Grand Debate

Drip Friday

Picture messaging from Safaricom

Nairobi Barcamp 2008

1000

Safaricom @ NSE Day 10

Safaricom @ NSE Day 9

Kutwa Tuesday - June 18

Safaricom @ NSE Day 8

Safaricom @ NSE Day 7

Safaricom @ NSE Day 6

Safaricom @ NSE Day 4

Safaricom @ NSE Day 3

Safricom @ NSE: Day 1

What to do with refund cheque?

Safaricom IPO allocation

IPO daylight

Economic Stimulus Friday

Regional banks and dueling websites

IPO Guilt Part II: Rule of queues

Regional IPO Tales

IPO Tales: 13 days to go

One week gone

Safaricom IPO starts

Safaricom IPO: Prospectus Peek

Prospectus is out

but before that
- The Kenya Capital Investment Group has a nice post to guide Diaspora investors considering the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) for the first time
- Which broker to use for Safaricom? Check out the Business daily on Friday March 28 for a guide to stockbrokers – the good, the bad, and the rogue. Afrika investment bank is the newest (previously was Ashbhu Securities) I-bank now.
– beyond Safaricom I Co-op bank announces plans to list, which is a great overdue addition to the NSE
– beyond Safaricom II and if the Finance Minister is by chance short in his bid to raise money from the privatization process, I’ve always maintained that he should go after another prime company; Kenya Pipeline - with pre-tax profits of Kshs. 4 billion (and EPS of 163), ripe for a split and a listing
– loans for shares: Joining equity bank in offering 100% financing is family bank, oriental and national bank so far. I may change my stance on loans for shares if I see a bank with a clear policy of loan prepayment, in case say 80% of the cash is not utilized – so an investor is not left with a loan to squander, instead of shares to sell
- Investors will be able to use pesa point ATM’s to pay for IPO shares
- Housing finance signing with Safaricom’s M-Pesa for money transfer last week shows how traditional companies like Western Union have been overtaken by changes in the banking industry.
– Writing in the Financial Standard (Tuesday) Jonathan Somen, CEO of Access Kenya (the last ICT company to be listed) calls Safaricom a good short term buy as they have performed prior to the arrival of France’s Orange (formerly Telkom Kenya) and India’s Essar (through Econet)
– Africa Alliance has opened an IPO center in Nairobi - open from 7am to 7 pm
– DYK: You have to apply to use the Kenya flag on any product? Safaricom have received permission to use it on scratch cards, the Tea Board of Kenya to display it on tea packets, and Nike International (through their lawyers) to sell it on hooded jackets!
- Pay for mail; CDS will for the first time require IPO applicants to pay Kshs. 30 for mailing each confirmed allocation.

- What do you know? The IPO's official site is inactive/inaccessible a day after going live.
- For anyone new to Safaricom here’s how they became so successful

News Bits

- Safaricom has introduced an airtime voucher worth just 20 shillings (~$0.30): what does that smaller sale unit say about the economy?
- Bargains: Safaricom has halved the price of blackberry and is also selling Samba Modems for just Kshs. 3,000 ($42)
- Air-wars: Good for Kenya Airways (KQ); Delta Airlines (US) has delayed their new service from New York to Nairobi (scheduled for June 08) to start in December owing to current market conditions. Bad for KQ; Emirates will start passenger services to the Guangzhou (China) in July 2008 four times weekly and convert to daily flights from December.
- Why would Coca Cola introduce a Fanta Lite and sell it in the same bottle & packaging at 50/= instead of 40/=

Jobs: Available at Safaricom and Google, while regulator, the Capital Markets Authority is still searching for a chief executive amidst the region’s largest ever IPO.

Apply online: For Safaricom shares, check out the Official IPO site from Citi

Bears bleed
- NSE Bears: For the second day of the Safaricom IPO era, only 3 NSE shares rise, same as on Friday, while the rest drop or are flat.
- Farewell: To Bear Stearns sold for $2 a share, down from $170 a year ago and 7% of what it was worth on Friday.

