SAN FRANCISCO, United States, Jan 19 – Netflix added a record seven million subscribers over the past quarter as part of its global expansion drive, fueling a surge in revenue and profit for the streaming television giant.

California-based Netflix said in its quarterly report Wednesday it ended the year with nearly 94 million subscribers, adding five million outside the United States in the last three months of the year.

“This was the largest quarter of net additions in our history and was driven by strong acquisition trends in both our US and international segments,” Netflix said in its quarterly update.

That growth helped push net profit up 55 percent in the fourth quarter to $66.7 million, while revenues were up 36 percent from a year earlier to $2.5 billion.

The stronger-than-expected results lifted Netflix shares more than eight percent in after-hours trade.

Decade of streaming
“This quarter marks the 10-year anniversary of our launch of streaming,” said Netflix.

“The next decade will be even more amazing and tumultuous as internet TV supplants linear TV, and as we strive to remain a leader.”

Netflix added nearly 20 million new customers globally in the full year after announcing last January its plan to expand to some 190 countries to become a “global television network.”

“We are learning rapidly how best to match content with audience tastes around the world,” said the company’s quarterly letter to shareholders.

“It is clear to us that high quality content travels well across borders.”

Netflix said it expects to see strong growth ahead even as it faces more competitors such as Amazon, which is also expanding globally.

The letter said Netflix expects 5.2 million new customers globally, including 3.7 million outside the US in the first quarter.

“We will seek to steadily increase revenue and operating margin as we balance growth and profitability,” the statement said.

“We are in no rush to push margins up too quickly, as we want to ensure we are investing aggressively enough to continue to lead internet TV around the world.”

The expansion drive has meant that nearly half 47 percent of Netflix users are now outside the United States, a proportion expected to increase as it adds more customers.

Counting on content 

Known for its broad array of on-demand content and original productions such as “House of Cards” and “Marco Polo,” Netflix said it continues to invest in new content.

Conlumino analyst Neil Saunders said that content was a strong driver of Netflix’s success, with subscriber ranks climbing despite a recent price increase.

“Netflix is now producing world-leading TV that spans a whole range of tastes from cult shows like ‘Stranger Things,’ to historical dramas like ‘The Crown,’ to light entertainment like ‘Fuller House,’ he said in an emailed comment.

“Our own data show the value for money perception of Netflix has actually increased since the price rise.”

Conlumino was encouraged by the pipeline of shows in the works at Netflix, including international productions created with local talent and themes.

International growth remains a money-losing operation as Netflix invests in winning audiences around the world, but the analyst saw the strategy as necessary to counterbalance inevitable slowing at home.

“Overall, we believe Netflix is headed firmly in the right direction,” Saunders said.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 18 – The KCB Foundation is training at least 272 youths from the Western Kenya region on enterprise development, setting them up for opportunities under its flagship 2Jiajiri programme.

Last year, the KCB Foundation trained 464 beneficiaries from the Western Region with a focus on Fish Farming in order to capitalize on the opportunities within the ‘Blue Economy’ in the region.

Technical training courses in this discipline were provided by partner technical and vocational training (TVET) institutions in Siaya, Kisumu and Busia Counties.

Having successfully acquired the technical skill, now the same youths, have been enrolled to the stage two of 2Jiajiri for Business Development Services (BDS) to enable them set up their own businesses and effectively employ themselves and another 5 youths.

A critical part of this stage is the entrepreneurship support component where the beneficiaries will continue to receive consultancy and advisory support for their fledgling enterprises.

The BDS support teams are constituted from fresh graduates drawn from leading local universities to offer legal, marketing and financial management services to the enterprises established by young people in the 2Jiajiri programme.

This involves enabling the young entrepreneurs to better tackle the accounting, legal and marketing aspects of their businesses and in particular, preparing them to qualify for financial services including business loans offered by mainstream financial institutions.

As part of its commitment to supporting the beneficiaries in stage two, the Foundation today issued a Cheque valued at Sh5.2 Million to 34 of the 272 beneficiaries from the Western Region who completed their Business Plans and jumped the handles of due diligence. The 34 serve as an inspiration to the others to hasten their speed in completing their Business Plans for funding.

The beneficiaries who hail from Siaya, Busia and Kisumu Counties, have qualified to receive zero-rated loans to support the establishment and growth of their own businesses mainly in the fishing industry.

“We are focused on supporting entrepreneurs and holding their hands through the journey as a way of driving entrepreneurship and economic empowerment in the country,” said KCB Foundation Executive Director Jane Mwangi.

“Financing is targeted to increase their incomes which will immediately impact their respective households. We will support them in growing their fishing activities through purchase of value chain items such as fishing nets, motor boats, engine, and fish feed among others,” she said during the handover at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology in Bondo.

The funding comes a fortnight after the foundation issued another cheques worth Ksh10 Million to close to 500 youths in Bungoma who are into Soya beans and sunflower farming.

Statistics show that with an annual demand for fish standing at over 400,000 tonnes, Kenya is currently able to meet only 200,000 tonnes or 50 per cent.

“This means that there are significant opportunities for enterprise in the fishing industry, particularly in this part of Kenya we are confident that with the right kind of support, young people will play a leading role in revitalizing the fishing sector and thereby catalyze job creation,” said the KCB Foundation Executive Director.

The adoption of modern fish farming and harvesting methods should result in increased incomes and reduction of household poverty in addition to other socio-economic vulnerabilities.

The 2Jiajiri programme was launched in March 2016 with an intention to empower 10,000 youth every year engaged in the informal sector to establish their own businesses and become employers in their own right. The programme encourages and supports the growth and development of these youth micro-enterprises to the level that they will each employ at least 5 young people. This translates to over 250,000 jobs created directly by the youth for the youth through this initiative within 5 years.

So far, 2jiajiri has graduated over 5,000 students in TVET technical training, with another 1,000 young businessmen and women establishing and growing their enterprises with the support of Business Development Services (BDS).

The KCB Foundation continues to seek the development of greater and deeper partnerships with Government, Development Agencies and the Private Sector players in support of the aspirations of our young people to support themselves and make a meaningful contribution to the growth and development of our region

Gahara, Rwanda, July 19 – Inside a metal shed in southeastern Rwanda, Nicholas Hitimana brandished a plastic container holding a green liquid: geranium essential oil, freshly distilled and ready for export at more than $200 (175 euros) a kilo.

