Feeds

12361 items (0 unread) in 79 feeds

• April 02, 2009
• 19:55

  Storms of our Lives

   » ‎ Words Much Like Poetry
  as it falls, so will I
  as it falls, I will stumble
  as it falls, so will tears
  as it falls, I can no longer be comforted
  
  it is dark, I have lost my way
  it is dark, did I willingly give myself?
  it is dark, it swallows my heart
  it is dark, I grope for light with desperation
  
  the thunder sings to my soul
  and the lightning rhymes with the storm in my mind
  the grey skies haunt the depths of mine heart
  sorrow drives me to a place long ago past
  
  I long for it to wash away my tribulations
  its hum to calm my wounded spirit
  its hush to whisper comfort in my ear
  its coldness to cool my boiling mind
  
  I grope at forgotten comforts
  frivolous abandonment of exploits past
  memories of liberating laughter
  simple comfort of friendly chatter
  
  I am unsteady, the earth yields
  I fall, it betrays me over again
  it suffocates me sadistically
  and snatches my warm comfort in its flood
  
  suddenly, I long for the torrents
  to sweep me away from myself
  carry me to a place of reprieve
  wrench my soul from this aching husk
  

• 19:25

  Nandan Nilekani: Imagining India

   » ‎ Kenyanentrepreneur.com

  Tags:  India  

  I want to talk about Nandan Nilekani again because he has a new book out called “Imagining India” where he talks about how he built the company, Infosys.  I’ve ordered the book and I am looking forward to reading it. There is however, another reason why I wanted to bring up Nilekani and it is because, [...]

• 11:22

  .

   » ‎ In Excess
  Disclaimer: No promises!

• 9:44

  New Electoral Commission Boss Must Deliver

   » ‎ You Missed This
  
  He has been hailed as the new non-partisan and smart head of our hitherto discredited electoral body. But can the city lawyer Ahmed Issack Hassan deliver given the politically polarized and poisoned Kenya?
  
  Youth can be both a curse and a blessing. If being savvy and upright was to be derived from modern education and exposure then youthfulness would readily qualify as a blessing. But that may be a tall order given our HELL FOR LEATHER culture as a standard for success. We have seen youthful leaders speedily turn their age into a curse by competing against themselves to catch the older sloths ahead. They have an elastic appetite to grab as much as they can within the shortest time possible.
  
  You cannot fail to hear the deafening sound of TRIBAL GONGS among the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC). The 39-year old Hassan must have been arrived at as a compromise with roots from the minority and marginalized part of Kenya. Even Ole Kaparo impressive record could not save him from being associated with PNU after failing to retain his speaker’s post with unanimous PNU support.
  
  Curse of youth
  All eyes are on Ahmed Hassan and fingers crossed he will banish the ghost of DECEPTION and FRAUD from our midst by exercising his mandate fearlessly and competently. All that hope is premised on the scoundrels in parliament having their acts together this time round and not introducing sideshows.
  
  The consequences of any further procrastination are so grim to contemplate. But don’t hold your breathe yet on any matter where these scavengers hold both the yam and the knife.
  
  Lawyers are often referred to as LEGAL scoundrels and you need look no further to confirm that. A look at their penchant to LEGALLY DEFEAT justice with eyes singularly trained on their fat bank accounts is enough. If confirmed, Ahmed Hassan must use his new post to help Kenyans reclaim their country from the jaws of murderous gate keepers. Will he bell the cat? Well, the jury is still out there on a leisurely tour.Kumekucha

  
  

  

• 8:47

  I&M Bank has a very profitable 2008 - but 2009?

   » ‎ Rants, Raves & Reviews
  This is for MainaT [mjengakenya.blogspot.com)]
  
  For those who wonder about I&M Bank & the NSE... well, it turns out that City Trust Ltd (AIMS on the NSE) owns 8.93% of I&M Bank. Talk of a diamond in the rough.
  
  Anyway, a lot of this has been filched (erm, borrowed) from the I&M Bank Press Release on 31st March 2009.
  
  On a personal note... I think the bank is a great bank for those who want real customer service. Not the cheapest (but reasonable vis-a-vis other Kenyan banks) bank but great staff who work with their customers. I doubt they will grow to be a 'big bank' but that does not seem to be their aim. Niche banking.
  
  "Following the acquisition of 50% of Bank One Ltd., Mauritius, I&M Bank Consolidated Group Accounts have been published for the first time, reflecting group asset size of Kshs 42.8 billion which depicts a 46% increase in the Group’s assets.
  
