Monthly Archives: October 2011

ALN 2011 Day 1

Day 1 of the Africa Leadership Network’s (ALN) Annual Gathering in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was spent reconnecting the network – making new friends, learning about Ethiopia’s investment & agricultural potential, and learning about the arts & corporate succession

Investment opportunities in Ethiopia: The country with 85 million is larger than Spain and France combined. Zemedeneh Negatu of Ernst & Young explained that it is the fifth largest economy in Africa (behind South Africa, Nigeria Angola, and Sudan), and as one of the fastest growing economies (with an annual target of 11%) it is poised to, by 2025, be the third largest behind Nigeria which will be tops and mature South Africa.

This is due, in part, to the large young population (now 85 million, but projected to reach 120M in the next decade), and the potential there as Ethiopia is one of the least urbanized, and they have a target to electrify 75% of the country in the next decade – following the path that the Chinese and Indians followed.

Sectors with large potential for growth include agriculture (a lot of Indians and Chinese are investing here after the Government allocated 3.6 million hectares of arable land for foreign investors (size of Belgium) – but he qualified that, adding that while this was about 5% of arable land in Ethiopia, NGO’s had latched on to that as a land grabbing

Others were manufacturing (Ethiopia’s average manufacturing wage is $80 compared to $430 per month in China and there is a lathe industrial park being set up outside Addis to capitalize), infrastructure ( $155 billion), mining, oil & tourism.

A big source of funds is Asia (China, India), then the Middle East, then Europe and then the US and he mentioned two large beer deals had been recently signed by Diageo and Heineken. The Ethiopian diaspora investing but not substantially, yet.

Later the head of Omega Farms, a returnee from the Diaspora, spoke about the potential of Ethiopia’s agricultural sector where there is good availability of fertile land that can produce year-round, and a variety of climates in the country, that means that every conceivable green food could be grown. But he also spoke about the current paradox of her & other African countries that grow fruit but buy juices packed in Dubai or of knowing that some foods are exported from Ethiopia to Europe, only to be re-packed and re-exported to West Africa.

– The future is bright at a time when the air boundaries are reducing with Ethiopian Airlines able to reach the Middle East, Europe and most COMESA markets with short flights (They recently ordered 777 freighters that can carry 90 tons or fly non-stop to Beijing), or 12 – 18 days by sea to most world markets. There are also opportunities to produce flowers, fruits, nuts, and seeds for exports and local markets (next to Mexico, Ethiopia is one of the largest growers and consumers of corn and chili).

– Incentives available to agricultural investors include tax holidays of 2-7 years, lease-based land acquisition (upfront costs are low), duty-free importation of agricultural capital goods (100% tax-free) and up to 70% development bank project financing.

Mo & Me: In the afternoon Salim Amin previewed his award-winning movie Mo & Me about life with his father, the late photojournalist Mohammed Amin. It was poignant because it was in Ethiopia where Mo Amin’s powerful footage brought him his greatest fame, but it was also where he lost one of his arms (and in the film we learn that this probably affected his later career), and he made his final flight from here as he died when an Ethiopian Airlines flight was hijacked and crashed into the Indian Ocean.

Salim Amin was an only child who worked, reluctantly, with his father and after Mo’s death, he inherited the company, which he runs to this day. Salim spoke quite a bit about this and you have to admire that he has kept the company going for 15 and used Mo’s film to introduce a new worldwide audience to his late, distant, Dad.

Perhaps, as an only child, he had that obligation, but time has played into his hands as the content that his dad accumulated (3 million photos and 20,000 hours of video over 30 years) is a massive archive that may have immense value once he completes the challenge to digitize, caption, archive and re-produce it in meaningful ways, perhaps in the educations sector.

((Sadly, for me, another large company I was familiar with is facing the auctioneer’s hammer less than two years after the death of the family patriarch & founder.)).

Guide to Mauritius

A guest post by @kkaaria after a visit to the land of the Dodo & bargains, and where good life & driving habits are the norm!

Getting There Air Mauritius offers the best rates for direct flights from Nairobi’s JKIA, but double check as prices vary during the year. It can cost as low as Kshs 85,000 during off peak and as high as Ksh125,000 (now ~$~1,250) in peak seasons. The weather in Mauritius with no extreme changes in temperature coupled with its vibrant offshore business sector makes it (depending on your vacation or business interests)- a year round destination. The Air Mauritius flight from Kenya is a once -a-week flight that fills up quite fast so you’re advised to book in time.

Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam (SSR) Airport is quite hassle-free as a recent agreement between the Kenyan and Mauritian government ensures that Kenyans do not require a Visa to visit Mauritius. While there are no unexpected taxes, you will need your yellow fever card. Also, life is pretty good in Mauritius which means they aren’t all that crazy about strangers infiltrating their haven so be prepared for more thorough procedure than at most Sub Saharan Africa countries. They might ask to see your accommodation reservation and return ticket so print & keep them close to show at immigration if asked

Business & Infrastructure: Mauritius is a pretty small Island of about 1.2 million citizens and it will take a little over an hour to cross from one end of the country to the other. Hotel airport transfers will cost you about $90 for one-hour drive. If you have not arranged for hotel transfers, taxis are available at the airport. There is always room to bargain but make sufficient allowance for you taxi trip.

Money: Change your money before travel. I could not find Mauritius Rupees (MRU) in time in Kenya so consider either transacting in dollars once you get there or travelling with another major currency (Euro, pound) currency and changing it once you get there (The Rand is also widely accepted).. The exchange rate was $1= ~MRU 28/29 which translates into circa 1MRU= Ksh 3.5. Most major banks are present in Mauritius so with a Visa card you should be able to get money (dispensed in Rupees).

Accommodation: Mauritius has some of the world’s finest hotels and resorts, golf retreats and spas . Hotels fill up very fast and tend to be a bit pricey compared to Kenya. ‘Cheap’ accommodation here will cost you at least $100 half board, while the bigger resorts (4/5 star) will cost upwards of $350 per person for half board. Depending on your reason for visiting and your schedule, you might want to look into all-inclusive packages that cover all meals and unlimited supply on selected drinks( alcoholic and non- alcoholic) as this saves you considerably on cost.

Electricity: – is very reliable in Mauritius, and you will notice that in the major towns, most houses are fitted with solar panels. There are no power outs in Mauritius (I’m looking at you KPLC). And a family of 5 (from my asking around) pays an average of Rs 1500 per month for power. They use 220/240 volts AC. Plugs vary from two round pins to three square pins Kenya-style but take an all-purpose adaptor just in case.

Communications – Get a local line if you are not roaming – those who were roaming (from Kenya) came back to ridiculous bills *muaha*.

– Orange and EmTel are the two networks in Mauritius. I got an orange line for 100 rupees, which comes with Rs86 of airtime. You can buy reasonably priced data bundles after that.

– Most hotels come with Wi-Fi as part of the package so make sure your package includes Wi-Fi. I didn’t see any cybercafés primarily but they don’t appear to be a vibrant feature compared to Nairobi. Note that, hotel phone calls can drive your bill pretty high. A 5 minute phone call will cost you about Rs800….which is ridiculous. International text messages cost RS0.60 and you can buy airtime in denominations of Rs50, Rs100 etc.

Getting Around: The transport system is quite efficient in Mauritius albeit pricey. There is no overcrowding in public transport, buses run on time, stop only at designated spots (I’m looking at you Citi Hoppa), drivers are very disciplined & courteous and observe traffic lights even at 5 A.M when they are the only car on the roads and you are running late for your flight! So you will need to check your Kenyan road issues at JKIA and pick them up when you return!

Most locals get around by bus, personal means, motorbikes or taxi. There is little traffic, every town/city has a bus service and pensioners (over 60 years) and school kids ride for free. Quite a number of folks drive around or ride motorbikes (Riders and passengers must wear helmets too). They drive on the left, give way to the right just like Kenya so it’s easy to rent a car and drive around for more flexibility and to cut costs.

There are lots of minivans shuttling tourists around. Since the minivans double as personal transport, it might be easier to get a good bargain compared to the regular taxis although prices tend to be in the same range. As always, and while Mauritius is pretty safe, be careful about what transportation you choose. Designated taxis are always recommended and you will find plenty of these outside hotels and at Taxi ranks. As of September, gas prices were for circa RS 49/litre or ~ $1.75/L.

