NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 28 – Competition in the mobile technology ride-sharing service has pushed Uber to introduce an economy product in the Kenyan market dubbed UberSELECT.

The firm announced that it is introducing a low-cost product in Nairobi designed to be cheaper for riders and more affordable for partners.

The move comes after the firm increased its prices following drivers’ protests who have been demanding a review of rates amidst increasing competition in the ride-sharing sector.

Among the competitors include MondoRide that offers both cars and motorcycles (boda-boda) transport services, Safaricom-backed Little Cab company which offers free WiFi for clients as well as Taxify, Maramoja and Dandia among others.

“Riders have been going for other ride-sharing service providers since Uber raised their minimum prices to Sh300 from Sh200. My driver makes more money from Taxify than any other ride-sharing service,” said Jairo Ombasa, an Uber partner, who has also invested in Taxify.

Uber says it has now relaxed its rules and is allowing all types of cars for its new UberSelect product that will be cheaper. It is, however, it no longer signing-up cars for its UberX product.

“To encourage cars to be added to the new, low-cost product, we are offering Sh3,000 as an incentive for a limited time only after the car takes 20 trips on the new product alone. Existing uberX partners can have cars on both products,” the firm says.

All types of cars will be accepted on the low-cost product with Uber recommending low cost, fuel efficient cars that include a Toyota Vitz or 800 -1200cc car models.

Requirements for the new, low-cost product are different from the requirements for uberX but includes NTSA inspection and sticker, PSV insurance and a Copy of logbook.

“We will continue to monitor market conditions and activate cars when needed on a first come, first served basis depending on market factors and business priorities,” the firm notes.

Uber is the market leader with revenue market share of 30.63 percent and fleet stake of 28.6 percent while its main rival Little Cab has fleet stake of 34 percent, and revenue share of   9.95 percent.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 5 – Housing Finance (HF) Group through its subsidiary HF Insurance Agency (HFIA) has partnered with Britam to introduce a retail medical cover with an age limit of 75 years.

The medical cover dubbed Afyamed is expected to open up health coverage to more Kenyans as current covers in the country have an age limit of 65 years.

Britam will be the exclusive underwriter for the product.

HFIA Head of Business Development, Francis Kinyanjui, said Afyamed is designed to meet the needs of retail customers who have in the past experienced challenges in accessing medical insurance.

“Many families today lack access to quality healthcare as most health covers are designed to meet the needs of corporate customers. This cover which we have developed in partnership with Britam will open up health cover to among others young families, retirees and also the self-employed,” Kinyanjui said.

Afyamed offers a wide scope of cover, including pre-existing, chronic conditions, HIV/AIDs and cancer. The cover also includes cost of organ transplant and related costs up to specified limits.

“Afyamed is a convenient solution for our customers as it has minimum exclusions and any member joining does not require a medical test before obtaining a medical cover,” he added.

Afyamed has a combined package that incorporates both Inpatient and Outpatient cover where customers will be able to access medical cover for as low as Sh20,000 annually.

Afyamed has a minimum cover of Sh200,000 and a limit of Sh5 million for inpatient cover and will cover Kenya, South Sudan and Rwanda.

“The cover will also cater for treatment abroad in India or South Africa for treatment not available locally through a scheduled flight on reimbursement,” Kinyanjui explained.

Members will also be able to obtain healthcare from private providers including Nairobi Hospital, Karen Hospital, Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi Women Hospital, Gertrude Hospitals, Mater Hospitals and M.P. Shah Hospitals.

MUNICH, Germany, May 5 – A group of Kenyan entrepreneurs is visiting building and construction companies in Germany to get insights on how the country has kept its edge as a leading industrial powerhouse.

The twelve-day trip, which will also take the entrepreneurs to France and Dubai, is part of Kenya Commercial Bank’s Biashara Club business exposure trips organized by the bank for their SME clients.

The Kenyan business men and women visited the Liebherr concrete mixer plant and Liebherr crane manufacturing company in Ehingen. The two companies are part of the 130 sister companies that make up the Liebherr Group.

The management of the two plants gave a rare guided tour of the factories where Kenyan entrepreneurs had an opportunity to see the end to end assembly of the construction equipment.

“Exposure to international standards and technology in more developed markets helps our customers borrow best practice processes to help grow their business back at home,” says Naomi Ndele, Head of SME at KCB Bank.

A number of the Biashara Club members have been part of the several trips the Club has organized including visits to Turkey, China, South Africa, USA, Malaysia among other countries in the region like Rwanda.

As a result of these trips, some entrepreneurs have bought equipment for their factories which has helped improve production.

The group also visited the Fensterie Building Company in Tuningen, Germany to learn about pre-fabrication techniques for housing and the use of Liapor building materials which significantly cuts the cost and time of construction significantly.

Jeremiah Matoke, a businessman in the real estate sector, says the visit to the plants in Germany was an eye opener.

“One of the things I have learned in Germany is that they are very good with their processes. They have automated their industries which ensure they get the most out of their resources,” said Matoke.

As the trip moves to France and Dubai, the entrepreneurs are eager to fuse the best of the two European neighbors.

TOKYO, Japan, May 10 – Toyota on Wednesday reported its first drop in annual net profit for five years, while the Japanese car giant unexpectedly warned that the cost of customer incentives and a further pickup in the yen threatened to dig further into its bottom line.

The downbeat forecast underscores how Japan’s automakers, including rivals Nissan and Honda, have benefited heavily from a slump in the currency in recent years.

