More on the $40 million VC fund set up by the Africa venture capital association and East African development. It will invest $100,000 to $2 million in SME's for expansion & modernization, as well as start-ups led by exceptionally qualified entrepreneurs. Advantages of getting funds is that unlike bank loans, you don't have to pledge assets or incur subsequent loan repayments
Jobs
The Africa Development Bank is currently accepting applications for its Young Professional Program (YPP). Details at their site and D/L is 10/5.
Celtel: Product development manager (Comm-mkt-02/07), Product developer (Comm-mkt-03/07). Apply to hr@ke.celtel.com by 4/5
Kenya Airways: Manager – hub & airport systems (I/065/04-07), Revenue management systems administrator (C/066/04-07)
Apply to the group HRD 19002 Nairobi by 14/5
Foundation manager at KCB. Apply to recruitment@kcb.co.ke by 9/5
Safaricom: Head of Retail, Head of Customer Management, Materials Inspection Officer, Senior CRM System Developer, Business Intelligence Developer.
Fund manager at the above mentioned VC fund. Apply to EADB@avcanet.com by 14/5
The Young Professionals Program (YPP) of the World Bank. apply online by 15/7
Monday, April 30, 2007
Travel with Safaricom
Safaricom has hooked up with MTN in Uganda (and Vodacom in Tanzania to combat Celtel’s East African no roaming package) to enable their customers to use their phones kama kawaida in East Africa as well and the service works great.
With MTN you even have get to enjoy their cool location prompt that tells you where you are with your phone e.g. Entebbe avenue, constitution street, Bumbu, Luwum street, Speke, etc. that scared safaricom customers one day in 2006.
Only problem with Safaricom is that their cards are very difficult to find and sold at very few locations. Only MTN stores sell them in Kampala and they are making a killing. A 500-shilling card goes for 16,300 shillings at about a 30% mark-up, while a 100-shilling card is priced over by about 36%. Still it’s worth the convenience of having affordable access to your contacts and messages.
With MTN you even have get to enjoy their cool location prompt that tells you where you are with your phone e.g. Entebbe avenue, constitution street, Bumbu, Luwum street, Speke, etc. that scared safaricom customers one day in 2006.
Only problem with Safaricom is that their cards are very difficult to find and sold at very few locations. Only MTN stores sell them in Kampala and they are making a killing. A 500-shilling card goes for 16,300 shillings at about a 30% mark-up, while a 100-shilling card is priced over by about 36%. Still it’s worth the convenience of having affordable access to your contacts and messages.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Stanbic apples & oranges
Standard Bank (of South Africa) operates as Stanbic in other parts of Africa.
Here’s a snapshot comparison of the 2006 financial results of Stanbic Kenya and Stanbic Uganda.
Stanbic Kenya is unlisted while several Kenyans participated in the 2006 Stanbic Uganda IPO which was relatively cheap owing to the exchange rate difference (25:1) between Kenya and Uganda. The Stanbic (UG) IPO was partly blamed for the performance of the Mumias (Kenya) rights issue whose uptake was judged to be average.
Merger talks between Stanbic (K) and CFC which is another locally listed Kenyan bank are at an advanced stage. So how do the bank’s compare?
Approximate figures in US$
Rank
Uganda Stanbic (1 in Uganda)
Kenya Stanbic (9 in Kenya)
CFC (10)
Assets
Uganda Stanbic $725 million
Kenya Stanbic 378 million
CFC 371 million
Deposits
Uganda Stanbic $513 million
Kenya Stanbic 289 million
CFC 271 million
Loans
Uganda Stanbic $195 million
Kenya Stanbic 166 million
CFC 220 million
Pre-tax Profits
Uganda Stanbic $32.3 million
Kenya Stanbic 13.4 million
CFC 9.9 million
Here’s a snapshot comparison of the 2006 financial results of Stanbic Kenya and Stanbic Uganda.
Stanbic Kenya is unlisted while several Kenyans participated in the 2006 Stanbic Uganda IPO which was relatively cheap owing to the exchange rate difference (25:1) between Kenya and Uganda. The Stanbic (UG) IPO was partly blamed for the performance of the Mumias (Kenya) rights issue whose uptake was judged to be average.
Merger talks between Stanbic (K) and CFC which is another locally listed Kenyan bank are at an advanced stage. So how do the bank’s compare?
Approximate figures in US$
Rank
Uganda Stanbic (1 in Uganda)
Kenya Stanbic (9 in Kenya)
CFC (10)
Assets
Uganda Stanbic $725 million
Kenya Stanbic 378 million
CFC 371 million
Deposits
Uganda Stanbic $513 million
Kenya Stanbic 289 million
CFC 271 million
Loans
Uganda Stanbic $195 million
Kenya Stanbic 166 million
CFC 220 million
Pre-tax Profits
Uganda Stanbic $32.3 million
Kenya Stanbic 13.4 million
CFC 9.9 million
You are not me
You know it’s time to change your bank when you have to line up before the bank doors open and are stuck in a barely moving line for the next 30 minutes after it opens - as the tellers are too few and the processing system is slow.
But that’s what you get for cheap banking especially with their foreign exchange dealing and processing charges so low & attractive.
But that’s what you get for cheap banking especially with their foreign exchange dealing and processing charges so low & attractive.
Running the Mara
The outcry from President Kibaki’s decision to return the Amboseli Park to the Masai community prior to the 2005 referendum was probably influenced by the impression that community was incompetent and would run down Amboseli reserve in no time. But the Masai Mara, Samburu, Baringo and other reserves are run by local communities and rather successfully – even from before independence.
Narok County Council: Said to be the richest council in the country, thanks largely to its stewardship of the Masai Mara. I can’t vouch for its financial efficiency but they have maintained the park well. They collects gate fees (no KWS smart cards here), undertake road repair with in the parks, approve construction/expansion of lodges/camps in the park and hires rangers to guard the animals and the surrounding forest. The revenue collected is meant to be shared among communities and the council also controls issuance of title deeds to the community with a subtle view to discouraging transfers to ‘outsiders.’
