Kenya has been ranked as one of the seven top investment destinations to watch in emerging markets by Fortune Magazine, ahead of continental giants Nigeria and South Africa, in what is likely to boost the country’s efforts at wooing foreign direct investments, considered key to accelerating economic growth. In a report, the magazine also rates the country highest in terms of sound regulatory framework in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has been attracting foreign investors. “Few countries offer greater promise than Kenya,” the magazine said of the ranking. “Africa’s other large economies, Nigeria and South Africa, face more than their share of…
Author: Editor
BY JAMES MULIRO A tug of war between stock brokers and the Kenya Revenue Authority continues to persist over the implementation of the law on capital gains tax (CGT). The dispute, which is now before court, has seen stockbrokers maintain that they are not obligated to collect the tax despite insistence by the taxman that the onus lies with the brokers and not the clients. According to the Kenya Association of Stockbrokers and Investment Bankers (Kasib) Willie Njoroge, they do not know of any jurisdiction in the world where brokers are liable for collecting the tax on its behalf. “The…
In cashless payment system, matatu owners found a high potential market. But the cashless switchover has proceeded at a snail’s pace, so it seems, with government’s initial deadline of July 1st being extended by six months to December 1st 2014. Even with the second deadline, adoption has been minimal and the government has gone slow on implementation. But five Public Service Vehicle saccos, with 250 vehicles plying Nairobi’s Jogoo Road, are now using Fibre Space Limited’s cashless system “MY1963” in what could be the beginning of the end for cash fare payments. The owners claim that the government’s relaxation on…
BY LYDIA WERE On September 21, 2013, Joseph Mathenge was driving past the Dedan Kimathi statue in Nairobi’s CBD and, being a Saturday, was lucky to get parking not far from the Stanley Hotel. Time was of the essence as he prepared to shoot a video and take still photos for a friend’s wedding later that afternoon. Mr Mathenge, the former mainstream newspaper photographer who won the 2014 “CNN Multichoice Journalist of the Year Award”, desperately needed the Sh10,000 he would get from that job. “My son had been diagnosed with bone cancer and the day before, we had had…
BY DAVID WANJALA Kenyans are beginning to embrace more the mobile telephony post-paid subscription services that have, over the years, remained a hard nut to crack for mobile telephone service providers. According to a sector statistics report by the Communications Authority of Kenya for the first quarter of 2014/15 (July-Sept), the number of post-paid subscriptions increased by 47,197, in three months, a 7.1 per cent increase to 712,894 from 665,697. The report provides an overview of the performance and development trends in the ICT sector and uses an analysis of indicators from mobile telephony, fixed telephony, Internet/data, electronic transactions,…
BY VICTOR ADAR How cool would it be to have your name on a bottle of Coke? Imagine the feeling when a well-known personality recognises you by name in the middle of a crowd of people! Well, that is precisely what Coca-Cola is giving its consumers with the launch of its new ‘Share a Coke’ campaign. The campaign gives Coca-Cola consumers the opportunity to swap the iconic Coca-Cola logo with personal names of their friends, relatives and family. The company has printed over 200 of the most common names among Kenyan teenagers across its full brand portfolio. In the lead…
The impact of technology on African businesses cut across various sectors such as e-commerce, banking, and telecommunications to name a few. One sector that has been overlooked in the whole of Africa is tourism. Before now, hotel booking and reservation were mostly done at the reception of hotels. This improved to an extent when the use of GSM mobile phones and email penetrated the continent. At this point anyone looking to book a hotel would simply get their preferred hotel’s contact on the internet and then call or send an email. The impact of this technology at this point offered…
The impact of technology on African businesses cut across various sectors such as e-commerce, banking, and telecommunications to name a few. One sector that has been overlooked in the whole of Africa is tourism. Before now, hotel booking and reservation were mostly done at the reception of hotels. This improved to an extent when the use of GSM mobile phones and email penetrated the continent. At this point anyone looking to book a hotel would simply get their preferred hotel’s contact on the internet and then call or send an email. The impact of this technology at this point offered…
BY LYDIAH WERE In a society where size is the traditional measure of success, big becomes obviously beautiful. And so is the trend in the highly competitive retail business, which has witnessed huge growth in the last few years. Uchumi Supermarket is the latest to launch an ambitious expansion strategy, which will see it open 13 more branches across the region this year. Managing Director Jonathan Ciano, the man who lifted the retail chain from the death bed after it suddenly shut its doors in 2006 over cash-flow constraints, says he is optimistic economic growth prospects will spur consumer spending.…
Asset stripping: is the process in which a company or an individual – usually referred to as a corporate raider – attains control of another company, and then auctions off the acquired company’s assets for a profit. This is usually done to either settle debts owed, or for investment purposes, where an underperforming outfit is bought and then sold for a profit. The individual assets of the company, such as its equipment and property, may be more valuable than the company as whole due to such factors as poor management or poor economic conditions. For instance Horizontal merger: is…