BY NBM WRITER The Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development recently announced that it is facilitating the building of 200,000 social housing units and 800,000 affordable units annually to stem out the biting housing challenges in Kenya. Under this urbanisation and housing agenda, the government is expected to facilitate the delivery of one million affordable homes. According to Aidah Munano, the Principal Secretary in the State Department, the country is likely to use various initiatives, installation of both physical and social infrastructure as well as informal settlements in selected urban areas in order to make it happen. Giving…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
BY CYTONN INVESTMENT Nyeri Town is situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya, about 150km north of Kenya’s capital city Nairobi. It lies between the eastern base of the Aberdare (Nyandarua) Range, which forms part of the eastern end of the Great Rift Valley, and the western slopes of Mount Kenya. It is the largest town in Nyeri County and the Headquarter of Nyeri County, and former central administrative headquarters of Central Province. This therefore makes the area a strategic location to serve all the counties located in Mt. Kenya region such as Kirinyaga, Meru, Laikipia, Nyandarua, Muranga, Embu and…
BY PETER WANYONYI There was a time when everything happening in the East African Community revolved around Kenya. This was when Kenya was the leading economic power in the region, Tanzania was mired in the leftover decline of its socialist past, and Uganda was tied up in civil war after another. The less said about Rwanda and Burundi over that period, the better. Kenya looked good because we didn’t have the all-out wars of Uganda and Rwanda-Burundi, and because our industrial base stood out in stark contrast to the centrally-planned poverty then prevalent in Tanzania. The legacy of this still…
BY NBM WRITER Ever since the world experienced the Great Recession back in 2008, things are yet to return to normal with the growth of the global economy being greatly affected. For the last six years, the global economy has kept a low economic growth, which has stuck around 3%. This has caused investments around the world to slow as well as lead to the reduction of global trade growth, in turn causing employment, labour productivity and wages needed to improve the living standards of the people to greatly suffer. Low growth has been a major problem for not only…
BY ANOTNY MUTUNGA Migration has become one of the major solutions for many people, especially those in developing countries looking to fulfill their dreams or simply feed their families. However, people in the developed and least developed countries feel the effects of migration differently. Most people in developed countries, which are the most likely destination for people who are looking to better their lives, normally think of migration as incomers coming to compete for their jobs at a lower wage. While on the other hand, least developed countries see migration as losing their best and brightest to the developed world.…
BY NBM writer After enjoying about two decades of robust growth, the situation in sub Saharan Africa seemed to have hit a snag after the economic growth slowed down sharply to 1.4% in 2016. This was mainly as a result of low commodity prices as well as the increasing imbalances in some of the largest economies in the region such as Nigeria and South Africa. In 2017, the region’s economy was able to slightly recover as its growth stood at 2.7% according to a report by Moody’s Investors Service, a credit rating agency. The growth was accredited to the slight…
BY ELSIE OYOO Knowing when it is time to establish a legal department could save you millions of shillings in legal fees charged by external lawyers. Hiring in-house counsel could also save you valuable management time and many costly errors occasioned by doing your legal work by yourself or having non-lawyers in your company handle it. Below are factors to consider in determining whether it is time to bring in an in-house lawyer. Escalating costs Although retaining legal advice in a timely manner can aid you in averting risk, such as closure of business or paying government fines for non-compliance…
By Antony Mutunga Once upon a time, Nairobi city was nothing but a railway depot used by the British colonialists on the Kenya-Uganda railway. However, 101 years since it replaced Machakos as the capital city of Kenya, it has grown to become one of the largest cities in Africa. It is identified as among one of the top investment destinations on the Continent. In addition, this has seen its population grow as well, hitting over 3 million people according to data from the Kenya Census 2009. However, regardless of its visible growth since its early ages, the city has been…
BY DAVID ONJILI It is a no brainer that there is an acute demand for efficient, reliable and decent mass transit system within Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. With the centralization of civil service, commerce and other service activities within the Central Business District (CBD) and industrial areas, the influx of citizens can be overwhelming especially as the city grows. With average passenger traffic of 19,000 people daily, the existing railway system within Nairobi is extremely underutilized factoring that 75% of commuters employed in the CBD relies on public transport. Government estimates that around 1.5 million people access the…
BY NBM WRITER Thanks to the Almighty’s good graces I secured an admission to the Advocate’s Training Programme at the Kenya school of law. That means shuttling between my work station in Parklands and Karen where the programme center, is situated. Some will say that I should concentrate on my academics and rightly so, but shelving work considering all the benefits I derive from it is not an option for me. I’ll just die. “Should everything pan out as I hope, my routine will be very simple.” I told myself. “I’ll get up in the wee morning for a jog,…