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Showing posts from 2014

Introducing Keyara Organics

A few years ago I began to dream about owning a personal care product so I began to engage a couple of people in the Industry. I wanted to know everything I could about bath and body products, what sells, what doesn't, what gaps exist and where I could begin from. Today, I'm grateful for the great insights I received from all those I spoke with. After all the discussions, and years of back and forth discussions into the wee hours of the morning, I found my space. I wanted to create something that was authentic, beautiful and African in its mould Natural and most importantly, Globally competitive. What drives my passion is a need to see an African, home made brand that will rise beyond a cottage shop and retail in international personal care shops. This finally, led to the birth of Keyara Organics, a dream that has been a long time coming, we want to play in the Global playground. I'm eternally grateful to God for answering my numerous questions and giving me the courage

Will Equity Bank win the MVNO battle with Safaricom? Interview with CEO James Mwangi

By 2030 Dar es Salaam and Luanda could have bigger populations than London has now

By 2040, Africa will experience faster economic growth than any other region and is expected to have the biggest labour force in the world CAPE-TOWN, South-Africa, August 14, 2014/ -- CEOs around the world are increasingly recognising the untapped potential of sub-Saharan Africa. This is driven by Africa’s unparalleled demographic edge or demographic dividend. By 2040, Africa is expected to have the biggest labour force in the world and experiencing faster economic growth than any other region, according to a report issued by PwC http://www.pwc.com The projections are contained in the latest PwC ‘Global Economy Watch’, which puts the spotlight on the largest cities in sub-Saharan Africa. Most major corporations are already active in at least one of the four largest cities in sub-Saharan Africa – Lagos, Kinshasa, Nairobi and Johannesburg. But PwC economists believe it’s the ‘Next 10’ biggest cities in sub-Saharan Africa that should also be exciting foreign investors. The population

51 countries, 60 direct reports, 60,000 customers, 4,000 employees, 14 aircraft, 2 young children and 2 dogs! Charles Brewer is the MD who loves leading all of that

At the helm of this business is Managing Director Charles Brewer, who has been with DHL for more than 30 years, has worked in all regions of the world and found himself in Africa for the first time three years ago. “Like many who haven’t actually been to Africa, the perceptions I had were found to be very different in reality,” Brewer says. “Simplistically, Africa is the last frontier. It is the most beautiful, dynamic and exciting region I have had the pleasure to live and work in, and despite the very obvious challenges and occasional risk, I love being part of this exciting journey.” His role, as MD, is to “motivate and excite my employees to deliver unbelievable and unparalleled service levels and to help our customers grow and be successful” and it is clear that customer centricity is at the very core of Brewer’s DNA. So what does it take to oversee this many people and territories? “We worry a great deal less about formal qualifications and focus far more on emotiona

Africa's Trade with the US. Infographic by Standard bank

REGISTERING A COMPANY LTD IN KENYA

Starting a company in Kenya has always been seen as a bit of a hustle and involving steps that are time consuming. This makes majority of entrepreneurs opt to go for partnership or sole-proprietorship type of business as these takes less time and less money and can change the model of registration while they have been in operation and understand the market. REGISTERING A BUSINESS STEPS IN BUSINESS REGISTRATION Reserve company name Ksh 100 per name 3 days STEPS IN BUSINESS REGISTRATION Stamp memorandum and articles of association Statement of nominal capital 1% of nominal capital + KES 2,020 for stamp duty 5 days Pay stamp duty at a designated bank Ksh 100 1 day Sign the Declaration of Compliance KES 200 1 day Register with the Registrar of Companies at the Attorney General Chambers in Nairobi KES 7,000 7-14 days Register for taxes at the Kenya Revenue Authority 1 day No fee Make a company seal 2 days ksh 2,500- 3500.

sights from the Maasai Mara.

Friday look book.

