Friday the 13th, and almost a year after Equity Bank listed on the NSE should have capped off a great week for Equity Bank – except for some MP’s in Parliament and anonymous letter circulating on the web. More on possible impact on share price and a great defense of the Equity’s significance to the country’s business and investment scene – but BDAfrica should probably mention that their CEO is an Equity director, in the same way CNN anchors mention their connection to Time Warner each time they report on the company.
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– Equity is usually the first bank to announce quarterly results and we can expect more great numbers in the weeks ahead for June 2007.
– Alongside shareholder Britak, Equity will take up a 24.9% stake in Housing Finance. But the banking Act discourages banks owning shares in other banks (merging is ok, shareholding is not)
– Going international, Equity is poised to expand again, opening branches in Rwanda and Uganda
– Equity bank customers will also be able to access their funds at Nakumatt stores starting next week
More bank happenings
ABC joins the flat fee account race with a Kisima account (priced at 495 shillings)
Barclays has partnered with Nakumatt stores to launch a credit card. Barclays also has a branch on River Road I hear – a sight to see!
What can the Central Bank do about the strengthening shilling? With appreciating currencies, see what India did to help their exporters and Uganda did to curb currency speculators.
Consolidated bank has introduced solid loop product for businesses pursuing contracts/tenders/LPO’s
EADB has a line of credit from EXIM India to finance importation of eligible goods from India into Kenya, Uganda or Tanzania
Family finance aka Equity Blue opens a branch in Kapsabet
CDC opts out of the Housing Finance rights issueleaving the door open for Equity Bank and Britak
KCB now opens branches every Saturday from 9 to 12. The days of banks only opening on the first & last Saturday of the month is now history, with most now open every Saturday with longer hours, even on Sundays.
As the Telkom privatization kicks off, will several banks opt to get paid or sit back and convert their debt into Safaricom shares?
other economic developments
– Tata chemical (majority own of Magadi soda) plans to build another soda ash factory at Lake Natron, Tanzania- a move being opposed by conservation groups
– A new School of the Nations in Kitisuru
– Lake Naivasha resort and spa
– The government plans to set up a radioactive waste processing facility on Karen!
– The National social security fund plans to complete an 11 storey parking complex on Ngong road. It’s about time someone did something to ease the parking shortage esp. for upper hill workers
opportunities
Jobs – most from the daily papers this week
Chief financial officer at the Africa trade insurance agency . D/L is 22/7
Kenya capital markets authority: mangers [finance, corporate communication], assistant managers [financial analysis, enforcement,] officers [compliance (2), legal, surveillance, research] accountant, MIS systems analyst. Details at online and D/L is 25/7
Action research officer at decentralized financial services recruitment@kenyagatsby.org by
Join the East African development bank Young processionals program. Apply to
recruitment@eadb.org by 23/7
Business relationship manager at Equity bank. Apply to jobs@equitybank.co.ke by 20/7
First community bank: Financial controller, Managers (trade finance, internal audit, human resources, brand development, e-banking & cards, legal) Branch managers (Nairobi, Mombasa) Relationship managers (corporate banking), corporate credit analysts, retail credit analysts. Apply to fcb-vacancies@ahmedabdi.com by 25/7
HLB Ashvir: partners or senior managers. Apply to akassam@ashvir.com
Assistance credit manager at housing finance. Apply to human.recources@housing.co.ke by 20/7
Kencall: trainee managers, head of HR, transcribers (50) and other positions. Apply online.
Apply online for project planner at Kenya airways
Kenya ICT board: Marketing manager, financial management specialist, procurement specialists. Apply through Deloitte at esd@deloitte.co.ke by 27/7
Apply online for Financial analysts Kenya shares
Programme Manager for the Global Water Operators Partnership Alliance of UN-HABITAT . D/L is 4/8
General Manager at UUNET. Apply to jobs@biz-ideas.bix by 20/7
Independent financial adviser at Winton investments. Apply to jobs@winton-investment.com
CEO of the Youth enterprise development fund. Apply through Manpower associates by 25/7
aviation
– CMC aviation requires captains and first officers for dash 5 and dash 8
– Jetlink looking for captains and first officer for dc-9 aircraft
Exporters should not be susbsidised like India wants to do…
The BEST “intervention” is to improve conditions for these industries by improving their LONG-TERM competitiveness.
How?
Well, let’s take KQ which is primarily an exporter (90% of their sales are “forex” sales)…
– KQ needs a new & larger road built from CBD to the airport to allow for faster movement of goods & people.
– Better roads from Naivasha to Nairobi’s JKIA will lower costs of exports for Horticulture exporters thus increase profits despite a strong KShs.
– Increase the size of the airport. I say privatise the airport. KQ needs a 2nd runway so an accident does not “close” the airport!
– Lower electricity costs by improving the delivery/transmission. By increasing enforcement including severe penalties for thieves who steal wires, transformers & oil.
– Lower taxes. This flows to the bottomline of these exporters despite a strong KShs.
– Pay refunds in a timely manner. Kenya re-exports lots of oil products but both Kenol & Total have indicated that they have reduced their export business. The strong KShs hurts but the interest cost was much higher!
I was just about to say an unkind word about the ABC Kisima ad campaign when I saw something about radioactive waste. Are you for real? We produce that? From what?
Radioactive waste…. probably importing it… talk about selling your soul.
But processing in Karen… who was the geniouse on that one. How about closer to turkana and build a barracks around it. Otherwise lets just give a shopping cart to terrorists looking for nuclear materials.
On James Mwangi..Why wait till now to expose his past misdeeds? the man is a brilliant banker who’s business model reached out to the underbanked population that the major banks choose to ignore. Still, investors should tread with caution.
Fact: James Mwangi, Solomon Muthamia and John Munge senior finance manager, forex manager and GM respectively walked away with hundreds of millions after the trade bank debacle. Muthamia and Munge went on to open Euro Bank which collapsed with with billions in institutional funds 2002 in a scandal that brought down then CBK governor Nashon Nyagah and Munge who was by then KRA Commissioner…. Keep an eye out Mwangi.
radio active waste – mainly from medical and research and some electronic waste. – but Karen?
This Equity story is just funny. Where do these people get their facts from?
Good work here, we should be grateful if you posted a link to the letter circulating on the web.
coldtusker: infrastrucutre a very big issue as Museveni’s road trip showed (and Uganda is said to be our biggest export earner)
– As for KQ, rod work has started, but rapid growth of the city (Embakasi traffic) may negate any gains over the next few years. And I wonder why a second runway was never considered and why the idle Embakasi (old airport) conversion plan was abandoned
– Refunds a sore matter. I am still waiting for my income tax one from 2004
mudskippah: Kisima wow! but radioactive is a true story
don: It’s going to be at the primate research institute in Karen. Also I remember reading “in the footsteps of mr. kurtz” about a dormant atomic reactor in Kinshasa
stevek: I think on Equity, we shoudl split the award winning bankling model from the shareholder aspect
Wow: if I had 200m, I would not put it in a bank, but it seems to be the quickest way to double or triple that money
kenyandream: Hola. PDF letter but a lot was in the prospectus last year too. MP’s seem to have been given some insider stuff too to stick their necks out (but safely in parliament)
Not all the Equity claims are crap. See what Wanjiku Mugane, a former director, had to say, and what a KPMG special audit found.
Mugane’s story in the EAStd today’s was quite a shocker for me. However, i think that the bank has a role to play here the errors notwithstanding. What is most important is that it assures us the users as well as shareholders that its above board and that it will adhere to the latest banking accounting standards.
click to http://assidous.blogspot.com