KA-INVESTOR
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This is an historic moment we are witnessing. One we may never see in our lifetimes . . . . the first black president of the United States of America. Congratulation Obama! And make us proud in your presidency. After the jubilation settles, the whole world will be watching you.
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After hearing, reading and watching stories from TED Africa conference 2007 in Arusha, Tanzania, I was so much psyched for this year’s TED Africa 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa. I saw a tip off from White Africa (read more here) and I rushed to apply. I even went further to mark my outlook calendars (something I rarely do) for the entire period - September 29-October 1, 2008 - that event was to take place, just incase I forgot. But on May 18th 2008, the event was canceled, dashing my dreams and hopes of ever attending this phenomenal conference.
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9:52 
9:26 Almost rhetoric: What’s the probability that Britak and Equity Bank directors won’t offload their stake in the bank after the lock in period is over?
0:58 Summary of results:
8:34 Equity
Never say die for Equity bank. The bank has proved all its critics wrong and there’s not stopping now. At above Ksh300 and a PE of 44, it’s considered one of the most expensive company among the financial stocks on the NSE, followed by Housing Finance. But I still think there is room for this company to improve. The recent acquisition in Uganda and with a very innovative and aggressive expansion plan the bank has some more surprises to give. There have been some insightful analyses of this counter and a share split is more than eminent at Ksh.350. I expect a very impressive half year result announcement soon. Although the lock in period for Equity directors ends this August, a green light is still shining on this stock.
KCB
KCB has one of the most aggressive expansion strategies, almost similar to Equity but a little bit inefficient in their service delivery. Their operation in Rwanda was recently approved and the just ended rights issue is a sure over subscription. Although the additional new shares are small in number, I expect the share price to drop considerably once they start trading. Ksh.26 or anything below is a buy position for this counter. The share will be trading in mid 30’s by the end of the year and probably 40’s in the 1st quarter of next year.
Safaricom
Safaricom is no Eveready. The hyped IPO pulled in some very strange shareholders, especially the so called ‘foreign investors’. At the moment speculators and loan-investors who bought in this counter during the IPO are selling in panic that the share will drop further for them to make their quick gains. This has dampened the share price as supply is far much more than demand. But in a matter of a few months the speculators would have cashed out and the share will resort to its true value, which is Ksh.10 and above. This is the time to accumulate this share and in six to nine months time it will be a sweet story.
I believe Safaricom is no penny stock. Even with the new entries of Econet and Telkom, safaricom’s market share will remain more than intact, if not increase from the new cheaper calling rates. Their 3G internet provision is a good addition although still plagued by their poor customer service. Safaricom is the price setter in this industry and it will take some years before its competitors catch up.
Barclays Bank
BBK has been hovering around ksh.68 for some time now. Despite their unimpressive Q1 results this company has great potential to perform. Any price at Ksh.70 and below is a bargain. I believe is just a matter of time before this counter move to mid 70’s and then into 80’s. Its one of the strongest long term counters I can ever advise a serious investor to buy. The sooner you get on board the better. The banks expansion strategy is a bit conservative but generally good. They have opened sales canters in almost all corners of Kenya and have some of the most aggressive sales and marketing agent in town.
9:27 Former Tigo-Tz CEO, Rene Meza, has been hired as the Managing Director (Not CEO) of Celtel Kenya after the recent exodus of Key staff from the mobile service company, including the former CEO who left in January. Rene brings to Celtel ten years of experience from Managing Tigo in Tanzania. Last year, before he left Tigo, he introduced the Tsh.1 per minute calling rate that revolutionized the mobile service in Tanzania.
It’s now official that Celtel Kenya will change its name to Zain as from August.
More from Bongo
Tanzanians are planning to use the Kimunya saga in Kenya as yard stick against which their own grand corruption victims will be prosecuted.
KCB Rwanda Approved
KCB has been given a go ahead by Rwandan authorities to start operating the bank branch in the country. The bank plans to open at least five branches in the country.
Tornado in Kenya?
Apparently, according to this story, there was a tornado in Kenya and funds are being raised to support some victim in Mwamanga village. How come a tornado hit kenya and nobody told me?
