Inversk April 2020

INVERSK MAGAZINE

CONTENTS - MARCH - APRIL 2020

| VOLUME 1 NUMBER 3

22

6 | Editor’s Note // Kimani Patrick 10 | theTopline - Business Headlines You Need to Know

COVER STORY 22

| FROM OBSESSION TO EMPIRE A Behind-The-Scenes Look at How Expeditions Maasai Safaris' Pancras Karema Built a Household Brand from a Mere Obsession

By KIMANI PATRICK

FOCUS 12

| HOW NOT TO WASTE A CRISIS IN YOUR BUSINESS Covid-19 has brought us into a time of confusion and unprecedented time that no-one could have accurately predicted.

BY CPA CAROLINE GATHII

16 28

| HAS BREXIT PRESENTED NEW DAWN FOR THE AFRICAN WOMAN? After 47 years, this relationship has finally come to an end, or rather is it officially coming to an end? What lessons can the Africa woman learn from this?

BY PATIENCE NYANGE

18

| MINDFUL LEADERSHIP: HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR TEAM At the core of self-awareness for leaders is that they understand the impact their behaviour has on others.

By DERECK BBANGA

FEATURES 28

| SOUTH AFRICA'S 12-YEAR-OLD STACEY FRU WINS GLOBAL AWARD Covid-19 has brought us into a time of confusion and unprecedented time that no-one could have accurately predicted.

BY CPA CAROLINE GATHII

30 30

| BIG DREAMS AND THE LONG ROAD FOR MARTIN KIBOTE In 7 years, Martin has transformed Mediabox Advertising’s simple idea to one of East Africa’s most trusted advertising agencies among blue-chip companies and SMEs in the region.

BY KIMANI PATRICK

38

| SELFLESS DESIRE FOR THE GOOD OF OTHERS Eliud believes that success in life is ultimately measured by the extent to which efforts are made to help and strengthen people around you. This is the greatest motivation for Kuza Initiative.

BY ROSEMARY WANJIRU

JULY 2019 INVERSK MAGAZINE I 3

INVERSK MAGAZINE

CONTENTS - MARCH - APRIL 2020

| VOLUME 1 NUMBER 3

41

ADVERTISERS’ FEATURES 41

| THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD INVEST IN EMBU COUNTY As an agricultural hub, Embu holds a great opportunity for real estate investors due to the increased demand for proper and affordable housing

By INVERSK TEAM

44

| STATE OF THE REAL ESTATE MARKET IN KENYA BuyRentKenya breaks down property prices in 2019 and what to expect in 2020.

BY BuyRentKenya

46

44

| HOW GREENLIGHT PLANET IS LIGHTING THE WORLD, ONE HOME AT A TIME Since early 2009, Greenlight Planet has been on a mission to serve the world's nearly 2 billion underelectrified people with access to reliable, affordable, high-quality solar powered energy solutions for light, mobile phone charging, and basic entertainment. Today, more than 50 million people in sub -Saharan Africa, Asia and Central America live safer, healthier, and more productive lives thanks to Sun King's solar powered

BY INVERSK TEAM

MORE ARTICLES 13 | Productivity: 7 Ways to Stay Productive While Working from Home 16 | Thoughts - The Dilemma of Aspiring Entrepreneurs 29 | Thoughts: Invest in the Future of African Child 34 | Finance - Financial Matters at Work Lead to Low Productivity

46

40 | Ideas: Top 10 Questions to Ask When Buying A Car 43 | Opinion - Is it okay to Buy land with a charge?

4 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I March - April 2020

First Word Covid-19 Provides an Enormous Opportunity to Experiment Remote Working

A

s COVID-19 sweeps the world and countries going into partial or total lockdown, many companies have adopted work-from-home policies in response to the pandemic.

Could this be an opportunity to experiment remote-working?

Not so long ago, business leaders saw working from home as a way employees used to skive from work. Interestingly, they are now working from home too.

While the new norm comes with many privileges such as not having to wake up early, minimal office politics, reduced stress from commuting, and spending more time with family, working from home comes with many difficulties.

With each workday, one has to struggle to maintain focus and keep in balance with other priorities such as childcare, house chores, and maintain productivity without dedicated office space and real-time collaboration with colleagues. Besides, some will have to struggle to avoid raiding the whole snack cupboard in a day.

For many, remote working is a new concept and having to work in their bedrooms or shared common rooms, with noise from their partners, family or roommates is something they have never experienced. The “steady-state” of the workplace has now been disrupted.

To start with, working from home will “generate a worldwide productivity slump and threaten economic growth for many years,” says Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom, a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

“We are home working alongside our kids, in unsuitable spaces, with no choice and no in-office days,” he adds. “This will create a productivity disaster for firms.”

However, a 2015 study research based on a randomized control trial on 1,000

employees of Ctrip, working from home during a nine-month-period led to a 13 percent increase in performance – almost an extra day of output per week, plus a 50 percent drop in employee-quit rates. The experiment was so successful that Ctrip rolled out working from home to the whole firm. This signifies that other companies can also adopt the model.

With experts projecting more than 1.3 billion people will work virtually within a few years, business leaders have to brace themselves and prepare for this new wave. As a matter of fact, many employees will not be willing to go back to the workplace when this pandemic is over. Long periods such as three months is more than enough for new habits to form.

Working in an office comes with its benefits such as face-to-face collaboration, being part of a community as well as gaining knowledge by watching others do their work.

Very quickly, working from home was invented by freelancers in the early 1980s who explored the possibilities of personal computers in the early days of the internet, making the most of the emerging technology.

As easy as it sounds, working from home requires lots of training and discipline. The kind of work you do in an office with people around you is not the same as the work you do on your own and business leaders have to approach this inflection point – an opportunity to change the way we work for the better. COVID-19 pandemic has granted that opportunity.

For first timer professionals, working from home comes with a lack of social company resulting in loneliness, feelings of isolation, depressions and lots of distractions. Hurting their productivity.

According to Bloom, leaders can help stem the productivity decline by making regular check-ins between managers and their teams; maintaining

schedules that strive to separate work life from family life, and collaborating with colleagues on video calls rather than phone calls.

While this method may not work in the long-term, business leaders have the opportunity to train their employees on gaining work ethics while working remotely.

One way this can be achieved is by streamlining communication to ensure each employee knows exactly what’s expected of them. Setting up a ready-to -go suite of tools for workers like the chat app Slack or video conferencing app Zoom can also come in handy. For sustainability in the future, companies will have to adopt low-cost collaborative tools that will help in joining everybody up to form armies of virtual coworkers.

For the employed, one must do as much as they can to set up a dedicated workspace at home - with little or no distraction. By doing so, it signals to those who live with you that you’re ‘at work’. Wake up each day, take a shower and get dressed for work instead of lying in bed with a laptop. Just because you can lounge or sleep around in your pajamas with a laptop on your laps doesn’t mean you should. Treat your work with the seriousness it deserves.

For the adopters, the work-fromhome policy will come with reduced office expenses for companies as few employees will work on location. However, managers will have to learn new modes of managing and measuring performance. For professionals, one will be able to maximize on their worktime and take up as much as three jobs, increasing their income.

With the uncertainty of how long people will be at home as a result of the coronavirus, business leaders and their teams have the opportunity to pilot a remote working system for their businesses. Traditional office workspace may be on its way to the end, will you survive?

Kimani Patrick Executive Editor

kp@carlstic.com www.inversk.co.ke

Inversk is a publication of The Carlstic Group. Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher or its members of staff.

The advice provided here is general advice and has been published without considering your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on this advice it is advised you consider its appropriateness, having regard for your context.

6 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I March - April 2020

FIRST WORD

REINTRODUCING INVERSK

Mast head

The ultimate resource for the 21st century business builders is back - with a 56-page magazine every two months featuring unparalleled insights and in-depth analysis into the most significant trends & strategies shaping today's business world.

