The Government of Kenyan recently established the Public Investment Management (PIM) unit at the National Treasury that will oversee the selection, budgeting and management of development projects and public-private partnerships (PPPs). In addition, the unit will enhance its efforts to curb duplication of projects that for long have served as conduits of corruption. The move also considers the government efforts at increasing efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, and accountability in public spending. Over the years, the overlapping programs within the government have caused loss and mismanagement of revenues allocated for development projects. The unit will enable efficient identification and implementation of priority…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
Sidian Bank, formerly known as K-Rep Bank has partnered up with ISBI Institute, a subsidiary of Strathmore Business School for the provision of business and financial literacy training for SMEs. The subsidiary will offer clients of Sidian Bank business management skills through its Advanced Entrepreneurship Programme (AEP) which is a practical and participant-centred, designed to help SMEs detect execution gaps and launch their businesses to success by maximizing their potential, at a subsidized cost. According to Chege Thumbi, Sidian bank chief executive officer (CEO), the Advanced Entrepreneurship Programme (AEP) will equip entrepreneurs with actionable insights to drive various business areas…
BBOXX, a UK-based next generation utility platform has received an investment of $31 million from Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), a member of Old Mutual Alternative Investments for a minority stake in the platform’s operations in Rwanda, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo through its AIIF3 fund. BBOXX is a utility platform that designs, manufactures, distributes and finances innovative plug and play solar systems in order to improve access to energy across the African continent and the developing world. According to Mansoor Hamayun, Chief Executive and Co-Founder of BBOXX, the company looks forward to working together to power economic…
BY NBM WRITER Africa Plantation Capital won the Best Agribusiness Company of the Year Award by Kenya National Chambers of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) first in 2016 when it surprised all by edging out the usual giants in both real estate and service industry. With an amazing rate of growth, Africa Plantation Capital (APC) had succeeded to establish a strong footprint in Kenya in just over a year. It has ever since, it seems, established a stranglehold on the prize, winning it in the two subsequent years, 2017 and 2018. It has not come easy though; APC has not wavered…
By David Wanjala Safaricom, like Amazon, the multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, has become an empire. If not yet, it is headed there. Some day in December last year Safaricom’s M-Pesa service crashed for a few hours and life almost stopped in Kenya. Cars got stranded at petrol stations, supermarkets tills got jammed and they could sell no more, online banking transactions ceased, bills in a cross section of services could not be paid. Imagine a scenario where Safaricom’s services across the board crashed and remained so for a week. What would become of you as an individual, leave…
BY EDWIN MUSONYE There is no dispute that the current business environment in the country is harsh. Policy makers have taken an ill-advised stance that businesses flourish on their own effort without cultivation and support. However, the reality is that there is a science behind increasing the success rates of businesses operating in a country or a region. Utilising the rules of the game ensures businesses that are starting and those already running get the highest chance of not merely surviving, but of thriving. Any progressive government appreciates the role prosperous enterprises play in helping the country achieve its socio-economic…
BY DAVID ONJILI Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, the founding father of the nation went to Jamhuri Park to watch Kenya Play Ghana in an independence celebratory match, thereafter dubbed the Jamhuri Day horror. Documented as his first and last match ever, Kenya trailed by four goals, courtesy of Ghana’s Acheampong, with only 35 minutes played and eventually lost 13 – 2. Agitated, the old man wondered why Kipchoge Keino, Kenya’s 1968 Olympian Gold Medalist and Olympic record holder in 1500m could not be allowed to come and outrun the Ghanian’s with the ball. Ever since, Kenya’s football has seen both better…
Child marriage will cost African countries tens of billions of dollars in lost earnings and human capital, says a new World Bank report launched ahead of the African Union Commission’s second African Girls Summit on Ending Child Marriage in Ghana last month. According to Educating Girls and Ending Child Marriage: A Priority for Africa report, more than three million (or one third of) girls in Sub-Saharan Africa marry before their 18th birthday each year. Today, the region has the highest prevalence of child marriage in the world. Child brides are much more likely to drop out of school and complete fewer years of education than…
BY CYNTHIA WAIRIMU The appearance of your nails in general is not enough to make a diagnosis. However, there are warning signs to look out for, and right here we will cover a few common ones. In general, healthy nails are smooth and have an even colour. There will be changes due to age, contact with chemicals such as detergent and dyes that can cause irritation, brittle nails, injuries such as knocking your nail on something hard, car doors being the biggest culprits… most of these will simply grow out with the nail. However, there is cause for alarm if…
Anew book by McKinsey confirms that Africa is poised for economic acceleration, akin to the Asian boom. While other geographies are seeing incremental growth, global companies that get in early and join the African champions shaping the right strategies, can sustain double-digit profit growth over the next few decades. In Africa’s Business Revolution: How to Succeed in the World’s Next Big Growth Market (Harvard Business Review Press, November 20, 2018) Acha Leke, Mutsa Chironga, and Georges Desvaux detail the research that McKinsey & Company has done and share insights into Africa’s future growth prospects. The conclusions they draw are distilled from 3,000…