3:40 
The mobile services wars in Kenya is getting hotter by the day, with Celtel introducing a ‘free’ call service and an internet service, while Safaricom are taking their customers by storm with their hot spot internet service (supported by 3G technology). However what seems to be tight rivalry for the market share between the two has little to do with competition. It’s all about the entry of Telkom (Orange) and Econet who are set to roll out their services by the end of this year. Even Celtel, whose customer base reduced by 23% last year, seem to be fighting for their share in the market (albeit a confused marketing strategy) and hoping to technically eat into Safaricom’s market share. I like what is happening since only the consumers stand to gain for all these reduced prices and new-better services. I want to believe that by time Econet and Telkom will be fully in business the highest calling rate will be Ksh.5 with the internet going for Ksh.1,000 p.m. lets wait and see.Even higher food prices:
As if the 50% rise in food prices in Kenya is not enough, a law that all food products sold in Kenya should bear an approval mark from KEBS as from October, is going to increase food prices even higher. I appreciate the noble intentions of the regulation but the timing is so wrong. For a generation that was raised on substandard goods and services – where even the education system was compromised – the KEBS fee can wait for another day.
7:47 | Stock | Start price | End Price | % Gain | Other information |
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AccessKenya Group |
13.35 |
35.00 |
+162.17% | The only post election effects survivor |
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Equity Bank |
139.00 |
300.00 |
+115.83% |
Eminent split |
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KCB |
24.00 |
31.50 |
+31.25% |
Issuing rights |
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E.A.Cables |
46.00 |
41.50 |
-9.78% |
No known activity |
1,000 shares in each counter would have made you Ksh.185K richer, a whooping 83% gain. Who ever says last year was a bad year is a speculator. Considering the little effort it took to analyze the stocks I picked for the green list, then only a speculator could have made losses last year by buying stocks blindly. All an investor need to do is understand the counter he intend to buy in – management, business strategy and numbers (though I’ve discovered that historical numbers don’t count that much)
Soon I will post "the 2008 green list" after some analysis. I feel that after the Safaricom IPO there is a small ‘breath’ in the market that may lead to a correction like the one experienced in 2007 March. But no cause for alarm, I could be wrong.
{Disclaimer - this is a personal market opinion and list of my preferred stocks. It does not indicate certainty and anybody reading this should consult their investment advisor/ broker before making any investment decision}
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3:42 Here's a 1994 Z$50 - now worth less than the ink used for the "50"
Here's a pre-Z$5 note - worth more than US$5 at the time; closer to UK£5.
Here's a Z$ 2 note. You need 100,000,000 of these to buy a loaf of bread.
Here's a Z$ 50,000,000 notes (check the expiry date)
The Z$ 500,000,000 "bearer cheque" is the biggest denomination at the moment and a Z$1bn note will be issued in the next few days. The Z$ 500,000,000 note is now worth about US$0.20 at the official rate and 2c or so at the black market rate. To make maters worse the note expires at the end of June 2008 (just 5 months after being issued).
6:54
8:44 The cookie has finally crumbled with the Safaricom IPO being oversubscribed by 532%. Over Ksh.226 billion (Ksh.160.6 billion from local investors and Ksh.76 billion from international investors) was put in applications for the Ksh.50 billion IPO. The allocations were made out has follows:
| Type of investor | Amount Allocated |
| Local/Retail investors | 21% |
| QII’s & Safaricom dealers | 31% |
| Safaricom Employees | 84% |
| Foreign investors | 15% |
Retail investors are now left holding on to a mere 21% of their application (in most cases 420 shares). Sorry for the investors who took loans to finance their applications and for those who opened multiple accounts to ‘maximize’ on their allocations. It is time for them to learn the bitter lessons of the better option IPO. 21% is 21% no matter how many accounts you applied with, the only difference is if you had applied with one account, you would not be chasing around for several refund cheques.
Not all those who took loans to finance their application will feel the pain of paying back almost all the money with interest, while their merger allocations are held by the bank as collateral. Borrowing a leaf from Ssembonge its clear that the more an investor borrowed and invested the less the burden and the higher the yield.
