#IMFSTOPLOANINGKENYA
Kenyans address International Monetary Fund directly on Facebook live!!
Good morning,
This is our very first issue !!!
The conversation starter this week:
Kenyan’s address the IMF directly
Last week, Kenyans on twitter petitioned the IMF to stop the release of Ksh 257 billion to the government of Kenya citing massive embezzlement of billions as the reason. This was done via an online petition form followed by a ‘parade’ in the comments section of IMF’s Facebook live last week. The gloves are off…….
The outrage follows the revelation that Kenya had allegedly borrowed close to Ksh 7 trillion in 2020 to battle effects of the pandemic. However, the funds remain unaccounted for as several reports of embezzlement of the funds have arisen. Kenya is currently facing its second lockdown with multiple businesses ( including restaurants and bars) having to shut down and many workers losing their jobs as a result of the lockdown measures.
Little has been done to cushion Kenyans who have lost their sources of income. The IMF still maintains that the loan would help Kenya ease the harsh effects of the Lockdown and the economic difficulty caused by the pandemic.
Markets
Capital markets - The Kenya Airways shares suspension has been extended for a further nine months by the Nairobi Stock Exchange in preparation for the State takeover bid. The initial suspension of shares was in July last year after a bill in parliament was tabled to pave way for the government to take back full control of the airline. The Government currently owns 48.9% stake in the company. Air France-KLM which owns 7.8%, has opted to leave.
CDSC - The Central Depository and Settlement corporation appointed four new members to its board of directors : Ms Aida Kimemia, Mr Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, Kiprono Kittony and Lawrence Kimathi. Don’t know what CDSC does? .. It provides clearing and settlement services regarding transactions in the Kenyan capital markets.
NFT’s(Non Fungible Tokens) - Our own Eliud Kipchoge has brought the NFT’s fever to Kenya by announcing the launch of his NFT’s. NFTs are a subset of cryptocurrency issued on the blockchain but unlike other cryptocurrencies, they are unique hence “non-fungible”. NFT represents a unique digital item like audios, pictures and videos, and thus not interchangeable. Earlier this year, Jack Dorsey, the CEO of twitter, sold his first tweet as an NFT for 2.9million dollars …..whew!!!
Eliud Kipchoge’s first set of NFTs were two digital representations of his milestone and the bid for them ran for five days till 8 April 2020. The NFT’s fetched four million Shillings.
The car in front of you is always….AN UBER
Are you Kenyan if you’ve never used an Uber chapchap? they are surprisingly fast. Back in February, Uber lost a landmark case in the UK Supreme Court against 35 uber drivers where the court classified the drivers as employees and not independent contractors. This means that they were entitled to minimum wage, leave and sick days!
Analysis: The UK Supreme Court categorised the drivers as employees based on the ‘control test’. The control test is used to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor.
the court ruled that Uber controlled most aspects of their drivers’ work: they designated passengers to the drivers and dictated the fees for a trip, making the drivers their employees.
what this means for Kenyan drivers: although the judgement was in the UK and Uber maintained that employee rights were exclusively to UK drivers, it is only a matter of time before Kenyan drivers join the bandwagon. What do you think the compensation for Kenyan drivers would be if a case was brought forth against Uber, Glovo, Bolt?
New bill in parliament : Potential split between Safaricom and Mpesa
The Kenya Information and Communications (Amendment) Bill is up for debate in parliament and if passed, mobile phone companies like Safaricom will have to form separate entities to manage other businesses outside telecommunications services. This would mean a split between Safaricom and Mpesa.
Background:
This is not the first time such a bill has been tabled in parliament and past efforts have been futile. The bill targets Safaricom’s dominance in mobile money, mobile data and voice in Kenya. The aim is improve competition in the telecommunications industry which is currently dominated by Safaricom whose success is majorly attributed to M-pesa.
What it means for Mpesa:
Mpesa rakes in a huge amount for Safaricom. It accounted for 34% of their sales last year. The bill mandates M-pesa to be regulated as a separate entity by the central bank of Kenya under banking laws and regulations.
SAFARICOM’S POTENTIAL SPLIT: FINTECHS’ WORST NIGHTMARE:
Fintech companies in Kenya include Tala and Branch. The two companies help Kenyans access loans from their mobile devices.
Currently, Mpesa powers most of Kenya’s Fintech startups because these startups utilise Mpesa’s infrastructure to run their ventures. M-pesa is a medium that enables the running of their business models. A split from Safaricom will make Mpesa a Fintech company, which will automatically be dominant in Kenya owing to its huge market share attributed to its popular products like M-shwari and Fuliza.
YOUR TAKE: Should Safaricom and Mpesa SPLIT OR NOT ?
….additional CoversationStarters
The Home of former Nakumatt CEO has been auctioned to recover Nakumatt’s unpaid loans. It was revealed that the ex-Nakumatt CEO had offered his personal properties as guarantees for faster disbursements of loans.
Airtel Kenya has been making upgrades to its infrastructure and network services to avoid fines from the Communications Authority after they were put on notice for the poor quality of their voice calls. an upgrade was overdue!
UK and Kenya are set to conduct reconciliatory talks after Kenya hit back at the UK for imposing a travel ban on Kenyans. The two countries have resolved to form a joint committee to review the travel restrictions that threaten trade relations. Kenya is still amid talks of a bi-lateral trade agreement with the UK (post-brexit) to retain duty-free access to the UK market.
The current conflict in Ethiopia is now a humanitarian crisis -explains UN officials- an estimated 4.5 million people are in need of assistance and many have sought refuge in neighbouring country, Sudan. The conflict arose when the Prime minister launched military operations against the government of Northern Tigray region. Eritrea became a party to the armed conflict, allied to central government after launching attacks in the Tigray region. Fears are that the conflict might lead to the inclusion of Sudan in the conflict especially because of the increasing number of people seeking refuge in Sudan.
Let’s talk !
Embedded bias in Music streaming platforms? -A Team of European computer scientists have explored the diversity problem in Music streaming platforms and have concluded that the algorithms used by music platforms’ contribute to bias particularly against female artists.
The concern was that in the top ten most streamed artists on Spotify, only 2 were female artists, the first being at number 7. Their study revealed that on average, the first six recommended artists are male. This makes it a high possibility that people will listen to more male artists. The algorithm then studies the music you have listened to before and offers recommendations based on that. This creates a vicious feedback loop that recommends more male artists, leading to male artists getting more streams.
Podcast of the week - Future Africa: invest in Africa - The conversation is with Odun Eweniyi, (co founder of Piggyvest) who explains her passion for creating opportunities for African women in Fintech. She is also the founder of FirstCheck Africa, an early venture fund that is currently signing upto $25,000 to support women founders in Africa. -Do you have a minimum viable product for your idea and you seek funding for your startup? - then you should listen to the podcast.
Kenyan Startup of the week - Manyactive app- It is Founded by Ms Evalyn Oloo whose passion is to improve access to Fitness, wellness and mental health in Kenya. Manyactiveapp is a mobile application connecting the user to gyms, wellness centres, therapists and beauty parlours by allowing them to book services and make payments through the application. I call it the “UBER for fitness, wellness and health”. The app is currently up on playstore.
CLOCK IS TICKING : 80 Days to Filing deadline….
rule 1- You don’t have to wait till last minute!
rule 2- even Nil returns should be filed !
ConversationStarter QUIZ
1. Women hold the majority of national legislative seats in just three countries. (Hint: the countries’ first letters are C, R, and U)
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