Vultures circle:
Beware of loans for shares
- Equity Bank offering up to 80% finance for the Safaricom IPO
- Fanikisha account from Transnational Bank offering 70% finance towards the IPO

edit - We've been Punk'd!
Corporate blog: A big salute to Equity for breaking another milestone - presenting the first official bank blog - here's the Equity Bank Blog. a WIP, but keep it up, stay strong, relevant, and up-to-date
Thanks JP for looking out

The financial part of the day is over with no announcement on the start of the Safaricom IPO; when it comes, should still not matter as chasing an IPO is a futile matter for a savvy retail investor. This is how it works - buy the shares after they list, not by queuing for hours around the block only to get 50 shares and 90% refund cheques.

All Kenyan IPO’s priced at less than 10 shillings have been greatly over-subscribed and this one which falls in that range could be the biggest.

So wait for the shares to list, and then buy. They may be floated at 10 shillings, and open at 25 - but have you lost anything? Not if you and 300,000 other shareholders all start off with 50 – 100 shares each. In fact you have a head start as you will have your money ready while the others wait for their refund cheques to be processed

What else to do;
- Buy through an investment club or a company if those groups get preferential allocations
- Buy other shares that may drop in price
- Marry a Safaricom employee, or better yet - get a job there and apply through the employee pool
- Use a reputable stockbroker stockbroker or bank

What not to do;
- Don’t take a loan to buy IPO shares.
- Don’t buy through multiple names/relatives/companies – you’ll have to chase a refund for each and consolidate after.
- Don't wait for the Econet option - I've being writing about their launch/imminent rollout in Kenya for as long as this blog has existed

That's what I'm doing: any other suggestions for maximum returns?


FAUX PAX
Ooops, spoke too soon - sorry Mr. Minister

Kenya sets Safaricom IPO share price at 5 shillings
NAIROBI, March 14 (Reuters) - Kenya is to offer a 25 percent stake to the public in leading mobile phone operator Safaricom at 5 shillings per share, Finance Minister Amos Kimunya said on Friday. Kimunya said the offer would open to the public on March 28 and close April 26. There will be 10 billion shares for sale. The proposed Safaricom sale may prove a key test of domestic and foreign investor confidence in east Africa's largest economy after negative effects of the post-election political crisis. (Reporting by George Obulutsa)

Still the math does not change. Assume a realistic 3 million shareholders, they can each get 3,333 shares each at a cost of 17,000 each - still means over-subscription, and that does not factor in any preferential allocations for corporates and employees, reducing the pool

All Safaricom: :
Good: An IPO from Safaricom could be the tonic that will restore investor confidence in Kenya that has been damaged the political events over the last month.
Good: Safarciom has partnered with Google to offer free email (6GB worth) to all their customers.
-but not good Have Safaricom raise their data costs? Internet browsing by phone seems to chew up airtime a lot faster these days

Air wars:
- Fly cheaper: Kenya Airways flights to Mombasa are now 3,000 shillings ($45) one way and 5,000 for roundtrips (plus tax) – about ½ of what they were a month ago
- There's a new airline on the Kisumu route, as another airline, Fly 540 has also acquired new aircraft to embark on flights to other regional African countries.

Mitigating political risks:
- There was notice in the paper by the Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI) confirming that political risks/riots are not covered in their policies. However ye members will discuss loss compensation on a case by case basis.
- But there’s a green light for some; Today’s Daily Nation has a (offline) story about the Africa Trade Insurance Agency - a World Bank subsidiary that covers political risks that has been largely dormant in Kenya until this month when corporates like Kenya Airways, Telkom and Nakumatt have been flocking to enquire about political risk cover. The story has an ominous warning that election violence could be an event that recurs every five years in Kenya in future.

Phantom exchange: Owing to a system hitch, there was no trading at the Nairobi Stock Exchange on Monday – though someone at the Standard says there were some trades. The exchange appears slightly inflated with all that’s going on around in the country.

Boycott averted: I was in the second week of my personal boycott of national broadcaster Kenya Broadcast Corporation (KBC) for shoddy programming and outright disservice to Kenyans in the post-election period. But they have won me back temporarily with their belated offer to broadcast soccer matches from the Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana. Having a variety of channels to watch is however a luxury that million in rural Kenya do not have as they only have the national broadcaster to tune to for news and entertainment.