The pioneer of essential oils in Rwanda, Hitimana said he understood over a decade ago “the need to develop high-value crops” in his hilly nation of just 2.6 million hectares (6.4 million acres).

Agriculture accounts for nearly a third of GDP and employs four-fifths of the population and, as a result, there is “little arable land” remaining.

“On a hectare, if we grow beans, we earn about $2,000 a year, whereas on the same land, if we grow geranium, the income can reach $6,000 or even $8,000,” Hitimana says.

The trained agronomist embodies Rwanda’s ambition of diversifying its agriculture and increasing the value of exports by getting into the lucrative global market for essential oils. To this end, Hitimana has been importing geraniums from South Africa since 2004.

At the time the flower was virtually unknown in Rwanda, but Hitimana was convinced of the “great potential” of the essential oil sector.

Four crops a year

“In South Africa there can only be two harvests a year, but here, as there is no winter, it is possible to get up to four crops a year,” says Hitimana, whose company Ikirezi Natural Products has since grown and diversified.

With 25 hectares of plantations, it produces 1,000 kilogrammes of essential oils derived from patchouli, lemon grass and eucalyptus as well as geraniums. The oils are exported to Canada, South Africa, the US and elsewhere for use in the perfume industry.

The company employs 70 farmers. “At first, it was not easy to convince them to abandon subsistence for commercial agriculture,” he says, adding the work is more precise than growing beans.

“We need to plant on time, manure on time, hoe, turn the soil, irrigate and harvest on time”, or risk a “drastically” reduced yield, Hitimana says, noting that it takes between 600-1,000 kilos of geraniums to produce a single kilo of oil.

A few years on, and the employees seem convinced. “Since I’ve been working here, I’ve been able to build a house with a tin roof, I can pay for my son’s schooling and buy everything I need,” says 55-year-old Stephanie Mukamana, busily weeding around a geranium plant.

Last year, Rwanda exported around 14 tonnes of essential oils – geranium, moringa, patchouli and tagetes – bringing in $473,000, according to the National Agricultural Export Development Board.

Rwanda is also cultivating pyrethrum, used in natural insecticides.

Growth market 

According to the India-based firm Market Research Future (MRFR), essential oils are increasingly in demand in richer countries for use in cosmetics, food and pharmaceuticals. The world market is forecast to grow by seven percent between 2017 and 2022, says MRFR.

To get its share of the cake, Rwanda opened an essential oil laboratory three years ago, the first of its kind in the region, allowing quality control.

“One of the main challenges facing Rwanda is a growing trade deficit and a limited number of competitive companies that can meet regional and international export standards,” says Patience Mutesi, Rwanda director for TradeMark East Africa, which promotes regional trade and helped fund the lab project.

The laboratory will “enable Rwandan companies to access new and lucrative markets… by strengthening consumer confidence in the quality of Rwandan products,” she says.

Sitting in front of a brand new chromatogram in the Kigali laboratory, Antoine Mukunzi, a Rwanda Standards Authority official, is satisfied with his small country’s progress: “We cannot compete in terms of exported volumes, but we can in terms of quality.”

NAIROBI, Kenya, July 20 – In 1906, Japanese writer Okakura Kakuzo wrote a long essay that included the quote, “In joy or sadness, flowers are a constant friend”. More than a hundred years later, flowers remain just that.

But for 26-year-old Coretta Kai, while flowers are beautiful, they are just not enough. This led her to start Kora Edibles, a company that makes artistically designed fruit hampers that resemble a bouquet of flowers.

“I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, so when the opportunity presented itself, I turned my home kitchen into a factory that makes fruits bouquet.”

Kora Edibles was founded on minimum income, with Coretta saying her starting capital only included fruits and chocolate. Since its launch in late 2014, the company has sold products topping Sh2.5 million.

The company uses different fruits to make flower-like bouquets. Fruits used include strawberries, apples, kiwis and pineapples among others. She also uses different kinds of chocolate such as milk chocolate, dark chocolate and white chocolate.

“We basically cut the fruits and dip them in melted chocolate before mounting them onto eating sticks and then designing them into bouquets.”

Since the company’s launch, Coretta says it has over 500 regular clients. It is also growing its clientele base mainly through referrals and online marketing. Social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram have been her most useful marketing tools.

The company moved out of the home kitchen office, a feat Coretta considers to be one of her major achievements so far.

“It’s been quite a journey. I did not imagine that one day I’d end up having my own office. But now I do.”

The journey has however been marred by challenges. These include identifying suitable clients and meeting their expectations. There’s also the issue of introducing a new product in an almost virgin market.

“Kenyans are not so fond of flowers in the first place, so convincing them on fruits bouquets took some work.”

Coretta had to also learn how to strike a balance between her full-time job as an accountant and what began as a side hustle. What’s worse, her founding partner was also in full-time employment. This left the entrepreneur with no choice but to quit her 8 to 5 and concentrate on her business, a decision she doesn’t regret.

Is she afraid of other people stealing her ideas? “No, I’m not. I used to be in the beginning, but then I grew confident of my skill and realized that even if someone else came to do what I do, they would not do it as I do it as we are all different.”

She also encourages others to get into the craft, saying it is inexpensive to start but sees the opportunity it would create for fruits bouquets as demand rises.

Coretta, who says she has no educational background to support her craft – she studied Bachelor of Arts in Communications at the University of Nairobi – encourages people to be bold enough and pursue their dreams.

“You never know where that could lead you,” Coretta, who is a beneficiary of KCB Lion’s Den says in conclusion.

Mumbai, India, Jul 21 – India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani said Friday that his telecoms venture Jio would launch a free smartphone, escalating a price war that is shaking up the country’s ultra-competitive mobile market.

The announcement, made at a boisterous Reliance Industries annual general meeting in Mumbai, sent shares in rival telecoms operator Bharti Airtel plummeting almost six percent.

“This breakthrough and revolutionary device named JioPhone, along with Jio’s disruptive tariff, will unleash the power of digital life in the hands of 1.3 billion citizens of the largest democracy in the world,” said Ambani.

The tycoon told shareholders and staff, who regularly burst into chants of “Jio, Jio, Jio”, that the phone, the latest entry into India’s crowded market, would be available from September.

He said customers would only have to pay a deposit of 1,500 rupees ($23.32) for the 4G-enabled device, which would be fully refundable after three years.

The announcement comes almost a year after Ambani launched the Reliance Jio 4G network with free voice calls for life and vastly cheaper data plans, forcing rivals to dramatically slash their tariffs.