Roads: You need a true 4WD to get around the Mara which can get muddy and flodded when it rains. There is some serious road repair work going on, and roads inside the park are generally better than those leading to the park. However, I get the feeling that it doesn’t bother the tourists as much as it does locals (vehicle owners, hotel suppliers, tour operators) since it’s all part of their TIA experience.
Number to know :
5 – The number of airstrips in the Mara
4 - Types of hyaena exist – and that’s how it is spelt, not hyena
0 - number of lodges that will be constructed inside the Mara as the council feels it is too crowded. Hence new project are coming up along the fence or just outside the Mara.
More on property development at other parks
Narok County Council: Said to be the richest council in the country, thanks largely to its stewardship of the Masai Mara. I can’t vouch for its financial efficiency but they have maintained the park well. They collects gate fees (no KWS smart cards here), undertake road repair with in the parks, approve construction/expansion of lodges/camps in the park and hires rangers to guard the animals and the surrounding forest. The revenue collected is meant to be shared among communities and the council also controls issuance of title deeds to the community with a subtle view to discouraging transfers to ‘outsiders.’
Roads: You need a true 4WD to get around the Mara which can get muddy and flodded when it rains. There is some serious road repair work going on, and roads inside the park are generally better than those leading to the park. However, I get the feeling that it doesn’t bother the tourists as much as it does locals (vehicle owners, hotel suppliers, tour operators) since it’s all part of their TIA experience.
Number to know :
5 – The number of airstrips in the Mara
4 - Types of hyaena exist – and that’s how it is spelt, not hyena
0 - number of lodges that will be constructed inside the Mara as the council feels it is too crowded. Hence new project are coming up along the fence or just outside the Mara.
More on property development at other parks
New investment bank
NIC Bank will launch an investment bank under the banner of NIC Capital to offer financial advisory services.
Earlier: I&M - new custodian.
Earlier: I&M - new custodian.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Reporting director performance
NIC Bank which has been recognized for corporate governance awards for financial reporting has now added a new level of director performance by publishing a scorecard of directors attendance of board and committee meetings during the year.
Director attendance is an important measure of their performance, and contribution to the company. They should also be measured by how many other boards they sit and their other executive commitments to determine if they add value to the company.
Director attendance is an important measure of their performance, and contribution to the company. They should also be measured by how many other boards they sit and their other executive commitments to determine if they add value to the company.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Neveready for Mara
This is a brief story about why there are no pictures to post from a trip to the latest wonder of the world - the Masai Mara
We were scheduled to leave very early one morning. So the night before, I went to the ATM withdraw some cash to buy some batteries for a digital camera. However, the ATM was acting up (no cash on Sunday night) and so I went to Uchumi with whatever cash I had left in my pocket. I didn't have enough for any of the alkaline batteries (about 230 shillings for 4 AA) and so I settled for some "super heavy duty" Eveready batteries.
Early in the trip, I started taking some pictures of road construction work around Narok area, but soon the low battery prompt began to blink at the corner. I ignored it, as the batteries were new, and continued on taking pictures.
At the gate of the Mara, that garden full of almost every significant animal found on the continent - the camera conked out. The last picture the camera I was able to take was of a group of Masai ladies dancing and trying to sell some beads to a minivan of tourists. So much for the super heavy duty batteries, which only lasted for about a dozen pictures.
Great Mara: Driving through the Mara (no game drives or searching for animals), we were able to see buffalo, zebra, giraffe, waterbuck, baboons, monitor lizard or crocodile (dived into the bush near river as soon as we approached), wildebeest, gazelle, warthog, and ostrich. The only ‘kill’ I saw was a secretary bird stomp a green snake and swallow it in about 3 seconds.
Also encountered, separately walking along the road was a hyena and a jackal, whose odd location could probably be attributed to tourists who had (illegally) thrown scraps of food at them. In addition, outside the park (which is not fenced), there were considerable herds of gazelle, wildebeest and zebra grazing close to herds of cattle watch over by Masai lads. There are no photos of these animals as I was neveready for the Mara.
Tourist economy/inflation: Back to the dead batteries. One peeve of domestic tourists is the inflated price of every day goods sold at (and around) hotels and resorts. The batteries I couldn’t buy at Uchumi for 230/= were being sold at a kiosk outside the park for 500 shillings and at 700/= at the hotel shop. Eventually I had to relent and buy them for 550/= at another shop we stopped at. These 100% mark-ups on the price of everyday items like toothpaste, slippers and batteries are a nuisance and should be cut down as the hotels/vendors don’t add any value to them.
We were scheduled to leave very early one morning. So the night before, I went to the ATM withdraw some cash to buy some batteries for a digital camera. However, the ATM was acting up (no cash on Sunday night) and so I went to Uchumi with whatever cash I had left in my pocket. I didn't have enough for any of the alkaline batteries (about 230 shillings for 4 AA) and so I settled for some "super heavy duty" Eveready batteries.
Early in the trip, I started taking some pictures of road construction work around Narok area, but soon the low battery prompt began to blink at the corner. I ignored it, as the batteries were new, and continued on taking pictures.
At the gate of the Mara, that garden full of almost every significant animal found on the continent - the camera conked out. The last picture the camera I was able to take was of a group of Masai ladies dancing and trying to sell some beads to a minivan of tourists. So much for the super heavy duty batteries, which only lasted for about a dozen pictures.
Great Mara: Driving through the Mara (no game drives or searching for animals), we were able to see buffalo, zebra, giraffe, waterbuck, baboons, monitor lizard or crocodile (dived into the bush near river as soon as we approached), wildebeest, gazelle, warthog, and ostrich. The only ‘kill’ I saw was a secretary bird stomp a green snake and swallow it in about 3 seconds.
Also encountered, separately walking along the road was a hyena and a jackal, whose odd location could probably be attributed to tourists who had (illegally) thrown scraps of food at them. In addition, outside the park (which is not fenced), there were considerable herds of gazelle, wildebeest and zebra grazing close to herds of cattle watch over by Masai lads. There are no photos of these animals as I was neveready for the Mara.