Opportunities
Consult with Pricewaterhousecoopers: Kenya jobs include Transfer Pricing Manager, Consultant (Internal Audit) Senior Consultant (Internal Audit Services) Specialist (s) (Public Sector) , Manager (Financial & Operational Effectiveness), Consultant (s) (Financial & Operational Effectiveness), Manager (Assurance-Audit), Consultant (IT Effectiveness), Consultant (CCH TeamMate), Associate Director (Mergers and Acquisition), Analyst (M&A), Manager (M&A). Also other positions available in Uganda and Tanzania – D/L for all is 31/1.

three weeks after the ill-fated elections and three days of mass protests

The Disruptions in the work flow have been a nuisance to the country, while the violence is threatening to cut off Central Africa. But how long before President Yoweri Museveni decides to drive eastwards for another road trip eastwards to check out the situation for himself?

If ODM’s goal is to grind the country to a halt, it may take a while. With tax collections significantly down, the pending Safaricom IPO which I thought will be an election winner could turn out to be a (one time) budget lifesaver – expected to yield over 30 billion shillings in Q2 of 2008.

ODM is now specifically targeting companies linked to key government personalities like Citi Hoppa, Brookside and Equity Bank. This sounds far-fetched and could lead to retaliatory attacks (ODM personalities are also business people); it's also an extension of silent boycotts that people have undertaken on their own. E.g. people who only selling petrol to their kinsmen, while others boycott pubs or have stopped reading the Nation or Standard/KTN because of their perceived political leanings.

While George bush is trying to revive the US economy through bipartisan tax breaks, but here we have two sides who won’t even sit down with each other. If they don’t, the crisis may soon spin out of control as the race for the presidency assumes historical dimensions

cut & paste: The Central Bank has introduced business continuity guidelines for all banks. However, it seems to be an update of an IT disaster preparedness document that's a few years old, and does not mention any of the words - crowd, riot, security, cash, ATM – and only one mention of ‘police’. In short, it does not address many of the challenges banks have faced.

Insurers with hearts: Some insurance companies like pan Africa and Heritage (CFC) making exception on a case by case basis to assist business people victimized in the riots. As a rule, insurance companies have no responsibility to cover such acts

Such as Business coping: Ukwala supermarket, which was destroyed in Kisumu, lost all their financial records. They are asking suppliers & partners to provide them with statements, delivery reports, and invoices as at December 31 and not to bank any of their cheques.

But can’t please everyone: like thieves who take advantage of busy police battling rioters, some unscrupulous borrowers are also using the economic shutdown to plead with banks for delayed repayment and favorable revision of loan terms when the haven’t really been affected.

Signal of confidence: On Wednesday, Imara Holdings introduced a new fund targeting the Diaspora willing to invest in east Africa. It’s an open fund with minimum investment of 6.5 million shillings (~$100,000) and will be sold through Kenya’s ICEA

- Recognize us: Barclays have eaten humble pie for two years, but who would have through that high-street Standard Chartered would open a branch in Eastleigh?

Local Icarus: what happens when you fly too close to the sun

opportunities
- From PSD Blog; nominate a women entrepreneur to the doing business group of the World Bank.

Current open jobs
from the papers this week
- APA Insurance: unit managers, account managers. Apply to recruitement@apainsurance.com
- Safaricom: VAS Propositions Manager, Channel Development Manager, Key Accounts Executive – apply online. But for the position of chief information officer - but apply though pricewaterhousecoopers executive selection division (ESD).

It's been a very tiring day, after spending seven hours waiting to vote. Still, if I'm willing to buy shares in a crummy IPO, I should be equally tolerant of a election day that occurs every five years.

The week also included Christmas shopping and could also have included the Safaricom IPO before it was wisely put aside till mid 2008.

mini comparison

personal touch: While IPO's have arrangements for high-net worth and corporate investor that shield them from the crowds (place orders over the phone, and wire money after the IPO), Christmas shopping and elections are a duty that most people have to perform in person.

For elections, you must present your identification documents in person, and for Christmas shopping, a gift is as unique as the buyer perceives the recipient will appreciate what they have chosen. So in the voting queue or at Nakumatt on the 24th or 25th on December you're likely to meet many freinds & colleagues, or interact with a well known personality or two such as the head of the Nairobi stock exchange and a presidential candidate. It was also very touching to encounter the president daughter shopping in Nakumatt - picking out gifts, pushing a basket and queuing alone, so different from the high security entourages and preferential treatment that surrounds her folks.

