KQ hits turbulence

Down: Profits dipped slightly owing to increased competition, and the weakening US dollar. Kudos’ to the NSE for the timely release of company accounts (now if they could only offer .txt alternatives alongside the huge PDF files). Sooner or later a company is going to reach a limit - and either report flat (or declining) revenue or profits, but shareholders don’t take too kindly to the inevitable.

Pilot stabilizes: In the wake of the KQ 507 crash, the airline MD has released a statement on safety issues to quell murmurs that the airline operations were stretched in pursuit of profit. Another statement of reassurance from a former manager.

Up: The airline has been voted Africa's Leading Airline by readers of Travel News magazine. KQ also won for best regional, local airline, Msafiri magazine and frequent flier programme (with KLM).

ARM to retire bonds

Athi River Mining will convert 125 million shillings worth of corporate bonds into shares in the company as existing shareholders will be asked to approve the creation of 25 million new shares for this purpose.

The bonds were launched in October 2005. Of the 800m raised 600 was for completion of clinker plant in Kaloleni (near Mombasa) and 200 million was for repayment of bank debt.

Other corporate bonds include Faulu Kenya, PTA Bank and Mabati - with few new issues expected and little trading in them. Previous corporate bond giants - Safaricom and Celtel (who also retired their bonds early), opted to get bank financing the last time they needed expansion funds.

The real Safaricom EDGE

(Premium) Story in the Nation about the Cabinet being presented with a paper to approve the sale of 25% of Safaricom to the public.

This is a winning card this election year that will be foremost in the minds of investors and voters. A well managed Safaricom IPO before December could deliver more votes than needless voter expenditure or rhetoric from any leader.

Power shift: Meanwhile Bloomberg reports that - for the first time since WWII more money will be raised from European IPO’s than US ones. Stringent regulations, high costs (6.7% of IPO versus 3.3% for Europe) and the weak US$ to blame as 14 or the 15 biggest recent IPO’s were listed outside the US.

Media bill 2007

There have been many columns written about the Media Bill 2007 that was presented in Parliament this month and which seeks to instill responsibility among journalists. However it is missing from the ministry site, there are no PDF’s available (so far) and I was only able to get a copy thanks to a networked bloggger.

It was disappointing that so far everyone talks about it, but few (member of the public) have seen it. Even media houses have remained selfish with the document, withholding it and only telling us what’s bad about it. Actually the bill is quite bare, except for providing for the establishment of a media advisory council, media advisory board and a code of conduct for journalists.

- Pros: It creates about 20 new jobs (board seats) on two new bodies (media advisory council and media advisory board)
- Is not as broad as previously envisioned when it appeared that it would cover cross ownership and content issues.

Cons: Much has been written about it - read some (here, here, and here)



The bill is crafted by people who believe that the media are out to get them so it comes out as something that a media-challenged celebrity may have written - guiding the media on what to do and what not to do via a code of conduct. It seems to be directed at the Standard which is believed to have editorial issues dictated by ownership (the bill calls on journalists to refuse to allow the interests of ownership or management to influence news' judgment and content inappropriately) and therefore one ups the Standard by drafting a bill that seeks to forbid intrusions into individuals private life (without the persons consent), alarming headlines (a staple of tabloids to lure buyers), the use of hidden recordings (ala Githongo) and confidential/unnamed sources – with penalties such as deregistration of journalists.

Likely outcome: As bad as the bill is, it may actually pass in parliament because no politician likes the media - they will make a show of opposing the bill, but all will welcome the chance/forum to complain about negative coverage.

Jobs

from the newspapers over the last week

Commercial and political risks underwriter at Africa trade insurance agency - ATIA. Apply to Recruitment@Africa-ECA.com by 15/6

Marketing manager at nation media group: apply to hrrecruit@nation.co.ke 30/5

National communications secretariat of the republic of Kenya: communication legal expert, accountant, system administrator. Apply to ncs@elimu.net 15/6

Pricewaterhousecoopers: public financial management and procurement specialists. Apply to recruitment.ke@ke.pwc.com by 15/6

Sony (South Nyanza Sugar Company): CEO/ M - details here. Also HR development manager, procurement manager, management accountant, property manager, sales operations manager. Apply by 20/6

Olympia Rights Issue

Olympia capital is seeking to raise 600 million shillings in a rights issue later this year, after approval by shareholders. Part of the proceeds (Kshs. 87 million) will be used to repay a shareholders loan that was used to bridge the purchase of Plush Products in 2006.

The acquisition of Plush is expected to more than double the company's turnover in 2007 Olympia's accounts were not qualified, but the auditors have noted that their company has a negative working capital position - which has been offset by gains from the Botswana subsidiary - from which Olympia generates 5X more turnover than it does from Kenya.