Jio has signed up 125 million subscribers since its launch in September 2016, causing a rush to consolidation in the multi-billion-dollar sector as competitors scramble to match its deep pockets.

British mobile phone giant Vodafone is merging its Indian unit with Idea Cellular to help fend off Jio, which is backed by Reliance Industries — India’s immensely wealthy energy-to-chemicals conglomerate headed by Ambani.

Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular have endured losses since Jio’s arrival and shares in the companies fell nearly three percent and six percent respectively following Ambani’s announcement Friday. Reliance rose three percent.

The news will have also been carefully watched by South Korean tech giant Samsung and Chinese mobile phone maker Xiaomi who possess the lion’s share of India’s smartphone market.

Samsung leads the market with 28 percent while nearly 14 percent of phones sold in India are made by Xiaomi, according to a study by the International Data Corporation, an IT research firm.

Nairobi, Kenya, Jul 21 – Jack Ma, the founder and executive chairman of Ali Baba Group shared his rags to riches story at the University of Nairobi, Thursday, with young entrepreneurs, students, and government officials.

Born to poor parents surviving on 6 dollars to feed five people, Ma said the desire to succeed was born out of conditions that were dire.

Ma, who has built from scratch China’s biggest e-commerce company, Alibaba, repeatedly emphasized that failure is the number one recipe that makes people succeed.

“The MBA teaches everybody successful stories. When you read too many success stories, people go crazy. They think that they can be successful. But when you read too many failure stories, you learn,” he said.

“When I started Ali Baba, I gave a lot of failure stories cases to my colleagues,” he said, adding that “no matter how smart you are, you will make the mistakes over and over again. Learning failure stories teaches you how to survive when you make mistakes.”

He shared how he failed the China college entrance exams four years in a row, and once he finally got in he was never number one in school and he never set out to be the best.

“I didn’t work hard to be number one in class but number one in helping people. As the chairman of the students union in our university, I was mostly focused on helping people,” he quipped.

Ma is the richest person in Asia and the 14th richest in the world with a net worth of $35.5 billion (60 percent of Kenya’s GDP).

Ma says fail stories have been his biggest asset.

“I went to get a job at KFC. 24 people lined up, 23 were taken, I was rejected. Five of us went to look for a job in the police. 4 were taken and I was rejected,” he said.

“My cousin and I waited for two hours in a queue to be the waiter in a four-star hotel in my city on a very hot day. My cousin’s scores were much lower than mine but he was picked and I was rejected,” he added.

He pointed out that getting used to failure is one of the key building blocks to a successful business.

“Was it painful? Yes, but I got used to it. Everybody, remember that you have to get used to failure,” he added.

In 1999, the e-commerce concept was still a foreign concept. China didn’t have a good internet connection, a good online payment system or even good logistics to make the idea a success. However, through sheer determination, he decided to build the missing infrastructure instead of giving up.

“Where people complain most is where the opportunity lies,” Ma said, as he took a swipe at people who complain all the time.

“When I said that there was a future in e-commerce, they said that there was no payment system. I said let’s build one. Then they said that there was no logistic system and I said let’s build one. Then they said that the government doesn’t support us and I said that they will someday,” Ma said to a cheering a crowd.

Ma, 52, whose real name is Ma Yun, was born and in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China started his company with 18 staff currently employs 56,000 people.

He is on a two day trip to Kenya and Rwanda to share insights with African entrepreneurs in his capacity as a special adviser for youth entrepreneurship and small businesses to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

NAIROBI, Kenya, July 21 – Jack Ma’s Ali Baba e-commerce company has employed 56,000 and created 33 million jobs in China, delivering 65 million packages per day. He is the richest person in Asia and the 14th richest in the world with a net worth estimated to be 35.5 billion USD.

He is on a two-day trip to Kenya and Rwanda to share insights with African entrepreneurs in his capacity as a special adviser for youth entrepreneurship and small businesses to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Nairobi, Kenya, Jul 21 – Jack Ma’s rags to riches story has turned the 52-year-old into a global sensation.  

Ma, who hails from Hangzhou, China has challenged Kenyan entrepreneurs to focus on solving big problems to be big entrepreneurs instead of complaining.

“If you want to be a big company, solve big problems. If you want to be a small company, solve small problems,” Ma said while speaking at the University of Nairobi.

He noted that Africa has a huge potential and that the continent can learn from the mistakes of other developed economies.

“Where else can you find elephants roaming around except in Africa? Where else can you find fresh air that is not polluted except here? When I landed here and I was hit by fresh air, I understood why people come here for holidays,” he said.

He also challenged Africans not to complain but do something to solve the problems that afflict the continent. He also noted that Africa’s youngest population is one of its greatest assets.

“Africa has the youngest population. Opportunities always exist where people complain,” he said.

“Where the government doesn’t know what’s going on, that’s an opportunity. When people around you disagree, that’s an opportunity,” Ma added.

He admits that the seeds of success were planted during his tenure as the student council’s chairman of the Hangzhou Teacher’s Institute. It’s in this institution where he learnt the skills that set successful people apart.

“I didn’t work hard to be number one in class. I worked to be number one in helping people,” he noted.

Throughout his start-up period, and even now that Ali Baba is a global company, he still sees his role as that of a teacher, cheekily trading his Chief Executive Officer title to the Chief Education Officer of Alibaba Group.

“I learnt to be a teacher. And a good teacher shares knowledge and expects the students to be better than him,” he said.

The founder and current executive chairman of Ali Baba Group said that one needs, what he calls the 3 Q’s, to be successful.

“Have a high Emotional Quotient (EQ) because you will know how to work with people and support them. Have a high Intelligence Quotient (IQ) because intellectual knowledge is what will help you to protect your business. Lastly, pursue a high Love Quotient (LQ)- respect for others, care for each other and love people,” Ma affirmed.

Ma whose company has clocked sales worth $550 Billion since its inception advises that one needs to be all rounded to succeed.

“But the world is funny because those who normally have a high IQ usually have a low EQ and those who have a high EQ have a low IQ,” Ma quipped.

“But even if you have a high IQ, a high EQ, you have made a lot of money and you are successful, you may not be respected because you don’t have a high LQ,” he added.

The revelation that LQ is important, Ma confesses, was a challenge that his wife threw at him.

“My wife challenged me to be a person that can be respected and not a person that is just rich,” Ma said.