But sharp yen gains at the start of the past fiscal year largely driven by Brexit and tumbling world equity markets took a bite out of Toyota’s latest results.

On Wednesday, the Corolla and Prius hybrid maker warned it expected more currency pain this business year, while incentives in the lucrative North American market pushed operating profit in the region down about 35 percent.

Overall, Toyota posted a net profit of 1.83 trillion yen ($16 billion) on slightly lower revenue of 27.6 trillion yen in the recently ended year to March more than 20 percent down from a record 2.31 trillion yen net profit the previous year.

Toyota, which lost its crown last year to Volkswagen as the world’s top-selling automaker, warned it expects a net profit of 1.5 trillion yen in the current year to March 2018 way off market expectations of around 1.9 trillion yen.

Vehicle sales in the past fiscal year ticked up to 10.25 million units from 10.09 million a year earlier.

Unit sales in the key North American market remained flat, while Toyota registered a pick-up in Europe, Japan and the rest of Asia.

Demand dropped in Central and South America, Africa and the Middle East, it said.

‘Cash cow’

“Japan’s auto sector saw ups and downs in its earnings as the yen fluctuated during the fiscal year — foreign exchange will continue to be a major factor for the industry,” said Satoru Takada, a Tokyo-based analyst at research firm TIW, before the results were published.

“There is also a concern that demand in the cash cow North American market may have peaked as competition there intensified.

“The Chinese market is growing thanks to tax cuts but the pace is slowing,” he added.

Weakness in the yen boosts exporters’ bottom line by making their products relatively less expensive overseas, while inflating the value of profits earned abroad.

This past fiscal year has seen sharp moves in the currency, with it surging after Britain’s shock vote to exit the European Union boosted demand for the safe haven asset.

The trend briefly reversed course after billionaire Donald Trump’s November US presidential election win fanned expectations that his big-spending, tax-cutting agenda would fire up inflation and push the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates. A rate hike tends to lift the dollar against other currencies, including the yen.

But the Japanese auto industry is facing uncertainty over Trump’s drive to support US firms over foreign imports, a stance that has raised fears of a possible global trade war.

He has targeted Toyota with strong criticism of its ongoing project to build a new factory in Mexico, threatening it with painful tariffs.

In January, Toyota said it will invest $10 billion in the US over the next five years, creating hundreds of jobs.

As part of the plans, it announced last month an additional $1.33 billion investment at its Kentucky plant.

But sales in the key US market have been sputtering over the past few months and the top Toyota executive in the US said recently that deep discounts automakers were offering to customers were not sustainable.

Nissan, Japan’s number two automaker, reports its annual earnings on Thursday.

Honda last month said its annual net profit jumped nearly 80 percent, largely owing to a drop in costs tied to a massive recall of airbags made by key supplier Takata.

The company’s defective airbags have been linked to at least 16 deaths and scores of injuries globally. The scandal sparked the auto industry’s biggest-ever safety recall, ensnaring ever major global vehicle manufacturer.

LONDON, United Kingdom, May 11 – President Uhuru Kenyatta Thursday met Prime Minister Theresa May and sought a pact to guarantee Kenyan exports accessed the UK market on a duty-free quota-free basis after the country exits from the European Union.

At a landmark meeting at Number 10 Downing Street, President Kenyatta also spoke strongly about strengthening bilateral relations with Britain, and closer security cooperation, especially in regard to Somalia.

President Kenyatta arrived in Britain last night to attend the Third London Conference on Somalia at the famed Lancaster House later today, and to meet PM May on deepening bilateral relations for one of the country’s long-term allies. The President will also meet Prince William at Buckingham Palace on Friday.

It was the first meeting between the Kenyan leader and the British Prime Minister. The UK is Kenya’s third most important export destination after Uganda and the United States, and the leading source market for Kenya’s lifeblood tourism sector.

There are hundreds of UK companies in Kenya, valued in the trillions.

The President’s agenda is about ensuring a conducive environment so businesses can thrive in order to provide much-needed jobs, and deepen security in Kenya and the region in order to foster growth and inclusive prosperity.

“It is Kenya’s desire to continue having seamless trade relations during and after Brexit. We wish to continue accessing the UK market duty-free and quota-free after the UK exits the EU,” President Kenyatta said.

President Kenyatta and Prime Minister May agreed on creating a working group to examine a new framework for bilateral and economic relations between the two countries to ensure predictability and continuation of the existing market conditions after Brexit.

The President and the Prime Minister also discussed Kenya’s counter-terrorism program in the context of deepening the security architecture for Kenya and the region, and the Prime Minister made commitment to support the program.

President Kenyatta also pressed for the re-establishment of a UK visa processing centre in Nairobi, to serve as a regional office for Eastern and Central Africa. Currently UK visas for the region are processed in the South African capital Pretoria.

President Kenyatta praised the PM for lifting the travel advisories that had adversely affected Lamu and Manda Island — which he said would lead to a significant increase in tourist arrivals from the UK. He reassured her that the government had taken extensive measures to bolster security in the area.

The meeting between President Kenyatta was the latest in high-profile meetings between the two countries. UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson visited Kenya last year while President Kenyatta met then UK Prime Minister David Cameron on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2015.

Miraa also featured in the London talks. President Kenyatta asked PM May to extend technical cooperation and financial assistance to Miraa growing areas to enable diversification and to minimise negative effects of the export ban to the UK imposed three years ago.

