BY NBM WRITER For long, Africa was considered a dark continent due to various countries experiencing macroeconomic instability, corrupt legal systems, policy uncertainties, armed conflicts and terrorism. This saw many foreign investors shy away from the continent as they believed it was not a worthy investment destination. However, after the 2008 global financial crisis things took a turn for the best for Africa. As a result of its rising population, growing middle class, high rates of economic growth, improving macroeconomic stability and an enormous arable land, the continent was now attracting foreign investors all over the world. According to the…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
BY PETER WANYONYI Recent tidings out of Addis Ababa and Asmara make for interesting geopolitical reading. In July 2018, the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea ended decades of armed hostility between their two countries. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki set aside an acrimonious history and agreed to re-establish ties between the two sister states. Progress from then on was super-swift: Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s leading airline by some distance, immediately set up flights to Eritrea from Ethiopia. Immigration ties between the two nations were re-established, with citizens of the two countries receiving visa waivers when visiting.…
BY FUAD ABDIRHAMAN Djibouti is fast becoming a gateway to the region; the tiny nation located on the further end of the horn of Africa has seen major investments on their ports in recent years and has recently added to its projects the construction of multibillion free trade zone considered to be the biggest in the continent. The mega free trade zone, launched in early July, intends to capitalize on its landlocked neighboring Ethiopia growing economy. Djibouti is roughly 25 times less than the size of Kenya, whose population is also 48 times bigger. Investors, mainly the Chinese government and…
By NBM Writer As the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Agenda Council on Migration observed in a recent study, Flexible immigration procedures are required to facilitate the easy movement of skilled workers between countries and business venues. Around the world tension has arisen between governments concerned to fulfill their sovereign responsibility to manage migration, and the needs of businesses to secure access to the most talented people. Often, operational investment decisions are the result, at least in part, of the ability to fill needed skill sets from accessible talent pools. As more countries enter the global competition for talent, innovative…
BY SHADRACK MUYESU The law of Succession Act no 14 of 1972 contemplates three ways by which the property of a deceased person may pass to their beneficiaries. Property may pass by dint of a will, Survivorship or otherwise, under rules of intestacy- where the deceased left no will or the will left was improper. From the foregoing, a beneficiary is only entitled to what the deceased transmits to them or what the law allows them never mind in the case of a surviving spouse, their contribution to the acquisition of the property in question. In my view, this position…
BY BERNARD MATUMBAI Poverty-stricken Turkana County is basking in glory, with big dreams of newfound oil wealth marking the recently unveiled Early Oil Pilot Scheme, an experimental programme that aims at testing the global supply logistics as well as determining the price-point of the Turkana oil. Discovered in March 2012, it took close to seven years of controversy and sheer determination to extract the first barrels out of the oil fields. Variously described as a historic moment that would see the Kenyan economy bolstered by international oil trade, the recent flagging off of the early oil pilot scheme came against…
BY VICTOR ADAR In this era of social networking and powerful technologies, you can make money in more ways than one. In fact, you can create streams of income in a matter of minutes provided you choose a suitable investment vehicle. Try to picture buying stocks at low prices and then selling them once they hit a high. You can as well engage manufacturers directly and spend your cash on buying in bulk fast moving items like cooking oil, soaps, or hankies to supply to small retailers at promotional costs. Well, it is increasingly evident that many of us want…
Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) has given the greenlight for the production of Senator Keg beer at the Kisumu Brewery after a successful test of the production process. It’s all systems go after the first Senator Keg pint was last month test-tasted at the Kisumu Brewery by the KBL top brass led by Managing Director Jane Karuku, marking a major milestone for the Sh15 billion investment. The test-tasting was performed exactly one year and five days since the refurbishment of the brewery was commissioned in July last year. “We have invested at least 900,000 man-hours to date. It marks a major…
BY NBM WRITER Experts and investors foresee a bullish second half of 2018 for the tourism sector after former US President Barack Obama visit. According to Bobby Kamani, managing director, Diani Reef Beach Resort and Spa, hotels are set to cash in on thriving domestic tourism especially from August which is the beginning of high season at the coast. However, the dividends of Obama’s visit will fully be realised in 2019. “In 2015, Pope Francis and President Barack Obama’s visit to Kenya was a great marketing story for international tourism into Kenya. The effects of this international interest in Kenya,…
BY DAVID WANJALA Even though the disruption brought about by technological revolution in the recent past has, more often than not, drilled the last nail in the coffin for many companies, ingenuity of some of the policy makers has ensured not only the survival of their entities but also their thriving. If there was ever a company in Kenya whose survival, leave alone thriving, in the wake of the recent rapid technological advancement, especially in communication, was never guaranteed, it was the Postal Corporation of Kenya. Contrary to those fears however, the corporation has waded through the formative stages of…