  The Bank has increased its customer advances portfolio by Kshs 6.67 billion reflecting a growth of 35% over the year. On customer deposits, the Bank’s portfolio has grown by Kshs 4.73 billion (20% growth).
  
  Profit Before Taxes are at Kshs 1.62 billion, which surpasses its 2007 bottom-line performance by 25%.
  
  Significantly contributing to this profitability is the efficiency ratio (operating expenses /total income) of the Bank which, at 44.4%, is impressive by international standards. The Bank won the ‘Most Efficient Bank’ award in the Banking Survey Awards 2008 for the second year running.
  
  During the year 2008, I&M Bank successfully issued Kshs 600 million floating rate notes, thus bolstering the Tier II capital of the Bank. The Bank also received a Kshs 537 million long term foreign currency line of credit from PROPARCO, the French Development Financial Institution. PROPARCO is a shareholder of the Bank.
  
  I&M Bank continued its strategy of technology driven product innovation with the introduction of two new Visa pre-paid card products and expansion of its ATM network. It increased its footprint in Kenya by opening two new branches in Nairobi’s Wilson Airport and Ongata Rongai. During the year, the Bank also upgraded its core banking software to the state-of-art Finacle system.
  
  I&M Bank has also recently expanded its Board of Directors with the induction of three new eminent independent directors, Mr Evans Kidero, Mr. Mugo Kibati and Mr. M. Soundrarajan."
  
  
  Comments/Opinions
  
  1) All 3 new directors are/were MDs/CEOs of publicly listed firms. Kidero - current MD of Mumias Sugar. Kibati - former CEO of EA Cables. Soundarajan - former MD of CFC Bank
  2) So is I&M Bank thinking of a listing?
  3) PROPARCO has given a huge loan to Mumias for the co-generation plant. Could Kidero be a representative of PROPARCO?
  4) They took a huge NPL charge in 4Q 2008 (vs 3Q 2008 or 4Q 2007). Conservative or a ticking bomb?
  (My understanding of NPLs is that the loans are downgraded i.e. not 'bad loans' but potentially bad. With time the loans can be restructured or recovered through sales of assets/collateral).
  5) Dividend payout of 398mn (36% - payout ratio). Wow, quite an increase on FY 2007's dividend but doesn't make sense coz they raised Kes 600mn about 5 months ago in a Rights Issue. Why go through all the hassle of raising Kes 600mn then pay out 400mn a few months later?

• 8:03

  Livelihoods v Lives

   » ‎ Mentalacrobatics

  Tags:  G20  

  Douglas Alexander the UK government’s Secretary of State for International Development – a cabinet level position – has one of the hardest jobs at the London Summit as it falls on his shoulders to persuade us that this Summit intends to tackle the concerns of the people and countries who have been deemed not important enough to be represented here directly.

  Alexander did this in his press briefing by throwing numbers around, for example:

  • This summit is the 1st time ever that global leaders have come together to forumlate a global plan to economic recovery.
  • 90 million people are at risk of falling into extreme poverty in the next two years
  • 70% of global economic growth has been in emerging markets
  • a World Bank Rapid Response Social Fund to stimulate trade needs USD 30 billion and the UK has pledged GBP 200 million towards it
  • The USD 250 billion that the IMF has at its disposal is not enough
  • 90% of global trade requires either credit or insurance – in many cases both

  Alexander is in the unenviable position in that many UK citizens feel that their government has lost focus on what should be its key mandate, domestic issues and tackling hardship at home in the UK in order to play big on the world stage tackling global problems.

  To make Alexander’s position even more challenging when you consider that many of the initiatives this summit promotes, while helping some countries in desperate need of help, hurt others in the same position. Cheryl Contee who writes as Jill Tubman for the award-winning and top-ranked black political blog JackAndJillPolitics.com which she founded in 2006, and I came face to face with a such a scenario on Wednesday during the World Have Your Say phone in programme on BBC World Service. Asked to comment on the G20’s proposed initiative to close down tax havens both Cheryl and I spoke strongly in favour of the policy. Coming from Kenya where our former president the dictator Daniel arap Moi together with his cronies and family looted Kenya for over 20 years stashing away billions in these tax havens, my position is not that surprising. One caller from a tax haven, The Bahamas, emailed the BBC show to disagree stating that many people in the Bahamas relied on the tax haven financial system for their livelihood.

  How would you balance all these competing interests as the UK’s Secretary of State for International Development has too?

  Alexander’s response during the press briefing when remarking on the UK, but this could be equally applied to the caller in The Bahamas, was to remind us that yes in some places livelihoods would be lost however in other places lives would be lost and saving lives take priority over saving livelihoods.

