E.g. at the post office
- All our roads should be built by Chinese engineers and companies as the roads they built have stood the test of time over many years. We should also beware of roads put up before an election, as they often collapse within less than a year. It is shocking to find two stretches of a road, done by two different companies, where one is in great shape and the adjacent stretch had as little gravel as a school tennis court. Actually, our roads collapse because load limits are not observed, and lorries on the roads are too heavy.

Brew Fast

Taken a (just ended) month long fast from beer which was very enlightening in terms of impact it has on life and business networking.

Some positives
- Potential to save money over time – anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 shillings a week in theory. But in practice, I still have to spend the money on others I socialise with (see more later)
- Better health over time
- No morning hangovers

Some negatives
- Too much time to fill, and I get bored and impatient. Before, if waiting for someone in town, before I’d just got to bar have a drink and chat/do some reading, now I’m in the car, on the phone asking, “where are you?”
- Actually am more dehydrated. Beer has a lot of water, and I find myself having to drink more tap water at night now.
- Networking: so much of our lives are networked in bars with friends and associates. People tell you to network at conferences and workshops, but in bars much more networking goes on, across all sectors, from bankers to teacher, businessmen to nurses, as our guards are down, and people are more relaxed also, people tend to be wary around others who are not drinking with them, or in the same mind-state. . It is also noted that people who don’t drink have have other more serious problems, or have to find other outlets to release their excess energy e.g. excessive womanising, worshipping or scheming?. As a result, sitting in a bar, I get so much information for this blog - sample these nairumours/observations I picked up at the end of the break.
(a) Observed an out of control minister (and soon to be former MP) who has lost touch with reality. He has made so much unimaginable money, he lives a reckless lifestyle and believes he can buy anyone/anything - it's just matter of price.
(b) A former minister has conned a foreign government out of a multi-million dollar contract and is now persona non grata there
(c)The true story behind CDF woes of an MP.
- No suitable alternative drinks. Not Coffee (can only do one cup), soda (bad for teeth), juice (quality & availability never consistently available), appletiser (not at 160 a bottle)

moment of clarity
- Lack that spark i.e moment of clarity, that inspires writing, when you are able to combine information or observation with the law and practice.

Nyramid Update

- The communications company identified earlier has stopped accepting new investors or deposits and has told existing investors that their contracts will not be renewed once they expire. (I.e. receive full payment)
- Also, in an e-mail circulating, purpoting to be from Equity Bank, names some of these companies and warns other banks and their customers to be on the look out for these schemes.

To: undisclosed-recipients
Subject: Message from Central Bank

It has come to the knowledge of the Central bank (and other commercial banks) that some fraudsters have opened accounts in the guise of Merry Go Rounds. Be advised that these are in fact pyramid schemes. A pyramid scheme is a fraudulent system of making money which requires an endless stream of recruits for success.

The fraudsters have already mobilized a sizeable number of people who have made colossal sums of deposits. The security machinery has managed to penetrate the cells and is making good progress in this regard. In some incidents, they masquerade as working with the knowledge of the bank.

We make it very clear that the bank is not involved in any way with their operations. This is the more reason why it has been decided that all these accounts cease from receiving any deposits from the public or allow any withdrawal either from the counter or from the ATMs. Any member of the public wishing to deposit or withdrawal should be advised accordingly.

Refer any enquiries to Major Mutua and Security Department in Head Office.

The following accounts have been identified to be receiving suspicious deposits from the public on a daily basis:-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And many others not yet fully identified.

Please circulate this mail to all your friends to avoid more innocent Kenyans getting into the trap.


New NSE listing?
The Daily Nation reports that a new company will soon list on the NSE via a private placement. Midlands Limited will sell 20 million shares to raise 250 million shillings to put up cold storage facility. Suntra has valued the shares of the agro-processing, Nynadarua-based company, which currently has 3,000 shareholders at 28 shillings and they will be listed at at 10.50 each. Related piece.