| loan amount | cost of loan | No. of shares allocated | Cost of shares allocated | Break Even price | Profit at Ksh. 20 | % Yield |
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| 10,000.00 | 2,885.60 | 420.00 | 4,985.60 | 11.87 | 3,414.40 | 34.14% |
| 20,000.00 | 3,441.20 | 840.00 | 7,641.20 | 9.10 | 9,158.80 | 45.79% |
| 50,000.00 | 5,108.00 | 2,100.00 | 15,608.00 | 7.43 | 26,392.00 | 52.78% |
| 100,000.00 | 7,886.00 | 4,200.00 | 28,886.00 | 6.88 | 55,114.00 | 55.11% |
| 200,000.00 | 13,442.00 | 8,400.00 | 55,442.00 | 6.60 | 112,558.00 | 56.28% |
| 500,000.00 | 30,110.00 | 21,000.00 | 135,110.00 | 6.43 | 284,890.00 | 56.98% |
| 1,000,000.00 | 57,890.00 | 42,000.00 | 267,890.00 | 6.38 | 572,110.00 | 57.21% |
| 2,500,000.00 | 141,230.00 | 105,000.00 | 666,230.00 | 6.35 | 1,433,770.00 | 57.35% |
| 5,000,000.00 | 280,130.00 | 210,000.00 | 1,330,130.00 | 6.33 | 2,869,870.00 | 57.40% |
| 10,000,000.00 | 557,930.00 | 420,000.00 | 2,657,930.00 | 6.33 | 5,742,070.00 | 57.42% |
Form the table its clear that after some point – at about ksh.1,000,000 loans, the incremental value of the yield from loan becomes negligible. This simply confirms that some investors (animals) are more equal than others. Large investors will keep on gaining from the stock market as small investors’ loose out in almost every deal they make. It’s also clear that any price less than Ksh.6.33 will not be good for any one.
IPO Politics
To some extend the ODM and Africog caveat emptor on the IPO was right. Looking at what has happened to many poor Kenyans who ignored the warnings and went forth to borrow from banks, at hefty interests to be able to participate in the Safaricom IPO; one is only left feeling sorry for them. Contrary to the government promises that Kenyans would be given priority in the event of a massive oversubscription, the same government has ignored them and praised how the IPO has attracted foreign investors (both institutional and retail) at such times is when I wish we had a grand opposition to make noise. Such government excesses will not go unabated with a strong opposition in Kenya.
7:16 Profits after tax declined by 5.6%, from Ksh.4.098 billion to Ksh.3.869 billion (this is the third consecutive year that their profits have dipped)
Reasons for the drop:
- post-election crisis
- weaker U.S. dollar
- loss of its KQ 507
- net margin dropped 6.4% compared to 7.0% last year
operating costs went up by 5.4%
the average seat occupancy drop to 70.4% from 73.6% last year.
The company reduced its operating capacity (laid off some workers) to save on costs
Cash and short-term investments increased marginally from Ksh.12.18 billion to Ksh.12.24 billion
Maintained a 25 days credit term with its suppliers
Number of passenger increase by 6% to 2.8 million
Suspended flights to Paris will be reintroduced on June 10
Europe carryings dropped by 8%, Middle East routes to Mumbai and Dubai dropped by 8, while the Far East to Bangkok, Hong Kong and Guangzhou recorded growth of 7%. West and Central Africa had 24% increase, East Africa 16%, Southern Africa 13% and Northern Africa 10%.
Three more plane will be delivered in the course of the year – Embraer 170 (a regional jet) and three Boeing 737-800’s (one to replace KQ 507 whose report is yet to be released )
KQ CEO, Naikuni expressed optimism that the company will be exempted from Value Added Tax (VAT) when the budget is read in mid-June. Apparently this has been the reason behind their increasing their fares.
Industry Outlook:
The general outlook of the industry is not good with the credit crisis in developed countries (which has affected tourism) and the ever sky rocketing fuel prices in the international market.
Dividend
KQ board announced a dividend payout of Ksh1.745 per share, to be approved at the AGM on 26th September. A total dividend payment of ksh.808 million
Abdulrazaq Adan Ali has been appointed to replace Dr. Gerrishon Ikiara.
Click here for the full KQ Results for the year ended March 31st March y 2008
9:44 - Net income grew by 15%, from ksh.12 billion to Ksh. 13.9 billion
- Sales jumped by 29.8%, from Ksh.47.4 to ksh.61.4
- Safaricom market share – grew from 73% to 84% (despite Celtel spirited compe)
- The company plans to expand their m-pesa client base by 92% by the end of the year, from their current 2.6 million registered clients to 5 million.
- Ksh. 3 billion worth of transfers was made in March 2008 alone!
- Safaricom seeks to stamp their national foot print with more expansion to the rural areas (to grow by 10% in the next 10 months) – have they not already made the national foot print?