  © Mentalacrobatics for Mentalacrobatics, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments

  Add to del.icio.us

  Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

  Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under G20.

• 7:03

  Livelihoods v Lives

   » ‎ Mentalacrobatics

  Tags:  G20  

  Douglas Alexander the UK government’s Secretary of State for International Development – a cabinet level position – has one of the hardest jobs at the London Summit as it falls on his shoulders to persuade us that this Summit intends to tackle the concerns of the people and countries who have been deemed not important enough to be represented here directly.

  Alexander did this in his press briefing by throwing numbers around, for example:

  • This summit is the 1st time ever that global leaders have come together to forumlate a global plan to economic recovery.
  • 90 million people are at risk of falling into extreme poverty in the next two years
  • 70% of global economic growth has been in emerging markets
  • a World Bank Rapid Response Social Fund to stimulate trade needs USD 30 billion and the UK has pledged GBP 200 million towards it
  • The USD 250 billion that the IMF has at its disposal is not enough
  • 90% of global trade requires either credit or insurance – in many cases both

  Alexander is in the unenviable position in that many UK citizens feel that their government has lost focus on what should be its key mandate, domestic issues and tackling hardship at home in the UK in order to play big on the world stage tackling global problems.

  To make Alexander’s position even more challenging when you consider that many of the initiatives this summit promotes, while helping some countries in desperate need of help, hurt others in the same position. Cheryl Contee who writes as Jill Tubman for the award-winning and top-ranked black political blog JackAndJillPolitics.com which she founded in 2006, and I came face to face with a such a scenario on Wednesday during the World Have Your Say phone in programme on BBC World Service. Asked to comment on the G20’s proposed initiative to close down tax havens both Cheryl and I spoke strongly in favour of the policy. Coming from Kenya where our former president the dictator Daniel arap Moi together with his cronies and family looted Kenya for over 20 years stashing away billions in these tax havens, my position is not that surprising. One caller from a tax haven, The Bahamas, emailed the BBC show to disagree stating that many people in the Bahamas relied on the tax haven financial system for their livelihood.

  How would you balance all these competing interests as the UK’s Secretary of State for International Development has too?

  Alexander’s response during the press briefing when remarking on the UK, but this could be equally applied to the caller in The Bahamas, was to remind us that yes in some places livelihoods would be lost however in other places lives would be lost and saving lives take priority over saving livelihoods.

  © Mentalacrobatics for Mentalacrobatics, 2009. | Permalink | No comment

  Add to del.icio.us

  Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

  Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under G20.

• 3:47

  What can the ordinary African citizen do to make Africa relevant on the Global Scene?

   » ‎ Mentalacrobatics

  Tags:  G20  

  20 of the most powerful global political leaders gather to take decisions that will impact the whole world in far reaching ways and Africa is has only one seat at the table occupied by South Africa. This under-representation of Africa is sadly a recurring feature and indeed a defining characteristic of these international summits.

  As Africans we have to start focusing our energy on adopting strategies to counter this state of affairs beginning with a harsh reality check. We are under-represented at these summits because we are increasingly irrelevant. On the global scene African countries have very little influence, even less power and no force at all (except against other African countries).

  Relying on our current political leaders to draw up and implement a strategy to make Africa relevant in a positive way is a non starter. Indeed those who have succeed in making African relevant to international policy making have done so for increasing negative reasons, for example Mugabe in Zimbabwe and Bashir in Sudan. Ethan Zuckerman labelled the position taken by such political leaders as a strategy of, “If we act deranged enough, maybe they’ll just give us the country.”

  The burden rests on us, the ordinary citizens of Africa, to come up with a strategy that will increase our positive relevance to important global conversations and thus make it impossible to ignore Africa, Africans and the issues they feel important. I would love to hear your thoughts on what this strategy should adopt.

  As a first step we can start by breaking the cycle of ineffective negative political leaders. The veteran British political warhorse Tony Benn proposes 5 questions to ask anyone in power or who wants power:

  1. What power have you got?
  2. Where did you get it from?
  3. In whose interests do you exercise it?
  4. To whom are you accountable?
  5. And how can we get rid of you?

  © Mentalacrobatics for Mentalacrobatics, 2009. | Permalink | 14 comments

  Add to del.icio.us

  Search blogs linking this post with Technorati

  Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under G20.