Food & Drink: The staple food is ‘Farata’; a pan-fried flat bread served with various spicy curries. Food in Mauritius is as varied as it’s ethnic mix, derived from a population that is 60% Hindu 22% Christian 1% Franco Mauritians 3% Chinese and 13% Muslim.
Expect lots of spices, curries, chutneys, mutton, chicken, vegetables and of course seafood. Make sure you try the millionaires salad made from palm hearts. Yummy! Smoked marlin is another must try.

The main Mauritian local beer Phoenix is widely available in supermarkets, and also has lemon flavored variant. A 330ml bottle goes for about RS 25 and a 500ml bottle goes for about Rs40. The same bottle will cost you about Rs350 and up in a 4/5 star establishment. Another (less popular) brand is Blue Marlin.

Mauritius grows a lot of sugarcane and makes some good industrial and agricultural rums in their distilleries so DO try Mauritian Rum as well. They have a wide assortment of really good rums (rum cocktails/rum desserts are delish) as well as some local grape juice wines.

Depending on where you eat food can cost as little as Rs50. A single course meal at big hotels will go from Rs 450 and up. Cocktails at the larger hotels will cost upwards of Rs400 and beers upwards of Rs 300. A bottle of water in the supermarket costs Rs20-30 so budget accordingly depending on what you are up to.

Getting Around English is the official language, but Creole (derived from French) is used by everybody, and French is the most commonly spoken language. However, you will get by with English. Their major paper; ‘L’express’ contains a small English section with the major news of the day and ‘News on Sunday’ is a full English edition newspaper every Sunday. Others are Le Defi and Le Mauricien.

Mauritians are nice and friendly. In conversations, they will want to know about you, where you come from etc. and in turn they will freely volunteer any information you seek. They are also very up to date with their current affairs so a quick chat with the waiters, drivers and staff will give you a balanced opinion of ‘the news’ everyday. They receive a lot of tourists from South Africa so they tend to assume that every black person is from SA…and it can get a bit vexing! Through no deliberate effort on my part (I swear), they were willing to talk very openly about HIV/AIDS and not minding as I furiously jotted down statistics on my phone. Nice ☺

Transportation: A 4km distance journey on a bus will cost Rs 22 (Ksh70-80) while the same distance using a taxi will cost anything from Rs400 (Ksh 1500) and up. A full day car rental cost Rs3000, with an extra Rs1000 per day for a driver, and the car rental company will ask for your driving license and ID.

Mauritius is very secure, very friendly. You should be quite safe there but as usual, take the necessary precautions. Most hotels come with safes where you can keep your valuables and travel documents so make use of those.

Shopping & Sight-Seeing There’s plenty to see in Mauritius. While their beaches are littered with Coral; making it quite unpleasant to fully enjoy the beautiful blue waters and low tides, there are plenty of places to visit.

These include the famous 7 Colored Earths in Chamarel, Blue Penny Museum, Chinatown (yes), Sugar Factory Museum, Botanical gardens/Pampalemousses, Balaclava ruins, Shivala, Grand Basin, Rochester falls, Back river Gorge etc. Do have someone experienced take you around and make use of guidebooks to get the best out of it.

Make sure you take the Catamaran cruise to Ile aux Cerfs Island. The Cerf is a small island perfect for swimming, snorkeling and parasailing. It has a white sandy beach and bluest water I have ever seen my entire life. Plan with your guide so you get a chance to swim with dolphins in the ocean! It’s exhilarating!

Finally, watch a Sega dance in the evening. (a Mauritian dance with colorful flowing skirts to beautiful music by very attractive to marginally attractive ladies☺)

Depending on what you get up to, there is no limit to how much you can spend in Mauritius. It is a beautiful place to shop so heavy shoppers might spend more, and you might shop till you drop in Mauritius. There are tons of shopping malls in Port Louis (the capital) Curepipe, Grand Baie etc. If you want a good bargain, make sure to stop by the Grand Baie Bazaar where it is easier to bargain.

There are plenty of famous brand names at duty free prices in the malls if you’re into that stuff but the smaller markets also offer amazing stuff and souvenirs at great prices (again, Bargain!).