More reading on Olympia: (here and here)

Summer Calendar

Up comings events

What ICT can do for your business: besides make you a multi-millionaire - A talk by Jonathan Somen, Access Kenya CEO.

Uchumi anniversary: One year after the company was shut down, the receiver manager will on May 31, explain the way forward to shareholders

Welcome to Kenya: June 1 sees the arrival of CNBC broadcasts and Virgin Atlantic air services

Rhino Charge: The 2007 Kenya Rhino Charge presumably in the Kerio Valley, June 1 - 3

TED Global in Arusha: Dubbed Africa: The Next Chapter, June 4-7.

edit - Tusker Safari Sevens
Kenya's premier rugby event: June 8 - 10

Satellite & wireless conference: The African Satellite & Wireless Broadband Conference & VoIP Forum at Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, 11-13 June with the theme of "Broadband bridges across Africa: First and last mile solutions."

Get ready for election 2007: June 30 is the deadline for public servants (employees of government, local authorities, academia, parastatals, judiciary, military, others) who intend to contest for parliamentary seats in this years election to resign from their jobs.

Meet the President: A business roundtable with Kenyan government leaders on July 17 & 18 in Nairobi. Speakers include H. E. President Mwai Kibaki and Ministers Amos Kimunya, Mukhisa Kituyi, and John Koech

Africa investor Awards : The 2007 awards will be handed down on 8 November in Lagos, Nigeria. Kenyan nominees short listed include;
- The Nairobi Stock Exchange for Best African Stock Exchange
- Kengen for Best African IPO (also in the running is Stanbic Uganda)
- African Alliance for Best Africa Research Team
- Kenya Commercial Bank for Best Ai 40 company

100 years

Deloitte 100 years

celebrated inside the Nairobi National park last Friday

Deloitte celebrated 100 years of doing business in Kenya last week at the ivory burning site inside the Nairobi National Park.

I’m sure Deloitte will exist in another hundred years, but will the Nairobi National Park as we know it be around in a hundred years?

This has been debated before but it sure to come up again and again as the city rapidly expands into all open land to the South and East.

And with the three hour traffic jams (more) that some city residents experience daily, each way on roads like Thika Road and Mombasa Road, there is appetite for some improvement.

Decision makers may find it easier to hive off land than to radically change other aspects of rapid urbanizations such as taxation (increase tax on cars to reuce their numbers), develop a mass public transport system, or infrastructure (more by-pass roads) which in any case would still have to run thought the park.

So it’s likely that in a few years you can expect moves to reduce / encroach on the parks 117 sq km to create more residential and commercial space close to the city.

And residents lulled by the offer of more land, easier access to towns, offices and new homes may support absorption of some park space by the city of Nairobi.

Though the park has stood the test of time and remains largely intact to past encroachment efforts, the animal numbers have diminished as developments to the south have cut off migration paths. Stories of lions or leopards being seen in the Langata area at night have all but disappeared. The Kenya Wildlife service has proven adept at relocating animals including elephants and rhinos to other parks in the country and would be called up on to do the same here.

The park has few forested areas so it’s easy to see quite far in the park. But at night during the Deloitte function you could see lights in the distance all around the park, marking the edge of human activity bursting to enter the park.

Good luck to Nairobi National Park over the next 100 years!

Access Kenya IPO results

Access Kenya summary
Individual applicants: who applied for the minimum 5,000 shares get 900 shares, while those who applied for 25,000 get 4,000.
Institutional investors: that applied for the minimum 100,000 get full allocation, while those that applied for 1 million get about ½ that .

Serena expands to South Africa
Serena shareholders will this month be asked to approve creation of a South African subsidiary company

CMA reforms planned
The Capital Markets Authority has commissioned a consultancy to modernize & improve its operations by strengthening its legal and regulatory framework. Part 1 of the study will have the consultants evaluate the capital markets and central depositories acts, look at secondary market malpractices & sanctions, cross border listings & trading, methods of dispute resolution among others. In Part II, the consultants will come up with revised regulations that, based on the weaknesses identified in part 1, ensure that Kenya investor laws & regulations adhere to international best practices. This is part of the FLSTAP reform program of the Ministry of Finance and consulting firms can apply by June 13.

Kutwa Tuesday

These are stories I have found (kutwad) and want to share this Tuesday

Getting a story straight: One way of getting your story out through the media is to buy space and have your statement run exactly as you mean it and straight to the public - and there are two recent instances of that.

Street Lights: First is by the CEO of Adopt-A-Light Esther Passaris who launched her transformed street lighting crusade into an anti-poverty and anti-corruption vehicle that may lead her to being the next mayor of Nairobi.

This comes after the City council of Nairobi disowned the contract they had with her company and advertised for other companies to fulfill outdoor lighting & advertising functions which were had been exclusively done by Adopt a light.