Logistics: Shopping wins, IPO's second, while voting is a distant third. The electoral commission reliance on manual registers to search for voters was time consuming (see my 7 hours). This was after as a previous voter, who had verified using their online system, should have been straight forward. There was a lot more confusion with the electoral commission of Kenya station than the last time round - and even worse in parts of Langata where a leading presidential candidates name was missing from the register (others will see it as sabotage).

Early bird: It's good to be early with Christmas shopping as you can make careful decisions, shop for bargains, and a have a variety of goods to choose from that are often sold out by the time us late shoppers arrive. But with IPO's and elections, often the right decision is to wait until the middle (end of first week for IPO, or noon of election day) after the anxious early-bird crowds have been sevred and disappeared. E.g. While i spent 7 hours voting, some people queued for 20 min tops in the afternoon

Some other elections observations:
- Party observers, who were only keen to help their party members. They increased the workload of ECK official who should instead be tending to voter individual queries and problems
- ECK officials arguing in public with each other. It's understandable given the stress they are under to cope today, but bad for the image.
- The Langata snafu
- Self policing in the lines, in the absence of police or NYS officers who were absent from the poll station
- met my candidate almost alone in the queue, and later saw his big party rival who had a dozen strong media and security entourage
- EU observers walking around, but not talking /interacting/understanding voters in the queue unless there was the possibility of some violence

Summary: all in all, a tough week, with a lot of time and effort required. The Safricom IPO was taken out of the picture which was a big relief to the other two events.

Today's debate on the KISS 100 morning show was whether the Safaricom IPO should be postponed to next year.

No dates have been announced but it was (and still is) widely expected to kick off on December 10.

Those in favor of a delay rightly argue that most Kenyans struggle from December to February with holiday bills (extra food, travel, gifts) and school expenses (in addition to January fees, there are new uniform and book costs as well) and their little savings will not be available even for this much anticipated IPO

They also argue that the December 27 election will be a distraction to investors who will be out of Nairobi.

Those in favor of the IPO taking place in December that, the fewer buyers the better, since it will be over-subscribed anyway and this will just give investors a slightly better allocation. They also argue that they have saved for this and should be rewarded for their efforts at being prepared for the IPO.

Readiness factors

- The market is ready, and no marketing will be necessary for this IPO. Investors are ready to buy now, then deal with what they bought after.

- Timetable will be tight, but other countries are able to do it. Giant Indian bank ICICI's June '07 IPO ran for only four days and was over-subscribed on the first day.

- Stockbrokers say they are not, and have asked that it be delayed till next year, but they'll just pay their staff extra to work overtime during the holidays (and hire temps/interns to plug the gaps).

- Banks have abundant liquidity and will have loan packages towards the IPO to lend out the day after any announcement is made

- A local financial firm CCS Financial solutions (not to be confused with CFC Financial services) has come up with a financing product (in conjunction with ABC Bank) that will also deal with the inevitable refund cheques. (Read more at Nairobist)

- A correction: NSE Chairman Jimnah Mbaru is not contesting for the Starehe seat in the upcoming elections.

verdict: As with Kenya Re, I advise readers to by pass IPO's - but what are your views, to go ahead or not?

Turbulent 2008
- Could liquidity be drying up in the world credit markets?
- Is there any fundamentals behind the high price of oil, or is it only the fear factor?

Safaricom IPO
It appears 35% of the shares on offer may be reserved for foreigners, but they may have to pay more per share than local investors or other East African nationals.

IPO please: The necessity of a Safaricom IPO – IMF says Kenya is not paying developemtn debts

No vote
Kenyans abroad always demand the right to vote from any government in power, but without much success. The logistics are not that difficult to manage as other countries are showing;
- About two months ago, a notice appeared in the nation inviting citizens of Botswana wishing to vote in the national elections to come and register at their Nairobi high commission (Gigiri) over a three week period.
- And now the Russia federation has invited its citizens who wish to vote in the state duma elections to come and cast their vote at the Nairobi Russian embassy (Kilimani) all day on December 2 (Sunday) – and all they need are their passports!
– So maybe one day the Electoral Commission of Kenya will be able to assist the Diaspora vote

Diplomatic pass
And just this week the Kenya government has waived entry fees for spouses and children of diplomats working with the US Embassy in Kenya. Hope this is reciprocated by the US.

