Positive side of Friday the 13th

Bank Jobs

Consolidated Bank
- Head of operations: applicants must have 8 years banking experience with at least 4 at senior management level, in addition to possessing a business degree and professional banking qualification.
- Branch manager: applicant to have business degree and at least 5 years banking experience.
Apply to the head of human resources P O Box 51133-00200 Nairobi by January 31.

EABS Bank
- Chief financial officer: applicants must be qualified CPA who is members of ICPAK and with 3 to 5 years banking experience.
- Chief internal auditor: applicants must be qualified CPA who are members of ICPAK and with 3 to 5 years banking experience.
- Head of ICT: applicants should have an IS degree, 3 – 5 years banking experience and extensive experience with Equinox software.
Apply to the executive director – development, EABS Bank P O Box 47499-00100 Nairobi by January 31.

K-Rep Bank
- senior finance manager: applicants to have master’s business degree and be age 32 – 40. Also be certified financial analysts with CPA (k) or ACCA and with 8 years experience at a financial institution or bank, 3 at senior level.
- branch managers: applicants must be graduates, aged 32 – 40 with at least 5 years banking experience, 2 at senior level.
- advances manager: applicants to have business degree, be age 30 – 35 and with five year advance or loans experience or 2 as a manger. Apply to jobs2006jan@k-repbank.com by January 17.

World Bank
- Education specialist: Applicants must have 10 years experience in education or human development.
- Executive assistant to the country director: Applicants must have 7 years relevant experience.
Apply to the country director, WB – Kenya, P. O. Box 30577-00100 Nairobi by January 31.

Other Jobs

Celtel
- Oracle financial systems analyst & support coordinator - ref FIN-SYS-01/06: applicants must have accounts degree with ACCA/CPA/CIMA certification, plus IT qualification and two years experience in computerized accounting.
- Systems & procedures coordinator – ref FIN-SYS-02/06: applicants must have accounts degree with ACCA/CPA/CIMA qualification plus IT qualification and two years experience in ERP environment.
- Procurement manager ref FIN-PRO-03/06: applicants to have business degree, 5 years procurement experience and members of the chartered institute of purchases and supplies.
Apply to the human resource director Celtel Kenya at hr@ke.celtel.com by January 20

- World Vision
Grants manager: applicants to have business degree with certificate in grants management and at least 3 years relevant experience preferably with USAID grants. Apply to recruit_Kenya@wvi.org by 20 January.

Opportunities

Investment
Zimele asset management is a co-operative with blue-chip management that allows investors to invest in equity, offshore, or money market portfolios for as little as 5,000 shillings – unlike other investment funds whose minumum investment amounts are usually over 100,000 shillings.

Scholarships
- The African Studies Centre, Oxford University, is offering a single full scholarship for the academic year 2006-7 for study on the MSc in African Studies. Details can be obtained by email from african.studies@sant.ox.ac.uk and the deadline for applications is 15 February.

- The Palmhouse Foundation finances secondary education for deserving students who have have gained admission to one of the 17 national schools and who have no other means of getting funds for fees. Kennya Commercial Bank supports the foundation.

- The Jomo Kenyatta foundation is also offering limited scholarships that will finance the high school education of orphaned or destitute children who apply by 30 January. Enquiries can be directed to sales@jomokenyattaf.com

Medical
AAR Health Services is seeking to establish franchises for out patient services in Thika, Eldoret, Meru, and Nyeri. Applicants should be doctors with 7 years practicing experience who own or lease secure premises in town centres on the ground floor with ample parking in these towns. They must be able to pay a fee of 500,000 if approved and be prepared to start operations immediately thereafter. Apply to the general manager AAR Health P O Box 41766-00100 Nairobi by 30th January.

Sports
Saturday 14 January
7:30 a.m. Pakistan vs. India 1st Test Day 2
3: 15 p.m. Man City vs. Man Utd
5:45 p.m. Liverpool vs. Tottenham & Portsmouth vs. Everton & Arsenal vs. Boro
8 p.m. Blackburn vs. Bolton
11:45 p.m. Valencia vs. Osasuna

Sunday 15 January
6 a.m. Australia vs. SA 2nd ODI
7: 30 a.m. Pakistan vs. India 1st Test Day 3
4 p.m. Wigan Athletic vs. West Brom
7 p.m. Sunderland vs. Chelsea
10:45 p.m. Real Madrid vs. Sevilla

Next
16/1 Australian Open starts
20/1 Africa Cup of Nations starts
22/1 Man Utd vs. Liverpool

Excess & jobs

Frivolous bank charge
Two weeks ago I wrote about the hour it took to deposit money into a Standard Chartered bank – with most of the delay being caused as tellers had to count out thousand of shilling notes by hand. And in a follow up today, the bank charged me 180 shillings ($2.45). For what? The wasted hour I spent there?

Jobs
NMB Tanzania
At the National Micro finance Bank of Tanzania
- Manager treasury MT/05
- Zonal manager ZM/05
- Manager, public relations MPR/05
- Manager, employee relations MER/05
Apply through KPMG Kenya’s executive selection division esd@kpmg.co.ke by January 26.

independent financial advisors
At inter alliance international, one of the largest independent stockbrokers in the world and who are licensed as financial advisors in Kenyan and Uganda where they are expanding their offices, in addition to opening a new branch in Tanzania. Apply at africa@recruitsoffshore.com.

Tax auditors
At the Kenya Revenue Authority. Applicants must have a business degree, qualification in taxation, be members of ICPAK and have at least 3 years audit experience, preferably computer systems-related. Apply to the senior deputy commissioner, human resources, KRA P O Box 48240-00100 Nairobi by 27th January.