Grab a copy today and keep abreast on how to build and scale your business today.

Free Digital Copies available at: www.magzter.com www.zinio.com wwww.issuu.com

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You can also subscribe for print copies to be delivered at your office.

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Inversk Magazine is a publication of The Carlstic Group. Views expressed in this publication do not in any way express the views of the publisher.

10 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I DEC 2019

theTopline business headlines you need to know January 9, 2020

January 10, 2020

January 13, 2020

113,000 Students to Miss Out on HELB Loans for the Second Half of 2019-2020 Academic Year

KCB Injects Sh 5B into National Bank to Shore up Capital

Kenya’s Very First Green Bond Commences Trading in Stoke Exchange

The Kenya Commercial Bank has pumped 5 billion into its newly acquired National Bank in a bid to meet the capital sufficiency threshold of the division and bolster its financial resources.

Kenya’s first green bond was listed for trading on the Nairobi Securities Exchange giving investors the opportunity to put money into an environmentally-friendly fixed income security for the first time in the bourse’s 65 year history.

More than 113 000 students, mainly from low income families who rely on the High Education Student loan, will not get a loan for the last half of the academic year 2019-2020. With the student funding budget standing at KSh15.5 billion, the loans board argues that it will only afford to loan two thirds of the 370 000 if it does not recover KSh4.9 billion from the past loan beneficiaries.

Earlier, KCB had estimated a capital injection of up to Sh7.5 billion, with the actual figure attached to the success level of NBK, which will operate as a subsidiary of KCB, bad debt recovery.

The bond, worth 4.3 billion shillings ($42.5 million), was issued by Nairobi-based property developer Acorn Holdings last October to build student accommodation Green bonds raise capital for projects in green transport, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and waste-water treatment.

According to Charles Rigera, HELBs CEO, among those who will be affected are university and technical and vocational education and training college students.

KCB, the largest local bank by numbers and asset in East Africa, acquired NBK in 2019 amid claims from legal official demanding for a better deal.

Inflation Inclines To 5.78% with Fluctuation in Farm Products

Microsoft Cloud Technologies to offer Social Startups Free Access

Evercare takes over Nairobi Women’s Hospital Operations

February 4, 2020

February 7, 2020

February 11, 2020

Inflation has plunged marginally to 5.78 per cent in January 2020 from 5.82 per cent in December 2019, with government data showing a dip in cost of farm products.

Microsoft has announced access to free cloud technologies along with technical support and guidance for startups keen on solving social and environmental challenges.

The operations at the Nairobi Women’s Hospital was taken over by Evercare, an American private equity fund, after its chief executive stepped aside paving way for the operating committee comprising of three representatives from Evercare Health Fund to run operations, as per a statement by the hospital’s board on Monday.

Prices of various products including food hiked by similar margins in January unlike December last year in spite of the heavy rains and other factors that hindered food production.

Startups solving social and environmental challenges will be offered goodies that includes free access to Azure cloud services and amount of sh12.1 million ($ 120000 USD) worth of Azure technologies.

Based on the marginal reduction, the cost of transport went down by 0.0%, while food prices entailed a mixed portion with most declines in commodities that thrive during rainy seasons.

Dubbed Global Social Entrepreneurship, the program seeks to assist social enterprise grow and scale up their startup to big companies with the realization of United Nations 2030 Sustainable development Goals as they do good globally.

Agriculture sector is facing challenges in food production as farming is still compounded by couple of challenges including heavy rains, locust and isolation based on budgetary allocation.

Selection to the program is based on a startup having established product or services that solves a social and environmental challenge and showcasing its commitment to the ethical and responsible use of Artificial intelligence.

Following allegations, the hospital’s CEO Dr Felix Wanjala stepped aside for pushing staff to increase patients’ admissions.

The hospital shot to the limelight after it was accused of inflaming bills that led to the suspension of the facility from the list of accredited service providers by all medical insurers.

Further, the hospital was suspended from the list of service providers by the Kenya Revenue Authority and the staff members were advised to visit other facilities.

INVERSK MAGAZINE

theTopline Tea Auction Closes Over COVID-19 Pandemic

Kenyan Government Puts Together Sh141b to prevent economy shut down

Coffee Prices Drop at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange

March 24, 2020

March 22, 2020

March 10, 2020

Kenya’s only tea auction closed its door on Monday, March 23, 2020, over the government’s rule limiting mass gatherings. East Africa Tea Traders Association (Eatta) termed the moved as a safety measure to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The Government has put aside Sh141 billion to cushion the devastating effects of the coronavirus that impend to depress the economy and disrupt livelihoods.

Coffee prices at the local exchange depreciated in the periods from October 2019 all through to February 2020.

Farmers will be the most affected by the action taken by Eatta with fears of tea surplus in the market, making it difficult for factories to process and store tea supplies from growers.

The closure of the auction risks cutting 95 percent of the country’s tea supply to the export market and pointing to a knockout on farmers’ earnings.

In addition, the cabinet has come up with a strategy that allows the Central Bank of Kenya to release Sh7.4 billion of 1000 notes that were rendered worthless after the September 30, 2019, new notes exchange deadline.

The state also guaranteed to clear awaiting bills and value-added tax (VAT) refunds in the next 30 days. A move set sustain cash flow in the gradually dilapidating economy.

The president also announced a further Sh1 billion allocation for hiring more health workers needed to deal with coronavirus.

The decline in coffee prices and quality has been attributed to the unexpected long rains that has been hitting the country from October last year to January this year.

In February, a 50kg sack of Arabic coffee sold at the local exchange at an average of $211.9 (Sh21,700) which is 2.5% drop from $217.3 (Sh22,300) that was recorded in January 2020.

According to David Mbithi, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCB), average prices of coffee auctioned at the NCB declined by 7.14% in October to February season in comparison to the season last year.

New Tax Reliefs to Last Four Months amid Draft Tax Laws Amendment Bill 2020

Standard Chartered Bank Offers Clients a Loan Pay Break of 3-Months

Kenya’s March Inflation Stands at 6.06%

April 2, 2020

April 2, 2020

April 3, 2020

The new tax reliefs announced by President Kenyatta on Income Tax and Value Added Tax will be effective until August this year.

Standard Chartered Bank Kenya has offered its customers with personal loans and mortgages a three-month repayment break in order to cushion them against the economic effect caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Kenya’s March inflation stood at 6.06% after the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) included modern items such as mobile phone airtime, pay TV subscription and garbage collection charges to the basket used to measure the cost of living.

This is according to the draft Tax Laws Amendment Bill 2020 published by the National Treasury on Thursday The bill is part of the incentives headed to Parliament in the coming days that are expected to reduce the weight of economic constraints on individuals and businesses in Kenya impacted by the spread of the COVID 19 pandemic, spells out a wide array of tax relief measures affecting individuals and corporations.

Additionally, the bank has given mortgage customers an opportunity to pay interest only for the six-month window without repairing the principal sum.

The lender also said it will permit the extension of loan or mortgage repayment for up to 12 months as was agreed with the Central Bank of Kenya. Credit cardholders have been given room to settle outstanding balance in six or 12 months.

In the changes to the inflation basket, KNBS, removed outdated goods and costs such as radio cassettes, kerosene stove and video cassette hire.

The consumer price index (CPI), reveals that food and non-alcoholic beverages take the top spot at 32.91 percent, followed by housing, water electricity, gas and other fuels at 14.61 percent and transport at 9.65 percent.

How Not to Waste a Crisis in your business?

BY CPA CAROLINE GATHII

W

e use a famous tag line that if you do not manage risks you manage crisis.

But what do you do when a crisis presents itself? I would say do not waste a crisis! It is a time of confusion and unprecedented time that no-one could have accurately predicted. A pandemic that has stalled the world and we have all to adjust and do things differently.

