Shelter Afrique, the Pan African housing financier bid farewell to its outgoing Managing Director, Alassane Ba, a Mauritanian national who served as the chief executive for five years. Mr. Ba’s period of leadership was characterised by a steady growth of the balance sheet that has tripled over 2008-2013 period.
During his tenure the company developed a strong business model that limits the risk to the balance sheet and has attracted many business partners from the African capital markets, commercial banks and International Development Finance Institutions like African Development Bank, Agence Francaise de Development and the European Investment Bank which have built strategic partnerships for the provision of affordable housing.
These changes have seen the housing financier become an investment oriented organisation. Mr Ba was hosted to a farewell cocktail at the Crowne Plaza attended by several representatives of government, diplomatic corps, captains of industry and executives of the Kenya business community present. The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr Corneille Karekezi, said “Mr Ba has been a dynamic and charismatic leader who transformed Shelter Afrique by relentlessly pushing for a modern, high performing, more pan – African and more visible institution, fully equipped to carry out its noble mission of giving every African a better shelter”.
Speaking on his departure Mr Ba said “I was on mission and every mission has a beginning and an end and from what I have been told, the mission went very well. I am confident in the team that I have helped to build and empower.”
He is succeeded by James Mugerwa, a Ugandan with more than 24 years’ experience in financial services management, banking, insurance and financial operations, in Europe and Africa.
Electronic payments firm enters Kenyan market
Emerging Markets Payments (EMP), an electronic payments processing company with presence in Middle East and Africa, has opened its East Africa office in Kenya. This is the seventh office in the MEA region, after Cairo, Lagos, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Amman and Dubai.
“The opening of the EMP office in Kenya is a key strategic initiative for EMP,” said Paul Edwards, Executive Chairman of the EMP Group, during the company’s official launch yesterday. “We already serve over 130 banks and 30,000 merchants in 35 countries in the region.”
The company offers the full range of card schemes and covers all payment channels, including cards, mobile and e-commerce as well as a range of e-government services, such as national ID with payment capability, subsidy management and social welfare payments.
“Kenya and the East Africa region are a highly attractive market for us. We currently have 14 bank customers in the region, but given the commitment from the government and Central Bank of Kenya, we expect to see a significant push towards a more cash-less society and a higher standard of electronic banking services,” he said.
Edwards said is a strong correlation between access to financial services and growth in GDP. While the growth of M-Pesa has been remarkable, he added, there is still a long way to go to ensure that the national payments infrastructure supports a modern, dynamic economy. “We believe we can play a key role in the evolving national payments system. We are the most experienced EMV processor on the continent, having been promoting the standard for over 10 years,” said Edwards.
Wayne Harris, EMP’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa at the end of 2012 there were an estimated 10.7 million payment cards in issue in Kenya, translating to 46 cards per 100 adults and a forecast growth rate estimated at 12% in the coming period. “The electronic banking infrastructure is growing as well. EMP has already partnered with four banks in Kenya prior to its official launch and we expect the number to increase significantly over the next year,” he said.
Sh32m drug tester to help fight counterfeits
The fight against counterfeit drugs has received a major boost following the acquisition of high tech equipment to analyse drugs by a leading supplier. Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies (MEDS) has installed the equipment worth more than Sh32 million from USAID’s Kenya Pharma to strengthen its World Health Organisation (WHO) prequalified Quality Control Laboratory’s operations.
The equipment consisting of two ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) machines and a dissolution apparatus will enhance MEDS’s capacity to test the quality of drugs before distribution to health facilities. With this equipment, MEDS will be able to analyze over 120 drug samples every month. Currently, the laboratory analyzes more than 60 samples every month from manufacturers, distributors and researchers in Kenya and other African Countries.
Speaking during the handover ceremony at the MEDS Centre, Kenya Pharma Supply Chain & Logistics Manager Dr Esther Turunga called for public participation in the fight against counterfeits. “Most Kenyans are oblivious to the dangers posed by counterfeit drugs. When buying drugs, patients should not only buy what is affordable but should also buy what is of quality. Though it may be difficult for the public to tell that a drug is fake by simply looking at it, they should be encouraged to report suspicious cases to regulators,” she said.