President Kenyatta also spoke of the benefits of mutual legal assistance to both countries, saying it had led to the tracing and repatriation of funds acquired fraudulently by Kenyan officials and stashed away in Jersey accounts.

The President also thanked Britain for continued development aid through the UK agency DFID. He committed to continued transparency in the utilisation of resources from both government and lending agencies.

On Thursday, the President will separately meet British investors in East Africa, representatives of Kenya’s large UK Diaspora.

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany, May 11 – German high-end carmaker BMW issued a veiled warning on Thursday that a bad Brexit deal could see Mini production leave Britain, calling for “pragmatism” from London and Brussels in EU exit talks.

“We hope for pragmatism from all parties in the Brexit negotiations. That means no new barriers to trade. Free movement for skilled workers,” BMW chief executive Harald Krueger told investors at the Munich firm’s annual general meeting.

“Here, we are planning in terms of scenarios. You know that we make Mini models at VDL Nedcar in the Netherlands. We’re flexible,” he added, in what appeared to be a hint that production of the landmark British brand could quit the island nation.

BMW employs around 18,000 people in the United Kingdom, and claims that its presence supports a further 46,000 workers.

Its Oxford plant produces a variety of Mini models, while a factory in Hams Hall outside Birmingham builds engines and a Swindon works makes body panels and some sub-assemblies.

BMW has yet to decide whether to build a new all-electric Mini in Oxford, and has refused to confirm or deny press reports that the model will be produced in Germany or the Netherlands instead due to Brexit uncertainty.

The group also owns legendary luxury manufacturer Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, based in Goodwood.

Car producers have become emblematic of the difficulties Britain will face in extricating itself from the 28-nation European Union after a close-run referendum last June.

Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn in October gave the green light to new investments at its plant in Sunderland, northeast England, after receiving private guarantees from London over Brexit fallout.

Around 56 percent of the 1.7 million cars made in the UK in 2016 were exported to the European Union, and the country also imports large numbers of vehicles manufactured in France, Germany and Spain.

Meanwhile, complex supply chains mean car parts and sub-assemblies can cross national borders multiple times for different production processes before a final vehicle is assembled.

Brexit supporters have argued that the sheer complexity and the massive potential impact of new barriers to trade will make continental industry lobbies pressure their governments to strike a favourable deal with Britain.

That has so far not been true of Germany’s powerful carmakers, whether in statements from the influential VDA industry federation or from individual firms.

“Most of our customers are here in Europe. It’s always been clear to us: we support the European community. We support the internal market. That’s our conviction. We benefit from Europe and the euro,” BMW chief Krueger said Thursday.

Britain is set to definitively quit the EU in March 2019, after a two-year negotiating period triggered earlier this year by Prime Minister Theresa May.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 11 – SBM Holdings has planned to inject Sh2.6 billion in Fidelity Commercial Bank after acquiring it.

The firm says the funds will be used as capital in its first year of operations.

Following the completion of the acquisition, Fidelity Commercial Bank will now operate under the legal entity SBM Bank (Kenya) Limited, and will result in rebranding of all branches and ATMs to SBM Bank.

SBM Bank (Kenya) Limited will retain branches and staff members of the acquired bank and will thus have six branches in Nairobi and four in Mombasa which will soon offer its revamped suite of products and services to all existing customers.

SBM also announced the appointment of a new Board of Directors for SBM Bank (Kenya).

The new Board of Directors include Flora Mutahi, Jim McFee and Sharad Rao with Jotham Mutoka as the acting CEO ahead of the appointment of a Kenyan Managing Director to be announced at a later date.

SBM Bank (Kenya) Limited intends to focus initially on the Corporate and SME segments.

Chairman of the SBM Holdings Kee Chong Li Kwong Wing, says that SBM Group has been accessing corporate clients in Kenya through its off-shore segment, extending funded credit facilities.

“Now, it is a shift from suitcase banking to direct brick-and-mortar branch banking. SBM’s entry into Africa begins from Kenya as hub for East Africa expansion followed by expansion into other regions.”

“The strength of SBM is its ability to deploy capital and liquidity from other operating jurisdictions, and provide comfort to wholesale depositors in Kenya for placement of their surplus funds. The credit deployment in the initial stage would be to large corporates and the SME segment before extension into retail and small finance products,” he noted.

Founded in September 1973 and headquartered in Mauritius, SBM is one of the leading financial institutions in the country, with total assets of Sh437 billion as at December 2016.

The firm is listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius, with a market capitalisation of Sh59.3 billion as at January 31, 2017, representing third largest listed companies in Mauritius.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 11- The Hub Karen Mall is set to install a 450 Kilowatt solar electric power generating plant as part of its going-green initiative.

The move is intended to cut the mall’s carbon dioxide emissions by 525.18 tonnes per year.

The installation of the rooftop solar panels is part of a strategy to position The Hub Karen Mall, as Africa’s premier green shopping destination.

According to Azalea Holdings Director, Philippe Cauviere, the solar farm project will generate 660,000 KWh of power per year, enough to provide for the entire day needs of the mall.

“Apart from the cost saving benefits, we are leveraging on renewable energy to address the larger environmental challenges facing the world today,” said Cauviere, adding that, “From the architectural conceptualization to the implementation of respective technologies, The Hub Karen Mall serves as a benchmark for green building construction.”

The solar power project is currently undergoing regulatory approvals and installation is expected to start once the approvals are finalised.