Tourist economy/inflation: Back to the dead batteries. One peeve of domestic tourists is the inflated price of every day goods sold at (and around) hotels and resorts. The batteries I couldn’t buy at Uchumi for 230/= were being sold at a kiosk outside the park for 500 shillings and at 700/= at the hotel shop. Eventually I had to relent and buy them for 550/= at another shop we stopped at. These 100% mark-ups on the price of everyday items like toothpaste, slippers and batteries are a nuisance and should be cut down as the hotels/vendors don’t add any value to them.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Access Kenya IPO
IPO season is on again and this time its Access Kenya - a leading corporate ISP and telephony company.
Am yet to see the full prospectus, which should be an interesting read to see the trend of share capital and profit adjustment that is alluded to in the abbreviated prospectus published in the paper on Thursday – the day the IPO started.
The company has learnt from the Eveready listing and set out to limit shareholder numbers by setting a minimum investment for retail investors at a moderately high 50,000 shillings ($715).
Industry: The communications sector has so much happening now from - unified licences, the Wananchi ATC deal , Telkom SA/AfOL deal, Telkom Kenya re-engineering itself, EASSY vs. TEAMS cabling, fibre optics everywhere and of course Safaricom at the top of the food chain who have continually reinvested much of their record profits towards infrastructure expansion.
Investments in the sector are not cheap and with technology rapidly evolving, the 400 million shillings that will accrue to the company may not be enough for more than a few years at a company that starts off with a marginal balance sheet.
IPO results will be out in May and shares will be listed in June 2007.
Other opportunities
from the daily papers this week
Jobs
Coca Cola - East & Central Africa business unit: franchise marketing manager, hospitality manager, operations marketing representative, financial services manager financial accountant senior brand manage (2) revenue growth manager commercialization manage (2) strategy development manager, human recourse manager compensation & benefits manager quality improvement manager
Apprenticeships for mechanics at DT Dobie: applicants must be under 22 with good grades in maths, physics, English and apply in handwriting by 11/5 to DT Dobie Training Center p o box 30160-00200
Safaricom: head of customer management, head of retail. Apply to chro@safaricom.co.ke.
Soon you can dine in the skies as the Kenyatta International Conference Center has set out to revive its roof top revolving restaurant on the 27th & 28th floors of the building.
Am yet to see the full prospectus, which should be an interesting read to see the trend of share capital and profit adjustment that is alluded to in the abbreviated prospectus published in the paper on Thursday – the day the IPO started.
The company has learnt from the Eveready listing and set out to limit shareholder numbers by setting a minimum investment for retail investors at a moderately high 50,000 shillings ($715).
Industry: The communications sector has so much happening now from - unified licences, the Wananchi ATC deal , Telkom SA/AfOL deal, Telkom Kenya re-engineering itself, EASSY vs. TEAMS cabling, fibre optics everywhere and of course Safaricom at the top of the food chain who have continually reinvested much of their record profits towards infrastructure expansion.
Investments in the sector are not cheap and with technology rapidly evolving, the 400 million shillings that will accrue to the company may not be enough for more than a few years at a company that starts off with a marginal balance sheet.
IPO results will be out in May and shares will be listed in June 2007.
Other opportunities
from the daily papers this week
Jobs
Coca Cola - East & Central Africa business unit: franchise marketing manager, hospitality manager, operations marketing representative, financial services manager financial accountant senior brand manage (2) revenue growth manager commercialization manage (2) strategy development manager, human recourse manager compensation & benefits manager quality improvement manager
Apprenticeships for mechanics at DT Dobie: applicants must be under 22 with good grades in maths, physics, English and apply in handwriting by 11/5 to DT Dobie Training Center p o box 30160-00200
Safaricom: head of customer management, head of retail. Apply to chro@safaricom.co.ke.
Soon you can dine in the skies as the Kenyatta International Conference Center has set out to revive its roof top revolving restaurant on the 27th & 28th floors of the building.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Kudos all round
Today is a day to give thanks for and recognize some notable happenings to empower investors.
Businss Daily: I was skeptical about the newspaper at the start but it has come through and is a great read, with all the major stories posted online (the site also has RSS feeds). I don’t know if/when it will break even and I also fear that it become ”online subscriber only once it reaches a critical number of readers.
Hisanet: Is one of the many upcoming platforms that aspires to offer online trading at the Nairobi Stock Exchanges (and so investors wont have to queue for IPO shares). It’s still not possible to trade in real time (i.e. you can’ place orders till nest day, unless you’re a major player) but this is something that has been lacking at most stockbrokers and will be a welcome avenue for Kenyans living abroad.
NSE site: The new web site of the Nairobi Stock Exchange has been a great improvement with daily price lists and some corporate news, conference reports and presentations and is also easier t navigate. The only drawback has been its massive PDF scans instead of simple text files. E.g. a one page statement on the collapse of Francis Thuo was 1.13 MB in size.
CMA wakes up: The collapse of Francis Thuo and alleged misdeeds at other stockbrokers has turned the heat up at the Capital Markets Authority who have now turned the heat on to other entities such as stockbrokers, insiders, and directors of companies.
In proposed new rules posted at the CMA site (which is also due for a spruce up) the CMA;
- Cracks down on misbehavior such as insider trading by raising possible penalties to 15 million shillings ($214,286) for companies, 10 million for employees and 5 million for directors. They will also have to reimburse their gains and have their names published. it’s about time
- Locks in management of companies coming up for IPO’s. While owners/managers at Equity, Access Kenya and Scangroup voluntarily agreed to stay on, the CMA has now formally endorsed that they can't sell their shares for two years following listing
- The new rules also clear the way for other country shares to be cross listed on the NSE
Businss Daily: I was skeptical about the newspaper at the start but it has come through and is a great read, with all the major stories posted online (the site also has RSS feeds). I don’t know if/when it will break even and I also fear that it become ”online subscriber only once it reaches a critical number of readers.
