By Imane Charioui, If you speak to most migrant workers, you will hear of the extended financial support they provide to their families back home, as well as the large development projects they are funding. This they achieve by hiving off a portion of their income and sending it to their respective countries using different remittance services. Currently, about one billion people in the world are involved with remittances, either by sending or receiving them – one in nine people are recipients of these flows of money sent by their family members who have migrated for work1. Indeed, every year,…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
BY JACOB OKETCH Dawn of Fortune by Wanjiru Thuku seems to be the book that will keep you in the grove. The way the author weaves her plot is admirable. There are no winding episodes that often confuse a reader. The story is told in a linear way where one thing leads to another, leaving the reader with anticipation for the next course of action. Even though the author, who is born and bred in Kenya, tells a story of Ghana and Rwanda, the book sets the pace for creative efforts in Africa. This is perhaps a testament that Africa…
By Raphael Kioko A gender-sensitive eye is necessary for all impact organizations. Organizations that lack gender sensitivity in their operations, programs, or projects perpetuate existing gender inequalities. Studies have shown that, women continue to suffer discrimination and unequal rights and opportunities worldwide. In Kenya, the problem of gender inequality still sprevails in most spheres of life despite the many efforts by interest bodies and the government to drive gender parity. That is why a gender-sensitive eye is necessary for all impact organizations. Organizations that lack gender sensitivity in their operations, programs, or projects perpetuate existing gender inequalities. These organizations may…
By Anthony Mutunga In December 2017, cryptocurrencies were on the rise as bitcoin had hit its highest value at the time recording a high of Sh2.35 million ($20,000). Scores of people, mostly those with high risk appetite, invested on cryptos with an aim of making quick cash. The fear of missing out is what pushed up the demand. What followed was a crash that many did not anticipate – the price of bitcoin dropped by 65% and other cryptos soon followed. The prices dipped to below Sh1.17 million ($10,000) till October 2020 when they started to rise again. Cryptos reached…
By Alex Owiti Africa has the greatest opportunity to set its own virtual world, popular as metaverse, based on the web 3.0 advent. Just like cloud technology that has now become available everywhere, Africa can turn metaverse into a blessing – the continent is lucky because of the over 30 submarine cables currently offering high speed broadband. In Kenya a lone, there are 6 submarine cables, including SEACOM, TEAMS, EASSy, LION2, DARE1 and PEACE, as per Submarine Cable NetworkS website. Telkom Kenya owns a 23% stake in TEAMS, a 10% stake in LION2 and 2.6% stake in EASSy. Content and cloud…
BY ANTONY MUTUNGA With the ever-increasing population, opportunities have become scarce. However, new opportunities are set to come up thanks to digital transformation. To ensure that young people are not left in the cold, the government, through the Ministry of Information Communication and Technology and Innovation (ICT) recently launched a training program that is set to equip 20 million Kenyans with digital skills. If anything, the pandemic was a wake up call on the need for digital transformation. Businesses and individuals are now aligned to the “new normal”. Business operations, for example, are no-longer disrupted much because of digitalization of…
By Jedida Baraza and Wambui Muthoni The political state of the country has not affected the real estate industry with investors and developers still coming into the market. Estate Intel research associate Tilda Mwai said that despite the forthcoming election, the market is still expanding and key emerging trends such as flexibility and quality in terms of what people are occupying is driving the demand. Speaking recently at a Nairobi hotel during the annual East Africa property investment summit held under the theme “a re-newed focus” Ms Mwai said the market has been resilient to the political campaign with both…
By Victor Adar The central land registry is set to go live on ArdhiSasa, the National Land Management System (NLIMS) at the end July this year, following its permanent closure last year to pave for digitisation of land records. Speaking at an alumni forum at Strathmore University on “The Digitalisation of Land Records in Kenya”, Farida Karoney, the CS, Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning said the Ministry had already gazetted 84,000 land parcels set to migrate to the Land Registration Act 2012, with 64,000 of them having matured. “The law stipulates that we must wait for 90 days to…
Topline, the firm reported a gross income of Sh12 billion representing a 38% improvement over the previous year’s Sh 8.7 billion. However, the earnings were a loss after tax of Sh 542 million (restated 2020: loss after-tax of Sh 628 million). The firm has been undertaking revenue growth strategies for both its life and general insurance subsidiaries and has attributed its performance to a challenging market. Sanlam Group CEO Dr Patrick Tumbo noted that the life insurance subsidiary had performed significantly well and helped sustain the Group’s resilient performance. “After the successful implementation of revenue growth strategies in both short- and…
The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has been ranked the third worst-performing major security market in Africa in 2022 as a result of foreign investor capital flight and ease of repatriation of equity sales compared to other capitals in the continent. Data from EFG Hermes, an investment bank, shows that the Nairobi bourse is ranked eighth among the top 10 stock markets in the continent, beating only the securities from Ghana and Egypt in terms of earnings. The NSE had a return of -30% in dollar terms while Ghana and Egypt tied at -32%. At the top of the list is…