Oops, alfie "foot in mouth" mutua does it again...

So it seems the hijacked shipment of arms & tanks is not all it seems...

Kenya still buys most of its hardware from the West so the Russian tanks via the Ukrainians might not be for Kenya... and if Kenya was the buyer why buy Russian tanks from Ukraine instead of the Russians?

It seems there was another cargo of tanks that were shipped through Kenya to S.Sudan... Now I would not care if Kenya made some 'commission' on the sale but I think the 'commission' will end up in individuals' pockets not the Kenyan military!

Just kill the pirates!

Why aren't the world's navies simply blowing up the pirates' ships/boats...?

Just send a few planes to bomb the somali ports... and blow up any boat that looks remotely like a pirate ship...

Kenya's inefficient refinery at it again...

The government needs to stop dragging its feet and tell Kenya's refinery... its do or die... and sell its shareholding asap if it does not want to invest in the refinery...

Warped priorities at Kenya Ferry Services

The KFS is installing LED screens at KShs 50,000,000.

A good idea for revenue generation but... the ferries are old, prone to stalling and will sink one of these days... Shouldn't they be looking at buying new/better ferries???

mswati - paedophile?

Not my usual topic... but is mswati of Swaziland a paedophile?

Whereas there may be some cultural reason or justification... I just can't wrap my mind around it. It is abhorrent to me. Or am I being Euro-centric?

He is 40 years & is looking at marrying girls who are barely 16 years. He could have daughters that old!

In Kenya, we have the founder of Java Coffee House in court on charges of paedophelia. Should mswati be allowed to enter Kenya? Has he ever been to Kenya?

(My advice... if mswati is in town... lock up your daughters!)

What say you?

P.S. My personal opinion is mswati should be deposed, castrated then jailed for life.

Kenyan Banks - Not up to par for Retail clents

Experiences vary but Kenyan banks need to improve! Asap. Various experiences of friends & family (reatil clients) below... Most prefer a low balance Savings Account with a Cheque Book.

Keep at least 2 accounts if you can afford it just in case a bank's ATM is down or you need access to a branch for services not available at an ATM.

Equity Bank - Long lines at both the branches & ATMs... BUT what I like about Equity is that they introduce new solutions e.g adding branches, adding ATMs, internet access & access through mobile phones... They to maximise Finacle's functionalities e.g you can get upto 30,000/- cashback from any Nakumatt (some are open 24 hours) & avoid visiting an ATM or branch! The hours are so-so... BUT... among the best banks in Kenya.
Equity is going regional in Uganda & S.Sudan.

Conclusion: Definitely a good innovative bank for most but not all Kenyans... Equity credited all their customers' accounts with Safaricom refunds on the same day! Their customers seem happy & Equity gets a thumbs up.

NIC Bank - Lousy for retail customers. The customer service staff is friendly but generally clueless. The right CSR can make a huge difference. Their 'Orchard Account" which offers a cheque book needs a 50,000/- (formerly 20,000/-) minimum balance or a fee is charged. Even though they have online banking, folks want to ditch them. The previously free chequebook now costs a whopping 500/- (previously you only paid for the CBK/revenue stamp). Customers I spoke to plan to close their accounts or 'downshift' to other accounts to avoid the fees. BTW, their menu of retail accounts suck! Hours are pathetic... The Westlands Mall branch opens from 9-11.30am on Saturdays!

Conclusion: Nyet! No way Jose!

I&M Bank - Great service. This makes a huge difference. Slightly expensive but the service makes it worth the fees. It has been described as an affordable 'upmarket' bank.
Nice - 'fancy' by Kenyan standards - branches though sometimes the service is a little slow since the customer base has grown substantially over the past 2 years. Varied & affordable range of accounts. I&M has been aggressively marketing credit cards. Finacle (banking platform) installed in July will allow them to expand through the internet & mobile phones. Only 12 branches in Kenya (10 in Nairobi) but growing. Latest branch in Ongata Rongai while all others in CBD or upmarket areas. Electronic statements & balances via free sms i.e. they do not charge the customer when they an sms. No extra charge to sign up for the e-banking. Savings account with a chq book needs only 10,000/- minimum. Weekday hours suck vs other banks but longer hours are coming soon at selected locations. The employees are often available for meetings & discussions beyond 5pm... Now... that is GREAT...

Branches: One each in Mombasa & Kisumu. That is limiting for folks who travel all over Kenya. No regional expansion though they have a subsidiary in Mauritius.

Conclusion: Yes... A bank for those who want value. You pay for the service BUT actually get the service. Nice website though a work in progress! They need to expand their reach asap.

CFC-Stanbic Bank - Avoid like the plague. No more Savings with a chq book. Instead you get a Current Account with fees. Expensive. Hours are so-so... Unless you do lots of business in Africa, it is not a bank for the local retail investor. And they have the lousiest forex rates. Except for NIC Bank. Only star is CFCFS. I think Stanbic will scare the customers away! Imagine there is no internet banking for retail customers!

No... Nyet... Hapana...

Diamond Trust - The "Open" account if it makes sense for me. Seems decent but fee heavy. Relationship managers all around... Nice branches. Clientele is mid to upper market. Fees are negotiable. Forex sales & purchases ($5,000+) are negotiable.

Conclusion: Neutral for Kenya but great if you do business in E.Africa.

Standard Chartered - The X account is intriguing. 1,250/- per month gives you multiple benefits. No idea but the 9am-9pm at Nakumatt Ukay is an excellent idea.

Conclusion: Neutral coz untested.

Entrepreneurship - Summarised

Credit to Maishinski. Check the link above for the original source...

