By Njoki Waigwa The first and most important part in starting and running a business is to pick your area of interest. To achieve this, you need to identify your business niche. This is a segmented area of the marketplace that you can profitably serve. It involves identifying existing gaps in the economy that are underserved or unmet. These are goods, services and solutions that people need and are willing to a pay a price for. It has to be something that you are good at, or something that you can hire someone to do. This will eventually give you…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
By Mercy Musyoki K enya currently has four cities with Eldoret close to being upgraded to a city. However, the big question is, do the present designs set for these cities sufficiently serve their populations? Over the years, effective urban planning has become a core factor in the success of most cities. A city like Brasilia in Brazil spots an airplane-like design, while Paris follows a radial form feature which complements the structures, population and needs of the city residents and visitors. Washington DC on the other hand is divided into four quadrants along with streets that lead to public…
By Boniface Abudho The African office market faces challenges from oversupply, changing work patterns, and unfavourable economic conditions. These factors have contributed to prolonged vacancy rates, decreased sales of office space, and a notable decline in rental returns. For example, in the Nairobi Metropolitan Area, an excess supply of office space of over 8mn sqft surpasses the current demand. Consequently, developers have put a hold on new construction projects until the “extra” office space in the market is absorbed. The office occupancy levels in Nairobi have also experienced a decline of 3.9%, dropping to 71.5% from the 74.9% recorded in…
By Sarah Wabwile Land ownership process can be easy as long as proper verification of documents and due diligence is conducted. Aside from due diligence, one of the critical steps of obtaining land legally is conveyancing which is the process of transferring property from one legal owner to another. The documents required during the land purchase process include original title deed in the name of the seller, an agreement for sale, transfer forms, spousal consent (as the case may be), board resolution to transfer where a company is selling, and consent to transfer. To ascertain that the piece of land will solely…
By Mumbi Mutoko In a bid to address the rising cost of cooking oil and boost the local economy, the edible oils manufacturing sector in Kenya has called upon the government to allocate suitable land for palm growing. With the objective of ensuring sustainable growth and promoting local competitiveness, industry players are seeking public-private partnerships to invest in palm cultivation, infrastructure development, and job creation. The edible oil sub-sector, acknowledging its pivotal role in the economy, stated that it believes cultivating oil palm in Kenya will have a transformative impact on the industry. By supporting backward integration, the sector said…
Despite the inability to repay their loans, many Kenyans are willing to pay off their debt By Antony Mutunga During the pandemic, many businesses witnessed reduced profits and losses, some closed down while others were forced to lay off workers. This resulted in many relying on debt. As the pandemic continued on, many people ended up defaulting on their loans. As the country got back into recovery, many of these people were left stranded as they lacked the finance to repay their loans. Fast forward to 2023, and almost half of the digital loan defaulters have been able to clear…
Kenya Kwanza administration wants to collect more revenues, but it might end up collecting very little By Antony Mutunga June 26, 2023 will go down in history as one of the bad days for Kenyans. It is the day that President William Ruto signed into law Finance Bill 2023 soon after it was passed by parliament after a third reading. This is bad news because businesses and workers, will be forced to dig deeper into their pockets to fund the government’s first budget of Sh3.68 trillion, equivalent to 22.6% of GDP, if the Act is implemented. Accordingly, the Bill introduced…
By Peter Wanyonyi “I contend,” quipped Sir Winston Churchill once, “that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” The Old Lion was not exactly an economist, but his instinct for getting things right – and summing them in a pithy quote – was unequalled. Churchill’s acerbic wit is largely unknown in Kenya today, which is a pity because so many of his observations apply to our country, economy, leadership, and future. President William Ruto was handed a poisoned chalice of…
A majority of Africans believe that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is against the principles of international law. This is according to a recent study by research company Ipsos which shows that about 76% of those polled believe that the invasion was unjustified. The poll was conducted ahead of the African Peace Initiative visit to Kyiv and Moscow, the upcoming Russia/Africa meetings in St. Petersburg and the BRICS Summit in South Africa in August. Ipsos argues that of those interviewed, a majority felt that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was against the principles of international law, that Russian forces should withdraw from…
By NBM writer Access to reliable, credible and up-to-date economic data has been cited as a challenge facing economic policy makers in their quest to chart favourable development plans in Africa. Speakers at the recent (June 1, 2023) African Econometric Society (AFES) conference led by Kenya’s National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Prof Njuguna Ndung’u and the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) Executive Director Prof. Théophile Azomahou highlighted the need for reliable economic statistics and related data provided by “econometric” professionals to aid development planning in the continent. Econometrics uses economic theory, mathematics, and statistical inference to quantify economic phenomena; effectively turning theoretical…