Sports

- Kenya is bidding to host the 2009 sevens rugby world cup. The organisers, who are up against seven other countries, are deriding the lack of government support. Good luck!

- The 2006 Nairobi Marathon takes place in 12 days. However unlike in previous years where the different races were spread out over different parts of the city from Lenana school, to Nairobi School, to Mombasa Road, this years races will center around the Nyayo Stadium area.



Previous marathons have caused some inconveniend some travellers, church goers, and shoppers, on Sunday morning. However for those interested in watching this prestigious international sporting event will have to go to the race area.

Safaricom security
Safaricom to enhance it's anti-fraud systems.

Just another Monday meeting

Go for a policy meeting with the head of the group at his office. The meeting is supposed to start at 9 a.m. but it’s always good to expect a slight delay and I carry a book to read. Good idea because the meeting is not going to start on time as the group director (GD) is running late.

So we introduce ourselves to each other sit and while the time away. At least I have a book to read, others flip though newspapers they have wisely carried. The agenda for the meeting dubbed project green is also circulated.

A half hour later, the GD's assistant commences the meeting as we wait for his boss to arrive.

When it’s time for one divisional director to speak, his comments are almost a full five minutes speech - as is typical of one who is never told when he has said too much. Fortunately I have sat facing the window and I look outside and allow my mind to wander. Hmm, Yaya Center is a straight line from town, yet looking at valley road, it shoots off 60 degrees to the far to hurlingam, and then one must cut back anotehr 60 degrees to the right on Argwins Kodhek road - making a perfect triangle to get to Yaya which is a straight line from town. I wonder why they the road is not a straight line from town. Oh, yeah, they probably had to go round DOD where they used to have great nyama choma long before buffet opened.

Back to the present. The meeting is going on, but has also taken a sharp, new turn. We have been brought here to endorse the green strategy, but the mood in the room is for a slightly yellow one. Then one director, take his turn and says “the strategy should be red, in fact, an angry red as green is a misplaced perception only useful for PR purposes. He goes on to argue that angry red is what we should be our collective position. He has valid points and other participants in the room, slowly warm to his idea. Red red, red. . . "

The assistant to the group director is in obvious discomfort at the unexpected revolt. He reaches out to what are expected to be friendly allies in the room, but except for one, they are also endorsing red. Red is the future, red is the right thing to do.

Red, aka the divisional director, knows to quit when he’s ahead. The meeting has started late and he has another function to attend. He goes over to whisper his apologies to the assistant, for his early departure, and perhaps for leaving the asssistant with a time bomb for his boss. He then proceeds to exit.

But as he opens the door, he is bumped by a tea cart. It’s tea time. Tea was supposed to be served at the meeting. And tea can only be served when the group director is present! Sure enough, behind the tea ladies is another beaming assistant announcing that the group director's (GD) arrival is imminent. The assistant in charge asks Red to sit in for a few more minutes, which Red does.

Sure enough a minute later, the GD enters an hour and a half after the meeting was supposed to start. He sits down and apologises for his previous meeting which over-extended.

He grabs his copy of the agenda and proceeds to review the green strategy. He assigns divisional directors responsibilities and asks them to do "A B C" by dates "D E F," which they willingly line up to do. He is charming and confident, sorting out problems in scheduling and financing of Green with directives to different people as his assistant beams at his side at the salvation which has now arrived.

Red has his head down. He cannot believe that we have all abandoned him, and no one will speak up to update the GD that the room had unanimously voted RED while he was caught in traffic. But the room now sings and echoes to the green green green tune. Red remains mum except when he is assigned a key part of the green project which he meekly accepts. If he had left a minute sooner he would have secured his victory.

Surprisingly he does not choke on his tea and biscuit, but he’ll be probably too full to eat lunch. Just another Monday meeting...

BoA expands
Bank of Africa (BoA) Kenya and its partners have acquired a controlling stake in Allied bank of Uganda. BoA has also applied to expand its banking operations into Tanzania.