Many analysts have cast doom to the business sector, infact one of the analysts once said that there are businesses that will shut the doors forever while others will thrive during this time. The actions or inactions of businesses will directly impact their closure or their survival. The strategic decisions made by businesses will spell doom or success. One would therefore ask, what are the things that one can do to stay in business during this time?

12 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I March - April 2020

Businesses are struggling to be innovative during this time to generate revenue to keep afloat. Businesses are actually having to think about their revenue streams and how they can generate revenue while still complying to the working guidelines issued by governments.

When everyone is now at home, they are in the online space; they have time to go through several chat platforms. It is the high time to take goods and services where the people are. We have supermarkets who have designed marked lines on queuing rows and provided one-meter distance to comply with the social distancing rules.

Supermarkets are also delivering packaged food and shopping to homes.

They have strategized on how to still do business and become more creative to stay afloat. All other businesses need to become innovative to stay in business.

INVERSK MAGAZINE

CRISIS MANAGEMENT

Schools have created or adopted to online learning platforms and continue to execute their mandate. This is the time to innovate and stay in business or otherwise close shop forever.

There are businesses who sell their goods and services on credit. They are therefore owned money by businesses and individuals. These are also known as debtors or payables. A business can be very profitable but runs the risk of liquidity and eventual closure. This is the time to collect the debts and do as fast as possible.

Any business that is experiencing liquidity challenges now will need to craft a good strategy to collect debt, otherwise the risk of closure is very eminent. It is time to enhance their debt collection activities. The money the business is owed will facilitate the business to stay afloat during this period as well as able to craft different strategies to stay in business. Being proactive is key at this stage.

In circumstances that the business is financed by loans, they face a real risk of inability to pay based on the schedule of payments agreed upon with the financial institution. The Central Bank of Kenya has issued instructions to commercial banks to undertake loan restructuring for business that can prove that due to the Covid-19 pandemic they are not able to operate and generate revenue.

Businesses should provide evidence to this effect. This is key for the future survival; businesses cannot assume that banks will provide a blanket waiver due to the pandemic. Banks are commercial and have to also make prudent decisions

to continue being profitable.

Businesses should therefore prepare adequately to convince the banks that they are actually affected by the current directive in order to restructure their facilities. Adequate documentation and preparation to illustrate this is critical during this meeting with the financial institution.

Every business incurs operational costs; these are costs that have to be incurred to conduct business, they include rent, salaries, electricity, water amongst other such costs. These costs are necessary to hold the business in place with or without revenue. During this time every business has to make a decision on how to cater for these costs.

Businesses should understand that we can control some of these costs: salaries can be negotiated with employees based on the level of business being generated. The business should hold candid conversations with the staff members while making these decisions. The rental costs can be discussed with the respective landlords.

Businesses can opt to take small spaces or retain their spaces as they renegotiate a suitable payment plans for rent arrears once the situation is resolved.

The costs of electricity and water are totally in the control of management.

There should be measure to control use of electricity and water on need to use basis. The business should analyze all its liabilities and make strategic decisions on how to cater for them in the net ninety days. Critical thinking and analysis are key to ensure that these costs do not affect the survival of

the business in the future.

There are those businesses that are able to continue operations remotely. These means that their staff members are able to work while at home. The business is supposed to craft ways of managing these staff and the deliverables. The business should provide the necessary tools to their staff members to continue with daily operations. These tools include: laptops, data, access to information required to perform their tasks. There is a real risk of data security especially while working offline.

The business should think about data security and how it can enhance these even as the staff work online. These would include signing a non-disclosure agreement by all staff, securing the office laptops with access times that these tools can be used to enhance surveillance remotely.

There should also be provision of secure internet provision to staff members to secure data for the organization. Organizations should also schedule frequent online meetings with staff members to ensure that work is understood and done based on the standards provided. A morning roll call and an evening review meeting would be good to keep things in check. These also enhances good communication and review of Key Performance Indicators during this time.

This is the time to take this crisis, analyze the opportunity and run for it. There are businesses that will shut their doors forever, there are business that shall thrive and take an upward trajectory, there are new business that will emerge and stand the test of time.

This shall all depend on how create or not business owners will be during this time. It is time to do critical thinking and fast action.

The choice is ours to take.

CPA Caroline Gathii, IRMCert, is an International Certified Risk Expert with FirstIdea Consulting Limited. Email her cgathii@firstideaconsulting.co.ke

7 Ways to Stay Productive While Working from Home

By Reuben Kimani The outbreak of Coronavirus has seen companies encourage employees to work from homes. This is key in ensuring that people maintain social distance and prevent the advance of the virus. As people continue to work from home below are some tips on how to remain productive at work.

1. Communicate consistently stay connected with team members and colleagues and make sure you are available this will ensure that you are able to deliver on various assigned tasks assigned to you.

2. Plan your work before you start your day Have a task list that will help you track your progress and consistently follow it. Have a priority list that will also include extra time for unforeseen tasks. Try as much as possible not to switch tasks without completing the first one.

3. Choose a specific working area in your house where you will be able to work on your tasks uninterrupted.

This is key in ensuring you stay focused and productive. Also try as much as possible to maintain the same working hours you have at the office.

require privacy and focus.

6. Train your children to be productive and disciplined Children tend to think they are on a normal school holiday. Consider having a timetable for them with various tasks to be achieved on a specific day. You can consider rewarding a child who has 4. Invest in an internet Connection During this time, you will be required to do been consistently productive and research on various assigned tasks and you disciplined. will also receive and send emails. There7. Exercise fore, you will need a reliable source of internet for you to carry Consider having exercise routines because you are staying indoors. You out various tasks online. can watch channels that air various 5. Discourage personal interruptions at work out shows and implement early in the morning or late in the evening. home In your normal working environment in office, you do not allow your friends and Working from home can be convenient colleagues to frequently interrupt you. To if you choose to. All you need to do is prevent intrusions into your work space, plan accordingly to make sure that all inform your friends that although the loca- your tasks are executed. tion of your job has changed, it is no differ- The author is the CEO, Username Investment ent from what you normally do and you still Limited.

March - April 2020 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I 13

DEC 2019 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I 21

INVERSK MAGAZINE

FOCUS - ONBOARDING

Everyone should use structured interviews here’s why

BY SIMON DESJARDINS

I

nterviews are often less predictive of on-the-job performance than we imagine yet despite their ubiquity, unstructured interviews where we ask candidates different questions in different sequences that may or may not be tied to job requirements have actually been universally debunked as an effective predictive technique.

The interview process is, vital to the hiring process, so how can we get better at it?

Structured interview 101 Decades of research tell us that using a “structured interview” is more than twice effective than its unstructured counterpart in predicting on-the-job performance, and even more so when combined with competency-based assessments. The evidence is clear, and yet it’s extremely rare to see structured interviews employed in practice.

The idea behind a structured interview is underpinned by the objective of keeping the interviewer focused on questions that can predict performance and reducing the variance of scoring that exists when different interviewers prioritize different attributes in a candidate. They are best suited to interviews for junior and mid-level roles involving multiple interviewers.

Anatomy of a structured interview - Candidates are asked the same questions, in the same order, by every interviewer.

- Questions are explicitly linked to key competencies required to do the job.

- A standard rating scale is used by interviewers to grade candidate answers.

- Interviewers agree in advance what they are looking for in a good answer.

When used correctly, the structured interview reduces the risk of bias affecting the interview outcome, increases consistency in ranking candidates, and minimises the interview time.

The key to using this concept effectively is crafting predictive questions and understanding that you’ll only have time to ask a few. Forcing ourselves to prioritize 14 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I March - April 2020

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STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS REDUCE THE RISK OF BIAS AFFECTING THE OUTCOME.

which two or three competencies actually drive 80 percent of the performance in a given role is a good place to start.