Hisanet: Is one of the many upcoming platforms that aspires to offer online trading at the Nairobi Stock Exchanges (and so investors wont have to queue for IPO shares). It’s still not possible to trade in real time (i.e. you can’ place orders till nest day, unless you’re a major player) but this is something that has been lacking at most stockbrokers and will be a welcome avenue for Kenyans living abroad.
NSE site: The new web site of the Nairobi Stock Exchange has been a great improvement with daily price lists and some corporate news, conference reports and presentations and is also easier t navigate. The only drawback has been its massive PDF scans instead of simple text files. E.g. a one page statement on the collapse of Francis Thuo was 1.13 MB in size.
CMA wakes up: The collapse of Francis Thuo and alleged misdeeds at other stockbrokers has turned the heat up at the Capital Markets Authority who have now turned the heat on to other entities such as stockbrokers, insiders, and directors of companies.
In proposed new rules posted at the CMA site (which is also due for a spruce up) the CMA;
- Cracks down on misbehavior such as insider trading by raising possible penalties to 15 million shillings ($214,286) for companies, 10 million for employees and 5 million for directors. They will also have to reimburse their gains and have their names published. it’s about time
- Locks in management of companies coming up for IPO’s. While owners/managers at Equity, Access Kenya and Scangroup voluntarily agreed to stay on, the CMA has now formally endorsed that they can't sell their shares for two years following listing
- The new rules also clear the way for other country shares to be cross listed on the NSE
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
HFCK rights issue
Housing Finance shareholders are expected to raise the Bank's share capital from 575 million to 1.18 billion shillings ($16.8 million) by creation of 120.75 million new shares or one new share for each existing share held. About 5% of the shares are reserved for the company's employees leaving 115 million shares to be added to the company's listing on the NSE.
HFCK and S&L (owned by KCB) are still a major player in the mortgages sector which is becoming a crowded field with new entrants Stanbic, Standard Chartered, and next to be joined by cash rich Equity Bank.
HFCK and S&L (owned by KCB) are still a major player in the mortgages sector which is becoming a crowded field with new entrants Stanbic, Standard Chartered, and next to be joined by cash rich Equity Bank.
Net blamed for stock speculation
The internet (be it forums or blogs) is being blamed for rumours that drove up the price of Sameer Africa shares to 40 shillings before it again dropped to half it's take off price.
But Sameer never confirmed, denied or commented on the rumors until now.
But would you buy shares because a stranger wrote something to a blog, or chat room? And it seems far fetched that the readers of Kenyan blogs and chat rooms have enough weight & financial muscle to drive up a share price so drastically. I'm inclined to place blame with others, perhaps brokers, who simply used the 'internet' as an extra forum to play around with the share price of Sameer Africa (and who probably cashed out at 40 shillings).
But Sameer never confirmed, denied or commented on the rumors until now.
But would you buy shares because a stranger wrote something to a blog, or chat room? And it seems far fetched that the readers of Kenyan blogs and chat rooms have enough weight & financial muscle to drive up a share price so drastically. I'm inclined to place blame with others, perhaps brokers, who simply used the 'internet' as an extra forum to play around with the share price of Sameer Africa (and who probably cashed out at 40 shillings).
Monday, April 16, 2007
last laugh
Was the MC of a company AGM over the weekend and felt quite good about my performance until I attended a birthday party the same afternoon and found out that the clown there (hired to entertain kids) made more money than I did for my act :-<
Knocking on bankings' door
Family Bank: Family Finance will be the next bank licensed in Kenya within the next month as the building society will convert into Family Bank. Some have called the fast-rising institution and Equity clone with better stripes but it will fit in as the 22nd largest of Kenya’s banks.
Gulf African: Also in the running in 2007 is Gulf African Bank which is backed by a consortium of Middle East financial institutions.
MEGA bank: Interesting read here on the challenges and plans of the proposed MEGA bank.
Mega bank # 2
CFC's share price has stabilized after the initial confirmation of talks with Stanbic. It has since steadily risen as proper analysis of the proposal merger has been taking place.
Mega bank # 3
Will criticism by the SA Central bank governor scuttle part two of the Barclays Absa deal?
Mega bank # 4
Is Nakumatt a Bank? It follows in the path of Wal-Mart but has not indicated any such leanings. However, an organization that takes in over 70 million shillings a day ($1 million) and doesn’t have to pay its creditors for 30 days has to be a major player in the banking and investment world.
edit
Ecobank here soon too.
Finally: a non-banking story but a major corporate headache as Ribena (remember mothers who care trust Ribena?) may not be all that it advertises itself to be!
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Motoring moment: low tech cars
It took three stories to make up this post.
First was this story that appeared in the Standard last week about a range rover limousine that got messed up by a pothole. Then there was one where TV talk show host and car aficionado Jay Leno bragged about being the only celebrity who can drive a manual transmission SLR Mercedes. And finally this piece from the wall street journal which chronicles how frustrated new car owners are with their high-tech machines
Which brings up the question, how much it too much technology for cars? With my budget, I can only to drive a car that Wanjala, my mechanic, can fix at his garage and one whose parts are relatively available and affordable.
Yet Kenyans have been buying top of the range cars at an astonishing rate, some without local parts or technical support. And some of the cars are loaded with such gizmos and that make even their owners confused. How many times have you ridden in a car where the owner does not know what half the dashboard gizmos do? There are all wheel drive cars that never leave the city, tiptronic gears that are never used, cars that lock their owner out or in depending on their perception of insecurity, cars that are supposed to avoid collision and others that are supposed to park themselves.
Sometimes they break down in strange and sad ways - from cars with blown turbochargers that cause them to crawl or new cars that you see parked at the back of a garage as they await arrival of some obscure engine part or maybe it's because the dealer's electronic diagnostic kit has not discovered what bug is ailing the engine.