Charterhouse update
The Standard unearths tales of insider lending at Charterhouse, which are however still in the mid-range of many banks in the 40 – 60% (of share capita) range and well below NBK at 600%.

Tea themed restaurant

Coming soon: The Kenya Tea Development Authority intends to open a tea themed restaurant in Nairobi similar to a java or starbucks that will sell branded teas and promote a quality tea drinking culture in Kenya. They will then roll these out in other towns and countries

Other opportunities

jobs

from the daily papers

Diagnostic marketing executives at Crown healthcare.

Interior designers at Design corporate. Apply to info@designcorporate.co.ke by October 20

Communications officer (CO/06) at Forum for African women educationalists. Apply through KPMG at esd@kpmg.co.ke by 27 October

Finance manager (C062-M31) at Githingo consulting . Apply to
Mailbox@githongo.com 31 October

Project risk manager and credit officers(s) at HFCK. Apply to human.resources@housing.co.ke by October 20

Assistant services manager and a Data manager at Homegrown. Apply to Hrd.NboHQ@f-h.biz by 25 October

Investment analyst at IFC. Deadline is October 20

CEO at the National Hospital Insurance Fund. Apply to hcapjobs@wananchi.com by 27 October

Training programs developer, Country manager – south Sudan, Business development executive, and Associates (facilitators/trainers) at Pinnacle training & consulting. Apply to recruit@adeptsystems.co.ke by October 31

Various jobs at Safaricom

HR manager at Softa Bottlers. Send applications to info@kuguru.com

Senior lecturers, associate professors, and full professors at Strathmore business school . Apply to Sbs@strathmore.edu by October 30

Human resource manager at World Wildlife Fund. Apply to Hresource@wwfearpo.org by October 27

hotel for sale
A 9-storey, 114 room hotel on Mombasa Island in the CBD with 3 conference rooms, restaurant, and 2 bars - formerly operating as Polana Hotel has now been put up for sale by the NSSF.

Join Barclays

Opportunity for new and exceptional graduates (first class or upper second honours only) to join one of Africa's largest banks through the 2 year Barclays Leadership Program, beginning in January 2007. Apply online by October 27.

New Custodian

Investment & Mortgages Bank aka I&M has received an authorised depository license from the capital markets authority (CMA) joining other banks such as Barclays, NBK, Stanbic, KCB and Co-op.

Wealth Declarations & Diva Cards

Wealth Declarations

It’s wealth declaration time again for the third year. The process was spearheaded by the intent to curb corruption by having leaders, mainly politicians, publicly declare their wealth. But we are yet to see feedback from anyone/authority who has seen our previous declarations.

According to the latest Adili (No. 82) from Transparency International, a miscellaneous bill in parliament will modify the act so that wealth declarations will be filed every two year, and not annually as is the current case. So far only a few politicians have made public their wealth which was the original intent of the act. Adili also argues, that by requiring only a few key individuals to file returns, Uganda (16,000) and Tanzania (5,400) may be able to handle the huge volume of wealth declaration data than Kenya (with over 650,000 annual returns).

Diva Cards
Standard Chartered has introduced a diva card for women. The card, which has been rolled out in other countries, is a variation of their flat fee account now re-modeled for women to include discounts on auto assurance, health checks, and at some restaurants, salons and health clubs as well as an unsecured loan or overdraft at 15% p.a.

biz tip One great thing about flat fee accounts is for parents (or anyone)sending money abroad to use the free local/foreign transfer (one a month) contained in most of these accounts to send fees or other funds abroad at no extra charge. This can save about 3,000 shillings each time.

Other
- The Nairobi-Mombasa air route is getting more crowded/competitive with Air Kenya (with a new Dash-8) joining East African Safari Air, and soon Fly 540 to take on Kenya Airways who have dominated the increasingly busy route for years.
- The Kenya Power & Lighting Company (KPLC), who currently achieve 95% collections, have advertised to outsource their debt collections.
- The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has advertised to upgrade their smart card system for park entry.