Plus there’s lots of Chinese and Indian stuff. You will get plenty of cashmere, rum, spicy teas, pearls, diamonds, hand woven silk & wool etc. for what I found to be truly decent prices after bargaining for about two hours . Also when getting souvenirs, get some Dodo bird inspired items – Dodo snow balls, Dodo fridge magnets, Dodo key holders etc. to bring back as gifts (The Dodo is a now extinct not very clever-ergo extinct- bird that once inhabited Mauritius).

Surprises in the country?: – Bargaining Again, things like car rental could be less if you can bargain harder with Mauritians who despite the free education insist that they need the money to pay for their children’s private schooling or after school tuition. I do drive a hard bargain but they were a tough nut to crack. Good luck with that.
– This is not Coke Country, but Pepsi. You will find Coca-Cola in some areas, but when you ask for a Rum & Coke that means Rum-Pepsi and when you ask for a Sprite, be ready to receive a 7Up.
– Also, dare I add, the suspender clad Mauritius policemen are very hot!! And speaking of policemen, littering in Mauritius will earn you an instant fine of Rs 1000.
– I am used to hotels serving ladies first then men second. I *think* I observed male waiters serving men first then women, while female waiters serve women first then men. I stand corrected but that is the norm at Le Meridien and a couple of other places I visited.

Summary: Mauritius is a lovely place. The weather is fantastic, not as humid as the Kenyan Coast. But their beaches are awash with Coral which puts Kenya way ahead on the beach experience; however Mauritius makes up for that with incredible service and security – a thing Kenyan establishments and staff at the Coast could learn from. So make time to visit Mauritius!

Real Estate Moment: Expo II, Land Bills, Timeshares

US$1 is ~ Kshs 100
A second homes took place in Nairobi over the weekend, and this came less than six months after the first in April. It seems unusual to have two expos in one year, but here’s a recap of some of the housing, appliance, banks, and other companies at the expo.

Banks: There were the usual mortgage providers there including Housing Finance (whose Treasure account comes with up to 50% discount at KWS parks and 10% at Jolly Roger, Village market, Gertrude hospital) who offer finance of up to 90% at a variable mortgage rate of 14% loan.

Other banks offering up to 90% included Standard Chartered and National Bank. NBK and Barclays both give loans of up to 20 years for individuals (NBK at 13%, BBK at 14%). A recent entrant in the mortgage sector is Family Bank who also launched m-kodi, which is a way for tenants & property owners to make and process rent payments by mobile phone. CBA and Family Bank also give mortgages of up to 25 years, and for Kenyans in the diaspora, Family will give mortgages of up to 15 years for 90% property finance.

Properties Nairobi – Le Mac was introduced at the earlier expo as a 24-storey tower complex with apartments, malls, shops, offices, bank, restaurant, gym on Waiyaki Way and Mark Properties are only selling studio apartments for Kshs. 12.7 million, 1 bedrooms for Kshs. 16 and 2 bedroom apartments for Kshs. 21M
– The gateway 3BR apartments in Kileleshwa for Kshs 14.9M starting in December 2011 with 20% offer, 80% on completion from Bluebell
– Long-standing properties that have featured at a few expo’s include Jacaranda Gardens on Thika Road which have 2BR for Kshs 6.6M and 3BR for Kshs 7.6M and another at Phenom Estate IV in Langata (controversially located near Wilson airport), and Sidai Village with 3BR maisonettes costing Kshs 6.5M from Chigwell Holdings

Nairobi Outskirts– Athi View on Syokimau cost Kshs. 4.8 to 9.2M are just off Mombasa Rd. (by SJR Properties), Skyline Apts,which are 3BR off Airport North Rd that cost Kshs 5.8M, and Twiga Hills in Ongata Rongai which are 3BR apts. for Kshs 6M (also have 2BR ones). Also in Kitengela, there are 1/8 acre plots from Optiven that range from Kshs 0.5M (Silver gardens) to Kshs 0.98M (Imani gardens) with immediate financing from Equity Bank.

Coast: The Baobab Development Group has been pushing fractional ownership of an upcoming property in Malindi as luxury apartments at a ‘affordable’ cost of Kshs 2.5 million (time share properties are new in Kenya). Also Sunset Paradise apartments (700M from Serena Beach) are selling 2BR for Kshs. 7M ($80k), and the 3 BR and 4BR are in two sizes with the larger of each costing Kshs. 10.2M ($140k) and Kshs. 11.9M ($160k) respectively.