Reducing the time we spend on the interview process We often hear hesitancy to adopt structured interviews because they can be perceived to take more time. “We have to hire 50 people this month. We don’t have time to implement a new structure,” is a common justification.

Some may be surprised to learn that adopting a structured interview process actually reduces average interviewing time, particularly when more than one interviewer is involved.

This is achieved both by reducing the pre-interview preparation period (because the questions are already prepared and optimized for an efficient interview) and by reducing the time to make a final hiring decision (because interviewers are clear about what they’re looking for).

Pathway to building a predictive question bank Ultimately, building discipline around far more data collection throughout

the interview process will help move beyond improving just our “hire rate” to something valuable: improving the rate at which high performers are selected. Hasty bullets written in our notebooks from 6 months ago are all but impossible to link to the ultimate performance of a candidate down the line (“What did we ask her again?”). If we have consistent interview data — meaning which questions were asked and what the responses were — we can baseline those questions with their teams to identify which interview questions and corresponding answers are most predictive of identifying high performers.

We’ll also be able to pinpoint which questions are ultimately uncorrelated and can be dropped in the future.

Why are structured interviews so rarely used?

The ultimate benefits of a structured interview process can take months to materialize. Responsibilities are spread across multiple people on the team.

Half a year may have passed by the time the candidate has been on boarded and we’ve had a chance to evaluate performance. The original interview seems like a distant memory at this point. Taking a decision to adopt a structured interview process will probably require a push from senior management along with the commitment to enforcing the practice.

We often have a related challenge of convincing hiring manager colleagues to change their interviewing practices, particularly when our colleagues don’t necessarily perceive interviewing to be a process in need of fixing in the first place.

At Shortlist, we have worked with clients ranging from start-ups to large multinationals. We also design competency-based assessments to further enhance screening outcomes before a candidate even reaches the interview stage.

Simon is a Co-founder and Chief Customer Officer at Shortlist

INVERSK MAGAZINE

FOCUS - INFLUENCER MARKETING

Influencer Marketing is on the Rise, Fact! But here’s what no one is Talking About While becoming an influencer is about having a great following and influence, it is not all that which matters. A key aspect to getting the right influencer is ensuring that the influencer’s followers fall into your target audience.

BY ALICE NGATIA

C

ustomers hate advertising, that’s a fact! In a 2017 study by Ipsos Connect, 70% of consumers don’t trust advertising while 42% distrust brands.

A shortcoming of traditional advertising is that buyers have, in the recent past, increasing seen brands as part of the establishment and therefore ‘remote, unreachable, abstract and self-serving.’ Social media advertising have also not been left also, a report from the CMO Council notes that 63% of consumers would respond more positively to a social media ad if it appeared on a more traditional advertising channel.

What then should marketers do?

With the emergence of social media and social media celebrities, like tweeps, Facebook and Instagram bloggers, and YouTube stars, brands are now able to extend their reach to an all-new market and build organic growth, breaking into their customers circle of trust in a very natural way.

In Kenya today, especially on twitter, anyone with 5,000+ followers is calling themselves influencers. Most of the ‘new influencers,’ commonly referred as micro -influencers, have resulted to increasing influencer fraud with a new report noting that 2/3 of their respondents have experienced influencer fraud. However, it is not about the numbers! There’s more to it. Influencer marketing is all about establishing trust with your niche market.

While becoming an influencer is about having a great following and influence, it is not all that which matters. A key aspect to getting the right influencer is ensuring that the influencer’s followers fall into your target audience.

An important fact to consider is if your

“

INFLUENCER MARKETING IS ABOUT ESTABLISHING TRUST WITH YOUR NICHE MARKET.

product or service is relevant to the influencer’s niche and content focus and whether the influencer has a good understanding of what you’re offering and can present it in a way that shows a clear benefit to their audience.

Imagine what would happen if you spent a huge chunk of your budget on an influencer who is not part of your target market, does not understand your product/service, is not interested in it and his/he followers do not care about your product? Makes no sense.

That is why it is important to look at how many people are commenting and sharing on the influencers posts, whether any of them are automated and if the influencer is interactive with the audience.

Having said that, influencer marketing is currently the best way to

stimulate serious engagement and conversations around a brand or product to make a “buy” decision. When your brand is paired with the right personality, it can ignite a powerful conversation in business, gossip and magazine columns and seduce more and more followers translating to more leads and eventually, sales.

Just like a marriage with the right partner can ignite great magic in the home ; so can a ‘marriage’ between an influencer and a brand ignite powerful reactions from customers.

Have you engaged any influencer for your brand? How has your experience been like? I invite you to share your experiences with me on alice.ngatia@gmail.com.

Alice is a marketing enthusiast with 15+ years' experience in Marketing, Communications and Product Development.

March - April 2020 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I 15

Has BREXIT presented new dawn for the African Woman?

The UK has finally left the European Union (EU). In short, BREXIT happened on 31st January and now we are on POST BREXIT! After 47 years, this relationship has finally come to an end, or rather is it officially coming to an end? What lessons can the Africa woman learn from this?

BY PATIENCE NYANGE

16 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I March - April 2020

INVERSK MAGAZINE

OPINION - BREXIT

H

owdy? I am sending you greetings from Glasgow, Scotland. I am editing this article seated at the airport, on my way back to Cardiff. I am so excited that I have finally ticked off Scotland on my “Places to visit while in the UK.” It has been an amazing weekend. I have photos and great memories. I see people asking me to share about my trip to Scotland. Worry not, you will get all the details on my blog post next Monday. I have stories to tell. This time around I was determined not to spend all my cash on taxis. I used local transportation most of the time. However, I succumbed and used Uber, just a few times.

Breaking News! The UK has finally left the European Union (EU). In short, BREXIT happened on 31st January and now we are on POST BREXIT! After 47 years, this relationship has finally come to an end, or rather is it officially coming to an end? I can only imagine how tough this feels for those against and those for BREXIT. UK leaving the EU has seen two Prime Ministers; David Cameron and Theresa May resigning.

Any transition is challenging to deal with. Even for students like us who have been in the UK during BREXIT, we’ve had our anxieties to deal with.

I recently wrote about the UK-Africa Investment Summit held in London on 20th January, a key milestone towards the attainment of the UK’s objective of becoming the largest investor in Africa.

The Summit brought together at least 21 African countries in a bid to deepen

bilateral and multilateral relationships between Africa and the UK. Besides that, this meeting aimed at expanding potential investment opportunities in Government, private sector and the non-governmental sector.

As I reflected on the opportunities that BREXIT presents, I couldn’t help but think about the opportunities for the African woman. I see someone asking, why “African woman?” Well, I am very passionate about women and girls’ rights in Africa. I am truly interested in all or any opportunities that uplift the African woman. Opportunities that amplify the voice of African women.

As African women, we must jealously guard ourselves against mental slavery and support each other regardless of the countries we represent. Sharing is caring. It can change lives and open doors for others. If people understood this simple concept, Africa would truly change.

We must make #AfricaOnTheMove #AfricaRising our business. We must scout for opportunities and present ourselves for these opportunities.

Africa can develop its local manufacturing industries and Small and MediumSized Enterprises (SMEs) with the right investments and truly empower Africa women because when women are educated and are financially and economically empowered then, the entire continent benefits. The solutions for Africa’s restoration could be as simple as; 1. unity among African women 2. investing in women and youth 3. investing in infrastructure/local manufacturing 4. investment in renewable energy, biogas/solar 5. investing in agriculture innovation in greenhouse farming/ Aquaponics / Hydroponic farming and 6. recycling for development.

I am a firm believer that African women and women in general are the catalyst for change /peace development which means, without African women at the dialogue or decision-making table, Africa cannot move forward. We need women in the social/economic context of Africa’s future and development.

It gets said over and over “For too long the black woman has endured systematic racism, abuse, negative stereotypes from the media, and blatant disrespect.”

I believe every woman alive now, must correct this narrative. We are not our ancestors.

