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…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
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,…
BY VICTOR ADAR You know how much pain those who do actual selling of complex investment options like insurance can stand. As always the case, converting prospects into customers is usually no easy task. That’s perhaps the reason as to why more and more sales representatives seem to hide critical details just to close some deals. But while it seems those whose hands have been burnt in the market simply for lack of knowledge still find wary of investing in the industry, one P.V Saseendran, was prompted to out think. Reporting at Kenindia Assurance from Life Insurance Corporation of India…
A group of Kenyans is threatening to sue the Kenya Power and Lighting Company for what it considers abuse of dominance, monopoly and buyer power. In a letter of demand dated 8 January 2018 and addressed to KPLC through their lawyers Apollo and Company Advocates, they accuse the Company of slapping electricity consumers with inflated power bills as a means of recovering ksh10. 1 billion backdated bills from consumers allegedly incurred on diesel generation in the year 2017 but not factored in the monthly charges. They demand that the Company provide them with information concerning the issue failure to which they…
By ADIL YOUSSEFI A lack of accurate and timely data on electricity use has caused consumers’ uproar on the over-charged bills and has prevented them from monitoring, managing and/or reducing their power consumption. Today, utilities are thus moving to smart meters and grids as part of long-range plans to ensure a reliable energy supply, incorporate distributed generation resources, develop innovative storage solutions, reduce the need to build new power plants and enable customers to have more control over their power use. There are reported instances of consumers’ outrage and long queues at Kenya Power’s office as consumers sort clarification on their…
BY JOANNE VAN DER WALT Often, CSR programmes are implemented through ad hoc, unrelated activities, whose positive effects are short-lived. Once-off, annual events are seen as an extension of marketing activities to show that the business has ticked the ‘good corporate citizen’ box but this approach does not have a lasting impact. CSR needs to be reframed as a contributor to profitability – and that means treating it like any other business strategy: with a plan that outlines what success looks like, measures progress and pivots to meet changing stakeholder needs. The result is more effective CSR initiatives that have…
The Coca-Cola Company has announced that it is fundamentally reshaping its approach to packaging, with a global goal to help collect and recycle the equivalent of 100% of its packaging by 2030. This goal is the centerpiece of the Company’s new packaging vision for a World Without Waste, which the Coca-Cola system intends to back with a multi-year investment that includes ongoing work to make packaging 100% recyclable. This begins with the understanding that food and beverage containers are an important part of people’s modern lives but that there is much more to be done to reduce packaging waste globally.…
Informal transactions through Facebook groups are threatening the success of e-commerce giants in Africa according to a recent straw poll on the impact of the Black Friday sale promotion on this fledgling industry. According to our Black Friday Straw Poll, which ran in December 2017 among 2,031 respondents in Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya, Jumia still remains the most preferred e-commerce vendor. 56% of our poll respondents have shopped on Jumia before. Interestingly, a significant number of online shoppers utilize Facebook groups. At 32%, Facebook is the second leading online retailer in the leading e-commerce regions. Through informal entrepreneurs who…
When the renowned global institution, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), appointed Nancy Asiko Onyango to take up the role of director of the fund’s office of Internal Audit and Inspection, it was no-longer business as usual. Taking over from Clare Brady who left the fund last year, she will be in charge of the office, which conducts independent examinations of the body’s internal control and governance processes. According to the managing director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, Ms Onyango brings to the fund more than 25 years of experience in the field of internal audit, strategic risk management, corporate governance,…