Ma’s Ali Baba e-commerce company has created around 33 million jobs in China and delivered 65 million packages. He is the richest person in Asia and the 14th richest in the world with a mammoth net worth estimated to be 35.5 billion USD.

He is on a two day trip to Kenya and Rwanda to share insights with African entrepreneurs in his capacity as a special adviser for youth entrepreneurship and small businesses to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 26 – Fourteen social entrepreneurs addressing maternal and child health in Sub-Saharan Africa will get funding from potential investors.

This is through the Healthymagination Mother and Child Programme that is set to train and mentor the social entrepreneurs aimed at improving and accelerating maternal and/or child health outcomes in Africa.

The programme that was launched in March 2016 by GE and Santa Clara University’s Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship, is designed to help the organizations acquire business fundamentals, improve their strategic thought processes, and articulate business plans that demonstrate impact, growth and long-term financial sustainability.

The 14 organizations were selected from Benin, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe through a rigorous process.

The kick-off workshop, which is the second workshop since the program began, will be followed by a six-month, online accelerator programme with in-depth mentorship from Silicon Valley-based executives and local GE business leaders.

“Solving local health challenges calls for locally-adapted interventions and innovations, and Social Entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa are playing a major role in this regard.” said Robert Wells, Executive Director of healthy imagination

The accelerator and mentorship programme will culminate in a “Premier Pitch” event in Africa where the 14 organizations will present their respective enterprises to an audience of potential investors.

The 14 social enterprises that have been selected for the second cohort are: Afya Research Africa, Cedars Diagnostics, doctHERs, Early Reach, Liberian Energy Network, Maternity Foundation, MDaaS, MOBicure, Neopenda, Sevamob, Sisu Global Health, Southlake Medical Centre -under LiveWell, SubQ Assist and Totohealth Tanzania.

“The healthymagination Mother and Child programme will continue to provide them with mentorship and in-depth training, accelerating health innovation and furthering our goal to increase the quality, access and affordability of maternal and child health,” Wells noted.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 27 – On December 31st, 2014, event planner Juma ‘Jay’ Khamis Mohammed planned an entertainment event that would see Nakuru residents usher the New Year in style.

His event had an A-list line up with Jaguar, Jua Kali and Wyre headlining the NYE party as popular DJs and comedians planned to keep the crowd entertained.

Jay had put his money, blood, and sweat into the event. It would be his best one yet. So he thought.

“I spent about 4 million shillings to prepare for the party. I wanted everyone to enjoy themselves and live to remember that night.”

Things, however, did not go as planned. By the morning of January 1st, 2015, Jay had made losses of up to Sh3.9 million, mainly because of poor attendance. The loss left him in pain especially because he was still financially unstable.

The Beginning

Loss and struggle did not start on that New Year’s Day of 2015 for Juma. When he was in Form Two, lack of school fees made him drop out of school.

He was forced into hawking second-hand clothes in Nairobi, a life he says was characterized by hardships that included arrests by City Council officers.

“You wouldn’t know what hardships are until you’ve lived the life of a hawker. But I thank God because that job gave me a ‘street degree’, which is much more valuable than any formal education I’ve ever received.”

Throughout his time as hawker, Jay says he was always thinking of ways of improving his life. For one, he knew he wanted to have his own company.

Then he got an idea of starting an events company, which he registered under the name ‘Parrot Company’.

Luckily, the company required zero capital to establish.

“My job was to identify people who needed to hold an event and had no idea on how to do it. I would then come in by planning and supplying them with the necessary equipment. Once business picked up, I started being contracted to do big jobs such as the one where I lost a lot of money.”

His event planning blunders would however not end there. “Barclays Bank of Kenya once sought out karaoke entertainment services from me. I didn’t have a clear idea of what they wanted. To my embarrassment, I took a TV screen and a guitar!”

Big break

Despite the blunders, Jay, who has never been employed, would not quit just yet. His next idea was to diversify his product offering to branding. Here, he would major in digital printing, posters, below the line marketing and experimental marketing.

“The early days were difficult because this was something I had never done before. However, I had friends who were in the business who guided me.”

A branding job by Airtel Kenya gave Jay his big break. Then Stanbic Bank and Orange Telkom came on board.

“Parrot was given a contract to handle Orange’s branding during the promotion of the low-end ‘Kadunda’ mobile phone. That was really a milestone for us.”

Today, Jay has worked with several companies that include M-Kopa, TelKom Kenya, Lenovo and CMC Motors among others. His company has an annual turnover of Sh70 million with assets worth over Sh40 million. He also employs 21 people.

Elections Branding

Jay’s business venture has especially flourished during this campaign period. Politicians have been seeking his branding services to boost their campaign strategies.

Parrot Group has printed billboard banners for several politicians including Nairobi Woman’s Representative Rachael Shebesh, Isiolo Governor Godana Doyo, Narok Governor Samuel Tunai, several Member of Parliament candidates and Member of County Assembly candidates among others.

“We are offering these candidates different products and services that include vehicle branding, banners, 2D and 3D signage, road show trucks and branding consultancy among other services.”

One of his greatest achievements so far was when he was contracted by State House Nairobi to brand President Kenyatta campaign vehicles.

“For a former hawker, that was really a great moment. We went to State House to do the impromptu job that required perfection. It was quite a scene; doing what we do in the company of State House security,” he says.

Thanks to elections, Jay says his profits are up by almost 70 percent and he could not be any happier.

Be honest, don’t give up

I ask Jay what has kept him going for all this years, despite the frustrations he has encountered. “I don’t know how to give up. Failure to me is not the end, it’s just a signal that I need to improve or do something differently.”

He also insists on honesty, saying that for him it has been his most valued asset.

“If you cannot deliver a product or a service within a particular timeline, do not lie to your client. Tell them the truth. A majority of business people lie because they want to maximize their profits but do not care about the services they offer.”

He also urges budding entrepreneurs to cultivate a good reputation.

“Good reputation will give you repeat customers and referrals, which is what you really need.”

What does he remember most about his days as a street hawker?

“I remember everything. I remember how hard life was. I also carry the lessons I acquired along, especially on negotiating and spotting a serious client,” he says in conclusion.

Nairobi, Kenya, Aug 1 –The butcher is closed, meters of shelves are empty save for a single brand of shampoo and, worst of all, the toilet paper is out-of-stock. 

Once a Kenyan success story, homegrown Nakumatt supermarkets are grappling with product shortages so severe even the country’s best-known cartoonist has taken notice, lampooning the company’s slogan in a recent drawing as, “You need it, we don’t have it”.