This is too tired a narrative to throw around in 2020. We must start looking at women as the driving force of social entrepreneurship in Africa. We must be deliberate about setting up investment opportunities that target women, even in areas that seem complicated and male-dominated. Think about opportunities in the recycling industry which can impact communities, clean the

environment and create generational wealth therefore, lifting many African women out of poverty.

As African women, we must start celebrating each other’s achievements.

We must say NO to the continuous fragmentation of the ‘women species.’

Look at the many WhatsApp groups we find ourselves in. How many groups do you belong to as a woman? Woman over/below 40, married women only, single women, divorced women only, women in complicated relationships, women without children, women raising girls only, women raising boys only, women entrepreneurs, women with weaves, women with natural hair, women lawyers, women journalists, widows, light-skinned women only, dark complexion women, women in their 2nd and 3rd marriages, saved women only, feminists, women this and that. Someone somewhere is benefiting out of this fragmentation while we sit here and justify it “You see, we must belong to a group where we understand ourselves based on the issues we are going through as women”. This is the greatest lie I have had to contend with at my age.

Well, just because you are a parent, doesn’t mean you all share the same parenthood experiences and situations.

Just because you are light-skinned, it doesn’t mean it feels the same for all other light-skinned women. Why should anyone, in their right- frame of mind consider lumping light-skinned women in one group and claim, we have oppression to deal with. Everyone thinks we are blonde, and our light skin is the only thing we can bring to the table. Wow! Please do not add me to any group that belongs to any women fragmentation. The more we do this, the more we disintegrate women tribe and then it becomes harder to unite women, especially women in Africa.

Africa is not poor. Our lack of unity is our greatest deal breaker. Our lack of respect for each other, lack of respect and dignity for African women/the African girl child is our greatest setback.

Bob Marley said ‘Africa unite for the betterment of your people’.

This decade is time for Africa to rise especially African women. “Show yourself Africa” I dream of an African movement that will showcase African innovations and excellence, aimed at empowering women and fostering their growth while creating wealth and employment for youth.

Shall we take advantage of BREXIT and dream again? Shall we make women the center of our conversations? Shall we be deliberate about their inclusion? Shall we?

Patience is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in International Public Relations and Global Communication Management at Cardiff University. She is a council Member at Media Council of Kenya, PR Practitioner and a Human Rights Enthusiast., Reach her via nyangep@gmail.com March - April 2020 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I 17

Mindful Leadership:

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Team At the core of self-awareness for leaders is that they understand the impact their behaviour has on others. To what extent do other people notice you asking for feedback on how you approach things? How would you do if you had to compare to how they see you and how you perceive yourself?

By DERECK BBANGA

18 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I March - April 2020

2 I INVERSK MAGAZINE July 2019

INVERSK MAGAZINE

Photo from Freepik.com

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n a recent study, when asked, “What are the top issues you face at work?” leaders said that 76% are on the people or relational side. You may not have anyone reporting to you but whether you're an entrepreneur or a manager in an organisation, you have to inspire your team or clients. Leaders who practice mindfulness, and apply mindful techniques to their leadership of others, are better equipped to cope with everyday leadership challenges and create high performance in others.

When you're mindful you’re able to both observe and participate in each moment of any action you take while recognizing the implications of those actions for the longer term.

The start of being a mindful leader is self-awareness which is the ability to be aware of your own emotions, moods and feelings and the way they are impacting you. Self-awareness leads to self-confidence and self-confidence leads to success. A quote from the book Competent Manager says "Among supervisors, managers and executives a high degree of self-confidence distinguishes the best from average performers."

The self-confidence I’m referring to is not arrogance or cockiness, it's much more about feeing that whatever situation I go into, I'll be okay. And the only way you can know that you'll be okay, is if you know yourself well enough to be able to predict what that will be like.

The first component of selfconfidence is self-assessment - what are my preferences, my likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses. It's important so that going into situations that are going to be challenging, you know to prepare. The second component is emotional awareness. If emotions affect us so dramatically, then we have to know what's going on inside us and to be aware of our internal state and intuitions.

At the core of self-awareness for leaders is that they understand the impact their behaviour has on others.

Another two critical points in mindful leadership is to what extent do others perceive that you (the leader), is aware of your own strengths and limitations.

Also, to what extent do other people notice you asking other people for feedback on how you approach things.

How would you do if you had to compare to how they see you and how you perceive yourself? There is a German expression - awareness is curative. Just knowing something is curative. Just having an awareness of your limitations moves you toward protecting yourself against them.

Emotional awareness is very important for mindful leaders.

Emotional awareness is demonstrating an awareness of your moods and emotions. Emotions are physiological responses that arise in response to an external stimulus. Mindful leadership is about noticing those emotions as they are arising, so that when somebody says something that upsets you, you're

“

LEADERSHIP - EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

TO UNDERSTAND WHAT'S MEANINGFUL FOR OTHERS, YOU NEED TO FIND OUT WHAT'S MEANINGFUL FOR YOURSELF.

tuned in to your body and you're aware of your emotional state changing. In fact, bodily sensations are easier to be aware of, so you can use them as a gut check in your emotions. The difference between pictures taken with the Nokia N76 in 2007 and today's iPhone X is data. The iPhone has many more megapixels giving tiny bits of information from the image taken but they all add up to give a higher resolution as compared to the old Nokia with much less megapixels and data and hence much fewer sharper images.

Similarly, with emotions, the more you notice your emotions rising in you, the more pieces of data you have, the greater your emotional resolution - more awareness of your emotions.

Did you know the average person has approximately 15,000 thoughts a day and of these about 7500 are negative thoughts or about 5 negative thoughts per minute. Each of those thoughts evoke an emotional reaction although most of them you do not notice as they go on beneath the surface.

But sometimes you might be sitting in a meeting with your colleagues at work and suddenly your mood falls off a cliff. It could be a reaction to one of those emotions that are going on in the background that are triggered by one of the 7500 negative thoughts you have.

We respond physiologically to these emotions and that affects our mood.

So how can mindful leaders inspire performance in others? Well you have to understand those others purpose and contribution and what work is meaningful to them. And in order to understand what's meaningful for others, you need to find out what's meaningful for yourself.

When you figure out how to create a vision that inspires you, what makes your own work meaningful and gives it purpose, it's only then that you can inspire others. On his deathbed, Steve Jobs said "Knowing you are going to die releases you from the burden of thinking I cannot follow my heart and create a vision of who I truly want to be." He wished he had followed this philosophy his whole life.

To become a more mindful leader; 1. Reflect on feelings when making decisions 2. Ask others how they feel about potential solutions to problems.

3. Consider issues from multiple perspectives.

4. Be aware of biases in decision-making (e.g., women aren’t’t as good as men at dealing with certain issues).

A flood of research is increasingly proving that a company’s people are the differentiating factor. Mindfulness is all about “people smarts” – it's about relating to yourself and others. In difficult times, the soft stuff often goes away. But being mindful, it turns out, isn’t so soft and lack thereof can jeopardise your ability to perform, or be compassionate in a crisis. It isn’t a luxury you can dispense with in tough times. At the end of the day, mindful leaders have employees who perform better, suffer less burnout and have more satisfied people working for them.

Derek Bbanga is a Certified Emotional Intelligence Practitioner with Genos International teaching emotional intelligence in the workplace. You can reach him on derek.bbanga@publicimageafrica.com March - April 2020 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I 19

INVERSK MAGAZINE

The Dilemma of Aspiring Entrepreneurs

BY MORAA MICHIRA

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sk any campus student in their third or fourth year what they would like to do with their lives after campus and the majority of them will say they would like to run their own entrepreneurial venture. This is more so very true for those who have done Bachelor of Commerce, Engineering and Law. These youngsters

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dream of creating their own companies.