Nyramids

Nyarmid: (defn) Nairobi pyramids are not physical structures, but they are everywhere, some in classy buildings, and some in run down ones where they do business, spread the word, and churn the money.

They are known as investments schemes, savings plans, multi-level, merry go rounds, revolving funds, savings plans, investments. No one calls them ponzi's or pyramid's.

They are unregulated and their exclusivity and exteremely attractive returns make them too enticing for many. They spread virally, by word of mouth from people eager to share their good fortune, to others who have not seen the light.

One group is associated with an up-coming communications company. Maybe the company wanted to tap a cheap source of unlimited funds for expansion instead of going to a bank – but it has worked for the company which still runs one of the better established funds.

The wars between funds are vicious with some bad mouthing their competitors. One allegedly leaked information to the CBK - leading to the swoop on a competing group last week.

They are untouched by any authorities, even though the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK tried to shut down one last week. They will not be affected even by the micro-finance bill scheduled to pass though parliament later this year.
Since they don’t lend money, and are not accepting deposits, I can’t see how they can be regulated by the CBK. But many rely on the banking system, giving some oversight to accounts that have high volumes of transactions and values. Even bank tellers are curious enough about people banking multiple checks into their accounts to ask about how/where they can sign up!

The shocking thing is they actually work - or have worked for some people. I have never joined one, but know many who have – friends more accustomed to risk, some who have invested as little as 2,000 to as much as 100,000 shillings in more than one of these, with money doubled in a year. Some have provided a steady monthly income that supplements or even doubles their monthly income. Maybe because of their better contacts and networks, they are at the top of the pyramids, the early investors who get paid by the later investors, but they have all done very well.

I almost feel stupid for not joining any. Am I any better for buying shares in Uchumi or leaving money in the bank earning almost nothing from a savings account?

My problem is I am too cautious, too curious, ask too many questions. Questions the backers of these never want to answer. You’re either in or you’re not, you want to get paid or you don’t. Still I rely on the conventional wisdom that nothing is free and anything that sounds too good to be true, probably is.

Hedge Funds to Africa

Excerpts from a China news report: Some hedge funds are turning to resource-rich sub-Saharan Africa for investment, a fact reflecting an upward trend in some of the region's economies and the growth of hedge funds and their search for new frontiers, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Citigroup is now trading securities from countries such as Kenya, Botswana, Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana for its clients. Within a few years, it has gone from trading in only two countries in sub-Saharan Africa to 12.


great image from airliners.net

Banks wanted

Standard Bank (aka Stanbic) is seeking mid-size retail banks in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Angola, in addition to invest heavily in its own operations in Kenya to grow at 25 percent a year,

Stanbic is Kenya's 12th largest bank and its assets grew by 36% in the half year.

Diamond Trust Rights Issue

Diamond Trust Bank has announced a rights issue which will be presented for shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting on November 1. D-Trust has been my best performing recent share, bought at 27/= in September 2005, and now trading at 84/=. Hat tip to Gathinga and Coldtusker for their comments on the capital issue after the AGM in May.

Black eyed TI
Got the latest Adili report from Transparency International Kenya (TI Kenya) in the mail yesterday. It’s hard to take the organisations findings on corruption seriously after the mud-slinging between the board and executives over the last two years.

Volley-low
Officials who threatend Kenya women volleyballers who had complained about unpaid (and promised) allowance, are also going to receive allowances as well even as the team is stll trying to raise money for the Japan trip.

Your Shell franchise here
Shell Oil is llookng for retailers to open/operate new stations in Naiorbi, Mombasa and Nakuru. You must be able to raise 10 milion shillings, and the deadlien is October 18.

Language of the future
UoN has passed out first graduates at its Confucius Institute (Chinese language centre).

Read on the launch.

Wilted flower
What should be an interesting story on the threat to the Kenya flower industry from Ethiopian incentives, is sadly hidden behind a veil superior posturing that annoys rather than educates.