What’s in your water bottle?: The second statement is a concerned water expert who is worried that Kenyans may not understand the different types of bottled water being sold - drinking water, natural mineral water, mineral water, carbonated water etc. - and that water bottling companies are being liberal with the advertising truth. He writes that natural mineral water is bottled at source, and with no chemical treatment, which is an expensive process - and he doubts that it is possible for a company actually producing such water, can sell it at the same price as drinking water. I.e. some of the companies are making false claims on their water bottles. He also cautions users to check the amount of fluorine in bottled water as it can lead to bad teeth and bone disease (Should not be more than 1.5mg per litre)

Do they work?: Of course the media love a story waged on their papers and companies such as Kakuzi, Portland cement, Kenya pipeline, Nzoia Sugar and other companies have all bought space (in more than one newspaper) to run statements, usually denying allegations of financial impropriety. There was even an infamous statement defending Anglo Leasing a few years ago.

Esther Passaris took out 2 page advertisements in both the Sunday Nation and Sunday Standard – probably at a total cost of Kshs 1.5 million (840,000 for the Nation, and over 600,000 for the standard)

The media is happy because these statements add to advertising revenue and often lead to other statements and form a base for them to tackle stories that they may have been hesitant to delve into. IMHO, it is unwise for corporations to place such self-serving advertisements especially to deny allegations – the better thing is to lie low and let the bad press (negative stories) pass, plant a few trees & build schools (CSR is good first aid for a scandal wound), answer questions from regulators or authorities – but don’t splash your story in the media!

(See past PR statements by De La Rue and Italians in Malindi.

Communications Wananchi has applied for a data carrier network operator - DCNO license - joining other firms such as KDN, Simbanet, Telkom, UUNET and Access Kenya.

Bounty Hunter: In a Ugandan newspaper, I came across an article (copy here) about the search for Felicien Kabuga who is wanted for his role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide. The article had more depth than any story I have read in any Kenyan paper (fear of libel laws perhaps), but what continues to amaze me is that despite almost every literate urban Kenyan knowing about the search, a reward on offer of $5m (down to Kshs 335 million at current exchange rate), recent photos of Kabuga that the Nation published a few months ago, and significant evidence that he spends a great deal of time in Kenya – no one (his friends & associates) cares enough, for posterity, or for the reward, to turn this guy in. And now there’s a deadline - as the mandate for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and presumably the reward will expire at the end of 2008.

Brother please! Just came across this story - which at first I thought was from the the Onion or some satire website. But it appears to be a true story – that the wreckage of a six-seater aircraft has been found in Cameroon three months after it crashed. So should we be greatful that the KQ crash site was found within 48 hours?

Money go round: Even as some of the larger pyramid schemes are experiencing cash flow problems, smaller ones are still attracting new investors. In the newspapers every day there are more schemes in the works listed in the classified sections under business opportunity – all offering 16 – 20% returns per month, just for investing a small amount for a weeks.

Real estate The Kenya anti corruption authority (KACA) is seeking land in milimani, upper hill, kilimani or wastelands, presumably to set up a new office building. Lots sought should be 2 to 5 acres in size, close to major road and details should be sent to the Director by June 14.

Mining
- On J7 July at the Msambweni divisional office, a case will be heard between Simon Ndungu Karanja vs. Tiomin over his 1.9 ha piece of land
- Gippsland offshore petroleum of Australia is doing an geophysical survey of the Kenya coast (kipini area, ungama bay)
- Tile & carpet center are prospecting for carbon dioxide in (Kereita forest) of Kiambu district
- Oil giant Halliburton is moving is headquarters from Houston to Dubai!

Kampala expense tab

Uganda Securities Exchange

Where are my Stanbic shares today?

How much did a week in Uganda cost?