Fast forward to a few years after campus and the version of the story will have changed. First, 90% of them will be caught up in an eight-to-five job, complaining about their job but not quitting any time soon. Ask them what happened to their entrepreneurial dream and they will sight being realistic as an excuse.

The truth of the matter is that these changes of focus happen because of several reasons. For instance, Richard cleared campus in 2014 and graduated the same year with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. As he did not have a relative in Nairobi, it prompted him to rent a house of his own along Thika Road.

His parents did not support him financially so he had to look for a way of fending for himself. He started off by working in the county government office as an intern for six months just to gain experience. The internship was non-paying so he had to do online writing to pay his rent and buy food.

Christine, also another aspiring entrepreneur, cleared campus with Law degree. She was quite adamant about how lined up her career path was. After clearing the campus, she was offered a job in one of the leading audit firms in Kenya.

“Self-employment is such a hustle if you think of it. At least here I am assured of a steady and comfortable income at the end of the month,” she remarks.

Moreover, there are those who abandon their dreams because they are afraid of the uncertainties of entrepreneurship. “What if the business does not pick up and I lose all the money I had invested? “asks Damaris, a recent graduate from the university who is working for an advertising firm.

Back in college our Entrepreneurship lecturer kept telling us, “Do not be like me. Go out there and create jobs. Do not go to the marketplace seeking jobs.” Then he would proceed to tell us a story about many of his friends who decided to pursue their own businesses and how well they are doing now. The way he said it, you would not like to be in his shoes in the future telling your students the story. Instead, you would rather be the one the story is about. But then we kept wondering why he did not quit already and pursue a business of his own. Well, I never got the answer, I just knew which side of the story I want to be.

From the foregoing, there are many reasons the Kenyan graduates fail to follow up with their ventures. Some have ideas but they do not know how to implement them. Such are the ones who require business mentors. These can guide them through the first steps of actualizing their goals.

When someone has a mentor, they have the confidence that their steps have an overseer. These mentors also keep them accountable of the things they had planned seeing to it that they implement reasonable changes along the way without deviating from their ultimate goals.

For the likes of Richard that must meet their basic needs first before venturing into entrepreneurship, it would have been such a relief if the government would offer unemployment allowance. These people would at least get the time to think about their business ideas and implement them instead of wondering what to tell the landlord at the end of the month.

For the risk-averse, there are many workshops around Nairobi such as the Young Entrepreneurs (Ye) Community whereby entrepreneurs are empowered and given the opportunity to network with likeminded people. It is at these forums that one can get to learn what others did to get to where they are. Having attended one of these YE community events, many young people have great ideas which they are willing to share and brainstorm with others.

It therefore takes the initiative of the young people to look wide and find out which events are happening where entrepreneurs can network and avail themselves. In short, those who make it in this arena are the bold, the go-getters and those who do not get complacent because of the comforts brought about by present comforts. Some of these events cost money to attend but when you look at the end game, they are worth the money and the time as Richard Kiyosaki explains in his book Rich Dad, Poor Dad. At the end of the day, determination, hard work, and persistence will differentiate the entrepreneur from those who give up on their courses. When you know that no matter how much longer you stay in that office, all the profit will be assigned by you that is when entrepreneurship pays off.

Moraa Michira is a recent graduate of the University of Nairobi and a Marketing Consultant March - April 2020 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I 21

From Obsession to Empire A Behind-The-Scenes Look at How Expeditions Maasai Safaris' Pancras Karema Built a Household Brand from a Mere Obsession

By KIMANI PATRICK 22 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I March - April 2020

INVERSK MAGAZINE

COVER STORY

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ntrepreneur Pancras Karema is not taking chances or stopping at anything until he wins.

The University of Nairobi Tourism Graduate has transformed his high school obsession into a household name in the Kenyan tour industry within 5 years – with two offices in Nairobi, one in Mombasa, 50 employees and thousands of customers travelling all over the world. His greatest ambition is to build Africa’s first unicorn in the tour industry.

Karema will do whatever it takes to win, from risking long working hours to deliver to his promise to making clients believe he is good at what he does, the blazing entrepreneur is an ambitious provocateur with a laser like focus and key attention to details.

On the Christmas eve of 2019, I sat with him at the Westlands based Movenpick Hotel for a feature interview for Inversk.

Our one-hour meeting ended at midnight, lasting 5 hours.

His success story dates back to his childhood days. Being the first born in a family of 3, Karema had to take care of his younger siblings by showing them direction and guiding them on the right choices to make in becoming responsible humans, an experience that taught him “people are different and you have to be patient when dealing with them. I learnt how to be a good and responsible leader. Skills that I still apply to this day.”

His mother is a former teacher turned housewife and his father is a lecturer at the University of Nairobi. Being teachers, the parents were strict disciplinarians. “My dad was very tough on us in terms of undertaking studies and working hard. He taught us how to dream big, be responsible, how to know exactly what we want in life and planning on how to achieve it and remain focused until we get it.”

Karema never had a role model.

Everyone he knew in the village was either a teacher, a drunkard or both. “This is not the life I wanted.”

Determined to change the narrative and inspire young people in his village, Karema developed curiosity to learn about everything and anything.

From football, politics and entrepreneurship, Karema wanted to know what makes people different. And with his father’s newspapers and local library materials, Karema read about people like Michuki, Peter Munga, James Mwangi, Richard Branson who hit headlines on different matters in business. “I wanted to know how they think and make decisions.”

“People also used me as their source of information and I definitely had to read more and get all facts concerning a particular subject.” He says.

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THIS IS THE ONLY JOB I HAVE EVER HAD.

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Eunice understood how tough entrepreneurial landscape is for starters and hence spent months doing research to establish what customer pain points were and what exactly they needed in order to buy insurance. Also, she ensured she had saved enough money for one-year expenses, both personal and hew new found baby.

Armed with this readiness and the vision is to enable customers to access insurance and investment services in a transparent, convenient, and friendly manner, she jumped off the ship, to a journey to the unknown. Something she does not regret at all.

In July 2017, Bismart was launched – a supermarket for insurance products; a platform where customers can compare benefits, exclusions and prices for different products offered by Insurance firms.

To start with, Eunice leveraged on her network and partnered with 13 leading insurance companies in Kenya. Today, she is happy that tens of customers log on to the web-based platform to compare the policies offered by these companies.

At school, Karema was an average student and sometimes a headache to teachers. He studied at Ontulili Secondary school, located at the foot of Mount Kenya.

On Saturdays, he could lead a troop of boys into the forest for adventure.

While this got him into trouble, he saw it as the best way to get out of the boring-confined school life. He needed to swim, meet animals and explore.

What he or his friends didn’t know was that he (Karema) was preparing himself for his future life – building a tour company.

The tale of how Karema built his company to where he is today is rather intriguing, “this is the only job I have ever had.”

When he enrolled for his BA degree at the University of Nairobi, Karema started helping friends go for hikes and adventures. Something that made him popular. “Everyone came to me to help them because they heard what I was doing.” They nicknamed him ‘the organiser.’ “We referred our outings as ‘expeditions’ because all we wanted was to go out and have fun.” No one knew this could later become his company name.

Owing to his attention to details and reputation to delivering good results, people from outside campus also reached to him and asked he could help them organize a hike or team building activity. Something he did at a fee.

In 2015 after clearing his studies, Karema registered Expedition Maasai Safaris. “I still resided in the campus hostels and my income was too little to

a one-stop shop.” Eunice says.

Bismart’s portal leverages blockchain technology "Smart-Contracts" to facilitate the management of policies and benefit from the security of decentralized databases.

The firm brilliantly solves the problem of creating a pan-African distribution channel by "disrupting" the insurance value chain, from acquiring customers to risk management.

By implementing technologically assisted smart contracts, Bismart is increasing transparency and efficiency in claims processing and thereby address the primary barriers to insurance and financial services adoption.

Through the portal, one is able to complete paper work and get a cover within 3 hours of submission.

