4 of Kenya’s most memorable IPOs.

There are many Initial Public Offers that have been conducted in Kenya. Here are four of the most memorable.

1. KenGen IPO.

The KenGen IPO was the most publicized. It made Kenyans aware that there were other investment avenues apart from buying plots, and owning real estate. The IPO was massively oversubscribed, generating over 25 billion shillings. However, what the IPO really showed is that Kenyans had a lot of money, only that they didn’t know where to invest their money.

2. Eveready IPO.

Eveready IPO was regarded as a fluke. Many people did not have appetite for the shares, partly because of the lack of faith in the company’s long term prospects, as more Kenyans become

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Small Investors lose out on Safaricom Shares.

This weekend marks five years since Safaricom floated its shares at the Nairobi Securities exchange. A total of 10 billion shares were floated. It’s been mixed fortunes so far. For the government and institutional investors, the fortunes from the floating have been mind boggling, but for the small retail investors, the fortunes have dimmed, and that perhaps explains why small investors have largely shied

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10 Highest-Paying Blue-Collar Jobs

We tend to associate hefty paychecks with briefcases, neckties and lab coats – but it turns out there’s plenty of money to be earned by those who sport hard hats and coveralls.
This may be surprising, but plenty of talented and skilled blue-collar workers earn six figures doing electrical work, repair jobs, and other labor-intensive trades.

What defines a blue-collar job? The American Heritage Dictionary says, “Of or relating to wage earners,

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Opinion: Why Africa's 'Rising' Narrative is a fad.

Africa Union Flag:  Source:nepad.org

We are constantly reminded these days that Africa is rising, harboring six of the world's ten fastest growing economies. In March, the Economist declared that "Africa is the world's fastest growing continent just now," and the "hottest frontier" for investments. Time magazine's cover of Africa Rising said "it is the world's next economic powerhouse," and added that challenges lie ahead. The Wall Street Journal calls it "a new gold rush."

No question that some good stuff is happening in Africa, but the story does not end there. There is the other side. Africa is growing but its growth seems to be leaving people behind. The celebration, therefore, seems premature; it is like we are patching the roof of the house before laying the foundation down. That is very

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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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Joint admissions board (JAB) to be disbanded.

The Joint admissions board- JAB, will be disbanded, as the Ministry of education has sought kshs.100 million to carry out reforms in the admissions body. Currently, JAB is responsible for admissions to all the country’s public universities and university colleges. JAB will now be replaced by the Kenya Universities Admissions and Placement board, which will also incorporate private universities, and admission of students through the self sponsored program, more commonly known as parallel degree program.

JAB had come under criticism for admitting students to courses they had not selected in the first place. This year, the admissions body changed the admission criteria, and incorporated a student’s overall mark, in addition to the weighted cluster points. This means that if two students both get As in all

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Is Kenya being shaped to be Africa’s new tax haven?

There is now mounting evidence that elite financial interests are planning to create a new tax haven - to add another node to the global spider web. This time it is on the African continent. If successful, this hub will be a key mechanism to extract wealth from some of the world's poorest countries.

Until now, there has not been a major tax haven in mainland Africa. Attempts have been made in the past to create one - always at the behest of huge, western financial institutions, be it Barclays' attempts in Ghana or the bungled attempts in Botswana - but we may now be looking at the most serious

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Foreign investors buy up majority shares at NSE.

Foreign investors are taking up majority of the shares at the NSE, a new report shows. They have bought up shares worth about kshs.650 billion shillings. This happened mostly as local investors sold off their shares, fearing that a post election violence could occur and lead to huge losses. Among those who have liquidated their shares include industrialist Chris Kirubi, who exited from Kenya Power

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How to stay safe on public wi-fi hotspots

With the number of Wi-Fi hotspots in Kenya increasing, it's getting easier to connect your laptop, smartphone or tablet to a public wireless broadband connection. But due to our eagerness to check emails while sipping coffee at Java, or while taking a ride on a Rongai Matatu with wi-fi (true story), we often forget about the substantial security and privacy-risks presented by insecure connections. Here’s how you can protect your privacy while using public Wi-Fi hotspots.

Connection type
It's always a good idea to understand what type of W-Fi connection you're accessing, so you can better adjust your online behaviour. The most insecure network type is an unencrypted network, which basically leaves your data completely exposed. An unencrypted network will also mean someone

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Meet Boaz Kosgey, who wants to build a helicopter.

Young Kenyans seem to be on the roll- at least the ones that are not on facebook or twitter busy hurling insults against one another. There is Peter Mbiria who is building a robotic car. Another is Boaz Kosgey, a budding young innovator from Uasin Gishu county. He is building a helicopter from scratch, or at least from scattered waste materials. He has so far spent kshs.30,000 on his helicopter, which is 75 percent complete. He has used a motor cycle engine to power the helicopter.  'I only do it in the afternoons or evenings' so, 'it doesn't affect my day to day work.' He told a reporter from NTV.  He hopes to fly the helicopter by the end of this year.

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