- Hotels (73%) are the one expensive item about the country. There is a commonwealth heads of government (CHOGUM) summit coming up later this year and there are major investments all geared towards that including new hotels coming up, sprucing up the town, and other investments to carter to VIP’s. Hotels in the Kampala CBD range from nice small $40 ones to $150 at Speke and Grand Imperial, to higher at the Sheraton and new Serena.
- Newspapers (1.38%). There's the New vision, Monitor (owned by NMG) and Red Pepper which has evolved from a racy tabloid to a more respectable daily newspaper that is sold alongside the other two. Also, at around 3 PM each afternoon, the Daily Nation and Standard from Kenya can be bought outside the main Barclays Bank building in town
- Internet (1.68%). Cyber cafes are plenty around despite the electricity mini crisis. Most charge about 1/= (UG 25/=) per minute.
- Telephone (1.66%) You can use your Safaricom or Celtel lines as usual here. But for Safaricom, air time cards are only found at some MTN shops and are sold at about 35% extra. i.e. buy a 100 shilling card for 136 shillings equivalent. Seasoned travellers are either post-paid customers, or buy enough cards before they leave Kenya
- Meals & Entertainment. (8%) Food is relatively cheap compared to what we pay in Kenya even at places like Steers and Pizza Inn. Also included Spiderman at Garden City Mall (an upscale mall with the local Uchumi supermarket), rugby at Kyadondo, and a lecture series event.
- Gifts (8.61%) . Mostly clothes from the equivalent of Masai Market
- Transport (4.1%). Somewhere there is taxi to Entebbe airport (40km away for about Kshs. 2,000) but most getting around Kampala is on the back of a motorbike and dashing to your destination. At first it was scary, but you get used to it as it’s the fastest way to get around town as they squeeze through the city’s traffic jams. But they can be dangerous and someone told me there are a couple of accidents a day, some fatal – with the driver abandoning his passenger and bike on the spot. The only faster way to get through town is in a VIP motorcade (the President’s convoy is a sight to see) - Personal items 1.59%
- Other expenses 0.15%

Total expense: about 2 million Uganda shillings or US 1,200 or Kshs 80,000

- The one remarkable thing about Kampala is the level of safety - security is assured. Whereas in Nairobi you get worried about being out past 6PM and on some streets any time of the day for and are always on the lookout for phone snatchers, pick pockets or armed thugs, here there are no worries. The fact that all watchmen (shops, banks) have guns may be a factor, but a country that has gone through years of war has no tolerance for violence. With all the guns around, police are super-armed (as are VIP mototcades).
- This is also a country where you can encounter a wedding convoy with the bridal party riding in four humvees!

Jobs
Jobs from the Kenyan daily papers this week

Fund raising & communication manager at Action Aid. Apply to actionaidsomaliland@actionaid.org by 31/5

Akamba bus: General Manager, chief finance officer. Apply to mushtaqk@akambabus.com by 31/5


Barclays: Branch managers, branch coordinators, customer advisor, and local business advisor. Apply to the retail expansion program, market branch 30018-00200 by 25/5

Equity Bank: Business growth & development manager, operations manager, credit manager. Apply to jobs@equitybank.co.ke 31/5

Area sales manager at Eveready. Apply to asm@eveready.co.ke by 25/5

Flashcom: Finance manager, sales manager, network engineer. Apply to recruitment@flashcom.co.ke by 4/6

Kenya Land Alliance: network capacity building officer, assistant accountant. Apply to kla@africaonline.co.ke by 25/5

National Council for Law Reporting law reporter, assistant law reporter (2), systems administrator, web developer (2), proof reader (2), publishing assistant.
Apply online by 22/6

Pricewaterhousecoopers: human capital manager, head of marketing & communications. Apply to recruitment.ke@ke.pwc.com by 1/6

Eye on media

There's a new magazine on the streets called ET - or Expression Today edited by David Makali that takes alook at happenings in the media industry.

- Nation: A look back at W. Kiboro’s tenure, the bungled staff retrenchment program that led to internet e-mail & rumours, how NMG got TV licence from a reluctant President Moi, challenges faced in launching the business daily and an indepth look at the problems they have faced with staff in Tanzania and a TV licence in Uganda
- Standard How KTN has slipped behind NTV in latest TV
rankings (from Steadman), why Katherine Kasavuli, Swaleh Mdoe, and Louis Otieno left and the staff revolt that followed, rumor of interest from Transcentury or foreign investors, a quote by Kwamchetsi Makokha on how the standard shareholders brought in dream team (including himself) to spruce it up for a sale. But once the paper was
turned round, they decided not to sell it anymore - and got rid of the dream team
got rid of the dream team.
- Royal media: management triumph over editorial desk has handciapped the Leader newspaper
- Kenya Times: Ruto takeover being rebuffed
- KISS newspaper - what it's outlook & potential
- KBC interference and cash flow problems
- Business magazine Market intelligence is no more
- Other media issues like poor staff pay at the Nation, how financial muscle (Uchumi, Samuel Gichuru & KCB) gets negative stories killed in the editorial room, and recap of the Artur raid saga.

