BY TERESIA KING’ARA The book focuses on “What it takes” to build great organizations that can stand the test of time. It highlights the unquestionable role of culture when it comes to building an exceptional organization, according to Stephen A. Schwarzman, the author and founder of BlackStone. Mr. Schwarzman strongly believes in protecting the organizational culture by always hiring talent. He says that great talent will perform, and will end up hiring more talent, thereby contributing to a great culture. He also advocates for compelling traits, and answers the “why” – he is doing that by offering growth mindset and…
Author: NBM CORRESPONDENT
By Noan Angrist The COVID-19 pandemic placed enormous pressure on education systems worldwide. At the peak of the crisis, school closures forced over 1.6 billion out of classrooms. This exacerbated a learning crisis that existed before the pandemic, with many children in school but learning very little. Widespread school closures are not unique to COVID-19. Teacher strikes, natural disasters, other disease outbreaks and extreme weather conditions all result in lengthy school closures. The cost of school closures has proved to be substantial, in particular for lower socioeconomic status households. When schools are closed, remote learning is rarely as effective as…
A communications platform, Tuecaller, has launched a completely free to use app, Open Doors, to allow users to enjoy safe, secure and private audio conversations. The app, whose interface is set to be available in English, Hindi, Spanish, Latin and French, with more languages to be added later on user demand, will be available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. It also works seamlessly across both smartphone platforms. “Thanks to Truecaller being 13 years in the business, we’ve spent a great deal of time learning about how people communicate,” said Nami Zarringhalam, co-founder of True Software Scandinavia…
Suspected digital fraud attempts coming from Kenya dips 61% as fraudsters shift focus on betting, and travel and leisure companies The rate of digital fraud originating from Kenya decreased in the first quarter of 2022, with suspected online fraud attempts declining by 60.9% from the same quarter last year, in line with the global decrease of 22.6% during the same time period. TransUnion’s quarterly report notes that while the overall rate of suspected digital fraud declined in Kenya, there were significant shifts year-over-year (YoY) within certain industries. Sectors such as financial services, telecommunications and communities (particularly online dating) all saw YoY…
A non-banking financial institution African Guarantee Fund (AGF) has qualified as a 2X Collaborative as a result of meeting Africa’s small and medium enterprises financing needs. The 2X accreditation is awarded to organizations that aim to advance opportunities for women through enterprise support, leadership and career progression, quality employment and products that enhance women economic participation. The lender earned the recognition because of its commitment to encompass a minimum of 30% women in senior management, over 40% women inclusion under employment and purposing to support women-owned and women-led businesses through a guarantee initiative dubbed “AFAWA” (Affirmative Finance Action for Women…
BY TOM THIMOT Before 2021, the market was a veritable unicorn farm. It averaged 150 births per year with startups reaching unicorn status in record timeframes. Last year saw venture capital (VC) funding reach $620 billion, more than double the year before. But this fertile ground is growing barren as challenging and largely unexpected headwinds – a prolonged pandemic, war in Europe and sky-high inflation – hinder the growth of businesses across all market caps and industries. Ongoing supply chain disruption and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are two main drivers of record-high inflation. The Federal Reserve has responded by ordering…
Maintenance fee will choke the remaining life out of an already ailing stock market BY ADAN MOHAMED On May 17, the Central Depository and Settlement (CDSE) Corporation Limited sent out emails to existing account holders informing them of the introduction of a Sh100 monthly maintenance fee payable annually. The move kicked up a mass displeasure among stakeholders. No wonder it has been shelved pending further deliberations between the corporation and the Capital Markets Authority. The corporation’s core business is to maintain a central depository system that clears and settles transactions involving publicly traded securities. The corporation has been involved in…
The real costs have distinct variances across global regions By Humberto López The current state of world affairs continues to weigh heavily on global growth prospects, with new and ongoing crises taking an enormous toll on global economies, particularly those of developing countries. Just as we prepared to emerge from the pandemic and resume life under new normal conditions, COVID variants and the Russian invasion of Ukraine introduced additional shocks across markets. The costs of these persisting crises are absolutelystaggering. To put orders of magnitude on these costs, compare the January 2020 World Bank Global Economic Prospects projections for global gross…
Kenya’s current inflation is imported. We have exhausted our borrowing and taxation capacity so much that the only option left is to live within our means or risk economic collapse. The fate of the country’s economy is now in the hands of the incoming government. By Ephraim Njega In recent months, many Kenyans have expressed concerns over the state of the economy. The worries emanate from the rising inflation and the public debt crisis. The relentless depreciation of the shilling and political uncertainties haven’t made things easier. A persistent drought is also a matter of great concern given that our…
By Peter Wanyonyi It is political manifesto time, and our politicians are in overdrive with their promises of economic paradise over the next five years – but only if they are elected to office. The grand promises contained in the rival manifestos of the two leading political camps are an exercise in economic dreaming – but you cannot accomplish anything if you do not dream. The question, then, is – even if we assume the dreams are plausible, what is the true cost of it all? The devil will be in the details of implementation. Each manifesto always has a…