- Capital expenditure expected to remain high in the next few years owing to GSM roll out. (not good)
Regarding the stiff competition they are facing, Michael Joseph came shot of telling Celtel “it’s on, B*#!”, but said they are more than ready for the competition. So expect some very crazy rates soon.
4:08 Life can’t get sweeter than this, can it?
2:18 
10:02 With Ksh.50 billion safely in the net, the IPO has surpassed its goals; namely: maximizing revenues for the Treasury, increasing international investor interest in the NSE and deepening the market. Safaricom IPO is now the Largest Sub-Saharan IPO ever completed (previously SANLAM and Telkom S. A from South Africa were the largest). In Africa as a whole it’s now the third largest IPO after those of Maroc Telecom and Telecom Egypt.
What options do retail investors have now? Looking at the small number of shares we will be allocated we don’t have many options:
Option 1
Stay put – the bog boys and the QII will – and then when short term speculators will be selling @Ksh.10, top up your account with as many shares as you can using your refund. Then enjoy the ride to supernormal gains.
Option 2
Swallow your anger (asira za chura na ng’ombe) and reinvest your refund in the shares once they start trading on June 9th and wait for an opportune time (probably before Telkom K and Celtel K catch up) and price to cash out.
Option 3
Wait for your CDS account to be credited and sell the shares as soon as they hit Ksh.10. then chase around for your refund and invest in the next big thing (Coop bank IPO, KCB & HFCK right issues, NMG share split or Equity bank, which is definitely headed for a split).
9:45 
Starting at 18:00 GMT on May 10, 2008, locations in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro will be linked for a live program of powerful films, live music, and visionary speakers. The entire program will be broadcast – in seven languages – to millions of people worldwide through the internet, television, and mobile phones.
The 24 short films to be featured have been selected from an international competition that generated more than 2,500 submissions from over one hundred countries. The films were chosen based on their ability to inspire, transform, and allow us see the world through another person's eyes. Details on the Pangea Day films can be viewed here.
The program will also include a number of exceptional speakers and musical performers. Queen Noor of Jordan, CNN's Christiane Amanpour, musician/activist Bob Geldof, and Iranian rock phenom Hypernova are among those taking part.
About Pangea Day:
Inspired by the 2006 TED Prize wish of documentary filmmaker Jehane Noujaim, Pangea Day endeavors to bring the world together and promote understanding and tolerance through film. Pangea Day is a celebration of what unites us, rather than what divides us. Movies can't change the world. But the people who watch them can. After May 10, Pangea Day organizers will facilitate community-building activities around the world by connecting inspired viewers with organizations doing groundbreaking work. For more information, please visit
For more information see; http://www.pangeaday.org/
9:15 
(This post is in memory of all the 114 passengers who perished in the crash)
It’s exactly one year since KQ flight 507 went down in Duala – Cameroon. Up to now, no official report has been released on the real cause of the crash. Kenya Airways is now seeking the help of the Kenya government and the US Administration, manufacturers of the Boeing, to compel the Cameroonian authorities to release the one year old report.
The Boeing 737-800 series was only 6 months old and so the issue of a technical hitch could not arise. Two weeks ago, another 737-800 series belonging to KQ overshot the runway at the Entebbe International Airport in Uganda, and once again the incident was blamed on bad weather. On Friday last week, a Kenya Airways flight from Kisumu to Nairobi aborted after what the airline said was a small technical hitch (what hitch?)
Although KQ CEO, Titus Naikuni, came out defending his company’s record and said that such hitches are expected taking into account the volume of flights KQ covers, it leaves a lot to beg. The frequency of the recent incidences does not look normal at all. Could this be a case of mismanagement? It’s clearly understood that workers at this flight company are quite overworked and may be under performing not due to laziness, but fatigue.
What KQ needs is a complete overhaul and not a re-branding, hiking fares or cancellation of partnerships. The whole management team needs to be replaced with a new one with more stringent performance contracts. Without this the inefficient rot in there will never be dealt with and more disappointing things will happen. We cannot afford to lose more lives just because we want to serve vested interests. Our African Pride is bigger than that.
The company is faced with very tough industry times (increased fuel prices, stringent terrorism laws and stiff competition from international Airlines) and cannot afford to goof around. I think making the KQ private owned or fully owned by the public will make it more efficient and accountable to its customers. Things like 48 hours delays of flights will be a thing of the past.