The dizzying fall of East Africa’s largest retailer has been blamed on a combination of bad management, misguided expansion plans and increased competition, and many industry insiders say the damage wrought on the company is so severe that it may not survive.

“It’s what I call a perfect storm, where a series of events have come together to create the position that we’re in,” said Andrew Dixon, a former executive with Britain’s Tesco supermarket recently hired to head up Nakumatt’s marketing.

The chain’s position today is indeed a tenuous one: Nakumatt has become so bad at paying its bills that some suppliers demand to be paid upfront or refuse to deliver. The landlord of one supermarket recently raided the premises and seized merchandise in lieu of unpaid rent.

It wasn’t always like this.

Nakumatt’s transformation from a one-store mattress retailer into a region-spanning grocery empire is a fairy-tale saga in a country where entrepreneurship is a cardinal virtue.

The chain’s story starts in 1979 in Kenya’s Indian community, when a father, fresh off of the bankruptcy of another business, started a mattress store with his two sons in the Rift Valley town of Nakuru.

The store was named “Nakuru Mattresses,” which was later contracted to Nakumatt and what would become one of the best-known brands in East Africa.

The shop flourished and by the mid-1980s the family opened their first store in the capital Nairobi.

The current difficulties have seen two Nairobi stores and three in Uganda shuttered.

However, the business still employs 7,000 people and has 45 stores in Kenya, eight in Uganda, three in Rwanda, five in Tanzania and does annual sales of $600 million (Sh62.4 billion), according to Dixon.

Bad luck 

Dixon has identified three reasons for Nakumatt’s struggles.

The first was a stroke of bad luck – the September 2013 attack by jihadists on the Westgate mall in Nairobi that left 67 people dead and destroyed Nakumatt’s flagship store, which Dixon said accounted for 10 percent of the company’s turnover.

The second is the proliferation of malls in the capital. In its policy of expansion, Nakumatt has had to commit to opening new markets years in advance, and sometimes, when they finally do open, they end up not being as successful as expected.

The final blow is Kenya’s economic growth, which, while strong, is less than Nakumatt anticipated.

“We had originally put together a business plan which had assumed a certain growth in the economy. That growth has now slowed,” Dixon said, adding that the retail sector’s share of GDP has dropped from 12 percent to 6 percent.

Sources among Nakumatt’s competitors point to a fourth reason: the company’s acquisition at the end of 2016 of minority shareholder John Harun Mwau’s stake in the chain for a sum Kenyan media reported to be at least $30 million (Sh3.1 billion).

In 2011, American investigators froze Mwau’s assets in the United States over allegations that he was involved in drug trafficking, a charge he denies.

The businessman and politician’s scandalous reputation was seen as hampering Nakumatt’s quest to convince investors to inject $75 million (Sh7.8 billion) into the company.

The giants in waiting 

The time for Nakumatt to sort out its affairs is running out.

Wholesalers, who have relied for years on Nakumatt’s business to connect them with Kenya’s rising middle class, are losing patience.

So, too, are mall owners, who have watched the balance of unpaid rent from the stores grow by the month.

The landlord of one shopping centre in Nairobi’s northern outskirts grew so tired of waiting that in early July they raided the Nakumatt on their premises, seizing trucks, televisions, trolley and refrigerators to auction in a bid to recover 51 million shillings ($491,000) in unpaid rent.

Julien Garcier, managing director of market research company Sagaci, said Nakumatt did not only need new investors, but fresh ideas and outside expertise.

“Yes, they have been around for a long time, but above all, it’s a family business and they are now facing a fairly sudden rise in competition and their lack of know-how is making them make expensive mistakes,” Garcier said.

That competition is not just from local brands like Tuskys, Chandarana and Naivas, but also from France’s Carrefour and American chain WalMart, both of which have recently emerged — albeit on a small scale — on the scene in Kenya.

At the opening of a WalMart-owned Game supermarket in 2015, a local television station came across Nakumatt boss Atul Shah browsing the aisles, who made what seemed to be an admission of weakness.

“The biggest trouble I go through is, what next?” he told the journalists. “Always, we’re looking for ideas.”

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 1 – The KCB Foundation through its flagship program 2jiajiri Tuesday graduated a total of 367 beneficiaries at the Miramar International College (MIC).

The students who have been undergoing training in hydroponic techniques of producing vegetables, tomatoes, strawberries and livestock fodder included 63 special young men and women who were under 18 years old, some of whom undergoing juvenile rehabilitation.

The Government of Kenya recognized the vulnerability of these young people and admitted them to receive support under the ‘Inua Jamii’ programme.

The KCB Foundation complemented the efforts of government to transform their fortunes and enrolled them for technical, vocational and life-skills training under the 2jiajiri program.

Also graduating at this ceremony were another 146 youth who hail from needy families. There was a complement of 158 youth who has successfully applied to the KCB Foundation to join the mainstream 2jiairi program.

Presiding over the graduation were representatives from the Ministry of Labour who on behalf of Principal Secretary Susan Mochache, said that the KCB Foundation was a “This program is a shining example to the private sector of the significant role it has to play in building the resilience of vulnerable groups especially through support for the entrepreneurial acumen of Kenya’s youth,” said Ministry of Labour Principal Secretary Susan Mochache in a speech read on her behalf by Justus Muthoka, the senior assistant director at the Ministry.

“The partnership between government and the KCB Foundation has transformed them into some of the finest agribusiness entrepreneurs our country is likely to see”.

Inua Jamii has so far benefited over 600,000 Kenyans. KCB has been instrumental in facilitating the government to disburse over Sh32 billion to poor and vulnerable households under this programme.

“The beneficiaries were now part of an elite group of pioneers that would popularize hydroponic crop and fodder production within communities and improve social welfare through improved food security,” said KCB Director Corporate Banking Moezz Mir.

“2jiajiri program placed them in a position of significant advantage; they were on the cutting edge of an innovative mode of agricultural production that is increasingly gaining currency not only in Kenya but also the region,” he added.

Jane Mwangi, the Executive Director of the KCB Foundation said the 367 young entrepreneurs in2jiajiri were poised to earn a collective monthly income of Sh6.8 Million if they plant leafy vegetables exclusively and Sh12.5 million if they were to concentrate on Tomato production. Such is the power of hydroponic production that each of the beneficiaries would potentially earn between 18 and 34 thousand shillings every month.