Other motoring moments:
- a VIP accident
- arrival of the Chrysler 300
Enough about cars
April 13 Jobs
most from the daily papers this week
Academy for educational development: finance manager, finance assistant, administration manager. Apply to regionaloffice@aed.org by 27/4
Investment analyst at British American asset managers. Apply to BAAMHR@baam.co.ke by 27/4
Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. Project manager and a regional director,both in Nairobi. D/L is 30/4
Financial information systems manager at Equity bank. Apply to jobs@equitybank.co.ke by 27/4
Operations officer (Nairobi) at the IFC growth oriented women entrepreneurs (GOWE Kenya) program. D/L is 27/4
Human resource manager at Innscor Kenya apply to recruit@innscorkenya.co.ke by 27/4
Management trainees at KCB. Apply online by 27/4
Kenya national commission on human rights: principal human rights officer - research policy & legislation program, principal human rights officer - campaign & advocacy program, principal human rights officer - complaints & investigation program. Apply to the commission secretary 74359-00200 by 30/7
Magadi soda: senior buyer, product development manager. Apply to recruit@magadisoda.co.ke by 27/4
Microsoft: infrastructure consultant, corporate account manager, partner account manager. Apply to wecajobs@microsoft.com
Safaricom: Senior internal auditor, senior information systems auditor, and senior information security officer. Deadline is 18/4
Executive director at Transparency international. Apply to recruit@sadeptsystems.co.ke by 27/4
Regional Program Leader at the World Bank PPIAF Nairobi. D/L is 30/4
First was this story that appeared in the Standard last week about a range rover limousine that got messed up by a pothole. Then there was one where TV talk show host and car aficionado Jay Leno bragged about being the only celebrity who can drive a manual transmission SLR Mercedes. And finally this piece from the wall street journal which chronicles how frustrated new car owners are with their high-tech machines
Which brings up the question, how much it too much technology for cars? With my budget, I can only to drive a car that Wanjala, my mechanic, can fix at his garage and one whose parts are relatively available and affordable.
Yet Kenyans have been buying top of the range cars at an astonishing rate, some without local parts or technical support. And some of the cars are loaded with such gizmos and that make even their owners confused. How many times have you ridden in a car where the owner does not know what half the dashboard gizmos do? There are all wheel drive cars that never leave the city, tiptronic gears that are never used, cars that lock their owner out or in depending on their perception of insecurity, cars that are supposed to avoid collision and others that are supposed to park themselves.
Sometimes they break down in strange and sad ways - from cars with blown turbochargers that cause them to crawl or new cars that you see parked at the back of a garage as they await arrival of some obscure engine part or maybe it's because the dealer's electronic diagnostic kit has not discovered what bug is ailing the engine.
Other motoring moments:
- a VIP accident
- arrival of the Chrysler 300
Enough about cars
April 13 Jobs
most from the daily papers this week
Academy for educational development: finance manager, finance assistant, administration manager. Apply to regionaloffice@aed.org by 27/4
Investment analyst at British American asset managers. Apply to BAAMHR@baam.co.ke by 27/4
Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. Project manager and a regional director,both in Nairobi. D/L is 30/4
Financial information systems manager at Equity bank. Apply to jobs@equitybank.co.ke by 27/4
Operations officer (Nairobi) at the IFC growth oriented women entrepreneurs (GOWE Kenya) program. D/L is 27/4
Human resource manager at Innscor Kenya apply to recruit@innscorkenya.co.ke by 27/4
Management trainees at KCB. Apply online by 27/4
Kenya national commission on human rights: principal human rights officer - research policy & legislation program, principal human rights officer - campaign & advocacy program, principal human rights officer - complaints & investigation program. Apply to the commission secretary 74359-00200 by 30/7
Magadi soda: senior buyer, product development manager. Apply to recruit@magadisoda.co.ke by 27/4
Microsoft: infrastructure consultant, corporate account manager, partner account manager. Apply to wecajobs@microsoft.com
Safaricom: Senior internal auditor, senior information systems auditor, and senior information security officer. Deadline is 18/4
Executive director at Transparency international. Apply to recruit@sadeptsystems.co.ke by 27/4
Regional Program Leader at the World Bank PPIAF Nairobi. D/L is 30/4
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
FLSE
Who need the LSE?
Safaricom is our birthright built on the voices, fingers, and shillings of Kenyans. It has been a model for social advancement, ability of ICT's to bring development, empowerment, democracy, awareness, the long tail, proof that cents (and shillings) can grow into billions in profits - etc.
It is peculiarly Kenyan right down to its flaws such as congested hours, high costs, and secrets owners (Mobitelea). That's why Safaricom should be listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, not the LSE
It is our birthright - like an African child who takes money out of their parents pocket for eighteen years and should put some back when they grow up. British shareholders will never understand how bamba 50, sambaza, mteja or m-pesa, translate into profits & dividends - nor should they be asked to.
The NSE was able to absorb Kengen and still left twice as much money on the table with negligible impact on other share prices. Likewise, it will be able to handle a Safaricom IPO.
Safaricom is our birthright built on the voices, fingers, and shillings of Kenyans. It has been a model for social advancement, ability of ICT's to bring development, empowerment, democracy, awareness, the long tail, proof that cents (and shillings) can grow into billions in profits - etc.
It is peculiarly Kenyan right down to its flaws such as congested hours, high costs, and secrets owners (Mobitelea). That's why Safaricom should be listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, not the LSE
It is our birthright - like an African child who takes money out of their parents pocket for eighteen years and should put some back when they grow up. British shareholders will never understand how bamba 50, sambaza, mteja or m-pesa, translate into profits & dividends - nor should they be asked to.
The NSE was able to absorb Kengen and still left twice as much money on the table with negligible impact on other share prices. Likewise, it will be able to handle a Safaricom IPO.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Who's Kenya paying?
A noble step in the war on corruption is this website by the Public Procurement Oversight Authority which list all contracts awarded over 5 million shillings ($71,430) by organs of the kenya government . A step further would be to require/ publish all companies who are awarded such contracts to also publish/disclose all the company directors.