Over the past 16 years, MEDS has recorded a steady reduction in the failure rates of drugs analyzed in its laboratory from 13.2% in 1997 to 1% in 2013 for drugs stocked in the organisation and from 22.8 % in 1997 to 4.4% in 2013 for drugs from other organisations. This is the first faith-based WHO prequalified faith based laboratory in the world.
CORPORATE SCENE
Leading law firms merge
The love bug has infested Kenya’s legal fraternity and, it seems, the mating season has started. Hamilton Harrison & Mathews Advocates, one of the oldest law firms in Kenya, announced it had entered into an agreement to merge with Oraro & Company Advocates, which is influential in commercial disputes and litigation.
The new firm, to be known as HHM Oraro, brings together George Oraro S.C. and Ken Fraser S.C., two of Kenya’s sharpest legal minds, dealmakers, litigators and senior counsel under one roof, and creates a regional legal powerhouse offering the services of 16 partners and 34 associates. Both firms have over the last three decades handled the highest capital raising and merger and acquisition deals in Kenya.
“This merger opens a new chapter in our rich history that will significantly transform the legal landscape in the region, said Mr Adil Khawaja, Managing Partner at Hamilton Harrison & Mathews Advocates, “The consolidation of these two practices will create an institution with the expertise, scale and resources to meet the growing and sophisticated needs of our clients.”
Mr George Oraro, Senior Partner at Oraro & Company Advocates said: “Our clients now require highly specialised legal service that meet global standards and offered across multiple countries on the continent. By joining hands with HHM, we are able to not only bulk up and avail more resources for specialization, but also create a firm with a stronger heritage.”
Both HHM and Oraro & Co are celebrated in the Kenyan business circles for having handled some of the landmark corporate and commercial transactions and litigation in the market including merger and acquisitions, IPOs, privatisations, corporate restructurings and financing projects. Some of these deals include the IPOs of KenGen, KCB, National Bank of Kenya, Kenya-Re, Mumias Sugar, Uchumi Supermarkets, Eveready, Crown Paints and currently, the upcoming IPO and self-listing of the Nairobi Securities Exchange, among others.
Kenya to host digital media conference
Kenya will host the first digital media boot camp in Africa focusing on online technology. The boot camp to be held at USIU in Nairobi on July 24th and 25th will bring together business managers, government representatives, marketing and communications professionals, ICT professionals and higher education curriculum designers as well as e-learning specialists.
“The boot camp is designed to inspire and empower participants with social media tactics while providing direction on how best to use online media to gain more exposure, increase traffic, cultivate loyalty and grow businesses,” says Ms Esther Kagiri, the managing director of Globetrack International, which is organising the conference together with USIU Africa.
She said it will feature a key address by Erik Qualman, a Forbes Top 50 Digital Power Influencer, a world renowned author and social media expert who is also an MBA professor at the Hult International Business School.
Speaking at a press briefing ahead of the boot camp, Ms Kagiri said the forum would provide a platform to assess the return on investment from digital media while exploring opportunities of improving targeted online communication. “With the use of online media technology rising, organisations including governments are increasingly employing social media strategies in order to engage more effectively with their respective target audience. This has encouraged continuous interaction and engagement thereby growing transparency and providing platforms to provide immediate feedback to all stakeholders,” she said.
The Digital Media Boot Camp will provide insights to local professionals on digital media best practices and engage stakeholders through the various online platforms, which have become key in growing businesses. With millions of people interacting with brands on social media and other online forums, an organisation’s reputation can be built or destroyed based on how best these interaction are managed.
According to the Vice Chancellor USIU Africa, Prof Freida Brown, the boot camp will prepare organisations to use online media effectively and ethically as citizens of a changing and increasingly technological world. “We are committed to continue forming strategic partnerships with companies in the private sector as we see this as an opportunity to help bridge gaps between academia and market needs, equipping the workforce with the necessary skills to spur economic growth,” she said.
Prof Freida said USIU-Africa is planning to launch its Master of Arts in Communication Studies with specialisation in digital communication that will tackle strategy, online corporate branding, effective web design & strategy and social media strategies.
Ms Kagiri noted that the new face of media has moved beyond traditional communication channels to include online. “We are keen on developing a virtuous cycle while continuously redeploying resources aimed at inventing new sources of strategic growth opportunities,” she said. “Digital media is unmistakably part of this frontier and our first ever boot camp will present an unrivalled platform to not only share knowledge and intelligence but also define best practices that will enhance interactions with all stakeholders.”