It's a great read for 100/=

NIC Bank AGM

The 2007 NIC Bank AGM was held on May 16 2007 at the Intercontinental Hotel

Who's the man?
The Chairman, Mr. JPM Ndegwa, was able to handle most questions and diffuse tense moments and awkward (not difficult) questions with careful answers and occasional jokes. He kept reminding shareholders to ask serious, not peripheral questions after the first question was – how can the deputy chairman, be older then the chairman? – answer was deputy is not my successor, he only chairs meeting when I'm away

Shareholder questions
AGM’s are quite routine except for shareholder interaction & questions or if there is special business to discuss, or multiple applicants for director seats such as as Kenya Airways or KCB

Dividends:
- Questions (Q) What are unclaimed? What happens to them? Answer (A) - These are cheques yet to be banked, but which NIC has to hold for about 12 in case shareholders or their dependants show up. However after the budget last year, unclaimed dividends will eventually be transferred to the CMA investor compensation fund.
- Earnings per share growing, but dividend per share still a huge way behind. A – Growth in dividends is prudential, NIC can't pay out 100% of earnings as dividends, and it also has to build up reserves.
- Q; Too many taxes on dividends A - Take it up with the government
- Q; Shareholders without bank accounts have trouble cashing cheques A – Chairman said it’s high time everyone got a bank account, and stop carrying cash around which is dangerous
- Q; shareholder who has bought shares several time gets 3 invitations to AGM and 3 small dividend cheques (and has to pay for each to clear) A - Chairman said he should check that all the shares were immobilized in the same CDS account which should consolidate all the shares
- Q; Why no bonus shares? A - Bonus shares do not increase shareholder wealth, only divide it more times. But it’s popular now, so they may consider it. But for now, if you want more shares, buy more
- Q; Why give t-shirts, don’t want them and want more shares instead A - Chairman answered it was a gift/token of appreciation to those who show up to do the business of the AGM. Added that it was actually a nice pullover, which he would appreciate over the next year (unlike dividend which is only used once)

NPA Q - NPA’s up over the last 5 years, what is the bank doing about them? A - NPA's are actually down over last 5 years. These are actually prudent provisions by NIC rather than lost money which the bank goes after aggressively. In fact since year end (2006) statement were published and 1st quarter (2007) results published last year, this figure has reduced by another 300 million shillings

Growth plans to sustain profit.? A - New NIC capital division will engage in commercial paper and bond activity which does not require lending. Also careful expansion into new branches. Nakuru branch was opened to support extensive asset finance business in the region. Also new branches at Westlands and the Junction (Dagoretti) are already profitable

Costs Q - Staff costs up significantly but staff numbers relatively unchanged A - new mangers hired to lead the bank into new business. This has been successful as NIC has grown 4 fold in last 5 years. Also union demands have meant bank increase staff salaries

CSR: Q - the bank's corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects seem to benefit only whites (mzungus as seen by the picture in the annual report A - that is not correct projects benefit all Kenyans. The bank has focused on the environment and education which benefit all Kenyans
Why not support AIDS war? A – Bank has supported Nyumbani Home and has a staff HIV policy but focus this year is on environment and education

Hot button issue
Q - Management of the Bank not representative of Kenya as they all come from one region and the wealth needs to be spread around the country got some generous applause A – This is a company not a political forum. All managers are hired on merit. The CEO position was widely advertised (nationally & internationally) – they got the best man, and the results speak for themselves. Resources (dividends) will go to the areas of people who buy shares in the company got even greater applause

AGM Goodies: NIC half-sweater, Intercontinental lunch box (one rib, chicken drumstick, soda, spring roll, mini pizza, samosa, apple, cake slice)

History Repeats

It is now acknowledged that commercial banks have put the ghost of bad debts behind them and have moved on to new clean lending books. However a lot of the decline in non-performing assets can be attributed to an increase in the overall loan book (not really a decline)

Also, the future may not be without a repeat if you fast forward two years from now when a fraction of the unsecured loans being hawked at anyone with a pay slip now will likely have gone bad. With the passage of the in duplum rule banks have to cut their losses and begin collection efforts as soon as they realise a loan is in trouble.

But the courts are clogged and it is difficult to collect from unsecured loans as there are no assets to recover and where the amounts being pursued are not worth the legal cost in money and time.

Other recent happenings

- Diamond Trust (Kenya) to participate in rights issue of Diamond Trust Tanzanian where it owns 33%
- Equity bank growth getting super heated?
- Family Bank is Kenya’s newest bank
- Housing finance new product for first time homeowners
- Kenya Commercial Bank gets a new CEO
- Perennial loss maker Oriental bank (formerly Delphis) is on track for a profit this year following a restructuring deal at Miwani Sugar.

Back to accounting school

Back in school there was new maths (though I forget what that was about) and now there's new accounts coming with no net income and replaces net profit with a total comprehensive income figure that includes gains and losses now kept in other parts of the financial statements such as currency and hedge fluctuations. It also combines the balance sheet and cash flow statements resulting in assets and liabilities being group together as operating, investing and financing categories.

Tagged - KQ edition

Got tagged by Mwari which has happened before and I have given some answers.

I am still pre-occupied by the Kenya Airways plane crash so i have decided to find some aviation related answers for the tag. I have been a long time shareholder of the airline till this January. When I started actively buying shares, I bought several KQ at 11 and 12 shillings and later sold them at 24/= . I though they were undervalued at 11,was happy when they doubled and I sold, but I doubt if anyone could have foreseen the bull market that sent KQ shares on to 140 shillings in 2006 (see share regrets).