Transparent dust
Mwalimu Mati is showing his former employers Transparency International quite a bit of dust with his new venture Mars Group Kenya which unearths more dirt than Transparency ever did.
Transparent dust
Mwalimu Mati is showing his former employers Transparency International quite a bit of dust with his new venture Mars Group Kenya which unearths more dirt than Transparency ever did.
Easter weekend
No trades
I realized that I had not been to my stockbroker’s office to trade this year. It would be good to visit to find out the fate of my Stanbic shares. I’m not sure if I got a full allocation or a refund since I have not got any report from the broker. This week would be a good time to visit before the lines begin for the Access Kenya IPO which starts next week.
Access Kenya IPO
Access Kenya announced that their IPO will begin on April 19th. The company hopes to sell 80 million shares at 10 shillings ($0.14) each to raise 800 million shillings ($11.4m). I look forward to the prospectus to be released within the next few days to give a proper picture of the communications market. And we are also awaiting an IPO from Wananchi, Kenya’s largest ISP who unfortunately lost a bid for Africa Online to Telkom of South Africa.
The ISP industry has shown tremendous growth, but the sector faces additional challenges for investors.
- First like the Scangroup IPO, intangible measures take on greater significance in comparing the company against its peers and its future prospects.
- Second, an additional regulator comes into play i.e. the Communications Commission of Kenya. The sector has seen some turbulent investments that have not reached fruition including the third mobile operator (Econet in court for three years) and the second national operator (license has been awarded and canceled twice). Also CCK will in future move towards giving unified licenses, which means that that companies won’t have to go back to re-apply each time they want to introduce a new service.
- Third in a unified license world, and once a restructured Telkom has been sorted out, Safaricom and celtel may be the ISP companies of the future with their EDGE / GPRS offerings. (ISP’s are already complaining about mobile companies not playing fair with interconnection, leading back to the regulator again).
Corporate divorce
Alexander Forbes of SA has withdrawn its name from Alexander Forbes insurance brokers of Kenya citing a lack of majority equity or management control. The Kenyan operation (formerly Hyman Robertson) who already have a new name ready to launch, feel that they have been a good custodians of the brand, turning it around from loss making one to being one of the largest in East Africa.
Fading libraries?
Read in the Sunday Standard that the British Council was closing their library in Mombasa owing to declining memberships.
I realized that I had not been to my stockbroker’s office to trade this year. It would be good to visit to find out the fate of my Stanbic shares. I’m not sure if I got a full allocation or a refund since I have not got any report from the broker. This week would be a good time to visit before the lines begin for the Access Kenya IPO which starts next week.
Access Kenya IPO
Access Kenya announced that their IPO will begin on April 19th. The company hopes to sell 80 million shares at 10 shillings ($0.14) each to raise 800 million shillings ($11.4m). I look forward to the prospectus to be released within the next few days to give a proper picture of the communications market. And we are also awaiting an IPO from Wananchi, Kenya’s largest ISP who unfortunately lost a bid for Africa Online to Telkom of South Africa.
The ISP industry has shown tremendous growth, but the sector faces additional challenges for investors.
- First like the Scangroup IPO, intangible measures take on greater significance in comparing the company against its peers and its future prospects.
- Second, an additional regulator comes into play i.e. the Communications Commission of Kenya. The sector has seen some turbulent investments that have not reached fruition including the third mobile operator (Econet in court for three years) and the second national operator (license has been awarded and canceled twice). Also CCK will in future move towards giving unified licenses, which means that that companies won’t have to go back to re-apply each time they want to introduce a new service.
- Third in a unified license world, and once a restructured Telkom has been sorted out, Safaricom and celtel may be the ISP companies of the future with their EDGE / GPRS offerings. (ISP’s are already complaining about mobile companies not playing fair with interconnection, leading back to the regulator again).
Corporate divorce
Alexander Forbes of SA has withdrawn its name from Alexander Forbes insurance brokers of Kenya citing a lack of majority equity or management control. The Kenyan operation (formerly Hyman Robertson) who already have a new name ready to launch, feel that they have been a good custodians of the brand, turning it around from loss making one to being one of the largest in East Africa.
Fading libraries?
Read in the Sunday Standard that the British Council was closing their library in Mombasa owing to declining memberships.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Kenya Bank Rankings in 2006
Barclays still rules at the end of 2006
figures in Kshs. millions
Bank assets 2006
change from 2005 rank in brackets
1. Barclays 118, 021 (Kshs 118 billion or $1.69 billion)
2. Kenya Commercial 87,326
3. Standard Chartered 81,014
4. Co-operative 57,683
5. (6) Citibank Kenya 37,794
6. (7) Commercial Bank of Africa 37,507
7. (5) National Bank of Kenya 36,123
8. (9) NIC 26, 108
9. (12) Stanbic 25,822
10. (8) CFC 25,392
11. (10) Investment & Mortgages 22,348
12. (11) Diamond Trust 21,564
13. Equity 20,024
14. (15) Baroda 11,773
15. (19) Prime 10,452
16. (17) Imperial 9,406
17. (14) Housing Finance 9,142
18. (16) EABS 8,910
19. (18) Bank of India 8,702
20. Fina 6,502
21. Bank of Africa 6,488
23. (22) ABC 5,357
24. Habib AG Zurich 5,323
25. (30) K-Rep 5,220
26. (23) Giro 5,098
27. (25) Guardian 4,917
28. (27) Southern Credit 4,580
29. (28) Victoria 4,284
30. (37) Chase 4,123
31. Equatorial 3,962
32. (33) Consolidated 3,437
33. (29) Middle East 3,401
34. (36) Development Bank of Kenya 3,297
35. (34) Habib Bank 2,963
36. (35) Credit 2, 610
37. Transnational 2,566
38. Fidelity 2,316
39. Paramount Universal 2,197
40. Oriental (formerly Delphis) 1,449
41. Dubai 1,248
42. City Finance 527
========
Notes
22 (32) Family Finance 5, 469 was not been licensed as expected
Charterhouse Bank was de-licensed in 2006
Pre-tax profit
Barclays 6,624 ($94.6 million)
StanChart 3,810
KCB 3,035
Citibank 1530
CBA 1,311
Return on assets
Barclays 5.61%
Equity 5.51%
Family Finance 4.83%
StanChart 4.70%
I&M 4.19%
Imperial 4.11%
Citibank 4.05%
Deposits
Barclays 93,837
KCB 71,495
StanChart 64,879
Co-op 48,201
CBA 32,517
Loans
Barclays 73,907
KCB 40,659
StanChart 35,762
Co-op 28,037
NBK 26,491
Branches
estimated
KCB 110
Postbank 66 (not a bank)
Barclays 53
Equity 42
Co-op 40
Staff expenses
KCB 3,823
Barclays 3,057
Co-op 2,081
StanChart 1,781
NBK 1,204
Equity 943
Loans to deposits
City Finance 183%
DBK 117%
K-Rep 114%
Transnational 103%
Dubai 93%
Government friendly banks
ratio of government securities investment to loans
Habib AG Zurich 210.46%
Habib Bank 195.07%
Baroda 140.66%
Bank of India 138.15%
StanChart 77.32%
Citibank 69.54%
Raking the Fees
% of income from non-interest (lending) sources
Oriental 60.49%
EABS 56.66%
Equity 55.27%
Paramount Universal 53.76%
Family Finance 53.11%
Co-op 51.35%
Related
- Earlier in depth review, analysis, and projections.