Foreign companies “who provide homes, education, healthcare, water, electricity - everything", will flee the “endemic corruption and rising insecurity” of Kenya.

Left out of the story are Kenyan-owned flower companies who are not going/able to pick up and move to Ethiopia – and who still have to comply with expensive & stringent EU conditions in order to continue exporting to Europe.

Jobs
Policy research officer Africa at Action Aid. Apply to vacancies@actionaid.org 15 October

Southern and Eastern Africa Analyst at Control Risks (London). Apply to reference437@control-risks.com by 20 October.

Parliamentary Service Commission: Senior deputy clerk, principal research officer, principal budget officer, principal legal counsel, budget officer I, and budget officer II. Apply through pricewaterhousecoopers at ess.ke@ke.pwc.com by October 20.

Precision Air Tanzania (49% KQ owned): Captains (6), first officers (3) and sales manager. Apply through PWC at pwrecruit@precisionairtz.com

Software developers at Sasanet. Apply to coders@sasanet.co.ke

UN HABITAT
Details at their site: http://www.unhabitat.org.
- Chief, Urban Environment Section, P 5, Nairobi. Deadline is 10 October
- Head, Shelter Branch, D1, Nairobi. Deadline is 22 October.

Food aid specialist at USAID. Apply to hrnaiorbi@usaid.gov by October 20

Team assistant at the World Bank’s Water and sanitation program (WSP) apply to wspaf@worldbank.org by 19 October

Deputy managing director and officer manager at an un-named property management company. Apply to
gd@africaonline.co.ke by 19 October.

Shortages

Cement
Caused by unexpectedly high construction demand around the country and with cement companies already producing at full capacity.

Financing
For the missing middle. Many banks claim to have financing products for SME sector, but the collateral, and other borrowing requirements are too rigid for many deserving applicants.

Good stockbrokers
A very lucrative business (1.5% commission per trade) with restricted membership, but with hundreds of thousands of new customers (from Kengen, Scangroup, Equity and Kenya Re IPO's) why not license more players to enter the sector and serve these new shareholders?

Water
There’s a water shortage this week in some parts of the city and blame is being put on water diversion to the ongoing Nairobi International Trade Fair (aka Nairobi Show) whose many activities require a lot of water.

KCB treading

KCB has lowered borrowing rates for a variety of retail loans by up to 5% and the move is already having a knockdown effect with customers, at other bank, asking for their loans rates to also be lowered likewise.

But for KCB, their intention is probably to accelerate their lending which has remained flat this year. From January to June 2006 their loan book is up less than 1%, compared to peers Barclays and Standard Charted whose loan books have increased by 7% and Equity Bank whose loan book increased 46% in the half year.

Card ping
CFC card account holders can receives SMS each time their MasterCard’s are used/charged.

School Finance Loans
(From Africa Intelligence )
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will provide financing for private school institutions in Kenya, towards purchase of educational materials, and other capital expenditures under a formula which it inaugurated in Ghana last year.

On the flip side Bretton Woods Project offers six reasons why the World Bank (and IFC) should not finance educational projects

Kikwete Impresses

… The Economist (and George Bush)

While still very poor, Tanzania is set for 5.8% GDP growth this year and perhaps 6.7% next. A popular president, former foreign minister Jakaya Kikwete, hopes to build up the country’s sparse infrastructure, expand access to drinking water, and improve agricultural productivity. What’s so different about a president who makes big plans? Just this:

- Mr Kikwete travels with minimal security.
- He scrolls through several hundred text messages on his mobile phone each day, most of them from ordinary citizens who have somehow obtained his number. Sometimes he texts back.
- He is clearheaded on international issues. He is happy to contribute three battalions to a prospective UN peacekeeping force in the Darfur region of Sudan, he says, so long as someone else foots the bill.

(From PSD blog)

But also troubling in the Economist is this article abut a possible threat to tourism at the Kenya coast from unstable elements in neighbouring Somalia.