Kenya's tech start up ecosystem

This week I had the opportunity to moderate and MC  Pivot East Africa 2014. The yearly event seeks to receive amd award pitches from app developers,  both Web and mobile. What an incredible event it was, a first for me. It was inspiring to see about 20 start ups across categories such as utilities,  enterprise, finance, social and entertainment share their ideas on how they want to make a difference given the opportunity they have seen in the market. In between the pitches we had 'fireside chats' that Focused on issues facing the industry that's still in its infancy stage compared to other developed tech cities across the world with a comparative  look at Telaviv,  Berlin and of course Silicon Valley.  One of the fireside chats I moderated focused on the hype vs substance debate across the tech start up ecosystem in Kenya, with topics ranging from sources of funding and the almost controversial role of NGO funding in the start up ecosystem and it was interesting to see ex

Of #hashtag activists

Dear Activists, Perhaps I have never really understood how activism works, you see I am just a journalist. It disturbs me each day when I recall how 276 girls were kidnapped in Nigeria, something that took the world about 3 weeks to notice. Over lunch a few weeks ago I mentioned to a friend how I was at a complete loss following the overflow of "Hash tag activism" that even got the attention of #Flotus among many other leaders locally and internationally. But several weeks later, only 50 girls gave been reunited with their families,  (I hope to God that it is true) leaving 226 still missing. The offial number communicated in 219 girls still missing, I don't know what happened to the 7. Now the world has gone silent on #bringbackourgirls. If this doesn't call for change of tack in the world of activism,  then you should hang your brand new boots because there's no *walking* on those twitter streets. Once upon a time, Noise = Activism,  but the world has changed sin

National Dialogue and it's babies

Greetings, I'm sure your in-tray, your Excellency does not need an envelope from another anxious Kenyan. But things are thick, and you probably feel the heat a lot more than we do. But I am getting anxious sir. I had a conversation with a friend today and we spoke about Economic Sabotage and where that can lead us as a country. You see sir, I've been following the conversation about #KenyaRising keenly since 2006, when we first began to fully realise and define the growth the country had had since 2002, when President Kibaki came to power. There's a host of things that are feeding into a full blown economic sabotage, MRC, Alshabab have already done well in that regard. 2007 is a memory I wouldn't want to awake, for you, for me now for the millions of Kenyans who have tried to rise above the fateful bloody days. But it happened, and close on it's heels the global crisis happened. We were back to scratch as a country. We saw investors flee, but shortly afte

Borrowed Budget? Thoughts on 2014/2015 Kenya National Budget

Thursday was one of the busiest days in any Business Journalist's calendar. However Budget day, 2014, in today's form is no longer the secret it always was under the old constitution. By April the estimates are out, and most accounting/audit firms and economists begin to do their analyses of how Government will spend it's monies. For a government that has been criticised to live above its means, we were keen to find out how the Cabinet Secretary, Henry Rotich was planning to raise the 1.8 trillion shilling 2014/2015 budget. Most economists agree however that we as a country are still within manageable debt levels as far as international standards are able to go by, therefore the question of whether we will borrow the money and the impact of this did not feature as much of a question. These were the key issues I wanted to centre on: 1. Is this a growth focused budget? 2. Is the budget deficit a real problem, REALLY ? 3. Are we convinced that treasury will ach

Dear Yummy Mummies, let's cook with our kids

Last time I wrote about the issues a working mother faces, It was picked up by a blog and taken way out of context. It went from being something I was feeling terrible about to "She thinks she is the only one who feels this?" It pained me to read some really hatefull comments, and have since learnt not to go through with it, but I still strongly believe most working mothers go through exactly what I blogged about last time, and it eases the burden to share what we are going through as mothers. Anyway, motherhood is a calling, (take that!) no matter what our jobs are, and I know that every working mother wants to have the best relationship with her children, and be the best mother she can be. This year I decided to start cooking and doing DIY crafts with my daughter as one of the ways in which we can truly bond and for me to create a better relationship with her. I have learned with time and hindsight that mothers have the greatest influence on their children, and I