- 2005 rankings.
figures in Kshs. millions
Bank assets 2006
change from 2005 rank in brackets
1. Barclays 118, 021 (Kshs 118 billion or $1.69 billion)
2. Kenya Commercial 87,326
3. Standard Chartered 81,014
4. Co-operative 57,683
5. (6) Citibank Kenya 37,794
6. (7) Commercial Bank of Africa 37,507
7. (5) National Bank of Kenya 36,123
8. (9) NIC 26, 108
9. (12) Stanbic 25,822
10. (8) CFC 25,392
11. (10) Investment & Mortgages 22,348
12. (11) Diamond Trust 21,564
13. Equity 20,024
14. (15) Baroda 11,773
15. (19) Prime 10,452
16. (17) Imperial 9,406
17. (14) Housing Finance 9,142
18. (16) EABS 8,910
19. (18) Bank of India 8,702
20. Fina 6,502
21. Bank of Africa 6,488
23. (22) ABC 5,357
24. Habib AG Zurich 5,323
25. (30) K-Rep 5,220
26. (23) Giro 5,098
27. (25) Guardian 4,917
28. (27) Southern Credit 4,580
29. (28) Victoria 4,284
30. (37) Chase 4,123
31. Equatorial 3,962
32. (33) Consolidated 3,437
33. (29) Middle East 3,401
34. (36) Development Bank of Kenya 3,297
35. (34) Habib Bank 2,963
36. (35) Credit 2, 610
37. Transnational 2,566
38. Fidelity 2,316
39. Paramount Universal 2,197
40. Oriental (formerly Delphis) 1,449
41. Dubai 1,248
42. City Finance 527
========
Notes
22 (32) Family Finance 5, 469 was not been licensed as expected
Charterhouse Bank was de-licensed in 2006
Pre-tax profit
Barclays 6,624 ($94.6 million)
StanChart 3,810
KCB 3,035
Citibank 1530
CBA 1,311
Return on assets
Barclays 5.61%
Equity 5.51%
Family Finance 4.83%
StanChart 4.70%
I&M 4.19%
Imperial 4.11%
Citibank 4.05%
Deposits
Barclays 93,837
KCB 71,495
StanChart 64,879
Co-op 48,201
CBA 32,517
Loans
Barclays 73,907
KCB 40,659
StanChart 35,762
Co-op 28,037
NBK 26,491
Branches
estimated
KCB 110
Postbank 66 (not a bank)
Barclays 53
Equity 42
Co-op 40
Staff expenses
KCB 3,823
Barclays 3,057
Co-op 2,081
StanChart 1,781
NBK 1,204
Equity 943
Loans to deposits
City Finance 183%
DBK 117%
K-Rep 114%
Transnational 103%
Dubai 93%
Government friendly banks
ratio of government securities investment to loans
Habib AG Zurich 210.46%
Habib Bank 195.07%
Baroda 140.66%
Bank of India 138.15%
StanChart 77.32%
Citibank 69.54%
Raking the Fees
% of income from non-interest (lending) sources
Oriental 60.49%
EABS 56.66%
Equity 55.27%
Paramount Universal 53.76%
Family Finance 53.11%
Co-op 51.35%
Related
- Earlier in depth review, analysis, and projections.
- 2005 rankings.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Chinese rescue Tiomin
Jinchuan Group Ltd of China will invest $9.4 million Kshs 640 million) in Tiomin by purchasing 72.5 million shares of the company (increasing their stake to 20%) and the improved cash posiiton will enable the Kwale project to go on.
See earlier project delay.
See earlier project delay.
Safaricom blinks & the Nairobi barcamp
Saasa for life
Safaricom has extended its' Saasa tariff indefinitely (was due to expire on March 31) which has much cheaper calls and SMS’s from 2- 8 PM.
Celtel has come up with some much cheaper rates than Safaricom and many people (myself included) had been waiting to see what Safaricom would do to reign in customers considering a migration.
But for now my priority has changed to searching for a wireless communication provider. At the barcamp – the audience were asked how many had internet access at home – with only a fractional number saying 'yes' - because the costs are high. Next stop for me is to decide between Flashcom, Popote, Telkom Wireless, Celtel, KDN (Butterfly), Wananchi or Safaricom on a connection for a laptop. Another interesting option I read about but one which has to be discussed with the neighbors.
Barcamp
This was a great afternoon of interesting talks (interrupted by the Arsenal Liverpool game in between).