Strong Shilling
The dollar is the dollar and it has sunk across the board and will continue for the foreseeable future. But the Kenya shilling which is up 12.8% against the dollar is up against almost all major currencies. Using the handy CBK exchange rate tool shows the shilling up 6.6% against the pound 1.2% against the Euro, 12.8 against the (Dubai) Dirham and 6.7% up against the Yen. The shilling is also 5% up against China currency (this year) which was not even tracked by CBK a year ago. In Africa, it is up 10.9% against the SA Rand, and 8.1% & 4.3% against the Ug and Tz shillings respectively.

The impact of a strong shilling can be debated, but is there anything that can be done about it, short of cracking down on the Diaspora, (going back to currency controls) or slowing the economy?

The Central Bank has already taken a beating for the shilling.

Opportunities
most from the daily papers this week

- Africa development bank: portfolio officer, private sector development, chief communication specialist (external relations &comms), ombudsperson, senior investment officer (investments & trading room – treasury), principal (infrastructure, regional integration & trade), principal trade regulation officer (infrastructure, regional integration & trade). Apply to recruit@afdb.org, by 30/11
- Africa online: group head of HR, group head of marketing. Apply to jobs@biz-deas.biz by 7/12
- Consumers insight: associate research director, senior research manager senior research executive, HR manager, front office coordinator jobs@ciafrica.com by 30/11
- Gro FIN – SME finance: business development managers in Kenya Uganda Tanzania. Apply to hr@grofin.com by 3/12
- Hashi empex: supply & planning manager, transport & logistic mgr, sales & marketing mgr, operations mgr. apply to hr@hashiempex.com by 7/12
- Housing finance: service delivery manager, credit risk officer. Apply to esd@deloitte.co.ke
- K-Rep bank: finance manager, regional manger (coast, nyanza, western, eastern, Nairobi provinces), monitoring & evaluation officer, microfinance officer intern. Apply by 7/12 though snail mail
- KTN on-screen talent search. Email screen1@eastandard.net
- Kenya film corporation : Internal auditor, communications officer, legal officer. Apply to info@filmingkenya.com by 30/11
- Business development manager at nation media group apply to bdm@nation.co.ke by 30/11
- NOCK: fuel business cared coordinator, alternative business executive. Apply to hr@nockenya.co.ke by 13/12
- Financial advisors at Winton investment services. Apply to jobs@wintoninvestments.com

tenders
- Resellers at Africa online resellers
- Malta Guinness business distributors for east Africa breweries d/l is 20/12- International tender from Kenya Pipeline Company and Kenya petroleum refineries ltd for an LPG import, handling, import, storage bottling facility. d/l is 21/1
- International tender for modernization of number plates by the Kenya Government (Office of the Vice president and Ministry of Home Affairs) d/l is 21/12

Earlier results showed that tax collection is not profitable, but neither is dealing with the strong shilling.

The Central Bank of Kenya year ended June 2007 shows the bank recorded a 386 million shillings loss down from a 4.5 billion profit in 2006. This was largely due to a forex loss of lost 9.8 billion shillings as the shilling remained strong against the US dollar, Euro and Sterling pound.

How much currency is circulating in Kenya? 90 billion shillings ($1.34 billion), in currency up from 76 billion in June 2006.

Bank in law
You don’t start a marriage by locking out the in-laws, but that’s what’s happening with CFC Stanbic as CFC stockbrokers have suspended trades in Stanbic Uganda shares to clear up a backlog of orders.

Shares vs. Holiday vs. Election expenses
The much anticipated Safaricom IPO edges into danger zone as the IPO could be pushed back to start on December 10th, not the 3rd.

Hedge funds to Africa
There was the Equity - Helios deal announced this week.

Another prime opportunity would be for a hedge fund to invest in Transcentury

PSD blog puts the new investment interest in Africa in a historical perspective with China and other Asian countries recognizing an opportunity to stake out the long term

Hedge Funds a year ago

'Reliable sources' indicate that the Safaricom IPO will open on December 3 and close on December 14. With the elections scheduled to be after mid-December, this will allow inventors to sort out their business before they sit down and vote. Hat Tip to AKS

Women’s Bank: They may not have been able to get special seats in Parliament, but women can count on having their own bank when the Kenya Women's finance trust converts to a commercial bank, probably in 2008. Having a women’s only bank is a long running proposal to address some of the challenges women face as borrowers and bank customers.