Gated properties: News ones included Iluluwe golf estate development in Athi River, now offering an 1/8 acre is Kshs 0.95M and 1/4 acre at Kshs 1.8M and Longonot Gate which will be at the foot of Mt. Longonot and now have 200 1/2 acre plots going for Kshs 3.5 million (later 4M). Buyers will also become members of a Kingdom golf club in the gated resort city at Longonot.

Interiors, Finishes, Appliances: There was also companies like Mabati for roofing choices, Flamingo for floor tiles Solaris for water heaters, Chloride Exide for solar water systems and power backups

Elsewhere: Knight Frank, at the expo or in the newspapers, had Windsor Green in the Mbuya suburb of Kampala for sale starting from $76,800 upwards and they and are also offering 7 acres near Wilson Airport, Nairobi for Kshs 100 million.

Land Ownership: The Government of Kenya’s Ministry of Lands has published draft land bills for public discussion. Matters of interest include spousal rights, pastoralist rights, partitioning, appeals processes, use of land, and notes that the land registrar shall make information in the register accessible to the public by electronic means, among many other changes.

Kenya Airways 2011 AGM

Having not been to an AGM in 2011, I decided to take an hourto peek at the Kenya Airways (KQ) one as a shareholder and for sentimental reasons, including the love of aviation, because a KQ AGM was the inspiration for this blog.

There’s not been much change over the years: KQ, which has over 70,000 shareholders, has been generous with SWAG to shareholders over the years and this has ensured that they always have some good attendance (they also provide free transport from town to the Bomas venue of the AGM) – however this also means that their meetings are long and drawn out, with lot’s of time wasting (Chami) and inane questions (@ChrisKaranja 90% of all questions are related to umbrellas and food)

Some notable points

Investments: Regarding their Precision Air investment, (It’s now in the middle of an IPO) a shareholder noted KQ which owns 49% of Precision, posted a loss of Kshs. 188 million for the year to March 2011 on their investment – and looking at the Precision March 2011 ones, their pre-tax Kshs. 250 million profit was halved by forex loan revaluation adjustment of Kshs. 125 million (so the current shareholders in Precision swallowed the loss before the IPO). On their dormant investments, the KQ Chairman said one of them would be revived soon (Probably Flamingo Air, or one of two cargo companies)

Dividend: The March 31 annual dividend will be paid on 16 November.

Board: Amb. Denis Afande was retiring as a director, but there were no fireworks as in previous years – as this time, the board has settled on his replacement. Amb Denis Awori, a former Kenya rugby official and ambassador to Japan, and currently Chairman of Toyota Kenya was introduced by the KQ Chairman. He spoke briefly on his passion for the airline; he studied aeronautical engineering, was a trainee at East African Airlines (EAA was the precursor to KQ) and as ambassador to Japan participated in promoting the airline as it featured heavily in tourism promotions that were run.

Rights Issue: The Chairman spoke about their need to acquire more aircraft and pay for them including 10 Embraer 190 aircraft. The airline settled with Boeing in April on the delayed 787 aircraft (some of which were to replace Boeing 767) and the first one that was expected in October 2010, will now arrive in fourth quarter of 2013 when they anticipate loads will have increased significantly.

KQ are getting permission from shareholders (and closing the books) so they could go to the Capital Markets authorities in Kenya (& Uganda & Tanzania) but they were yet to determine the size or price. One shareholder (Mr. Karanja) cautioned that it was potentially dilutive (4X), came at a bad time (share price is low – a market price of 26 compared to NAV of 50 per share) and that a convertible bond or cheap overseas loans were better options. (FC) Karanja agreed with this, adding that they had not yet set the date, price, and structure, except that the funding plan would be a mix of debt and equity and that the new shares would create capacity for when the board decided the time was right. The KQ Chairman noted that both the principal shareholders – the Government of Kenya and KLM supported the increase in capital and the rights issue.

Guide to Douala

A guest post
Note: A Kenya shillings converts to ~ CFA 5 (closer to 4.5)

Getting there: Kenya Airways flies three times a week to Douala and to Yaoundé. The Nairobi-Douala trip has a 45 minutes stopover in Bangui (CAR). Speaking of which, Titus Naikuni should have the staff on this route training the rest of KQ staff on the other KQ routes as they were really, really good.
Kenyan citizens need a visa to get into Cameroon. You have to make arrangements with your host for a visa before you get there. The visa application fee is 5,000 CFA (approx. 1 USD= 450 CFA).

