Talking business with Founder of Steers and Debonairs Pizza, Azam Samanani.

Steers and Debonairs Pizza, two fast food chains, launched in Kenya sixteen years ago. Azam Samanani – managing director of Hoggers Limited, the firm that runs the two franchises – told How we made it in Africa’s Dinfin Mulupi about doing business in Kenya’s restaurant market. Below are excerpts.

Steers launched in Kenya sixteen years ago. What was the inspiration then?
Sixteen years ago, the vision was that there was a market here for people who wanted international quality offerings. We have done pretty well since the beginning. We now run eight Steers and five Debonairs Pizza stores. There has always been a market for excellence and sixteen years ago we were the only ones doing this whereas today there are more people doing it and more people trying to do it.

There are unique business challenges to doing things right in different environments.
Africa has its unique challenges, Kenya has its unique challenges and Nairobi has its unique challenges. Every time someone tries to take an experience that isn’t organic to the environment and tries to

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2 Great Kenyan incubation centers to launch your business.

Kenyan entrepreneurs seeking to start a business usually have a very hard time. Capital for starting is in short supply as banks are unwilling to lend to an untried client that has not made a name in the business circles. Clients are unwilling to commit, and most certainly employees are unwilling to be employed by a company that has yet to show any future growth prospects. 

What’s more, office space and internet are certainly out of reach from many budding entrepreneurs. To address this need, a few incubation centers have come up where one can incubate their ideas, be mentored and nurtured, sometimes be linked up with capital lenders and markets, and eventually see

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5 Career Tips for Women; Lessons from Facebook’s most powerful woman employee.

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's No. 2 executive and outspoken voice on the obstacles women face in the corporate world, offers a blueprint for change in her new book "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead."

1. Sit at the table.
Plagued by self-doubt and "feeling like a fraud," women consistently underestimate themselves and their abilities, Sandberg writes. For a host of reasons, women often hold themselves back by literally not sitting at the table where decisions are made. Instead, they choose to watch from the sidelines. She urges institutions and individuals to encourage and promote women. And she encourages women to sit at the table and raise their hands. Men are already doing it, after all.

2. When negotiating, "Think personally, act communally."
Preface salary negotiations by explaining that you know women often get paid less than men, so you are going to "negotiate rather than accept the original offer," she writes. This way, women can position

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Budget: Interns to be hired in new scheme.

The government will enter into partnerships with private companies so that experienced graduates can be hired to gain skills and experience. In the budget estimates read on Thursday by The cabinet secretary for Treasury, Henry Rotich, private companies that take in fresh university graduates and

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Budget: Elearning to take center Stage.

The government will purchase nearly 1.5 million laptops for the elearning program, Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich read out in the budget. The Kenyatta administration had made the one laptop per child a critical cornerstone of their campaign agenda, something that the President intends to begin rolling out next year. However, concerns remain whether the move is a right one, given that many teachers have

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6 Ways 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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South Africa to return stolen Gaddaffi wealth to Libya.

South Africa will return the stolen wealth of Muammar Gaddaffi back to Libya, state officials said. Muammar Gaddafi, the deposed Libyan leader, operated many overseas accounts, that it was difficult to separate family wealth from the country’s wealth. The amount to be expatriated is a billion dollars,

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Budget: Economy to grow by 7 percent.

The economy is expected to grow by about 7 percent in the 2013/14 financial year, far below the double digit growth that the Jubilee government had promised. If you factor in inflation and the growth in population, then such growth is merely for maintaining the same standards of living, and not for lifting 'millions out of poverty' that had been envisioned under a double digit growth.

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Budget: Northern Kenya to gain from equalization fund.

Northern Kenya is among the winners of this years’ budget. An equalization fund for the region has been extended, and new developments are expected to take place in the region. Even though the region sits on vast natural resources, it remains the poorest part of Kenya. Oil was discovered in Turkana early last year, but full exploitation will only be realized in the next three years or so. Similarly, a Chinese company will be setting up a solar power plant in Garissa, one of the largest in Africa.

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Budget: Public debt to sky rocket.

The government is expected to borrow up to 328 billion shillings to plug the budget deficit in the 2013/2014 budget, Treasury cabinet secretary Henry Rotich said in his budget estimates on Thursday. The government could adopt a raft measures as it seeks to raise more money. It could tax us more, either through the introduction of the VAT Bill that will see prices of basic goods like milk and bread shoot up by as much as 16 percent

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Is China the new Imperialist in Africa?

It happened in Zambia like it could happen elsewhere in Africa. Chinese investors made deals with the government to mine its natural resources, filling federal coffers with billions of dollars. Chinese immigrants moved into cities and rural towns. They started construction companies; opened copper, coal, and gem mines; and built hotels and restaurants, all providing new jobs. They set up schools and hospitals. But then instances of corruption, labor abuse, and criminal coverups began to set the relationship between the Chinese and the Africans aflame.

The Chinese have managed to accomplish at least one impressive thing in Africa—they have made everyone else uncomfortable. The Americans are uneasy, worried about (and perhaps jealous of) China’s rapid and profitable investments throughout the continent, and the developmental assistance

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Chinese solar panel makers to build power station in Garissa.

Chinese solar panel makers may bulk up in Africa after China finishes building one of the biggest solar power stations on the continent.

Chinese solar panel makers will supply most of the 140 million US dollars (Kshs. 12 billion) needed to build a solar power station in Garissa, Kenya, according to state-owned China Jiangxi Corporation for International Economic and Technical Cooperation, the deal's coordinator.

The coordinating company said Wednesday that the project will serve as the base for China's biggest

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Why Would Hackers Target Your Emails and Passwords?

Hackers are increasingly targeting small companies, planting malware that not only steals customer data and contact lists but also makes its way into the computer systems of other companies, such as vendors.
Hackers also might be more interested in your employees than you'd think. Are your workers relatively affluent? If so, chances are the hackers are way ahead of you and are either looking for a way into your company or are already inside, stealing employee data and passwords, which (as they well know) people tend to reuse for all their online accounts.

Your company is probably also vulnerable to being attacked through its partners. How much do you

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5 Jobs in which Shy People could Excel.

So, you keep to yourself, and are introverted. Small talk. Schmoozing. Networking. Buzz words like these can send shy people into a panic.
The good news is that there are careers out there that don't necessarily require tons of chit-chat or after-hour networking.

Then, these careers are likely to be the best fit for you.

1. Accountant.

Sitting behind a computer crunching numbers isn’t exactly going to endear you many people, it is? Striking small talk in the loos with fellow colleague from the marketing department will most likely be a

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Malaysia Government scholarships now Open.

Malaysia establishes First Lady of Kenya scholarship Fund - Nairobi June 11, 2013 PPS

Binary University of Management and Entrepreneurship of Malaysia has set up Binary-First Lady of Kenya Scholarship Fund to provide financial assistance to bright Kenyan students to pursue postgraduate courses.

The establishment of the Scholarship Fund is part of the initiatives by Kenya and Malaysia to further

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