A notable point of discussion was the apparent disconnect between the business sector and the academia. With so many executives are taking parallel degree programmes on campus one would think they'd be an easy leap in mentoring and business incubation - but, no. A curious footnote was that audit/accounting firms like to hire engineering graduates (because of the analytical way they think) and many engineering students are disillusioned about their future prospects - smoething that will hopefuly be corrected by an ongoing curriculum review.
Others;
- Most interesting was how (EditUniversity of Nairobi) JKUAT students created a local area network (was also done at Moi University)
- Proposal to have another barcamp for content
- Stockskenya (by network associates) with popular bulletin boards and fantasy trading game which will plans to enable online trading
Real estate investment
Bandari villas in Bombolulu (Mombasa) will be completed later this year. The 105 maisonettes and 56 apartments are being put up by the pension fund of the Kenya Ports Authority and are located 6 km from Mombasa and 1.5 km off the Mombasa Malindi highway
The houses are being marketed at local investors and Kenyan in the Diaspora and will be sold by Lloyd Masika agents [e-mail bombolulu@lloydmasika.co.ke] at between 3.5 and 5 million shillings ($50,000 – 71,000)
More:
- This appears to be another write-up of the houses and write up
- More on the chequred past of the KPA pension scheme.
- An update of real estate investments from the Diaspora
Jobs
AY&R Group. Account directors, account managers, advertising creative teams, secretaries, graphic designers, graduate trainees, management accountant. Apply to AY&Rgroup_Info@ke.yr.com by 4/4
Brookside Dairies: country managers (Uganda and Tanzania), Sales Managers, chief accountant (Tz & Ug), accountants, sales supervisors, salesmen, merchandisers. Apply to hrm@brooksidedairies.co.ke by 15/4
Commercial Bank of Africa. Compliance unit manager, property manager, administration manager, management accountant, product development manager (personal banking), business development & projects manager (IT), Treasury sales. Apply to jobs@cba.co.ke by 16/4
Africa Regional HR manager at Crown Agents. Apply to jobscs@ke.crownagents.com by 13/4
CEO at East African Grantmakers Association. Apply to info@eaag.org by 23/4
Graduate trainees at East African Standard
Accountant at Kemri/CDC. Apply to recruitment@ke.cdc.gov by 13/4
K-Rep: branch managers, business development officers, bank clerks, system administrator, database administrator. Apply to chief HRO 25363-00100 by 13/4
KWAL: application systems supervisor, systems administrator by 12/4
Various jobs at Virgin Atlantic Naiorbi. D/L is 6/4
World Vision - Sudan: internal auditor, ICT specialist (infrastructure), IT specialist (system administration). Apply to recruitmentsdn@wvi.org
Safaricom has extended its' Saasa tariff indefinitely (was due to expire on March 31) which has much cheaper calls and SMS’s from 2- 8 PM.
Celtel has come up with some much cheaper rates than Safaricom and many people (myself included) had been waiting to see what Safaricom would do to reign in customers considering a migration.
But for now my priority has changed to searching for a wireless communication provider. At the barcamp – the audience were asked how many had internet access at home – with only a fractional number saying 'yes' - because the costs are high. Next stop for me is to decide between Flashcom, Popote, Telkom Wireless, Celtel, KDN (Butterfly), Wananchi or Safaricom on a connection for a laptop. Another interesting option I read about but one which has to be discussed with the neighbors.
Barcamp
This was a great afternoon of interesting talks (interrupted by the Arsenal Liverpool game in between).
A notable point of discussion was the apparent disconnect between the business sector and the academia. With so many executives are taking parallel degree programmes on campus one would think they'd be an easy leap in mentoring and business incubation - but, no. A curious footnote was that audit/accounting firms like to hire engineering graduates (because of the analytical way they think) and many engineering students are disillusioned about their future prospects - smoething that will hopefuly be corrected by an ongoing curriculum review.
Others;
- Most interesting was how (Edit
- Proposal to have another barcamp for content
- Stockskenya (by network associates) with popular bulletin boards and fantasy trading game which will plans to enable online trading
Real estate investment
Bandari villas in Bombolulu (Mombasa) will be completed later this year. The 105 maisonettes and 56 apartments are being put up by the pension fund of the Kenya Ports Authority and are located 6 km from Mombasa and 1.5 km off the Mombasa Malindi highway
The houses are being marketed at local investors and Kenyan in the Diaspora and will be sold by Lloyd Masika agents [e-mail bombolulu@lloydmasika.co.ke] at between 3.5 and 5 million shillings ($50,000 – 71,000)
More:
- This appears to be another write-up of the houses and write up
- More on the chequred past of the KPA pension scheme.
- An update of real estate investments from the Diaspora
Jobs
AY&R Group. Account directors, account managers, advertising creative teams, secretaries, graphic designers, graduate trainees, management accountant. Apply to AY&Rgroup_Info@ke.yr.com by 4/4
Brookside Dairies: country managers (Uganda and Tanzania), Sales Managers, chief accountant (Tz & Ug), accountants, sales supervisors, salesmen, merchandisers. Apply to hrm@brooksidedairies.co.ke by 15/4
Commercial Bank of Africa. Compliance unit manager, property manager, administration manager, management accountant, product development manager (personal banking), business development & projects manager (IT), Treasury sales. Apply to jobs@cba.co.ke by 16/4
Africa Regional HR manager at Crown Agents. Apply to jobscs@ke.crownagents.com by 13/4
CEO at East African Grantmakers Association. Apply to info@eaag.org by 23/4
Graduate trainees at East African Standard
Accountant at Kemri/CDC. Apply to recruitment@ke.cdc.gov by 13/4
K-Rep: branch managers, business development officers, bank clerks, system administrator, database administrator. Apply to chief HRO 25363-00100 by 13/4
KWAL: application systems supervisor, systems administrator by 12/4
Various jobs at Virgin Atlantic Naiorbi. D/L is 6/4
World Vision - Sudan: internal auditor, ICT specialist (infrastructure), IT specialist (system administration). Apply to recruitmentsdn@wvi.org
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