BY LUKE MULUNDA In the world of online retail, the possibilities are clearly unlimited. After disrupting households by providing a forum for easily disposing of used items by simply uploading the photos with a price tag, OLX is digging in for business from the farms. The online classifieds company is betting big on tapping trade in potatoes, a popular staple among urban Kenyans, through a new SMS service that’s attracting farmers in rural Kenya. Under this service, potato farmers are able to sell their produce on their phones by use of a short code, which ensures that even those without smartphones…
Author: Editor
BY VICTOR ADAR Investing in real estate requires big capital. But players in the sector say that the key factor to consider is market performance. That is what helps determine expected yield: How does land appreciate in a particular area? What about occupancy rates and the uptake? Is there supply and competition? Are you the only one there? At the end of the day if, and only if, you can answer these questions, you are good to go. Real estate investment involves a relatively favourable risk and reward profile, but with relatively low liquidity as compared to alternative investments such…
By Kosta Kioleoglou Kenya’s economy has been following an uptrend course, which has created high expectations for the population as well as local and international investors. Amid this positive atmosphere, Kenya has had to face several challenges especially during the last 18 months, which in several cases created serious turbulences, increasing the volatility of the markets. Despite all these factors the economy is resisting and manages to maintain a positive feeling about the future. In the first half of 2016, the country’s economy has seen a similar growth pattern as experienced in 2015. Q1 of 2016 had a 5.9% growth…
By Metropol Corporation Approach to forecasting We approach GDP forecasting from the gross fixed capital formation side. Capital formation is the investment in fixed assets of the country taken as a collective. For growth to happen there must be additional capacity created through accumulation of capital. This additional capacity is funded through savings and borrowings. Our overall view A significant change in the interest rate regime has necessitated this update. Growth is on track to achieve Metropol’s 2016 forecast range of 5.5 – 6% released in February 2016. However, this update finds that the upper limit of 6% is most…
Land at its attendant value has been the curse of humanity in this country since the pre-independence days. Families have been shuttered and livelihoods destroyed in our quest to either acquire or defend land. Blood has been shed in pursuit of that piece of soil. But the recent resolve by the Government to invest in high value infrastructural projects has just taken the love for land, no, for the money that land promises, to unprecedented levels. The greed for the millions of shillings that the Government set aside for compensation turned bloody after unscrupulous speculators chose to spare little effort…
BY MICHAEL MUGWANG’A It has often been said that, at independence, Kenya was well on the same plane with so many of the current economic giants in the world. There is always talk of the Asian giants like Malaysia and Singapore whenever one takes a comparative look and how nations have fared over the years in economic progress. This is especially the case when the speaker, or writer for that matter, intends to take a swipe at the government of the day and point out how leadership failures have tended to retard the country’s progress towards achieving comparatively good living…
BY SHADRACK MUYESU Collapsing financial institutions have brought into critical focus the mandate of external auditors. Indeed not less has been the blame laid at their doorstep that the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) has come out to ‘blame’ the supposed shortcomings on the external audit legal regime. But just how far should external auditors go? The International Auditing Standards (IAS) has it that an external auditor audits an institution’s financial statements with a view of ascertaining its financial health. The auditor’s opinion on financial statements deals with whether the financial statements are properly prepared in accordance…
BY VICTOR ADAR Twenty years ago, big banks had a scorn for the lower market and one had to have a certain a mount of money to own a bank account. Banking was difficult especially going by the fact that it was necessary to have a stable source of income with some banks setting Sh20, 000 as a requirement while certain accounts were operated at minimum balances of Sh5, 000. The least that those who were furious could do was to keep their cash under the mattress. People a breast with the banking sector thought that this lot that was…
BY ANTONY MUTUNGA Around the year 2000 B.C the world changed, people started using ‘hard cash’ currency for the first time. This was indeed a marvelous idea that saw barter trade diminish. From there on things got even better with the introduction of paper bills or notes in China during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 – 907). However, it took almost 500 years before the rest of the world recognized paper money, and when they did, they never looked back. As the years went by there was increased innovation in financial technology, from the establishment of plastic money (debit and…
BY ROWAN BENN So we wave a fond farewell to the now iconic Land Rover Discovery 4 as the latest version makes it’s debut. The new and more modern shape has caused some consternation among purists who will miss, they say, the traditional boxy shape. There is however more to the new vehicle than meets the eye. Land Rover have dismissed the hefty old body-on-frame architecture of the previous model and this alone has shaved 350kg off the weight. As well as this weight saving, there’s also an aerodynamic improvement in the new smoother body shell that features active grille…