Our guys back home have mob talent - but they simply don't know how to make money from it! So they get frustrated and throw stones at the police (blame government) or each other (blame other communities)... :-)

Many of us in Diaspora have experienced intense global competition - and as a result, we have gained useful knowledge that we can share with our fellow Kenyans to help make them successful as entrepreneurs or employees.

We have our part to play in Vision 2030, and we may even realize its objectives in 2020 if we can get as many Kenyans as possible to be successful and self sufficient.

Lesson 1: Know your talent & develop it. Have some general knowledge about your area of specialization - but be EXTREMELY good at one thing (e.g. Database Tuning / Financial Analysis / Applications Programming etc). Dont try to be an expert in everything - just the one thing you enjoy the most.

Lesson 2: Believe that you control your own destiny. Don't expect handouts from governments, politicians etc. Be a go-getter. Get one good suit; get appointments with potential business contacts; discuss our product/service with them and land some deals.

Lesson 3: Market yourself. Whats your unique selling proposition? Why should someone pay you for your talent? The answer to that is the value of your talent. Dont do what "river-road businesses" do (i.e. At XYZ enterprises river-road, we specialize in everything, cleaning, building, painting, computers, typing, ironing, babysitting etc) - no one believes them!

Lesson 4: Know some basic business:
-ACCOUNTING; Break even points, cash flow statements, balance sheets, P&L.
-LAW; contracts, sale of goods, forms of businesses, licensing;
- MANAGEMENT strategy making (five forces/value chain etc); HR issues etc
- SELLING, ADVERTISING and MARKETING - and the difference between the three!
- ENTREPRENEURSHIP - how to start and run your own business..

Lesson 5: Read. Read. Read. Read. You dont have to go to college to learn accounts, management, entrepreneurship, etc. Cultivate a reading habit.

Lesson 6: Stay curent. Go online once a week and visit Bloomberg, FT, Investopedia, Bdafrica. Approx 20 mins - 20bob. Reasonable cost/week to stay on top.

Lesson 7: Be CONSTANTLY on the lookout for new ideas or opportunities that can be turned into money makers. For example if in the budget they talk about ICT villages in upcountry - see whether that's something you can do. If the minister announces that Matatus will be parked outside CBD - consider a coffee shop near the station. If CBD is to be a pedestrian city in future, think of possible tourism opportunities and start working on proposals... if Fibre optic is coming, think of online sales, remote software contracts, shareware, value added services, IT consulting, BPO etc etc.

Lesson 8: Protect your intellectual property. Never give out source code for free. Never publish your invention/discovery without getting a patent first. Share your business - not your IP. IP is too valuable!!!!

Lesson 9: Don't give up. Read about successful business people. They all have failed in their initial effort. The only thing is they failed smartly - and learned from their failures. Failing smartly is about planning for eventuality of failure so you can minimize its financial impact! Always test your business idea at a small scale first. If it's an area you don't know about, volunteer to work for a future competitor for low salary so you can learn the nuances of the business and survival tricks before you start your own...

Lesson 10: Watch the Apprentice Season 1 (Donald Trump): You will learn that its easy to get rich legitimately. If you really want something you will get it. The episode where the guys made $1,000 selling lemonade really stumped me! The simplest of businesses brought in Ksh 67,000/= in ONE DAY!!! Why? Because the candidates put their ALL; they put their best efforts to win. No handouts from IMF, CDF or YDF - just plain simple brains and hard work.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

EcoBank Rights+Offering opens...

We thought Safaricom was big... Ecobank's Rights+New Share Offering is 3x Safaricom...

KCB raised Kes 5 billion to fund its Kenyan & regional expansion... while Ecobank is raising almost Kes 175 billion to fund its African expansion... and it is doing so on 3 stock exchanges... Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast.

BTW... Ryan Shen-Hoover of Investing In Africa was quoted... I have blogged on his excellent newsletter. I understand he is working on a local (Kenyan) method of payment for Kenyan subscribers...

Investment in Africa not for the faint-hearted

Virgin might dis-invest from Virgin Nigeria since the strong-arm tactics used by the Nigerian government were not to Virgin's liking. The gov't sent in goons to smash up Virgin's counters at the airport!

Many Nigerians were happy that VN brought in better schedules, better planes & safer aviation to Nigeria but regression to the old ways in Africa is not new...

I used to wonder why KQ did not expand its services to Nigeria but no wonder they are cautious about flying to Nigeria... And Nigeria might not be a very profitable market esp with the inefficiencies and corruption there. Did you know Nigeria - a huge oil exporter - imports refined oil products?

When will Africans learn that negotiations are a better way to go...

BTW, if you complain about Kenyan airlines, once you fly Nigerian 'airline matatus'.... you will never complain about Kenyan airlines!

Real Estate in Africa - Very Risky

I own no real estate in Africa...

Why?

The protection, offered by the law, of one's property in Africa is almost non-existent. If the laws are there, the courts or enforcers are lazy, corrupt, powerless or do not care.

Kenya is an example where kamau wa ngengi (aka jomo "land-grabber' kenyatta) and his family acquired huge chunks of the best land through theft. Many of the victims were law-abiding citizens who had bought their land. kamau who became senile in the early 70s still dreamed of acquiring more land even in his senility.

Zimbabwe is another example where for all the inequities, there were many who lost their land. Of course, the land was 'taken' to benefit the majority but given to mugabe's whores & cronies. Senile is too kind a word for mugabe. Why don't the Zimbabweans just assasinate him?

Tanzania nationalised the farms to catastrophic results.

Uganda's idi 'idiot' amin kicked out the Ugandan Asians, grabbed their properties without due process and coz he had some dream that he had.

Rwanda saw bloodshed with over 1mn deaths. All for 'land'.

Kenya has had land clashes over the years but it reached new heights in early 2008.

Anyway, I was watching a video on KenyanEntrepreneur's site... the house was being demolished... and it sorta explains why I rent...