The mall that opened shop in February 2016, hosts local and international retailers that include the French retail giant Carrefour, Furniture Palace, Funscapes, F&F fashion, Bossini, Adidas, Reebok, Burger King, Dominos, KFC, Artcaffe and Ocean Basket among others.

The Hub Karen has been developed over two phases, the first phase being a 35,000sqm gross area (excluding parking), featuring a retail, offices, medical, wellness centre which opened on February 4th 2016; phase 2 will include more parking bays and a hotel/conference centre.

Currently, The Hub Karen is enjoying a more than 55,000 weekly foot-fall and features secure parking bays with a capacity to hold more than 1200 vehicles.

The destination mall also features a variety of more than 1,300 eatery seats and 85 shopping stores.

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany, May 17 – Volkswagen chief executive Matthias Mueller on Wednesday stood in the focus of an investigation into the world’s largest carmaker’s ‘dieselgate’ scandal for the first time, along with other key players at the firm.

Mueller and others “… are suspected of knowingly delaying telling shareholders about the financial consequences for Porsche SE of software manipulation in diesel vehicles by Volkswagen AG,” prosecutors in southwestern city Stuttgart said in a statement.

Porsche SE, separate from VW subsidiary Porsche AG, is a holding company with a majority stake in Volkswagen, and is itself owned by the descendants of renowned VW Beetle inventor Ferdinand Porsche.

VW admitted in September 2015 to using so-called “defeat device” software to cheat regulatory nitrogen oxides emissions tests in some 11 million cars worldwide, pitching the world’s largest carmaker into the deepest crisis in its history.

The revelations sent the group’s shares plummeting by 40 percent in two days.

Along with Mueller, former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn and Porsche SE chairman Hans-Dieter Poetsch are also suspected of failing to share information with investors in their roles as Porsche SE board members, prosecutors said.

As chief executive of Porsche AG until 2015, when he took over from Winterkorn as Volkswagen chief, Mueller was not caught up in probes into those who sat on the parent company’s board up until the scandal broke.

But he did sit on the Porsche SE board before the revelations, making him a target for the present allegations.

“Porsche SE sees the accusations raised as unfounded. It believes that it has always fulfilled its duties of publication under capital markets law in an orderly fashion,” the firm countered in a statement Wednesday.

A Volkswagen spokesman refused to comment on the prosecutors’ statement when contacted by AFP.

Litany of legal woes

Investigators opened the latest dossier in February, in response to charges levelled by German financial supervisor BaFin in summer 2016.

While it is the first time Mueller has been targeted by prosecutors over market manipulation, Winterkorn, Poetsch — a former chief financial officer and present supervisory board chief at VW — and VW brand chief Herbert Diess were already in the sights of a separate investigation for market manipulation in their VW roles.

Winterkorn has always insisted that he knew nothing about the diesel cheating, but stepped down following the firm’s admission that it had taken place.

Volkswagen faces an array of legal challenges in Germany and worldwide relating to its cheating software, installed mainly in own-brand vehicles but also in cars made by Audi, Skoda and Seat, among its stable of 12 brands.

Shareholders and car buyers have launched suits seeking compensation, while prosecutors in Brunswick, north Germany, are investigating 37 individuals at the company for fraud.

Others face probes over incorrect carbon dioxide emissions data.

The gigantic carmaker has so far set aside more than 22 billion euros ($24.4 billion) to cover fines and compensation related to the “dieselgate” affair, but experts estimate the final bill could be much higher.

In response to outrage over the scandal, VW earlier this year announced a massive shift in focus towards electric cars over the coming years that will see it shed 30,000 jobs by 2020.

Even that move has been overshadowed by clouds of suspicion, with Brunswick prosecutors last week announcing a corruption probe into the head of VW’s powerful works council, which gave its blessing to the cut in workforce numbers.

Volkswagen shares had lost 1.0 percent in Frankfurt trading to reach 141.95 euros ($157.50) by 1025 GMT, while the main DAX 30 index was down around 0.4 percent.

HONG KONG, China, May 17 – Chinese technology giant Tencent on Wednesday reported first quarter results which exceeded expectations, helped by robust revenues from its hit mobile games.

Its overall revenue jumped 55 percent to 49.55 billion yuan year-on-year, while net profit was up 58 percent at 14.48 billion yuan. Analysts polled by Bloomberg News expected 46.4 billion yuan in revenue and 13 billion yuan in net profit.

Revenue from its smartphone games achieved 12.9 billion yuan ($1.88 billion) alone in the first quarter, a 57 percent year-on-year growth.

Analysts said the results were helped by Tencent’s fantasy role-playing hit title Honour of Kings.

“Tencent’s mobile gaming business was the main contributor, especially Honour of Kings, which is probably generating two to three billion yuan of revenue a month,” RHB Research Institute analyst Li Yujie told Bloomberg.

Tencent also operates China’s biggest messaging service WeChat through which a variety of businesses including gaming, advertising and social networking have flourished in recent years.

Monthly active users for WeChat reached 938 million for the quarter, a year-on-year growth of 23 percent.

However, the company saw a setback in May after Russia blocked its WeChat messaging app.

Russia’s telecoms watchdog said the messaging service “did not provide its contact information for the register of information distribution organisations”.

A law passed in 2014 requires foreign messaging services, search engines and social networking sites to store the personal data of Russian users inside Russia.

Sites that breach the law are added to a blacklist and internet providers are obliged to block access.

Tencent became China’s most valuable firm in September, beating state-owned telecom behemoth China Mobile and nearly reaching half of Apple’s valuation.