• 3:03

  Update 3 from Geneva Conference

   » ‎ Kenyan Pundit

  Tags:  Kenya  

  [Back home in Joburg, and playing catch-up]

  Orengo speaks:

  People must remember that the accord was a ceasefire document.
  - At the time the State and its organs were unable to control the situation and were also engaged in the violence. The lack of confidence in the judiciary also eliminated it was an option.
  - The problem has always been the State and its nature and this still remains the same.
  - They tackled the composition of Cabinet but not of government and this is problematic.
  - Issue of corruption / impunity the biggest challenge
  - The principles are too far removed from the process
  - He urged the media to take advantage of a more open parliament to really highlight the performance/non-performance of MPs

  Sally Kosgei made a brief / interesting comment on how they - a group of 6 individuals including head of National Intelligence, Army Chief - managed the transition in 2002. Apparently they had been working on Moi to prepare him psychologically to hand over power since October. In her view Kibaki/PNU were never prepared to leave no matter what the results were and the “kitchen” Cabinet reinforced this.

• 2:43

  Africans Talking: Random TV Moment

   » ‎ What An African Woman Thinks
  So this morning, as a conscious act of procrastination, I switched on my television and stumbled upon the tail end of an interview of two West Africans by Janet Mbugua on KTN’s Sunrise Live. Although interview is really what it should have been, not what it actually was. Somewhere along the way one of the interviewees grabbed the show and literally ran away with it.
  
  Let’s start by giving the interviewees the descriptive names Cool West African #1 and Cool West African #2 because the KTN editors didn’t think to do a simple thing like keep their names onscreen while they spoke just in case, you know, we didn’t recognise them or something and we weren’t in at the beginning of the interview when they were, presumably, introduced.
  
  Anyhoo. Apparently this was a conversation about what the G-20 summit has to do with you (and me). At least this helpful bit of information was on screen.
  
  Cool West African #1 was really fired up and going going gone. Seriously, we were choking, cough, cough, in his dust, cough. Like I said, I caught only the tail end of the session during which he made two very interesting points with gusto and a smile. (I’ve paraphrased here a bit, and perhaps, maybe, added my own emphasis).
  
  Point number one in reference to Aid to Africa: Say between you and your wife you make 50,000 Ksh a month and you have three children you have to feed and educate and cloth them as well as take care of all the other expenses that come with your life and lifestyle. Does it make sense to budget for 100,000 Ksh every month in the hope that that friend there will plug in an extra 10,000 Ksh and the bank will give you 20,000 Ksh and so on and so forth? Who anywhere in the world encourages any family to do this? Isn’t the common sense thing to do to buckle down, eat the cake you’ve got while all the while doing what you can to increase its size?
  
  Point number two in reference to Corruption in Africa: To aggravate matters in Africa, corruption is a serious leak in our bucket so that even if additional funds are being poured into it, a significant portion of them are just leaking out and going to pad secret Swiss bank accounts. So Cool West African #1 strongly suggests that corruption should be treated as mass murder, because when you think about it, when you steal maize destined for the marginalised and as a result, people starve to death, or you build bad roads in order to pocket some of the allocated funds and people die on those roads, aren’t you committing an act of mass murder?
  
  Cool West African #2 and Janet Mbugua tried to get a word in edgewise during Cool West African #1’s totally awesome extended rant but they just ended up being background noise, poor folk. You should have seen it. You would have enjoyed it.
  
  OK, end of procrastination already. Off to do the thing that I’ve been dreading all morning.It's my window, but I don't own the view.

• 1:22

  Kenya Bank Rankings 2008 Part II

   » ‎ bankelele

  Tags:  Family Finance  

  Follow up to part I and tracks change from December 2007 to 2008 in assets and profits
  
  Tier 1 (Assets over 25 billion shillings)
  1 KCB (2) 174,712-assests (Kshs. 175 billion, $2.18 billion) 5,394 million ($67million)-profits 109,845-deposits 79,343-Loans (assets up 55%, profits up40 %, overtake Barclays to be No. 1)
  2 Barclays (1) 168,786-a 8,016-p 126,408-d 108,086-L (assets up 7%, profits up 13 %)
  3 Standard Chartered (3) 99,140-a 4,709-p 76,898-d 43,299-L 8% (assets up 8%, profits down 4 %)
  4 Cooperative (4) 83,918-a 3,337-p 65,934-d 53,293-L (assets up 28%, profits up 46 %)
  5 (--) CFC Stanbic 83,166-a 1,313-p 61,529-d 44,205-L (new bank created by merger combined assets up 34%)
  6 Equity (6) 77,135-a 4,757-p 48,977-d 40,858-L (assets up 45%, profits up 101%)
  7 Commercial Bank of Africa (8) 50110-a 1694-p 41715-d 26309-L (assets up 27%, profits up 21%)
  8 Citibank Kenya (6) 47534-a 3353-p 31192-d 18154-L (assets unchanged, profits up 89%)
  9 NIC (10) 42,704-a 1,474-p 35,238-d 29,955-L (assets up 36%, profits up 41%)
  10National Bank of Kenya (7) 42,696-a 1,797-p 34,278-d 8,950-L L (assets up 3%, profits up 11%)
  11 Diamond Trust (11) 41,592-a 1,336-p 32,689-d 25,460-L (assets up 37%, profits up 44%)
  12 Investment & Mortgages (12) 36,656-a 1,620-p 28,355-d 25,887-L (assets up 25%, profits up 25%)
  