9:31 Safaricom has partner with DSTV to provide Mobile TV to their subscribers. Mobile TV is a technology that allows people to view regular live television content on their mobile phones or other mobile devices that they get through traditional cable or pay TV subscriptions at home.
Research indicate that mobile phones will remain the central multi-purpose device for the foreseeable future, outnumbering any other mobile devices like digital media players and pocket PCs. 84% of mobile phone users in countries where Mobile TV has been launched are interested in using Mobile TV Service provided it is commonly available and affordable. Close to 60% of these will prefer watching the same content that they get on TV at home. News, sports, music videos and Game shows are the four dominant types of content that the surveyed users will prefer watching on mobile TV.
Personally I would go for it, if the subscription costs are affordable. The possibilities are tremendous. Getting up-to-date news on the go, watching a live soccer matches when you are in the rural or even following your favorite series anywhere you are. It’s just amazing,
I bet the service will be quite popular. The big question however is the pricing, which in turns depends on how much it will cost the mobile services provider. Safaricom plans to price it at Ksh.1,000 as from 1st July, but it will be free before June 30. This will be a boon for high end mobile handsets as most of the users will upgrade their handsets specifically to get mobile TV on their handsets.
The recommended phone type by Safaricom cost at least Ksh.25,000 per set. The success however, will be dependent on content offered and price charged for the service
Would you go for mobile TV if the prices are kept in the range of Ksh.1,000 per month?
5:37 On the other hand, pessimists or mere IPO-refund-adverse investors who by-passed the IPO hope that many retail investors will off-load in the 1st week so that the share price won’t appreciate that much {hover around Ksh.6 or 7} and they can buy as many shares as possible for the long term. In my view the possibility of this is quite minimal, but I’m ready to get more shares in case it happens.
With an oversubscription being more than likely to be the case {even with Tanzanians out}, I hope it will be over 200% so that we claw back more shares from the foreign lot. Anything less than this will mean having your monies tied up in refund cheques.
With over 2 million shareholders in their register, Safaricom is in for more headaches during their AGM’s. And I don’t understand how foreign shareholders will be handled when it comes to this.
The waiting has been long and I’m glad that at last this is behind us. For over two years, the debate on Safaricom the company and Safaricom the IPO, its Mobitelea connections and many other things have been making rounds in the blogs. Some heated discussions have taken place, but after all is said and done the Mobitelea culprits are still untouchables. So forgetting about them is the only feasible option.
3:51 ‘Undugu’ keeps Tanzanians out: The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) barred Tanzanians against participating in the Safaricom IPO. The main reason being that Safaricom had not made any commitment to cross-listing at the DSE (I believe this could have been done later on). But it’s evident that brokers there are not taking it in good faith. They have questioned the legality of the directive by BoT. And even after the CMA chairman, Jimnah, tried to lure the BoT to rescind on its decision, Kenyan brokers are saying the Tanzanian snub will not dent the IPO hopes. But the rejection by BoT is a clear blow to the regions integration.
1.65 million applications … and counting: data available at Nation media indicate that over 1.65 million applications have been made for the Safaricom IPO, with 50,000 being online application. Taking into account the enormous amount of applications to be made, I preferred the manual application for my shares over the online one. With the inefficiencies our brokers have I’m skeptical that the online applications will be handled well. But let’s wait and see. One of the leading banks has also issued over ksh15 billion in loans to applicants (could this be Equity bank…and is it the reason behind the recent rally in its share price to Ksh.185?)
6:40 Another week has opened for the Safaricom IPO with more investors rushing to apply for the shares. I hope the number of applications will increase this week as most investors have read the prospectus and sourced for enough funds. Last week was a little bit slow, with most applications coming from non-Kenyans. There are several conflicting analysis on the expected peak for the shares once they hit the trading floor on May 9th. But my prediction is the price will settle some where between Ksh.10 and Ksh.15.
Applicants who have been going for loans being hawked by banks for the IPO have learned the tricks of the banks to reap them off. Apart from the interest being charged on the loans, loan applicants have to incur several hidden charges before the loan is awarded. Some of the banks claiming to finance 100% of the IPO application are forcing applicants to open new CDS accounts with them, hence cashing in on the transaction charges too.
In Uganda, investors are wary of the Safaricom IPO citing the political uncertainness of Kenya. For a country like Uganda that is quite used to violence than Kenya, it’s really ironical. Most Ugandans are in favour of alternative investments on the Uganda Securities Exchange such as the Uganda Clays rights issue that ended just before Easter and the upcoming New Vision rights issue.
