Opportunities on the horizon

Yesterday, for about an hour, Mt. Kenya was clearly visible from Nairobi, high in the horizon with its snow peaks. It’s occasionally visible, usually early in the morning and it was a sight to see until some clouds moved in.

looked like this
Anyway, also on the horizon is:

Cheap Flights:
East African Safari Air has introduced a buy one, get one free ticket to Mombasa up to December 12.

also Coldtusker & Kenya Airways were correct about Kisumu – today EASA has also canceled flights to Kisumu citing the poor state of the runway

VIA Uganda has introduced one way fares of $69 from Nairobi to Entebbe starting on Monday.

Hotel revival :
At the Coast new hotels are springing up to capture the increasing number of tourists and visitors at the coast. Sarova are adding a hotel at the South Coast, Neptune may add two facilities more while 2007 could also see a return of Intercontinental hotels to the Kenya coast.

Marital lawyers:
Yesterday also had a nice chat with a group at which it was unanimously agreed that, in light of the Samuel Gichuru divorce & property fight, there is a growth market for lawyers who specialize in divorce cases, investigators to trace assets, and lawyers to draft creative prenuptial agreements.

Green cards: Just over a week left in the US 2008 diversity visa lottery as applications must be submitted online by Sunday December 3.

Women directors at state corporations of the Republic of Kenya: Following President Kibaki’s recent directive that 30% of the posts in public service be allocated to women, the government has now invited qualified Kenyan women invited to submit their CV’s to join the boards of state corporations – they must be university graduates with proven track records in senior management experience and be individuals of high integrity. Submit CV’s to the Secretary, state corporation advisory committee, Office of president, P O Box 62345-00200 or KICC 9th floor Nairobi.

Other Jobs

East African breweries:
– Head of human resources – EABL Kenya demand
– Human resource manager – EABL Kenya supply
Apply to hr.recruitment@eabl.com by 8/12

Country sales representative (Tanzania) at Haco. Apply to jobs@haco.co.ke by 1/12

Head of marketing at Housing Finance. Apply to human.reosurces@housing.co.ke by 4/12

Project administrator at ICRAF (world Agroforestry centre)/CIMMYT. Apply to icrafhru@cgiar.com by 8/12

ICT strategy consultants at Kenya airports authority. Apply through Hawkins.associates@khigroup.com

Kenya commercial bank (Tanzania)
– Head of corporate banking
– Head of retail banking
Apply to the divisional director HR KCB 48400-00100 by 30/11

Public relations officer at Pan Africa Insurance. Apply to hr@pan-africa.com by 29/11

Safaricom careers: senior manager reporting, optimization engineer, senior optimization engineer, senior CRM systems developer, credit controller, senior manager – organization development & change management.

Tiomin :
– Chief accountant
– Internal auditor
– Human resource officer
apply to apply@tiomingkenya.com by 30/11

But
There’s more madness from the City Council of Nairobi whose strong-arm tactics continue to frighten businesses out of downtown Nairobi. From knocking over restaurant sidewalk flower pots even as they plant their own at roundabouts, to charging exorbitant amounts for businesses to put up signboards (i.e. advertising) or any promotion. Yesterday Kenya airways staff were handing out flyers promoting the “2,500 to Mombasa fares” and they all bore “city council planning department/urban design/development section” stamps at the back – I wonder how much that cost or how long it took someone to rubber stamp each flyer.

Now, barely a month we laughed at the mayor’s ludicrous suggestion to double parking charges (i.e. 70 shillings in the morning 70 in afternoon), the council has informed motorists that from December 1, parking off-street will cost 100 shillings per entry – previously it was 100 per day. Also the new fee applies to motorists who bought and paid for quarterly monthly permits. So, in addition the almost 4,000 shillings they paid in October, they will have to fork over another 500 per week.