KCB has diversified into asset finance, a field dominated by Barclays, Diamond Trust, CFC and market leader NIC (which was a Barclays spin-off initially)

A survey ranks Citibank as the top Kenyan bank and finds that 3 banks dominate the country.

Renaissance Capital was all set to be the next stockbroker at the Nairobi stock exchange, until Old Mutual snuck in in and doubled their bid with an astonishing ½ billion shilling ($6.5 million) offer. That leaves Renaissance to have to buy into one of the smaller stockbrokers, some of who have been patiently waiting for a big payday.

In an unprecedented move, Kenya Airways postponed it's 2007 AGM. A mail mix up is to blame, and to think how for many years shareholders heaped blame on Barclays registrars, but at least they got the mail part right. KQ this year was handle by the ambiguously named custody and registrar services

Kenya RE fraction:Retail investors are not likely to get more than 200 shares apiece.

Communications
Safaricom ball: Having pulled out the rug from the Kalonzo Musyoka side with a party takeover this week, Raila Odinga’s next move was to step in front to halt the Safaricom IPO, which most investors can’t wait to receive (and which could be a vote winner ).
- The Government has reduced the local ownership requirement in the telecommunications sector to 20% from 30% before. The 30% rule has derailed three ventures in the last three years and so far it appears the Sameer Group is the only local company to have invested more than 30% in any venture.
- Blogger Gathara points out another equally troubling aspect about the media bill.

Trade & Aid
Going to China: The Kenyan Ministry of Trade has opened a commercial office and posted a commercial attaché in Beijing, China.

CARE Cares: CARE has handed a lifeline to African farmers by turning down US Food aid.

Energy: The Olkaria geothermal plant to expand as a Mitsubishi consortium has been awarded a contract to add a 35MW plant for Kengen there

Tourism
- The Narok county council has stopped the development of Wasafiri tented camp on the outskirts of the Masai Mara but other camps are still being put up (read here)
- Fly540 to start flights to newly reopened Wajir airport, Jetlink will start international flights (probably in the region), but the Kenya wildlife services have been refused a license to offer passenger flight services.

upcoming
- Bioken a new distiller factory in Athi River
- New hotel in Gigiri
- Three hills housing estate(6,000 houses) in Mwakinye Mombasa
- New casino at Nyali Cinema Mombasa

opportunities

- Opportunities for artists from Nairobinow
- MD of the Kenya film corporation. Apply to info@filmingkenya.com by 21/8
- Transformation manager at the Kenya women’s finance trust. Details here and D/L is 30/8
- Join the Kwani sales team. Contact marketing@kwani.org
- Pan Africa Trust Fund: Chief Executive Officer, Grant Administrator, and Finance Officer. D/L is 24/8
- Business executives at the Standard / KTN

SABC - Highway Africa Awards 2007 for Innovative use of new media technology in Africa. Awards are given in three categories: 1) Individual/Student, 2) Non-profit and 3) Corporate.
- Individual and Non-profit category: communications which find innovative ways to overcome the limitations of the existing African infrastructure.
- Corporate category: creative adaptation of global technologies in an African media context.
- Other criteria (which apply to both categories)is the use of new media to benefit press freedom in Africa and encourage social empowerment in African communities. Also the functionality of websites/blogs/wikis is an absolute must, interactive features, design and use of mobile technology in an innovative way is encouraged.Entries to be submitted online or via fax by 20/8

Digital Village Concept opportunities
(i) Own manage digital village center/kiosk (there will be one in each constituency). Applicant’s must have experience in running cyber cafe, computer lab and already have electricity, steady clients, premises and qualified staff. Details here and deadline is 20/8
(ii) Supply products/services such as hardware/software, loans/finance, stationery, furniture, and supplies. Details here and deadline is 20/8.

Threat to ISP's: Safaricom has applied for a 3G license to offer broadband wireless through their extensive base station network to subscribers.