This post is not about Vera

I would have sworn the light skin debate belongs in 1983. Dead and buried together with culottes and Kenya Uniform long and wrinkled skirts or Irene Lipstick, a cheap favorite way back when it was fashionable to wear lipstick only on the lower lip. Make that a lipstick that was green and turned red on application. I would have safely assumed that skin lightening is dead. Buried 6 feet under together with words like Cutex, 'don't touch my toes' or tinga tinga, which was village speak for 'Tractor'. The #bleachedbeauty tirade of tweets and blogs recently perked a desire to rethink values. The good old values that taught us how to be girls, ladies then women. When the debate was at its peak, I sent out a tweet that said "change your values,not the color of your skin". If you think this blog is about Vera Sidika exit stage left. But since I have already mentioned her, I will let you know like her spunk. It takes a gutsy woman to be confident i

Shaping conversations about Financial Freedom

I attended a rather interesting launch by Old Mutual Kenya last evening. What they are trying to do is something I believe can evolve into a movement and not the constant usual annoying one sided conversations done by insurance sales people. You see, today, I hardly pick up the calls of several insurance people because a majority of insurance sales people are trained to be long winded and annoying. But, whichever way we look at it, insurance is an almost sure route towards financial freedom. What Old Mututal kenya is trying to do is to change the conversations around why it is important for us as parents and young adults to begin to secure our financial freedom. I was asked to speak for a quick minute, and here are the thoughts I shared. "Conversations about Finance, Economy and money in Kenya and many places across the world are generally carried out by Men. Yet across a huge number of Kenyan households it is the women who control the purse strings, working day and

Love and Toothbrushes: Navigating the Bathroom Battlefield

Does a toothbrush need company?  Picture this: you're single, mingling, and you've just met a potential love interest. Everything seems rosy until you encounter the enigmatic 'other' toothbrush in his bathroom. Suddenly, it's more than just bristles on a stick (or sticks) Over a gossip-filled tea session with the girls, the infamous toothbrush dilemma took center stage. Turns out, everyone in the dating scene has faced it – akin to the dreaded ex situation, it's a gray area that can make or break a romance. Enter Mr. Dark and Handsome, the suave gentleman who whisks you away for cheesecake and coffee dates, or perhaps a charming English brunch by a pond with floating ducks. He's charming, knows his wine, is funny, and comes complete with a personal chef stocking his fridge (and your hips) with gourmet dishes. Now, imagine visiting his bathroom and spotting not one, not two, but three toothbrushes – one blue, one pink, and maybe even a green one. But, Mr. Dar

Let's talk Housing

What a year it has been, all 2 months of it albeit! So we kicked off the Citizen Business centre on the 19th of February, basically a centre that discusses all things money. The show airs every Wednesday at 9pm on Citizen Television. First Wednesday we talked housing, in specific, mortgages and the deep hole it has thrown a number of Kenyans into. In the backdrop of a housing sector that was left to the Private Sector after the Bretton woods institutions convinced the government to opt out of housing, affordable home ownership became a myth. The markets run free and millions of Kenyans who would have benefited from an otherwise clear government housing plan were left out. Jericho, BuruBuru and all the other government or PPP programmes disappeared with the 80's. So Mortgages came to create a solution, but for many, became a curse. Truth be told however, Mortgage in itself is not hell, but understanding how to make it work for you within the interest rates available has

2013..It's a wrap.

MY 2013: I love prams. Beautiful ones pushed by doll heeled mummies and beautiful daddies in grey button up sweaters laughing on a Saturday afternoon, blue skies headed for a picnic in a park. Because I am a dreamer. I love the musky smell of the night life with disco lights, blue lagoon shots, noisy drunks, sequined dresses and beautiful strangers.Because I know how to have a good time, and in 2013 I had a fair share of both, rule out the designer prams though. I watched TV too. Series mostly. I like Scandal. The truth is that I have a girl crush on Kerry Washington; her exquisite wardrobe, her powerful walk and her good yet so wrong super passionate relationship with the President,her wardrobe reminds me of Lucy Liu in Cashmere mafia. I like devious maids and their interesting lives. Complex,maybe a little like mine. Someone called my life fast paced. I call it exciting. And it is. It was in 2013. I went to Church, regularly. I prayed and I read the bible. I sinned too. But G