Thanksgiving Portfolio

Shares I own
Crown Berger
Diamond Trust
Express Kenya
Kenya Airways
Kenya Commercial Bank
Kenya Electricity Generation Company
Sameer Africa
Scangroup
* Uchumi (suspended)

Verdict: Surprisingly little change from six months ago

Performance: The Motley Fool advises that investors should beat the share index to consider their returns a success. The NSE 20 share index is up 30% in six months while my portfolio is up about 35% from May. *(The NSE index still lists Uchumi and if I zero it from my calculations my portfolio is up only about 30% in six months)

What’s changed?
In: Scangroup
Out: Housing Finance
Reduced: KCB, Kengen
In-n-Out: Sold Sameer Africa high bought it back low
Dividends: Payments from Kenya Airways KCB, D-Trust, Crown and Kengen (not factored into my performance return)
Bonus share: Express
Best performers: Scangroup, HFCK, D-Trust
Worst: Uchumi
Risk vs. Return: Some Nyramids give 30% a month returns, but I can’t afford to take those risks
Looking forward to: Kenya Re, Diamond Trust (rights), and Safaricom

No drugs at NSE

The Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) through a paid statement by its chairman, Mr. Jimnah Mbaru, has responded to recent allegations that the growth of funds invested at the NSE had come from drugs or other illegal sources.

He says it’s mainly from a basic shift among institutions and individuals who previouly used to invest in land and real estate but have now moved to more liquid invstements such as to equities and government securities

The increased funds come from, among others sources:
– many Kenyan parents don’t have to pay primary school fees anymore since the advent of free primary education
– better management & compliance of pension funds who before had too much real estate investments including the NSSF
– increased insurance premium collections and increased corporate retained earnings
– substantial remittances by Kenyans in the Diaspora – estimated at $750 million to $1 billion annually
– international investors
– & first time investors in stock market including over 200,000 who bought into the Kengen IPO

22 November 1963

It happened long before I was born but this one event has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. It set the stage for the greatest web of conspiracy theories, signaled the end of an era, and plunged the world to new depths of the human horror.

Before 9/11 it was, and arguably still is, captured by and became the most-watched videotape in history. You can’t help but watch it again and again, second by second, this tragic moment in human history, the tape is silent but conveys cruelty, hope, horror – and screams many other emotions as a life ended while condemning others and altering millions more who questioned what they saw and what they were told

I have seen that tape in different formats, read dozens of books, seen hundreds of photographs, and postulated many more what-if and why-was, who-did-it variations in my mind. It goes on and on. Somehow this mystery may never get solved until the day the world stops and we can rewind to that moment of that dark day and watch it from multiple angles and have the answers revealed.

Mombasa: so near, yet so far

Despite my earlier rant about being a dumbestic tourist who can’t’ picture a holiday that doesn’t involve Mombasa
[beach/swimming/historic/ferry/boating/seafood/lazing/meditating/madafu]
of the edge of the world] the craving to visit the coast is back again. In my life I have seen the big five animals, and will do so again, but I am in no rush to go to the territory of a rogue buffalo or elephant armed only with a camera and a laptop.

The coast is a different story, a must see place even though it rarely changes. But December is not the best time to go to the coast – I was there last Christmas and the place was too crowded.

Reasons to go
Air fare deals: It’s gotten a lot easier to get to the coast since fly540 has announced that they will fly to Mombasa for a round-trip fare of 5,440 shillings (about $75)
– This comes about six months after East African Safari Air launched Mombasa flights at a round-trip fare of 8,900 shillings.
– Now Kenya Airways has responded with rock bottom Kshs. 2,500 fares – but for flights the opposite way. i.e. from Mombasa to Nairobi from December 24 to 31 and from Nairobi to Mombasa from December 31 to January 6 2007.
– I hear that the road repairs are progressing well on the bad stretch near Mombasa.
– No water: Another reason to escape Nairobi is the water shortage. Even as the Nairobi water company is reporting increased profitability and collections there’s a biting water shortage/rationing plan that is going on amid heavy rains. I have been reduced to a beggar going round to relatives & friends houses with 20 litre drums begging for water. I hope their neighbors don’t think I am smuggling changaa to these houses.

Reasons against
– Bad timing because the Mombasa business community is not happy with how the Mombasa city council is managing the town
– Also at the tourism expo held at the Sarit centre at the beginning of November, most Mombasa hotel were reporting that they were fully booked for the December/Holiday period. Hence KQ having to have extra flights and having cheap tickets to fly the opposite way.
– Mombasa is flooded after some heavy rains
==
Madaraka update
The sale process of 600 houses by the Nairobi City Council and National Housing Corporation commenced in March 2006. However 359 tenants sued halting sale of 291 of the houses. The NHC and NCC are however proceeding with the sale of the other 309 houses whose tenants paid 10% deposit and are now expected to pay the balance by 22 January 2007 while a judge will issue a ruling on the 291 houses on December 4.