1. First thing is how much I love flying. As I said when previously tagged, put me on a plane anytime.

Lunch date I'd accept any day

2. My first Kenya Airways (KQ) flight I recall was about a week after the 1982 coup attempt. Family decided that a holiday was in order and so we took a KQ flight to Mombasa. It was a Fokker Friendship (F27) aircraft and in those days the route included a stop over in Malindi, before a short hop down the coastline, passing over hotels and so many tempting swimming pools on the way to Mombasa.

3. Next flight I recall was maybe in 1985 or 1986 – another Mombasa trip. It was supposed to depart Nairobi around mid-day, but the flight was delayed for mechanical, or some other reason (KQ was known to have such flight delays in those days). So we were delayed for about 5 hours till the next available aircraft was ready and wow it was a (then) brand new Airbus 310. I was so impressed, the plane was huge and quiet and I sat over the wing and marveled at the flap arrangements. (On another previous flight on an older 707, I had been shocked to see some greasy green sponge rags inside the engines as the plane braked on landing). Anyway, at the end of the A310 flight i was till in awe that I got to the terminal and realized that I still had my plastic soda cup (with the KQ logo on it) - which young me tried to give back to some of the airport people.

4. I once worked as an airport security guard/Marshall - you know checking for bombs, guns etc. It was a summer job during university and before 9/11, airport security was something not taken seriously - hijackings were a non-issue and no one (except some evil genius) could have foreseen endings to routine flights as we saw that day.

Anyway, airlines never took security seriously and outsourced it to the cheapest company possible - as you could see by the way the guards were treated. Almost any warm body who could pass a drug test got the job and on the first day, you got a uniform and were put straight on the job in training (but on 'probation' for a week - until your drug test results came through) . It was the lowest paying job in the airport (even less than McDonald's workers), but for for someone who loved being around planes, it was a great opportunity.

5. I am mystified by the so-called carbon credits, air miles, and plant trees for carbon emissions etc. movements. At the airport I worked at, about 90 – 95%% of the flights at the airport were small (737 type) aircraft flying local routes – as is probably the case at most European and American airports. So out of the hundreds of flights coming into a European airport on any given day, can even more than 1% of them be from Africa? So how do our vegetables and flowers get blamed / and taxed for harming the environment?

6. The worst flight I ever took was in a (4-seat) small plane from the coast to Nairobi (Wilson airport). We flew through a thunderstorm and the plane was tossed about like you would not believe – I thought I'd get sick and wished the flight would be over, or even turn round back to the coast. Also in the same way you're told to never go to a restaurant kitchen, sitting with a pilot of a small plane can scare anyone new to flying as you see the pure mechanics of flight. (The co-pilot seat was empty and observing the dials, rudder pedals and joystick move around was scary to as you wondered how this could be happening a few thousand feet up in the air) Such turbulence. is something I have never experienced on bigger planes such as a 737. There are dozens of flights in the air as you read this navigating through rain or snow storms or other bad weather safely. If an airport is unsafe (runway flooded or snowed), it is shut down and flights are forbidden to take off or land. But if it's open to fly, flights go on as usual. Pilots are trained for this and maybe the KQ investigation will prove me right that flying through a thunderstorm - while being uncomfortable for passengers, is not a dangerous activity.

7. Oh and the corporate blog opportunity i sought last year was with Kenya Airways. My pitch was not successful, but I must commend the way they have handled the aftermath of the accident so far. They are dealing with many anguished families, harassed airport official, bureaucrats, political busy bodies, snake oil salesmen(asking if the West African route is jinxed), safety engineers, shareholders, people skeptical of flying in Africa, and the flying public and each group requires a carefully tailored message.

That's the end of the tag, as most of the people I’d want to tag have already answered, All I ask is that they keep flying and enjoy the ride.

Jobs & opportunities May 13

Fund accountants at Alexander Forbes financial services (EA) . Apply to actuaries@aforbes.co.ke by 18/5

DCDM advisor services seeking high caliber individuals to work in audit, business advisory and corporate financial services. Apply to admin@dcdmkenya.com by 18/5

Apply online for dealer (treasury) at Family bank by 15/5

Housing finance relationship manager relationship officer, marketing officer. Apply to human.resources@housing.co.ke by 18/5

Program manager at the Institute of directors (Kenya) . Apply to info@iodkenya.co.ke by 23/5

Kenya Parliament: Seeking a director of information & research services (PSC 14) in charge of hansard, research, ICT, public relation & budget office. Apply by 31/5 to the secretary, parliamentary service commission 41842-00100 Nairobi

KPMG: Acknowledging Kenyan talent earlier this year was Haliburton, and this month it’s KPMG UAE that is seeking to Kenyan audit and financial advisory professionals to work in Muscat, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah. Apply to ae-recruit@kpmg.com

Nation media group is seeking website designer feature writers and other positions.

