Fred Matiang’i: Government will not cut Safaricom to size.

Fred Matiang'i

The ICT cabinet secretary, Fred Matiang’i, has said that the government will not cut Safaricom to size. In an interview with Business Daily, he was asked what the government was doing to ensure that ‘not just one player is making profits in the industry’ a jibe which was aimed at Safaricom.

He replied that the government would only act as a facilitator, leveling the playing field and solving any industry disputes that may arise, and would not seek to cut some players to size. With about 65 percent market share, Safaricom made over 20 billion shillings in profits before tax in the last financial year. Its competitors, Airtel, Orange, and Yu, despite eating into Safaricom’s market share, have either posted minimal profits, or losses.

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Airtel introduces premium service for high net worth clients.

Airtel has introduced a new service for its high end clients; as it seeks to ring fence them. The new service will allow its exclusive 44,000 clients to access call center services at will, get free SIM replacement, a roaming solution when traveling internationally, and a dedicated customer service round the clock. Initially, Airtel had segmented its customers according to prepaid and postpaid, which the CEO says was ‘misleading’ as to the actual spending patterns of the customers.

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Equity Bank appoints new CFO.

Equity Bank has appointed John Staley as the new Chief Finance Officer, after the departure of Samuel oduor, who had held the post previously. Mr. Oduor had differed with the Bank’s CEO Mr. James Mwangi, over the bank’s strategy as it aims to consolidate its position as the market leader. Started in Murang’a in 1984 as a building society, the bank has grown to be one of the most profitable banks in

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Court annuls Kirima’s wills.

The high court has annulled two wills ‘allegedly’ written by Gerishon Kirima. Ann Kirima, a daughter to the late Kirima, had sought to have instructions to have a will written by Kirima in London in 2010 carried out. Teresia Wairimu, a widow, had also sought to be allowed to have instructions to a will written in 2006, and amended in 2008, carried out. Judge Isaac Lenaole argued that the wills were

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Rapelang Rabana, Forbes Top 30 under 30. Founding Partner, Yeigo Communications.

Rapelang Rabana has been listed on Oprah’s 2012 ‘O’ Power List, mentioned by CNN and is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, all before the age of 30. A founding partner of Yeigo Communications, developer of some of the earliest mobile phone VoIP applications, shared her experiences and insights with Ventures Africa Woman in an interview. Here’s what she had to say:

 VW: Could you start by telling us a bit about yourself?
RR: I have been able to live in 3 cities thus far in my life and seen very, very different ways of life. I lived in Gaborone, Botswana, then Johannesburg and now Cape Town. I did most of primary school in Gaborone (Botswana), and then proceeded to Johannesburg to complete my primary and secondary schooling. I matriculated in 2001. Cape Town became my home when I came to study at the

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Opinion: Why President Kagame runs Rwanda like a business.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

In some circles, President Kagame is regarded as a hero, who has transformed the Rwandan economy. In other circles, he is regarded as an authoritarian leader who has suffocated dissenting voices. Here is an edited interview conducted by Harvard Business Review about his leadership style in Rwanda.

Clearly you've been very interested in getting outside input from the business community. And yet you bristle at getting it from the multilateral community.

President Paul Kagame: If you want to learn anything about a country, I think you need to ask the one who wants to make investment in that country. The one who is thinking about the risks involved. They're thinking about the return. If somebody comes to your country and says, "You know, this is a place to invest," actually that is a good place. You see?

But if you send someone and say, "Go on, look and find for me something that is at fault," in any place

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