In March, it bought a five percent stake worth US$1.8 billion in the Tesla electric car company.

BRUSSELS, Belgium, May 18 – The European Commission on Thursday fined US social media giant Facebook 110 million euros ($120 million) for providing incorrect and misleading information on its takeover of WhatsApp.

“Today’s decision sends a clear signal to companies that they must comply with all aspects of EU merger rules, including the obligation to provide correct information,” EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

“The Commission must be able to take decisions about mergers’ effects on competition in full knowledge of accurate facts,” Vestager said.

Facebook said in response that it cooperated with the Commission and that the errors made were not intentional.

“We’ve acted in good faith since our very first interactions with the Commission and we’ve sought to provide accurate information at every turn,” a Facebook spokesperson said.

“The errors we made in our 2014 filings were not intentional and the Commission has confirmed that they did not impact the outcome of the merger review. Today’s announcement brings this matter to a close.”

EU regulators cleared the then $19 billion Facebook acquisition of WhatsApp in late 2014, finding no reason to believe it would dampen competition in the burgeoning social media sector.

In its statement Thursday, the Commission recalled that the merger rules require companies to provide regulators with the accurate information essential to any review.

It noted that when Facebook notified the Commission of the acquisition in 2014, the company had said it would “be unable to establish reliable automated matching between Facebook users’ accounts and WhatsApp users’ accounts”.

“However, in August 2016, WhatsApp announced updates to its terms of service and privacy policy, including the possibility of linking WhatsApp users’ phone numbers with Facebook users’ identities,” it said.

After launching a probe last year, the Commission “found that, contrary to Facebook’s statements in the 2014 merger review process, the technical possibility of automatically matching Facebook and WhatsApp users’ identities already existed in 2014, and that Facebook staff were aware of such a possibility.”

The Commission said Thursday’s decision and the fine would have no impact on its October 2014 clearance of the deal.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 18 – Kenya is the leading Africa Prospect Indicator for Micro Business, Consumer, and Retail markets.

This is according to Nielsen’s 4th Africa Prospects Indicator report which attributes Kenya’s performance to strong agricultural output, a resurgent tourism sector as well as increased FDI resulting in infrastructure projects that have spurred the diversified economy.

Kenya has been in the upper regions of the API ranking since inception beating Cote d’Ivoire, Tanzania, South Africa and Ghana respectively in the top five.

The report says East Africa’s most prominent economy is at the centre of growth prospects shift from West to East Africa.

However, Kenya’s retail sector is facing a mixed bag of fortunes.

“Truly informal small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as new start-ups, have been negatively impacted which has hindered growth and employment opportunities. However, elevated consumer purchasing power due to growth in per capita GDP, has resulted in a bigger base of more affluent consumers who can maintain retail resilience, creating an upbeat outlook for Kenya’s retail sector,” the report notes.

The World Bank forecasts Kenya’s 2016 GDP growth at 5.6 percent, a robust performance against the 1.5 percent average for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Cote d’Ivoire’s dropped to second position this quarter due to negative shifts in Consumer Prospects.

Despite strong Macro, Business and Retail prospects, Cote d’Ivoire’s Consumer prospects remain the biggest challenge.

Nielsen Head Emerging Markets Thought Leadership Ailsa Wingfield says businesses will need to adapt short-term and long-term country strategies to maintain relevance in fluctuating market cycles.

“Prospects for South Africa, relative to other Sub Saharan countries, have been reconsidered, as investors refocus on more established markets where it is usually easier to execute in known consumer and retail environments,” Wingfield points out.

Moreover, oil woes has seen Nigeria in eighth position particularly hard hit by lower oil prices compounded by low oil production resulting in a forex shortage, depreciation of the Naira and a curb on imports, creating a strangle hold on the economy which resulted in sky-rocketing inflation and tougher conditions for businesses and consumers alike.

Looking to the future, the report says new investors may see the cost of investment as more financially viable, given lower exchange rates, or an opportunity to develop products more suited to consumer wallets.

“The key to success will be the overriding need to focus on consumers, competitiveness, and execution,” the report highlights.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 18 – The one-stop shop for entrepreneurs requiring various government permits to start businesses will be opened in by end of June 2017.

Kenya Investment Authority Managing Director Moses Ikiara says contractors are in the finishing line of the offices at the Old Mutual UAP Tower where the firm has taken two floors.

He says the Authority is now training the representatives of different government agencies who will be at the facility.

The training is being done by an Irish firm International Development Ireland.

“The training has been sponsored by the Irish Embassy. International Development Ireland is known for big projects and also handling one stop shops for other countries,” Ikaria told Capital FM Business.

The one-stop investor centre will house key agencies responsible for business registration, investment promotion, environmental clearances, privatisation and specialist agencies which support the priority sectors of ICT and tourism as well as SMEs and human capacity development in the private sector.

The centre will offer hands-on support for investors willing to set up infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, energy, financial services, mining and real estate business among others.

Ikiara says the Authority has spent about Sh140 million for the centre.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 19 – Meet Wesley Owiti, a 29-year-old Mandela Washington 2016 Fellow who is using his love for fashion to change the lives of poor women in rural areas in Kenya.

Clad in a parliament blue suit and a designer pair of shoes, the 6 ft tall fashion enthusiast confesses that despite the challenges, fashion, like any other art, can change the world despite any set inhibitions.