  Tier 2 (Assets of 6 – 24.9 billion)
  13Prime (15) 19,945 million-assets (~$249 million or Kshs 19.95 billion) 460 million-profits (~$5.75 million) 15,662 million-deposits 9,426 million-Loans (assets up 44%, profits up 45%)
  14Housing Finance (17) 14,330-a 196-p 10,089-d 10,419-L (assets up 38%, profits up 50%)
  15 Imperial (16) 13,432-a 673-p 10,414-d 8,276-L (assets up 15%, profit up 19%)
  16 Bank of Africa (23) 12304-a 93-p 8708-d 6856-L (assets up 61%, profit down 41%)
  17 Bank of India (18) 12049-a 609-p 10211-d 4448-L (assets up 16%, profit up28 %)
  18 Ecobank (19) 10499-a 67-p 8341-d 5126-l (assets up 11%, profit down 43%)
  19 Family Bank (20) 10,410-a 531-p 7,404-d 5,890-L (assets up 21%, profit up 99%)
  20 Baroda (14) 10361 633 15165 8938 (assets down 30% %, profit up 27%)
  21 Chase (27) 10,300-a 247-p 7147-d 5139-L (assets up 80%, profit up 37%)
  22 Fina (21) 9,865-a 82-p 8,113-d 6,190-L (assets up 22%, profit down 29 %)
  23 K-Rep (24) 8,184-a -472(p) 4,502-d 5,935-L (assets up16 %, slipped to loss maker)
  24 ABC (26) 6584-a 224-p 5365-d 3550-L (assets up 7%, profit up 21%)
  25 Habib AG Zurich (25) 6,557-a 242-p 5,373-d 2,182-L (assets up 6%, profit up 19%)
  26 Development Bank of Kenya (32) 6,520-a 171-p 2231-d 3439-L (assets up 39%, profit up 9%)
  
  Tier 3 (assets below 6 billion shillings)
  27 Giro (28) 5,938 million-assets (~$74 million, Kshs 5.93 billion) 126 million-profits (~$1.6million) 5,127 million deposits 3,411 million-Loans (assets up 6%, improved profit up 207%)
  28 Guardian (29) 5,558-a 44-p 4,586-d 3,553-L (assets up 3%, improved profit up 84%)
  29 Southern Credit (30) 5,171-a 6-p 4,106-d 2,655-L (assets down 6%, profit down 85%)
  30 (--) Gulf African 5,000-a -382(p)3,249-d 1,932-L (new Shariah bank)
  31 Consolidated (34) 4,657-a 85-p 3,279-d 2,751-L (asset up 13%, improved profits up 226%)
  32 Habib Bank (35) 4,491-a 146-p 3024-d 988-L (assets up 17%, profit up 37%)
  33 Victoria (33) 4,460-a 170-p 3,582-d 2,778-L (assets up %, profit up %)
  34 Equatorial (31) 4410-a -8(p) 3668-d 2307-l (assets down 9%, slipped to loss maker)
  35 Fidelity (38) 4,329-a 73-p 3,778-d 2,787-L (assets up 39%, profit up 62%)
  36 Credit (36) 3,637-a 79-p 2774-d 1810-L (assets up 8%, profit down 40%)
  37 Transnational (37) 3,414-a 121-p 1,891-d 1,441-L (assets up 6%, profit up 43%)
  38 Middle East (39) 3,297-a 30-p 2,021-d 1,651-L (assets up 6%, profit down 68%)
  39 (--) First Community 3,180-a -307(p) 2091-d 868-l (new Shariah bank)
  40 Paramount Universal (40) 2,646-a 51-p 2,109-d 1,268-l (assets up 12%, profit up 19%)
  41 Oriental (41) 2,289-a 68-p 1,314-d 958-L (assets up 35%)
  42 Dubai (42) 1,639-a 7-p 1,032-d 957-L (assets up 6%, profit down 50%)
  43 (43) City Finance 538 -a -3(p) 164 -d 193-L (assets down 28%, 90% financial improvement to report loss of 3m)