Various at Safaricom including Forecasting Controller, Management Accountant - Product Analyst, Head of Retail, Head of Customer Management, Materials Inspection Officer – BSS & MW, Senior CRM System Developer, Business Intelligence Developer. Also Chief Business Development Officer and Chief Supply and Administration Officer for which you apply through PricewaterhouseCoopers at ess.ke@ke.pwc.com

business writing
Business plan opportunities found at Kenyan Pundit and PSD blog

Nairobi Shares Portfolio – May 2007

Be a vulture

The Portfolio review is being done a week earlier than expected as I usually try and update six months from last review.

However, in keeping in sync with other blogger portfolios recently released by Odegle Nyang and Riba Capital, here it is:

Current portfolio
Diamond Trust
Express Kenya
Kenya Commercial Bank
Sameer Africa
Scangroup
Stanbic Uganda
Total Oil
* Uchumi (suspended)

What’s changed?
There are fewer shares and portfolio has less value than before as I sold more shares than I bought back.

In: Stanbic (Uganda), Total
Out: Crown Berger, Kenya Airways, Kengen
Increased: Diamond Trust (Rights)
Reduced: -
Dividends expected: D-Trust, Express, KCB, Scangroup, Total
Unexpected gains/losses: Express bonus share, KCB share split
New listings not taken on: Access Kenya, Mumias (Rights)
Best performer: Stanbic (Ug)
Worst Performer: Sameer Africa
Looking forward to: Kenya Airways, Safaricom IPO

Performance Summary: The Motley Fool advises that investors should beat the share index to consider their returns a success. The NSE 20 share index is down 10% in the last six months while my portfolio is down 13% from November 2006.

I sold Kenya Airways shares at around 120/= and for the first time my portfolio does not have KQ shares. If the price continues to drop, I expect to buy some shares in this great company in the coming days, before they announce their year end results - which should have been finalized, but may be delayed by post-Cameroon events.

Plane Perspective – Part II

Adieu 5Y KYA


Part I

More pictures of the ill-fated aircraft

5Y-KYA, a 737-800, was leased aircraft from the Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (SALE) (now owned by the Bank of China). Why leased? At the airline's 2005 AGM management said that, with their strong financial footing, KQ was now able to lease new aircraft which confers many advantages over buying new aircraft for a rapidly expanding airline. The lease deal was signed in September 2005

The first new 737-800 was delivered in October 2006 to KQ directly from Boeing, the manufacturer and replaced smaller 737's on many of the airlines existing and new routes.

It was a larger aircraft with improved safety features. The aircraft (was) equipped with a Heads-Up Display (HUD) system that projects key navigational data directly in front of pilots, allowing for safer operation in difficult conditions such as inclement weather or problematic navigational terrain.

It is also no comfort to families and relatives of the passengers, but the tragedy could have been worse if the airline had used the usual, and larger, 767 aircraft that night.

Final word

Kenya Airways is expected to release its year end results at the end of the month, and the 3rd quarter results showed strong growth in Asia, Eastern African and an overall 13% growth on (non-Kenyan) Africa routes.

The company should be unaffected by the loss in the long term, nor should its share price. The leased aircraft will be immediately replaced and with proper & timely insurance response, careful PR management and investigation of the accident, the airline should pull through.

Achieving a work- life balance

Rob Parsons, the renowned author, lawyer, and motivational speaker gave talk on work-life balance that people must achieve in order to be happy, productive, workers i.e. by balancing time between their families and their careers. Some of his pointers:

- There are no slow days. Don't ever say when you achieve you will sow done and devote time to your family once you achieve or attain A, B, or C. You will never slow down
- Don’t work so hard to give your children what you never had, that you forget to give them what you had
- Hire smart people (ala Richard Branson) – to give yourself time to think and remain creative
- No phone call is so important that it can't wait for ten minutes for you to finish attending to your family first.
- You’re not irreplaceable at work even if you think you are. Your company can and will likely go on and do very well without you.
- Do something meaningful that you’ve always wanted to do today - as you never know if it could be your last day or breath.
- More leading companies are acknowledging the importance of giving their employees sufficient time to attend to family matters i.e. achieve a work-life balance

Plane perspective

Condolences to all the family members of passengers and staff of the airline.

This is a tragic time, as are all plane crashes when they happen. This time, it has happened to Kenya Airways (KQ), an airline with an exemplary safety level.

I flew on KQ this week and will gladly fly with them tomorrow or any other day. It is an unpleasant fact of life that anything could happen to me - the next time I get into a car, light a match, walk onto a sports field, step into a bathtub, enter a building, or board a plane.