“After I graduated from the University of Nairobi with a Bachelor of Commerce, I set out to start Cherehani Africa, a social enterprise that trains women how to sew clothes then lends them sewing machines to empower them once they are sufficiently trained,” Wesley said, during a one on one interview on the sidelines of the just concluded Mandela Washington Fellowship Conference.

The journey that began in 2014 would become much more difficult than Wesley expected. He had assumed that a University degree and no prior work experience would be sufficient to run an enterprise that ended up picking up faster than he expected.

“You can imagine I had no experience on how to run a business, but I got to learn along the way, even though it was the hard way.”

With an investment of Sh500,000 sourced through a collaboration of Wesley’s savings and those of his founders, Cherehani sent out word for women in rural Siaya County – which is where the projected was started and continues to run in –  to apply for training opportunities. The response was positive.

“We realized that many women from poor households were really interested in signing up for the training. Our work then was to simply train them on how to sew clothes. Then, those who are successful are given sewing machines on loan and allowed to pay slowly, a model that has become very efficient since most of the women we target are locked out from many getting funds from financial institutions.”

The women are given brand new sewing machines worth about Sh12,000 and are allowed to pay back the money over a period of one year. Additionally, the women are taught simple courses on financial management and how to run small businesses.

To date, Cherehani Africa has trained over 600 women and financed over 1,000 production tools which include 600 sewing machines.

“Additionally, over US$2.12 million has been generated by the beneficiaries. Cherehani Africa is also well on its way of achieving its mission, which is to pursue financial inclusion through asset financing of tailoring tools and issuance of affordable business loans in emerging markets,” says Owiti.

He admits that despite the appearance of a well-oiled operation, the enterprise has had its own challenges. Apart from limited business management skills, lack of sufficient capital was also a factor especially in the beginning.

There was also the lack of literacy on the part of his trainees, “regardless of these challenges, however, the women warmed up to our idea very quickly upon understanding it.”

Wesley says that induction into the Mandela Washington Fellowship was able to mitigate that hurdle.

“I have met the best minds in this fellowship. The kind of support I have also received here is also crucial as it has opened my mind to a whole world of opportunities.”

I ask Wesley what he is most proud of since he began the enterprise, in his words, the ability to help people who would have otherwise never have such opportunities is what keeps him going.

“The hardest part is when you imagine that for some of these women, that sewing machine is the only asset that they have ever owned their entire lives, the only asset that has their name on it.”

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 25 – Gulf African Bank is seeking to increase the number of women vendors’ customers from the current 4.4 percent to 20 percent by the end of this year.

Head of the Bank’s Women and Youth Banking Najma Jabri says the bank aims to open business opportunities for Women-Owned Businesses in the bank’s supply chain.

The initiative, which is in partnership with UN Women, additionally seeks to open up procurement opportunities to Women-Owned Businesses while seeking to empower them.

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics reveals that women are locked out of procurement opportunities although over 60.7 percent of all unlicensed establishments are owned by women.

“With this move, we are hoping to become the leader in providing procurement opportunities in the private sector and inspire others to follow our example,” Jabri said.

The company is also offering unsecured LPO financing to women of up to Sh20 million for those with prior performance history and up to Sh3 million unsecured LPO business for starters.

Jabri was speaking during a workshop organized by the company to promote supplier diversity and inclusion, while also promoting their Annisaa program which seeks to empower and educate their women clientele.

“As signatories to the Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Gulf African Bank has committed to champion principle 5 of WEPs. We have embarked on this exciting and innovative journey in partnership with UNWomen – to become the leader in providing procurement opportunities in the private sector and inspire others follow our example,” said Mr. Abdalla Abdulkhalik, MD Gulf African Bank.

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 26 – Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) has trained at least over 1,000 youth, women and persons with disability-owned enterprises to be able to participate in government procurement.

Speaking during a sensitization workshop, KPC’s Managing Director, Joe Sang said the program aims to enhance awareness, build capacity, increase transparency and promote competition for public tenders.

“This sensitization drive has been designed to increase the participation of special groups such as women, youth and persons living with disability in public procurement to help alleviate poverty and curb unemployment,” said Sang.

The initiative is in line with the Government of Kenya policy of enabling marginalised sections of society to access at least 30 percent of government procurement opportunities. The oil firm is holding sensitization workshops for the special groups in Mombasa, Nairobi, Nakuru, Eldoret and Kisumu which have benefited small businesses drawn from different parts of the country.

The oil firm is holding sensitization workshops for the special groups in Mombasa, Nairobi, Nakuru, Eldoret and Kisumu which have benefited small businesses drawn from different parts of the country.

Sang said over the last four years, the company has invested over Sh2.7 billion in supporting the programme across the country.

“This financial year alone, we have spent over Sh1.12 billion to support women, youth and persons with disability. This is 100 percent of what we had budgeted for,” said Sang.

In 2013, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed that the procurement rules be amended to allow 30 per cent of government contracts to be given to the youth, women and persons with disability without competition from established firms.

The Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) initiative aims to facilitate the youth, women and persons with disability-owned enterprises to be able to participate in government procurement.

A procuring entity shall allocate at least thirty percent of its procurement spend for the purposes procuring goods, works and services from micro and small enterprises owned by youth, women and persons with disability.

Speaking during the sensitization, KPC’s General Manager for Supply Chain, Vincent Cheruiyot, said the common reasons for delay in payment include arithmetical errors on the invoice; delay in submission of the invoice by vendors; supply of wrong items; Invoice without ETR; partial supply without invoice and lack of credit notes.