Hydroponic farming is a soil-less method of farming and a subset of hydroculture, where plants are grown using only a mineral nutrient solution in a water solvent. Hydroponic production is also not land intensive.

Prof. Dominic Mwenja, the Principal of Miramar International College demonstrated that the crop yields associated with the earnings that the project beneficiaries are poised to gain is done in sheds measuring 12 Metres by 20 Metres or one-twentieth of an acre. Students stacked production trays to maximize on space meaning a typical production shed yielded 3,440 batches of leafy vegetables or 4,080 Kg of Tomatoes in any given harvest cycle.

KCB Foundation has championed the production of livestock fodder through hydroponics with the aim of providing sustainable solution to scarcity of pasture occasioned by increasingly frequent drought in the region.

The KCB Foundation is has taken the final step of linking the young farmers with large scale off-takers for their produce such as Tusky’s Supermarkets in order to guarantee the sustainability of their enterprises.

SEOUL, South Korea, Aug 7 – South Korean prosecutors on Monday demanded a 12-year prison term for the heir to the Samsung empire, who is on trial for corruption in connection with the scandal that brought down the country’s last president.

Lee Jae-Yong is far from being the only South Korean business tycoon to face a hefty jail term.

The country’s powerful, family-run business empires called chaebols have close political connections, and a long history of their top figures being charged with bribery, embezzlement, or tax evasion, among other offences.

But even if convicted, many see their sentences significantly reduced on appeal or suspended, leaving only a few actually spending time behind bars.

Some have received presidential pardons in recognition of their “contribution to the national economy”.

Such outcomes have driven increasing public frustration with cosy and corrupt ties between regulators and businesses in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

Here are a few examples of prominent court cases involving the country’s rich and powerful.

Samsung

Lee Kun-Hee, chairman of Samsung Group and Lee Jae-Yong’s father, was embroiled in a huge corruption scandal in 2007 and accused of managing a slush fund, bribing politicians and making illegal attempts to smooth out the power succession for his son.

Prosecutors initially demanded a seven-year jail term for Lee senior, who was convicted of tax evasion in 2008 and given a three-year suspended prison sentence and a 110 billion won (now $98 million) fine. He was pardoned the following year by business-friendly then-president Lee Myung-Bak.

Hyundai

In 2007, prosecutors sought a six-year jail term for Chung Mong-Koo, chairman of Hyundai Motors, for embezzlement and bribery.

Chung was found guilty of siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars into a slush fund to bribe government officials and was given a three-year jail term, which was later suspended on appeal. The tycoon received a full presidential pardon from then-president Lee Myung-Bak in 2008.

SK

Prosecutors demanded six years in prison for Chey Tae-Won chairman of chipmaker and telecom service provider SK Group, for embezzling nearly 50 billion won in 2013. Chey was sentenced to four years and spent about two years in jail, one of the longest sentences served by a South Korean chaebol leader. He was eventually released in 2015 along with thousands of others on a controversial presidential pardon by now ousted Park Geun-Hye to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of Japanese colonial rule over Korea.

Hanwha

Construction to hotels group Hanwha’s chairman Kim Seung-Youn was given four years behind bars and a 5.1 billion won fine in 2012 after he was convicted of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars. It was a lighter sentence than the nine-year jail term sought by prosecutors but the decision was hailed as one that broke the pattern of light punishment for convicted chaebol leaders. But Kim served only a few months in prison before the sentence was reduced to a suspended jail term.

MONTREAL, Canada, Aug 8 – Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to open up flight corridors for sanctions-hit Qatar’s state-owned flag carrier Qatar Airways, the world aviation agency said Tuesday.

The Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has been working with “various Middle Eastern states to ensure equitable access to airspace for Qatar-registered aircraft” since sanctions were announced on June 5, ICAO spokesman Anthony Philbin said.

“Some existing air route availability has been assured, and some new temporary or contingency routes have also been developed,” including through Bahrain and UAE airspace, he told AFP.

Qatar is facing its worst political crisis in decades, with Saudi Arabia leading a four-state bloc that suspended all ties with Doha two months ago over accusations the emirate had close ties to Islamist extremist groups and Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran.

Qatar has denied the allegations, arguing that the sanctions aim to bring the gas-rich emirate to its knees.

Sanctions imposed by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt included a ban on Qatar using the bloc’s ports and airspace.

The air traffic restrictions have caused headaches for the 2.4 million residents of Qatar, 90 percent of whom are foreigners, as flights were forced to take longer routes, for example, to Southeast Asia.

“The ICAO and the states involved are continuously monitoring related air route suitability and ATM (air traffic management) measures, which may still be subject to further modification if necessary, by mutual agreement,” Philbin said.

JIUZHAIGOU, China, Aug 10 – Tourism may prove one of the bigger casualties from a strong earthquake that struck a region of southwestern China whose natural beauty and Tibetan heritage draw millions of visitors each year.

Twenty people were killed by Tuesday’s 6.5-magnitude quake in Sichuan province, a comparatively low toll thanks to the area’s remoteness for a country prone to some of the world’s deadliest quakes.

But the disaster deals an economic blow to Jiuzhaigou, a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site renowned in China and whose mostly ethnic Tibetan and Qiang people depend heavily on income from visitors.

“There probably won’t be any more tourists the rest of the year. It may take two or three years for things to get back to normal,” Yang Siding, a Tibetan in his 30s, told AFP.

“We pretty much depend entirely on tourism to make a living. We have nothing else,” Yang, who runs a guesthouse, said while checking on his apartment following an aftershock.

Jiuzhaigou is prized as one of heavily polluted China’s few remaining areas of pristine beauty. More than 140 lakes, ranging from crystal-clear to turquoise, lie at the feet of forested mountains.

Despite its remoteness, the local government said the park hit its maximum daily capacity of 41,000 visitors just days before the quake, after luring 1.56 million tourists in 2017’s first half.

More than 30,000 tourists were in the park when the quake struck, heavily damaging at least one hotel. At least six visitors and two Jiuzhaigou residents were among the quake dead.

The most damage from the quake appeared to have been caused by landslides, and harrowing reports emerged describing people being killed or injured by boulders smashing into buildings and cars.

More than 30,000 tourists were evacuated by late Wednesday.

National tourism authorities have issued their highest safety warning for Jiuzhaigou, telling tourists to stay away and travel agencies to cease organising trips amid recurring aftershocks and landslides.