In other developments:
- Gold production at Lolgorien, Kenya, by Goldplat Plc. (a UK firm that specialize in producing precious metals like gold, silver and platinum group metals, on the African continent) may commence in the second half of 2008.
-The Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) is planning to immobilize their listed companies share certificates so as to increase on the bourse liquidity. Similarly several firms are set to have rights issues and stock splits to increase on the share supply at the USE.
- ZTE Corporation, China's largest listed telecommunications manufacturer and wireless solutions provider, has signed a deal with the Kenya government to construct an optical network covering the western part of Kenya.
5:16 
Despite the big economic crisis that has been facing Zimbabwe; the ZSE has managed to post very impressive performance two years in a row, 2005 and 2006, beating the high inflation rate that plagues the country according to The Africa Stock Exchanges Association (ASEA). Thanks to the on going stocks rally, the ZSE market is now worth a staggering Z$405 trillion in market capitalization, after rising a steep 275 percent in just three days this week.
While market capitalization (value of a company calculated by multiplying the number of shares in issue by the current stock price) does not reflect the actual performance of a company, it provides a useful guide to movements in the share price of a listed company. The huge increase in the market capitalization of the 75 listed companies in ZSE suggests, obviously, that the amount of trade is so high. This begs the question; why does the ZSE perform so well when everything is apparently in turmoil?
Ideologically, a country’s stock market performance should reflect the performance of the economy. But in the case of Zimbabwe, this does not apply. Institutional investors and individuals from South Africa and Britain are simply eyeing the stock market in the belief that
The remaining three constituencies (out of the 210 that exist) will be determined by by-elections following the deaths of three candidates prior to the March 29th elections: Pelandaba/Mpopoma, Gwanda South, and Redcliff
prices will soar if and when Mr. Mugabe steps down and investors regain confidence in the country. This has therefore led to a mad rush for the listed stocks, making the market to have an exceptional bull run in a slump economy.
Further more, negative interest rates and inflation have caused a stampede for assets, which have driven share prices to record highs, even in real terms. To these investors – both legitimate and crooks – the early bird catches the worm, and in this case there are too many birds that came in early. The ZSE boom simply reflects profits that have been made on paper while, on the ground, several businesses have gone bankrupt. This pseudo profits, for the foreign investors, could yet vanish into thin air because of currency controls that make it difficult to take money out of the country.
The stocks rally may also be because there are very few investment options that can provide real returns in Zimbabwe. Most of the other investment options like mining and land ownership lost their value after most of the European investors moved out due to the turbulent political climate in the country. Hard-line policies by the Zimbabwe government created an inherent risk that most investors were left with the stocks market as the only viable investment. Investors know where good returns are, and the ZSE is one of them. This is why it’s performing above all markets in Africa.
The ZSE’s future in the short run indicates a continued upside. Equities are the only other best form of investment in a hyperinflationary environment such as the one existing in Zimbabwe. At the moment, there is no reason for an immediate stop in the Bull Run. But as the demand for stocks continue to sore, the market capitalization will eventually reduce. Stocks which are absurdly overvalued will lose more than proportionately when normalcy returns and the market may even be faced with an eminent crash.
The viability of the decision to invest in the future of Mugabe’s tenure in power is simply a wrong investment factor. It is not a good sign for the ZSE, especially for a country whose economy is indicating otherwise. It’s only a matter of time before the stocks market follows the downward trend that the Zimbabwe economy has taken, and when that happens there will be no redeeming of losses.
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6:34 
7:07
3:05
8:35 James Shikwati is director, Inter Region Economic Network and was recently named one of the 245 2008 young Global leaders by the World Economic Forum
7:28 
After acquiring the 'troubled' Solid Securities Ltd through NIC Capital, NIC Bank will soon be re-branding Solid to something like NIC stockbrokers or NIC Capital Securities Ltd. NIC Capital bought a 57% stake worth almost Ksh.231 million according to a valuation done late last year. I hope they will turn around the troubled brokerage firm to save us from yet another collapse. NIC profits for the FY07 broke the one billion mark.
7:20 
5:19 Equity Bank 2007 pretax profit jumped 118% to Ksh.2.4 billion, boosted by higher asset growth which was mainly supported by the increase in funding i.e
Other impresive figure inclide
0:26 
(This is one of my recent articles on the African Executive on-line magazine.)