“Despite the change in law to allow special groups to access opportunities to supply government with goods and services, their participation has been hindered by Insufficient training on public procurement laws,” said Cheruiyot.

Cheruiyot said the training provided during the sensitization workshops will improve skills and ability of special groups to participate in AGPO.

Professionalization really means that the business does not become people-dependent.

Once the business reaches a certain size, and because time is a limited resource, the founders need to consider how to put more capacity and capabilities in place. Certain areas of the business will require certain skills and these roles could be filled by family members, although not necessarily. Like any start-up, family businesses start by filling essential operational roles but in time the owner should shift their focus to strategy.

In any business, there are four levels of operations: first, the operations themselves, which generate revenue for the business; second, people who manage those operations and make sure that they happen properly; third, people who are responsible for the business’s direction and finally a governance framework or board that oversees the business’s direction and represents the interests of shareholders.

Professionalization is an acknowledgment that any one person should not make or break the business. If the CEO was suddenly indisposed, would the business run in the same way? For family businesses, this is a double-edged sword because owners often want to maintain control but they also know that they need someone who knows what they are doing.

In a dynamic business environment like Kenya’s, there are many disruptive changes that require businesses to demonstrate speed and agility. They need the resources to steer the business in the right direction and professionalizing the management process allows the owner or founder to invest the time to explore new things.

Professional managers can take on responsibility for running the business but family businesses also need people who can aid the exploration process. Particularly when they start to think about expanding across borders, these businesses may not have the expertise to execute a regional strategy. They can outsource or hire the skills required, but family business owners need to trust people to take on new responsibilities and this can take time.

Family businesses sometimes struggle to attract and retain the right talent. Professionals who have trained and worked for large multinational organizations will naturally gravitate to that kind of employer. Conversely, many next generation family members earn their professional qualifications and gain experience working for multinationals before they join the family business.

Many family businesses are big enough to attract talented people but professional managers may worry that their ideas will get shot down at the top by family business leaders. They may also wonder if a succession plan will cause a sudden shift in reporting lines or responsibilities.

Family businesses can address these concerns by tackling the hard issues up front. Succession planning is an important part of the professionalization process and it can be broken down into discreet tasks. Honesty is the best policy: the family needs to assess the skills that the business requires and address any gaps before those gaps can cause harm to the business or the family.

A third-party mediator or trusted advisor can assist with this process by coming up with a plan and asking the tough questions. It takes time to build this relationship of trust but eventually the right advisor can help the family business to anticipate difficult issues before they arise.

Professionalization is about controlling the destiny of the family business before someone else does. It is about choosing the direction that you want to go. If you are determined to do everything, you will only be able to do what you can do. To do more, you need people to grow. In a way, it is a bit like a farmer planting one tree and constantly harvesting branches. If he plants more trees and more varieties, his business will grow in new and different ways.

Rajesh Shah is a Partner Tax Services & Saiba Nyindo a Manager Assurance Services both at PwC Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 2 – KCB Bank Kenya has extended the KCB Lions’ Den Season Two applications deadline, from the 31st of May to June 5, 2017.

The move is aimed at giving room to more budding entrepreneurs to get a chance to participate in the show, which is aimed at giving them an opportunity to tap millions of shillings in financing their businesses.

KCB Lion’s Den mainly seeks entrepreneurs looking for financial, social and intellectual capital for their new and innovative businesses in the country.

Angela Mwirigi KCB Group Director, Marketing, and Communications, has called on the interested entrepreneurs from all corner of the country to take the golden opportunity and apply to participate in the program.

For the first season, over 5,000 applications were received from sectors such as agriculture, design, education, energy, ICT, health, publishing, food & beverages, manufacturing, environment, entertainment, and service.

72 local businesses made their pitches on the show over a period of 12 weeks and 30 lucky entrepreneurs were able to convince the 5 celebrated and renowned Lions to invest their own money in exchange for equity in the local businesses.

In the second season, audiences will engage with the contestants as they battle in the Den on Standard Group’s television station – KTN.

In April this year, KCB Bank Kenya signed a partnered with The Standard Group for the Show that aims at connecting young entrepreneurs with a successful venture capitalist who has already cut their teeth in the business world.

“Our aim at KCB Bank is to see more and more ideas become reality and that is why we would not want anyone locked out. We want to give chance to any entrepreneur this opportunity to go ahead and apply. We are aware of the capital challenge that faces many business people hence the need for all to try their chance,” added Mwirigi.

KCB Lions’ Den Show is in line with KCB’s 2jiajiri initiative that aims to create job creation opportunities for the youth and giving them skills for self-employment while at the same time providing funding, nurturing and mentoring future entrepreneurs.

Registration is open through the Bankika online portal, www.bankika.co.ke, and KCB Bank Branches.

Hong Kong, China, Jun 7 – Red-whiskered bulbuls start chirping around 5:00 am at Wonderland Villas, a hilltop complex in leafy northern Hong Kong whose own history charts the city’s political, economic and social fortunes.

Built in 1984, the year colonial power Britain signed an agreement to hand Hong Kong back to China, the complex was one of the pioneering designs of its time, a cluster of 22 curvaceous white apartment blocks complete with clubhouse, tennis courts and swimming pool.

Prices at Wonderland have risen, waned and risen again, as Hong Kong property has swung through boom and bust to become one of the world’s most expensive markets.

