BY STEVEN T. KARGMAN The airline industry globally often faces serious financial and operational challenges, and in recent times it has not been uncommon to see airlines even in many industrialized countries undergo major restructurings. However, the travails facing airlines in Africa generally seem to be more acute than in most other parts of the world. The disparity between the performance of African and non-African airlines is evident most clearly and strikingly in the profitability results for airlines in different regions around the globe. As shown in data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Africa stands out starkly as…
Author: Nairobi Business Monthly Reporter
Kibo Africa Limited, a local mobility solutions company with a focus on the motorcycle segment has launched their latest motorcycle, the Kibo K250. The launch took place at a colorful event at the National Museum in Nairobi last month and was attended by influential members of the transport sector with the Ms Betty Maina, MBS – Principal Secretary State Department for Investment and Industry as chief guest. Thanking Kibo Africa management for choosing to invest in Kenya, Ms Maina said that the opportunity has created employment for hardworking Kenyans even as she hailed the motorcycle assembler’s commitment to safety. “Motorcycles are…
It is said that an appropriate financial assets authority regime requires regulations that cut across. That’s probably why there was need for Kenya to form an agency that would remain committed to receive, safeguard and re-unite unclaimed assets for social prosperity and economic development with all relevant stakeholders. The institution, named Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA), was necessitated by the fact that huge sums of unclaimed assets are being held by institutions in Kenya, and aims at working on behalf of the State in ensuring that unclaimed financial assets have been fused with their rightful owners. John Kihara Mwangi is…
BY GILBERT KIRUI Choice and correct use of a planter are key elements in achieving the right plant population and consequently a good crop. If you are buying a planter it is important to consider the size of your farm. The initial purchase price is a priority, but you also need to consider your expenditure over the next few years on spares, servicing and repairs. Like all machinery, after the purchase, the after sales support and availability of the spare parts a key consideration to make. The output of your planter should be sufficient for you to take full advantage…
BY VICTOR ADAR While studying BA, Political Science and Tourism degree from 2011 to 2015 at the University of Nairobi, Pancras Karema, now a shrewd businessman, sometimes organised getaway trips on behalf of his peers. Although during campus he had classmates and friends whom he would take out for safaris with no one to guide him, little did he know that one day holiday tours and travel would become his pre-occupation and take him to higher heights. It was in 2014 when the entrepreneurship bug bit the 29- year -old. Back then, he did not have any capital and simply…
BY EMILY LOUISE BOWMAN Illnesses such as measles and diphtheria have re-emerged at alarming rates in Venezuela at a time when 22,000 doctors have left the country and 75% of hospitals lack basic medicines typically available in functioning hospitals. Interim President Juan Guaidó lays the blame squarely at the feet of Nicolás Maduro. “Health systems have collapsed, a growing number of children are suffering from malnutrition, and previously eradicated illnesses have re-emerged,” he wrote in the New York Times. The World Health Organization declared record cases of measles, diphtheria and malaria in Venezuela in 2018. Only two years ago, the organization…
Funkidz has grown into one of the biggest children’s furniture manufacturers in Kenya. Founded in 2010 as an SME, the company makes colourful furniture for children up to the age of 16 using particleboard, MDF, wood and fixtures. Some of the products include baby cots, wardrobes, bedside cabinets, chairs and tables. “I felt the need to venture into the furniture manufacturing business due to the challenges I encountered while shopping around for furniture for my first born child and failing to find the furniture that I wanted . This combined with my passion for design led to the founding…
Platinum Insurance Brokers are this year’s grand award winners of the Resolution Insurance Brokers Awards that were held mid last month at Movenpick Hotel in Nairobi. Present during the award ceremony was Resolution Insurance Group CEO Mr. Peter Nduati, managing director Ms. Alice Mwai among other senior company officials. “As Resolution Insurance we believe in continuous growth and improvement in terms of the insurance solutions that we offer as well as in the people that we work with. That is why we, each year, reward those that have shown growth”, said Mr. Peter Nduati during the event. The ceremony brought…
Cytonn Investments, an alternative investment management firm with a focus on asset management, real estate, and private equity, has signed a Sh650 million loan facility with State Bank of Mauritius (SBM Bank Kenya) as it seeks to bring in long-term debt to complement its private markets funding, such as Cytonn High Yield Solutions (Cytonn HYS), and institutional funding such as from Taaleri of Finland. Cytonn Real Estate, the development affiliate of Cytonn Investments, will direct the loan facility towards completion of The Alma a Sh4 billion residential mixed-use development in Ruaka Town in Kiambu County. It comprises of 477 residential…
Shoprite, Africa’s largest retailer has opened its second supermarket at the Garden City mall in Nairobi. The Johannesburg bourse-listed South Africa retailer has already employed 120 workers amid plans by the firm to roll out two more outlets before the year ends. The retailer which just opened its first store in the country last year at the Westgate Mall, has further plans to open two more supermarkets at Nairobi’s Karen Waterfront Mall and Mombasa’s Nyali City according to Andrew Mweemba, Shoprite Kenya general manager. Mr Mweemba also says that the retailer has already entered into partnership agreements with 28 fresh…