Normally bustling Jiuzhaigou hamlets like Zhangzha now resemble ghost towns, according to AFP journalists who visited Thursday. Although quake damage appeared minimal, hotels and shops were boarded up or deserted along rubbish-strewn streets.

Tourism had proved a local godsend as China’s growing middle class increasingly catches the travel bug. Residents say many who grew up as poor farmers now have cars and some can even afford second homes in big cities.

“After tourism came here (around 2000) our quality of life improved so much,” said Yang.

“Now I suppose we’ll have to go out elsewhere and find jobs.”

The tremor stirred memories of a devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake in similarly mountainous areas of the same region in 2008 that left 87,000 people dead or missing.

The 2008 quake cost Sichuan home to several of China’s famed panda sanctuaries and renowned Tibetan monasteries “tens of billions of yuan” (several billion dollars) in tourism revenue, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

“Now it’s in the government’s hands. They’ll have to assess whether the buildings are safe before letting tourists back here,” said hotel cook Zhou Quan, a member of China’s dominant Han ethnic group.

Even after that, Jiuzhaigou will be scarred.

Quake-triggered landslides ripped swathes of green forest from mountainsides, leaving huge gashes, in some places tumbling into the glassy waters and turning them brown, aerial footage by Chinese media showed.

One of the park’s best-loved spots Sparkling Lake suffered “severe” damage, park authorities said, after one of its banks collapsed, draining a section of the lake nearly dry.

The outlook is worsened by government policies, said Songpa Tsanduze, a Tibetan woman in her 40s who runs a Zhangzha shop.

Wearing golden hoop ear-rings and elaborate hair braids, she said authorities had used traditional Tibetan land for a reforestation project.

“There are trees on our land so we can’t farm it. We have no choice but to go into business. But now, after this earthquake, I don’t know how we’ll be able to feed ourselves,” she said.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 14 – The Kenyan Business Community has called on leaders with disputes arising from the just concluded general elections to follow laid down processes and procedures in seeking redress.

Under the Kenya Private Sector Alliance initiative – Mkenya Daima – the business community says pursuing legal dispute resolution channels will not only ensure peace and stability in the country but also allow businesses to run effectively.

“The frequent and active resort to the courts by various parties involved in the electoral process in the pre-election period is immediate evidence of the confidence that political players have in our judiciary,” said Hannington Gaya, the chair of media owners association.

“Therefore we urge all who are aggrieved by the election outcomes to follow constitutional avenues.”

Gaya has also called on business owners not to panic but to carry on with their daily routine activities assuring them of adequate security provision.

“We are heartened by and take the cue from the president’s speech which stresses the paramount objective of building a prosperous and united country based on inclusivity, merit, hard work and honesty.”

The business community emphasized on the need for continued policy consistency in fiscal and regulatory policy in accelerating job creation, youth empowerment and promotion of large and small enterprises.

“To achieve all this goals, business needs the incoming government to continue its push to remove barriers to doing business, most importantly reductions in critical input costs such as power and transport.”

A spot check by Capital FM Business shows economic activity is slowly picking up with more shops now open compared to last week, almost a week after the elections.

NEW YORK, United States, Aug 15 – The chief executives of Merck, Intel and Under Armour resigned Monday from a White House advisory panel on manufacturing after President Donald Trump’s initial failure to explicitly condemn a white supremacist rally.

The resignations came as criticism grew over Trump’s slow response to the weekend demonstration which ended in bloodshed when a suspected Nazi sympathizer ploughed his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters, killing one and wounding 19.

Trump initially blamed “many sides” for Saturday’s violence, sparking a welter of criticism and prompting Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier, a prominent African-American businessman, to quit the presidential advisory panel.

“America’s leaders must honour our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all men are created equal,” Frazier wrote on Twitter in announcing his resignation on Monday.

“As CEO of Merck and as a matter of personal conscience, I feel a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism.”

Trump didn’t wait long to respond.

“Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President’s Manufacturing Council, he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!” he wrote.

In a later post, Trump accused Merck of being “a leader in higher & higher drug prices while at the same time taking jobs out of the U.S. Bring jobs back & LOWER PRICES.”

Several hours later, Under Armour founder and chief executive, Kevin Plank also announced he would step down from the panel.

“Under Armour engages in innovation and sports, not politics,” he said in a subtly-worded statement

“I love our country and our company and will continue to focus my efforts on inspiring every person that they can do anything through the power of sport, which promotes unity, diversity and inclusion.”

Earlier this year, Plank had publicly expressed support for Trump in comments which sparked a backlash.

‘Serious harm’

Intel chief Brian Krzanich also announced his departure from the panel in a blunt statement which said he wanted to “call attention to the serious harm our divided political climate is causing to critical issues.”

“Politics and political agendas have sidelined the important mission of rebuilding America’s manufacturing base,” he said in a statement which underlined his “abhorrence” over the violence in Charlottesville.

“I resigned because I want to make progress, while many in Washington seem more concerned with attacking anyone who disagrees with them.

“We should honour — not attack — those who have stood up for equality and other cherished American values. I hope this will change, and I remain willing to serve when it does.”

Shortly after Frazier’s resignation, Trump made a statement calling out specific hate groups.

“Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans,” he said in nationally televised remarks.

Panel pullouts

The Justice Department has launched a civil rights inquiry into the incident, and the driver of the car, a 20-year-old Ohio man who was said to have had a history of neo-Nazi beliefs, has been charged with second-degree murder.

Frazier is a Harvard Law School-trained attorney whose experience includes pro bono work that won the release of a wrongly-convicted death row inmate in Alabama.

He is not the first executive to depart a Trump advisory panel.

After Trump announced he would withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Tesla Motors chief Elon Musk both left a White House advisory council, joining former Uber head Travis Kalanick, who stepped down in February following criticism of Trump’s travel ban.

But other executives on the panel appear to be staying put.

“Heartbroken by the violence in #Charlottesville. Hate and intolerance are a betrayal of what we stand for as Americans,” said Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi in a statement that did not address the Trump panel.

Other executives, including those from General Electric and Dow, planned to stay on Trump panels, US financial news media reported.

SHANGHAI, China, Aug 16 – Fresh from shattering China’s box-office record, patriotic blockbuster “Wolf Warriors 2” has claimed another slice of history by becoming the first non-Hollywood film to break into the top 100 all-time grossing movies worldwide.

The flag-waving action movie’s plotline of Chinese soldiers saving war-ravaged Africans from Western baddies has resonated in an increasingly self-assured China, and the film last week became the country’s all-time top earner less than two weeks after its release.