The question of air crashes in Africa should not arise - they happen all around the world. Yes, there are bad airlines, but it is not an African thing. Poorly run airlines do not last for very long as passengers avoid them (unless they have no alternative) and authorities (should) step in and shut them down. The (unfortunate) passenger list produced by KQ is an endorsement of the high regard that other nations have for the airline.

Plane crashes should never happen and when they do, one plane crash should not be a matter of concern. It is only when an airline, or airport, or country has a series of avoidable crashes that the aviation world and public take notice and realize that’s something is wrong. In 2006, questions were asked about Nigeria and Indonesia) - and often old aircraft or unsafe regions are factors. The 737-800 was the newest aircraft at the airline which has continually upgraded its fleet to meet the highest standards of service and safety.

KQ should keep on flying high and remain the Pride of Africa


Plane I flew

Window on East Africa

East Africa biz news and bytes

Uganda
- Communities are already benefiting from oil exploration done by oil companies in Hoima and Bulisa regions.
- Government to audit/evaluate NGO's in the north with a view to weeding out briefcase organization, those with an anti-NRM (government) message, or harming the peace talks in Juba
- Simba (a nationwide telcom dealer with 22 shops in Kampala) has partnered with USAID to launch Simba cash a money transfer service available at its stores nation wide. It targets the rural poor who don’t have bank accounts and they can send as little as 10,000 shillings (Kshs. 400)
- Diesel shortage expected to ease following the clearance of four companies – Caltex, Kobil, Total and Tamoil to be allowed to ship diesel from Mombasa by trucks. Demand for diesel and petrol in Uganda has grown to exceed the capacity of the pipeline which reached Eldoret. Previously only shell was allowed to do this is it was supplying diesel for Agrekko's thermal energy project. The Kenya Revenue Authority has been blocking this move citing fears of illegal dumping of fuel in Kenya and had insisted that the companies should pay full taxes on fuel before they collect it at Mombasa to be refunded after they cross into Uganda, but the companies refused, claiming that KRA already owes them about $6 billion in unpaid refunds.
- From July 2, the Bank of Uganda will stop clearing cheques 20 million shillings (~Kshs. 800,000) thus requiring bank customers to use RTGS or EFT which are more efficient and less risky alternatives for large payments.
- Barclays to enhance its retail presence by purchasing Nile Bank for $120 million.
- Government plans to buy a new Gulfstream G5 (budgeted at $50m) for the President replacing the current G4 when it completes lease payments in November.
Uganda telephone companies may soon be required to share infrastructure (masts, switches, networks). There are 3 companies now (MTN, Celtel, Uganda telcom) and will soon be joined by a fourth (Hits to launch in November) and fifth.
- A bill covering the USE is before the cabinet which has been slow to approve papers/make decisions. This would allow setup of a CDS system here, and also eliminate capital gains tax for foreign investors (does that cover stanbic shares?)
- President Museveni (M7) frequently writes lengthy articles in the newspaper and comments on matters especially where he feels he has been misquouted. The First Lady has also taken to similar writing as well.
- AON has introduced medical cover for people living with HIV. It targets company employees in productive careers & life stages (35 – 44 years).

Tanzania
- Madonna in Malawi perhaps to adopt another baby?
- Kenyan businessmen at athi river, rongai and kiserian are colluding to lower the prices of livestock bought from Tanzanian livestock dealers
- Dar es Salaam university closed after students riot about plans to introduce cost sharing
- RVF on the increase in Dodoma and soon expected to breach Dar
- Tanzania breweries will build a factory that will use seawater to make beer. (This paper was published on March 31 – could it be an April fools teaser?)
- President Kikwete has a monthly state of the nation speech that is broadcast live on radio
- Plans are at an advance stage for a women’s commercial bank in Tanzania
- A newspaper reports that the Tanzania tourism board quotes an ABC news program that identifies the Serengeti Park as one of, and - only African location – among the seven wonders of the world.

Kenya
It's amazing what you discover about Kenya in other countries newspapers

- Kenya Airways shelved plans to fly to the US owing to safety & security issues. Also the airline will in May receive two leased Embraer jets to replace the Saab 340's turboprops.
- Mobile phone taxes will be lowered in the budget this year
- Nakumatt to open stores in Kigali, Dar and Kampala
- NSE to start providing live prices to SNBC, and maybe even reuters and bloomberg one of the benefits of automate trading introduced in 2006 is that they will be able to provide instant and delayed reports, in addition to the current end of day and weekly reports.
- The Nation has started publishing reports from the Kenya gazette, a great, and for too long underutilized, source, of inside information on the government.
- GTV a satellite TV service comes to Kenya and Uganda next month as a low cost rival to DsTV