Congratulations to TED Global Fellow Paul Kukubo who has been appointed as chief executive of the Kenya ICT Board

Safaricom IPO: The calendar is on for the sale of 25% of Safaricom shares to the public and the government of Kenya (who are yielding part of their 60% ownership) have advertised for a lead transaction advisor, lead sponsoring broker, (4) co-sponsoring brokers, legal advisor, reporting accountant, PR firm, advertising consultant, receiving bank, and a share registrar for the IPO. Details at investmentsecretary@treasury.co.ke D/L is 16 July. There have been complaints about firms offering such work for free to gain prestige

Safaricom call center. The company is also seeking to outsource customer service for prepaid subscribers to an external firm (Current traffic ranges from 10,000 - 20,000 calls per day). Details from dngobia@safaricom.co.ke and D/L is 11/7

other happenings
Pipeline finance: The Kenya Pipeline Company seeking financing for the Nairobi-Mombasa and Nairobi-Western Kenya (Nakuru, Kisumu, Eldoret) segments amounting to Kshs. 7.5 billion ($107) million over the next 2 years. D/L is 31/7

Housing: The National Housing Corporation offering 890 3-bedroom flats in Langata phase II ranging from 3.9 to 4.1 million each ($55,000 - $58,000). The corporation is also selling 38 maisonettes in Kiambu phase ii at between 3.2 and 3.4 million shillings.

Barclays
- Good : The bank has hired external debt collection agents – outsourcing a time consuming tedious function.
- Not good : The only thing worse then taking a personal loan to buy shares is using a credit card to buy shares. An investor is already in the hole, and needs his shares return 30% a year, just to break even. Using a debit card may be ok though, but factor in the card fees.

Education
- New Aga Khan University campus to be set up in Nairobi
- Moi University to soon offer a masters degree in banking & finance

Media
- Desperate Housewives start next month on KTN. Hope they don’t butcher the show like they did with the Soprano’s (heavily edited, shown at 11 PM on Sunday night and often out of sequence)
- The Naiorbi Nairobi Star (new daily newspaper from KISS FM team ) hit the streets today with a lot of fanfare, but does it have legs?

Safaricom, the largest, (acknowledged) most profitable company in Kenya has returned a profit of Kshs 17 billion ($250 million) for the year ended in March 2007 - 40% better than the year before. What are the seven deadly sins again? I just want a decenet election year IPO.

The ban on plastic paper announced in last Thursday’s budget has temporarily been reversed. It was an amorphous declaration covering all manner of plastics (consumer, industrial) that was likely to lead to unintended increase in the price of many items.

Safaricom
- Has lowered rates for phone calls and SMS from today. Mobile companies have become increasingly competitive with Celtel and Telkom Wireless - who have deployed VoIP and roaming features - nipping at the edges of Safaricom’s base. Are free weekends from Celtel the next offering?
- Safaricom has opted to recycle numbers now that they were running out of lines(prefix 0720-0729. Unused phone lines (not used/topped up) for 4 month can now be reclaimed by the company and be resold (previously they expired after 1 year)
- I’ve noticed on my recent travels in South Africa, Uganda and Tanzania – that all Vodfone affiliated networks have a cool feature that lets you know where you are (location). It was tested once in Kenya last year but the flip side to this is that it reminds paranoid people that the phone companies (and other interested authorities) know if you are at Ngurdoto mountain lodge, Johannesburg airport or the Speke hotel and that they can find you and perhaps not wanting to spook some subscribers have not activated the feature in Kenya. [Read how it affected a lion’s phone choice and more on big brother from Uganda and South Africa]
- 30% of Safaricom up for an IPO this fiscal year.

Sports TV: G TV are expected to have 80% of premiership games this year. Is that reason enough for DSTV to panic? (am not a subscriber). There’s also Oxygen (cable) TV (costs Kshs 999 per month), and free TV (Nation (with La Liga), Citizen (rename them ChelseaTV), KBC, KTN and other channels with various sports offerings. The big attraction of DSTV is sports, but also the other channels like Movies, MNET and Discovery. DSTV now assures that they will still have games of the big four (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool Man U – listed alphabeticaly, not by rank)- two every Saturday, two every Sunday, and one on Monday night. So what is 80% worth if it features teams like Blackburn, Man City, Sunderland and Wigan at a cost of about Kshs 2,200 per month?