The strength of those domestic receipts has now propelled the film onto industry monitor Box Office Mojo’s all-time 100 list, where on Wednesday it knocked 1994’s “Forrest Gump” from the No. 100 spot.

Box Office Mojo said, “Wolf Warriors 2” had grossed $682.1 million worldwide, nearly all of it in Chinese cinemas.

But it looked likely to climb still further up the list latest figures from the official China Movie Data Information Network said “Wolf” had already raked in 4.75 billion yuan ($710 million) in domestic sales as of Wednesday.

That would put it nearly another 10 places higher on Box Office Mojo’s list, in the company of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1”, and “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”.

With special effects, stunts and explosions worthy of Hollywood, “Wolf” boasts the ominous tagline “whoever offends China will be hunted down no matter how far away they are”.

It depicts a Chinese former special forces operative’s fictional foray into an unnamed African war zone to rescue compatriots and downtrodden locals from rebels and blood-thirsty Western mercenaries.

The movie is directed by martial arts expert Wu Jing, who also plays the lead role of Leng Feng, and a cliff-hanger ending sets the stage for a third instalment and another likely windfall.

“Wolf” is riding a wave of patriotic fervour whipped up by the ruling Communist Party. This summer has also seen the release of the film “The Founding of an Army”, which chronicles the origins of the People’s Liberation Army.

Cinemas across China have been ordered since July 1 to show short clips promoting “core socialist values” and President Xi Jinping’s “Chinese dream” political credo before each film.

Wu said in an interview published Tuesday: “I’ve only taken a match and lit up people’s patriotism with a spark.”

“Wolf Warriors 2” will have work to do to climb up to the top ranks of the list, which is headed by “Avatar” (2009) at $2.7 billion, followed by “Titanic” (1997) and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015).

LONDON, United Kingdom, Feb 20 – US tech and retail giant Amazon on Monday said it would create 5,000 British jobs this year, in a show of confidence in the UK economy ahead of Brexit.

“Amazon UK today announced plans to create more than 5,000 full-time jobs this year, taking the company’s total UK workforce to over 24,000,” a statement said.

“These new job opportunities are for people with all types of experience, education and skill levels, from software developers, engineers and technicians, to those seeking entry-level positions and on-the-job training,” it added.

Amazon separately said it was creating 1,500 positions in France under plans to have 15,000 new posts across Europe in 2017.

The company is meanwhile in the process of providing 100,000 new positions in the United States by the middle of next year.

SAVA REGION, Madagascar, Aug 23 – Hit by rampant speculation and a collapse in production following cyclone Enawo, the price of vanilla Madagascar’s largest export has surged in recent months.

Ice cream, aromatherapy, perfume and haute cuisine: all use the spice sourced from the Indian Ocean island which accounts for about 80 percent of global production.

The sudden cash bonanza has threatened to fuel crime and slash quality.

On the single paved road in Ampanefena, a rural community in the northeast of Madagascar, youths pass the time doing wheelies on their high-powered Japanese motorbikes.

“It cost 200 million Malagasy ariaries (12,00 euros, $14,000),” claimed Akman Mat-hon, 17, atop a Kawasaki too large for his frame. His father is “in vanilla” and bought the bike as a gift.

Business is booming: since 2015 the price of the spice has soared relentlessly to “a never-before seen peak of between $600 and $750 a kilo,”(510 and 640 euros) according to Georges Geeraerts, president of Madagascar’s Group of Vanilla Exporters.

Since the market was liberalised in 1989, the price has fluctuated wildly from $400 a kilo in 2003 to $30 in 2005, where it stayed for roughly a decade.

But demand eventually outstripped the supply of around 1,800 tonnes-a-year, spurred on by resurgent calls for organic products, speculation by financiers and by tropical cyclone Enawo which ravaged part of the production zone.

Markets in the vanilla-producing Sava region were saturated almost overnight with motorbikes, smartphones, solar panels, generators, flat-screen televisions and gaudy home furnishings.

‘It’s a free-for-all’

“The banks struggled to keep up with the pace,” said a French trader speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Money no longer has any meaning, people think it’s a free-for-all, it’s becoming anarchy,” added Vittorio John, a vanilla grower in his 40s.

The price explosion has led to increased thefts from vanilla plantations.

Some growers sleep in their fields to guard their precious crop and several thieves have been beaten, imprisoned or even killed.

“We pay two police to secure the village,” said Patrick Razafiarivo, 42, an intermediary between the farmers and the exporters who admits to hiding vanilla underneath his mattress.

“The police made us pay for their 4X4s,” said a French exporter.

The authorities admit that they were caught unprepared for the boom.

“The root of all the problems is insecurity caused by a lack of capacity, staff, and force discipline,” said Teddy Seramila, the Sava region’s development director.

Fear of thefts in the plantations has also forced some growers to pick their pods prematurely, resulting in declining standards.

“People are doing all sorts. They’re vacuum packing vanilla that can go bad. Non-experts can be misled over the quality,” said an exporter from Madagascar.

“Nothing distinguishes a good pod from a bad pod, you can’t tell the difference,” exporter Lucia Ranja Salvetat told AFP.

‘Tearing ourselves apart’

The vanilla trade remains largely unregulated in Madagascar, and the scant rules are seldom enforced.

Each buyer can freely tour villages and negotiate prices directly with the farmers or call intermediaries to get a quote.

“There should be a law applied to everyone but instead people do as they please,” said one of the exporters from Madagascar.

“Barely any of the local authorities levy any taxes,” said Seramila even though vanilla makes up five percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Just 21 percent of people in the region have access to drinking water and only six communities out of 86 are electrified.

“Honestly, we can’t succeed in this job. Everybody is manoeuvering and it’s the big exporters that are setting the example,” said Razafiarivo.

Madagascar’s bourbon vanilla is a product of expertise handed down from generation to generation and has been considered the best in the world.

But concerns over quality could deter buyers, handing a victory to the country’s main vanilla exporting rivals — Indonesia and Uganda.

“Everything must come to an end and it’s almost certain that there will be a price fall,” predicted Geeraerts, the export association chief.

“Vanilla enabled me to go to school, it’s a noble commodity. When the price falls, the opportunists will leave but we will always be here,” said Salvetat.

“We are the old-guard who have forged our future and our children’s future with vanilla but we are in the process of tearing ourselves apart.”