Dilemma, dream car, jobs, and stuff

Dilemma
I’d like to attend a wedding in Ethiopia next month, but my finances have been absolutely wiped out by unexpected car expenses in December . This will be my first true trip to another African country and it will be a nice chance to see some old friends who I have not met for years. It’s tempting, but wrong to borrow money for a holiday and I am hesitant to organize a campaign to finance the trip. Also, the wedding there coincides with a very important birthday here which I have been warned not to miss. The (lack of) cash factor will probably settle my dilemma as the clock is ticking...

Un-affirmative action
With the just announced standard 8 (KCPE) results and form one selection of students, many Nairobi parents are crying foul that their children who scored excellent marks are being locked out of national schools who are instead admitting students from rural areas with relatively lower scores. The selection system is based on the belief that a student in Wajir who scored about 350 in KCPE would likely have scored 430 if he/she had schooled in Nairobi and therefore is more deserving than a student in Nairobi who scored 420. The system has many supporters (outside Nairobi) and detractors (urban residents, private schools), but now many Nairobi parents are vowing to educate their kids in Nairobi, but for their last year, they will transfer them to rural schools to sit for their exams there – thereby improving their kids' chances of landing a coveted place at a National School.

Jobs

From Hawkins & Associates
Apply online for:
- Director of Operations at East African Development Bank
- Director of Legal Affairs at East African Development Bank

Others are;
- Sales Representative
- Marketing Research Analyst
- Graduate Management Trainees
- Regional HIV/AIDS Advisor

Government of Kenya
Over 980 jobs at various government ministries and the public service will be posted here soon. Closing date for applications is February 3 2006

Kenya Commercial Bank
KCB is hiring
- Head, branch network audit
- Manager corporate communications
- Sales managers
Closing date is January 20 and applications should be sent to the divisional director, human resources, KCB, P. O. Box 48400-00100 Nairobi

Trivia
- Week in ATM’s; Equity Bank’s ATM’s went live this week while KCB and other bank’s machines kept running out of cash. Happened three times when I was queuing.
- The Kenya Power & Lighting Company (KPLC) plans to introduce a premium SMS service
- Hon. Kalembe Ndile as President.

Dream car
The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 as reviewed by the NY Times.



Pros: Fastest, most powerful production car in the world with 1,001-horsepower, 0 to 60 MPH in 2.5 seconds & to 250 in 55.6 seconds, 4 turbochargers, 7 -speed gearbox, 16-cylinder engine, 253 MPH top speed, all-wheel-drive system. Verdict: A checklist establishes whether the car is ready for maximum speed, and if all systems are go, the rear spoiler retracts, the front air diffusers close and the ground clearance, normally 4.9 inches, drops to 2.6 inches.

Cons: Most expensive production car in the world - $1.2 million before taxes, Compact with most of the space inside occupied by an enormous engine, 9 miles per gallon city fuel economy and 18 on highway - at maximum speed, the car would theoretically run out of fuel in 12 minutes, has 10 radiators. Verdict: Embarrassment, injury, a big repair bill or worse await a driver who does not show proper respect.

Follow-ups
I finally sold my referendum newspapers but my expectation of only having 15 kilos turned out to be way off - and I was able to sell off 57 kilos of old newspapers netting 855 shillings (@15/kilo). Actually I had 62 kilos but the butcher admitted that his scale shaved off/under-weighed a kilo from each of my 5 bundles of newspapers.

The road to Mombasa is finally going to get repaired. I hope it is done by a reputable company and built well to last such as the Waiyaki Way dual carriageway which is still an excellent road 15 years after it was built, unlike some other roads which collapse within a year of opening.

Your beer, your pension

Jaindi Kisero argues that the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) should be shut down and then re-constituted as a pension body that can be run without interference from the Government.



The NSSF owns shares in East African Breweries (8.26%) and British American Tobacco (20%) whose sales may suffer some Alcoblow effects. The police crack down on drunk driving on highways is having positive effects – the number of drunks on the road has reduced and there are fewer accidents – but in the process some prominent bars are seeing a drop off in patrons who now prefer to use their neighbourhood or ‘local’ bars where there are no road blocks/or from which they know all the panya routes or short cuts to their homes.

More serious are the proposed new penalties which include an 18 month jail sentence for repeat offenders – in essence you could lose you job and more than two productive years of your life for having one too many beers.

Bank shares in '05

Share prices of financial institutions listed at the Nairobi Stock Exchange in 2005.
Share prices as at: Dec 04 Dec 05 Change
Barclays Bank 203 263 30%
C.F.C Bank 58 75 29%
Diamond Trust Bank 29 32.25 11%
Housing Finance 9.35 13.95 49%
I.C.D.C Investments 60.50 72.50 20%
Jubilee Insurance Co. 59 83 41%
Kenya Commercial Bank 68 113 66%
National Bank of Kenya 17.80 28.75 62%
NIC Bank 50 51 2%
Pan Africa Insurance 21 40 90%
Standard Chartered 128 139 9%

Dividends: Barclays paid 14 shillings per share as total dividends in 2004, followed by StanChart at 6.50 and KCB at 2.50, while other banks paid 2 shillings or less per share.

Other activity: Diamond Trust issued a 1 for 4 bonus share, while CFC had a rights issue in a 1:12 ratio. Jubilee insurance consolidated its African holdings, while a merger at Pan African insurance is pending in South Africa.

Summary: With no capital gains tax in Kenya, shares are still a good way to build savings and earn an excellent return for dedicated investors.