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WITH COMMIT KIDOGO KIDOGO, ANYONE CAN TRAVEL AND PAY IN INSTALMENTS

sustain me.” He could later be joined by a childhood friend with whom they rented a hostel in Ngara and a small office near City Market. “Our office rent was Ksh 7,000 and we had one laptop which we used in turns.”

Their marketing strategy involved handing company fliers to strangers in town, social media hyping and referrals from clients who had been satisfied from their services. “People used to listen to us and some could trust us to do business with us. We had so many customers but the revenues were so little and no profits.

We were struggling.”

The big break came in September 2016 when Expedition Maasai Safaris got nominated for Biz Yangu award at the Soma Awards. “It was a small award compared to other award categories, but we needed it. We did all we could to created online campaigns and asked for votes.”

Surprisingly, despite competing with big brands, their company won the award and also crowned company of the year Award. “This was a miracle for us because we had not envisioned it. It opened doors for us to the media and ultimately to the corporate world.”

The award came as a validation for Karema’s hard work. It also gave them credibility for their work and corporate companies started working with them.

Today, Expedition Maasai Safaris is the leading among the few credible One Stop Holiday shops in Kenya.

Driven by affordability customer-first approach (Professional teammates who are patient and go out of the way to ensure customers get satisfied), the company’s flexible Commit Kidogo Kidogo and the fact that Expenditions is the only Kenyan tour company with a Visible and concrete CSR program. I was impressed to learn they have been supporting needy students through the Affecto Foundation as part of their commitment. In addition, the Karema mentioned they offer a fully paid holiday to 5 less privileged students who are performing well each academic term.

While the journey seems blissful in its making, the journey has been tough for Karema. “Being a young person is a challenge by itself. No one wants to do business with you or better yet believe that you can deliver what you promise.”

With only 10% of whole world’s population travelling, Kerema believes the opportunity is big for him and he’s just started scratching the surface. The company have so far grown to have 3 outlets; two in Nairobi and one in Mombasa.

To know a genuine a tour company, Karema advices you to “do your own research. Search on the internet about the company, the Facebook reviews, photos of people who have travelled with the company. Inbox a random person who have travelled with the company and ask them about their service they experienced.”

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INVERSK MAGAZINE

COVER STORY

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What Lessons can we learn from Pancras Karema’s Story?

1. To build a successful company like he has done, Karema advices that one must to learn how to live with people. "You have to be very good with people. People can build or destroy you.”

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1. Pancras with The MD Lawrence Ndegea at Windsor Golf club 2. During Digital excellence awards at Intercontinental Hotel 3. With our Marketing Manager Joseph Dubois & Affecto foundation beneficiaries in one of their tour to Masai Mara catered by Expeditions Maasai Safaris

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4. With the part of management team receiving the award after Expeditions Maasai Safaris was crowned The best tours and travel company in use of Technology.

5. Pancras Karema, Expeditions Maasai Safaris Chairman Kavit Shah and Lawrence Gitonga (MD) pose with the SME of the Year Award

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2. Avoid debts like a plague. If you have other people’s debt, they will bad mouth you. Even if you owe someone Ksh 10, pay and go. Better be left with no money and no debt. That is the only way you will be able to budget with what you have.”

3. Pay your suppliers on time. If you do not have suppliers and you cannot stand on your own, they will let you down.

4. Be consistent and focused at what you do. Find one thing you can do and remain at it no matter what your friends tell you or how many opportunities come your way.

5. Be honest with your customers. Do not promise what you cannot deliver. When you deliver to your customers satisfaction, you earn their trust and they will refer you to their friends. These people also become your evangelists and fight for you in your absence. With trust, you can get anything you need.

6. Do your research well. Even with people you want to partner with such as suppliers, you need to know their background. A deal can turn sour and you end up losing your customers money in wrong hands thereby destroying your reputation.

7. Maintain a good online personal brand.

Let everything about you be consistent and easy to find on your social media pages.

Employers and contractors secretly visit your social media accounts and pages to see they type of person or company you are and what you are up to. A wrong post or inconsistency in what you share can deny you an opportunity.

Kimani a Kenyan Entrepreneur, CEO of Carlstic Group and Executive Editor for Inversk Magazine.

He is passionate about supporting entrepreneurs, small businesses, innovation, and the growth of the African continent.

Reach him on kp@carlstic.com

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INVERSK MAGAZINE

RISING STAR

South Africa's 12-Year-Old Stacey Fru Wins Global Child Prodigy Award 2020 for Multiple World Records As many children around the world were celebrating the festive season, South Africa’s 12-year-old Stacey Fru was off to New Delhi where she made South Africa and Africa in general proud by receiving the Global Child Prodigy Awards in the category of Writing.

BY INVERSK TEAM

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tacey holds the quadruple record of writing her first book at age 7, Youngest African Writer of Chapter books, Youngest African Author of 5 Books and Youngest African (possibly world) Writer to get book translated into both audio and text Braille.

Speaking at the ceremony, Stacey extends her gratitude to the unknown person who nominated her for this prestigious award, adding that, “I feel proud for the organisers for such an initiative. I feel grateful to be representing myself, my family, my province, my country and my continent. This is big for me, for a girl child and for African children.”

Global Child Prodigy Awards (GCPA) is a unified platform that recognises extraordinary child prodigies who deserve to gain recognition at global level. This year’s inaugural grand event was held at the Ashok Hotel in New Delhi on the January 3rd, 2020, where 100 child prodigies from 18 countries were honoured. The Top 100 selected child prodigies chosen from 15, 000 entries from 45 countries, in different categories; dancing, music, arts, writing, acting, modelling, science, innovation, sports, etc. will also be featured in Global Child

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THIS IS BIG FOR ME, FOR A GIRL CHILD AND FOR AFRICAN CHILDREN

Prodigy Award Book which was released on the 30th of January 2020.

Amongst the many who graced the event was Nobel Peace Laureate Dr. Kailash Satyarthi, Dr. APJ Abdul of Kalam International Foundation, Oscar winning music director AR Rahman, Princesses, State Ministers, Member of Parliament, Ambassadors and High Commissioners, Celebrities and Media.

Why Stacey Fru? Stacey was the youngest writer on the continent, if not the world, who wrote her first book titled Smelly Cats at the age of 7 without her parents’ knowledge. Published in June 2015, Smelly Cats saw Stacey creating many records. She is the youngest author whose book has been recommended as supplementary reading material for early childhood and primary schools by the South African Department of Basic Education.

Stacey is the youngest African (if not global) writer whose book has been translated to Braille in both audio and text. Stacey is also the youngest writer of the story of choice for Blind SA’s World Read-Aloud Day celebration for February 2020.

Over the years, Stacey has positioned herself as the worlds’ only youngest bestselling international multiple award-winning author of chapter books, activist on literacy, safety and security, philanthropist, mentor/ coach, public speaker, chair/ facilitator, brands ambassador and public speaker. She runs a foundation called The Stacey Fru Foundation.

Through her foundation, Stacey gives to underprivileged and inaccessible children in forms of books, clothing, computers, food, learning sessions, etc. together with her many education projects, Stacey uses her online television channel @CTVSA to educate children and adults alike about the African continent and the world. As a recipient of over 18 recognitions and awards, this child prodigy hosts an Annual AfrICAN Children of The Year Awards every first Saturday of November in South Africa, where she joins UNICEF to celebrate World Children’s Day by awarding children ages 7 to 13 from across the African continent who are making a difference in the communities. Stacey is a guitarist and a ballerina.

Stacey continues to write. Her published books are; - Smelly Cats (Published in 2015), - Bob and the Snake (Published in 2016), - Smelly Cats on Vacation (Published in 2018), Where is Tammy (Published in 2019), Tim's Answer (Published in 2019).

We wish Stacey and other winners the best for 2020 and beyond. You can see more works and projects of both Stacey and her foundation on all social media @staceyfru.