The lack of affordable housing has become a major political issue for Hong Kong as it approaches the 20th anniversary of the British handover of the city.

But Wonderland was once an attainable aspiration.

Former tailor Winnie Wong, now 70, bought a three-bedroom apartment there with her husband in 1997, when Hong Kong was transferred to China and became a semi-autonomous city.

Some emigrated ahead of the handover, worried about Beijing calling the shots.

Wong said she was concerned, but decided to hold on.

“My dad once said, the more you flee, the harder it gets,” she told AFP.

From the late 1970s, China began to open up its economy, helping transform Hong Kong from a manufacturing hub to a service oriented gateway to the mainland.

The Wongs are typical of a savvy post-war generation who traded up as Hong Kong grew.

They bought their first apartment in 1970 for HK$45,000 (US$5,775), moving seven times before they splashed out HK$7.85 million on their Wonderland Villas home — it is now worth double that.

The comfortable 1,600-square-feet (149-square-metre) apartment, decorated with artworks and family photos, boasts lush green views and a large terrace.

“For my generation, it was easier to buy a home if you worked hard,” Wong says.

– China influence –

After rising steadily through the 1980s and 90s, property prices crashed in the last quarter of 1997 as the Asian financial crisis sent markets tumbling.

Hong Kong’s economy was dealt another blow in 2003 when an outbreak of the respiratory virus SARS killed 299 people in the city.

Those crises were reflected at Wonderland — while the Wongs kept their heads above water, almost 30 indebted homeowners were forced to forfeit their flats between 1997 and 2003 and prices plunged by more than two thirds.

However, thanks to China’s economic growth and Hong Kong’s encouragement of mainland tourists, which boosted retail industries, the market rallied as the 2000s wore on.

Industrialists and wealthy businessmen snapped up homes at Wonderland as they had in its heyday.

A handful of mainland buyers also bought there, but most preferred higher-profile central condos expected to rise more in value, albeit with less space.

“From the perspective of expats or mainland Chinese, when they invested in an unfamiliar place they would choose well-known properties or those built atop subway stations. So that started to turn around the direction of investment,” local estate sales manager Ken Lee said.

– Inflated market –

Despite falling out of fashion, a Wonderland Villas home like the Wongs’ still fetches $HK16 million.

But while they have watched their investment grow, younger generations find it increasingly hard to buy.

A 2017 survey by research organisation Demographia named Hong Kong the world’s least affordable city for housing — the median property price exceeds the median annual household income 18.1 times, well ahead of Sydney and Vancouver in second and third place.

Mainland buyers parking their capital in Hong Kong property is one factor driving up prices.

The local government also stands accused of colluding with developers instead of pushing for affordable accommodation.

Residents are increasingly forced to live in cramped conditions at spiralling costs.

Some analysts say a recent government pledge to create more homes should eventually bring values down.

“With more projects going to be launched in the market, (developers) have to price them more competitively,” property analyst Joyce Kwock of Nomura told AFP.

Residents at Wonderland Villas are now mostly retirees, their families, and those who enjoy proximity to nature.

Its airy layout and verdant, suburban surroundings contrast with the newer urban towers that favour glass, marble and chandeliers.

The next generation of Wongs have set up home there — one of the couple’s daughters lives in a neighbouring block with her own family.

As many middle-class parents now do, the Wongs helped her with the down-payment.

“It’s hard for younger people to make it independently now,” Wong told AFP.

She and her husband have no plan to move as they enjoy a happy retirement.

“It would be hard for us to find another place this green,” she says.

“We like the quiet here.”

NAIROBI, Kenya, June 12 – M-TIBA has been awarded the 2017 Financial Times/IFC Transformational Business Award in Sustainable Development, with a focus on Health, Wellness, and Disease Prevention.

M-TIBA, developed by CarePay, PharmAccess Foundation and Safaricom, enables people to save, send, receive and pay money for medical treatment through a mobile health wallet on their phone.

Dr. Khama Rogo, Head of Health in Africa Initiative, IFC/World Bank Group, says, M-TIBA is proof of disruptive innovation happening on the African continent leading towards the attainment of universal health coverage.

“M-TIBA is truly leapfrogging healthcare in Kenya,” says Dr. Rogo.

The number of savers has been increasing 56 percent month on month since January 2017.  In addition caregivers can send money to their dependents – certain that the money will be used for health only.

M-TIBA also provides a platform for healthcare benefits, such as vouchers and insurance.

“The support of all our partners has been invaluable in building M-TIBA and us being recognised as a transformational business. We’ve built a platform that allows for a more efficient and transparent way of connecting patients, doctors, payers and governments,” says Kees Van Lede, CEO, CarePay.

So far, more than ten donor and corporate schemes are running on M-TIBA.

In April 2017, PharmAccess strengthened the partnership with Kenya’s National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), applying M-TIBA within an NHIF health insurance scheme.

Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom says the award is a great recognition of how mobile – through innovative solutions like M-TIBA – is transforming access to essential services for millions of Kenyans.”

Since M-TIBA was launched in Kenya in the summer of 2016, more than 920,000 people have signed up for the service.

450 connected healthcare providers have treated more than 100,000 patients, generating more than Sh140 million in medical transactions through M-TIBA.

Medical Credit Fund, part of the PharmAccess Group, was also shortlisted for this year’s FT/IFC Transformational Business Award in the category Achievement in Transformational Finance.

Last year, the Kwara State Health Insurance Program won the award in the category Achievement in Sustainable Development: Maternal & Infant Health.