Some tips:
• Ask your host to mail you the approved visa form by mail if possible. A scanned copy works, but the officials will require the original at the airport.
• Have with you two copies of the photo page of your passport as the visa processing officials at the airport (in Douala) will ask you to make photocopies of this for your visa processing.
• The visa itself costs CFA 50,000 (approx. $100) for a single entry visa that is valid for up to 30 days.
• You must have a Yellow Fever card. If you don’t, they will re-vaccinate you. The Santé desk had a number of poor unfortunates who didn’t have their cards who had to get jabbed again.
• You will need CFA 10,000 for exit visa / stamp duty to leave Cameroon. Note that there is no visible information on the exit visa fee (not in the visa application, or the immigration desk, or in the airport). To be fair, it is visibly posted next to the desk where you pay this stamp duty, which is at the EXIT gate. So, please reserve CFA 10,000 for exit stamp duty.

Getting Around: For the intrepid, there are many boda bodas (called “okadas”) that will take you pretty much wherever you want as there are no restrictions on where the boda bodas are allowed to go. A quick scan showed matatus, but these were few and far between in Douala. More common are cabs, which will be painted yellow to show their PSV status.

Also, there’s the unfortunately blatant, shameless shakedowns of the PSVs by cops. The driver slows down at the traffic checkpoint, the tout jumps out and gives the cops money and runs back to the car, then the driver then moves on.

Cameroon is super green and lush. If land were a woman, Cameroon would be this woman. Seriously beautiful. The roads, at least the ones from Douala to Limbe & Buea, were smooth, with no worries. Do check out the rubber and palm oil trees especially if you’ve never seen one and only read about them in Geography class or in the works of West African writers in English literature.

Business & Infrastructure: Money: You need to get dollars, and the airport has many hawkers selling and buying dollars, but you’ll get a better rate in the forex bureaus in town. Also, Cameroon restricts the amount of Cameroonian Francs (CFA) that you can leave with so make sure you change these back to dollars in town as the airport rates are quite awful. The hotel rates are even worse (e.g. 1USD:CFA425 in the hotels as opposed to 1:485 in the forex bureaus). To the best of my knowledge there is also no forex bureau in Nairobi that will change the CFAs into Kenyan shillings, so you’re stuck with CFAs if you don’t do this in-country. Standard Chartered and EcoBank have a presence in Cameroon but the StanChart ATMs dispense money only to StanChart Cameroon cardholders.

Electricity: They use 220 volts and you need a two pin circular plug for your electrical equipment. This is easy to get in Nairobi ( I got mine at Technophile Kenya)

Accommodation: Within Douala, hotel accommodation ranges from the CFA 20,000 slightly seedy and not quite clean variety to the CFA 130,000 Hotel Akwa Palace and the Ibis Hotel in Douala for a more up-market stay. However Hotel Akwa Palace has the nerve to charge you for breakfast (CFA 10,700 at their lousy 1USD: 425 CFA exchange rate) despite charging about $300 per night for a single room.

Weather: Douala in September/ October is hot, humid and thus hellish. It’s perhaps like going to a sauna in the coast while wearing a woolen three-piece suit, stockings and a wig. This weather will make you more irritable than a black mamba (it would make the Dalai Lama testy) so just remember when you find yourself losing it over some trivial stuff that it’s the weather. For this reason, you need an air-conditioned hotel room. Please note, you don’t want a room with A/C, you need a room with A/C. A bit out of Douala, I was given the choice of a room with a door lock that didn’t quite work, or a room with A/C. I chose the room with A/C over a functioning lock. Yes. It is that serious.

Food: Seafood in Cameroon is a must-eat. Try the Poisson DG (fish) with dodo (fried plantain). I also predated on the predators of the sea by eating barracuda (Delicious). Also, try the shrimp/ prawns , which Cameroon is famous for (the name Cameroon is derived from “Rio dos Camarões” or River of Shrimp in Portuguese).

Shopping: Unfortunately, there are no Chantal Biya wigs despite asking everyone I knew where to get them. You can however reproduce this look with 4 strategically placed lace front wigs, one placed about 2 inches below the other!!