INVERSK MAGAZINE

THOUGHTS

Invest in the Future of African Child A lot has changed in the society we live in and the old expectation that children are insurance for the future is quickly disappearing in the smog.

BY BY GEORGE WACHIURI

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he child of today is nothing compared to those who consider themselves adults in 2019. The race is on in life for parents to create a better future for their children and those who have caught the wave understand all too well that the compass has moved and so must our strategy as parents.

Take the example of a parent who retired in the 1980s with a golden handshake. Such a parent would gladly use their pension funds and savings if they had some to go back to the ancestral land and demand their rightful inheritance then build a decent house and settle to enjoy their sunset years.

Such a parent would probably have two grown sons and one grown daughter waiting to clear campus, take on a new job with a multi-national company and another seeking to go abroad to further their studies on government sponsorship. Of course, the wife in this family would probably be in their last few years in employment with a parastatal and working towards planning their sunset years enjoying the labor of their investment – in their children whom they expect will now move to take care of their parents in old age.

Take a step back and look at the picture of this family in 2020 when the parents have put down their tools of the trade and moved to their villages. Only this time, none of the children has time to visit with the parents who spent their all to ensure their children settle in life George Wachiuri is a Kenyan Entrepreneur, Published Author, Philanthro- more swiftly and sweetly at that.

The married are haggling with life in pist, Youth Empowerment Enthusiast, Africa Business Award winner, a Family man and the only way they know – with the high CEO for Optiven Group. cost of living, and their own responsibilities to take care of, little time or Email him at george@optiven.co.ke resource is left for the parents. Talk of

The parents' needs for social support, health care, and any other support which though welcome seldom is available.

In worst-case scenarios, it is parents like these that are left to fend for themselves knowing their back up plan was their children who are not available. A result is a bitter group of parents who blame their children for neglecting them despite having educated them and given them a good upbringing.

Such scenarios have been the norm rather than the exception in many parts of the country leaving some parents literally destitute while others have become too bitter to live, opting instead for alcohol, drugs and worst of all – suicide.

Truth be told many of us have seen that scenario play right before our eyes. Others among us have even been victims of a situation like this yet others are currently in the same position currently. The question then, what are you doing about it?

A victim who witnessed his father fall into depression because of being neglected decided to take matters into his own hands and did something about the situation. While his age mates were busy doing the same things their parents did, he decided to make a strategic investment to buy land for themselves.

A new offer had been introduced by Optiven Limited targeting the youth with affordable repayment plans and the gentleman decided to begin the journey. And as the saying goes a journey of 1000 miles begins with one step, the gentleman now heading to retirement did not just invest for himself but for his two daughters and his wife.

March - April 2020 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I 29

Big Dreams and the Long Road for Martin Kibote For all of Martin Kibote’s achievements over the past 7 years, the founder of Mediabox Advertising believes in keeping his feet on the ground and having a clear vision for the future.

In 7 years, Martin has transformed Mediabox Advertising’s simple idea to one of East Africa’s most trusted advertising agencies among blue-chip companies and SMEs in the region.

BY KIMANI PATRICK

22 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I March - April 2020

March - April 2020 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I 23

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ENTREPRENEURS

T

o start with, Martin Kibote may seem like just another down-to -earth lad, but don’t be fooled.

The 29-year-old Murang’a native is smart as they come.

He’s also a lifelong learner who learns from his own mistakes, reading books, watching Youtube videos, benchmarking, attending industry forums and events. He also boasts to have strong mentors around him.

His departure, however, was not one of a kind – “it was out of desperation,” he says. He’d just secured a greener pasture in September 2011 to work as a marketing executive at an agency. That required him to give two weeks’ notice to his then-employer.

So how did the Murang’a born son skyrocket East Africa’s go-to advertising agency from his humble backpack into the big league without a college education?

When the two weeks’ notice period expired, Martin packed from his boss to start a career in a company of his dream – which also offered better pay. This was not to happen. On his reporting day, HR asked him to go home and wait to be called. The MD (who was to sign the employment letter) was away and Martin had to wait till he’s back.

The wait was longer than expected until today “I’m still waiting for the call.” Martin says. “That is how I lost my job.”

“For days, I could pass by and camp at the station where I was supposed to work, to familiarize myself with my colleagues and work environment.”

After two weeks of follow-ups, nothing was forthcoming. His emails and calls went answered. It is then that Martin decided to go and do his stuff. “I had a wife and a child at home who required my support.

There was no way I could continue waiting to be called.”

Luckily for Martin, he had worked as a marketing executive in advertising, branding, and printing for two and a half years.

Clients from his previous employment could call him for projects which he executed on freelance. “That is how I started, working from home and with zero capital.”

The First Break

A couple of weeks after losing his job, someone from Turkey wanted to run a media campaign in Kenya and needed someone to organize that for him. A friend vouched for Martin. They met at Hilton.

At the meeting, Martin was brutally honest. He confessed that he’d left his previous employment and was now working on freelance. Surprisingly, the client didn’t mind about that. “As long as you deliver, we don’t care.” Martin got the job.

“I did the billboards, booked TV adverts and newspaper adverts and the client was very happy.”

The margin from the project was good enough to afford Martin his bills for two months as well as allow him time to brainstorm. It was then that he decided to dip his two legs and venture on his own. He registered Mediabox Advertising in November 2011.

The Growing Pains

As many startup CEOs attest, certain 32 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I March - April 2020

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AS LONG AS YOU DELIVER, WE DON’T CARE - MARTIN KIBOTE

growing pains are par for the course when your business starts.

For Martin, growing from a briefcase business to set up his office was not easy. Initially, everything was done from a cybercafé – to print quotations, invoices, delivery notes et cetera. All he needed was to design them from his mini laptop and go to print. He could also joyride at his friends in their offices in Nairobi’s downtown.

His first office was co-shared with a friend in Westlands in January 2012.

The friend gave Martin a work station at a cost of Ksh 10,000 a month. For the amount, he could get the work station, internet and cleaning services.

The office did not last for long. The friend who had shared the office closed after a disagreement with his business partner. Martin went home for two more months.

While this happened, his business was also growing and he decided to get his own office. It was at this point Martin also decided to hire a first employee – an administrative assistant. This move allowed him to delegate some of the administrative tasks so he could concentrate on building the businesses.

On the marketing bit, referrals from the clients he’d worked with came in handy. “I had also created rapport with my suppliers and they could supply for me on credit as we wait for the client to pay.”

To keep costs to the lean side, he started with contractors and casual workers whom he could hire and pay based on a need basis

Taking off some chips,

According to Martin, who has now grown his business from zero to 15 full-time employees, working with people you know well and hiring on a need basis is the perfect recipe for ensuring business success.

Martin also advises that “when you’re hiring someone, you need to first understand their background and also the needs to be filled in your company. There has to be a perfect match between the two.”

For Mediabox, Martin employs people he has worked with or those he has nurtured in his firm as interns. This guarantees that they understand the industry well and also, he is assured of their capabilities. It also assures him that they will be loyal to the brand he has worked hard to build and deliver to its promise.

To advance his skills and knowledge, Martin has taken short courses in Marketing, Brand Communications and Advertising courses. He is a Diploma in Marketing practitioner with Marketing Society of Kenya, Brand Communications and Advertising with International Schools of Advertising and a graduate of the Entrepreneurship Advanced Program with ISBI Strathmore business School. Currently, Martin is pursuing a BSc in International Business Administration - Marketing at USIU Africa.

Martin attributes his company’s success (which now has a workshop in Nairobi downtown and an agency office in Westlands), can be attributed to being frugal, resilient, constant learning and having a strong vision.

“And this is just the beginning,” He says.

Mediabox has since grown beyond itself and is privileged to have clients such as Darling, MoneyGram Ea, Barcadi Martini, Heineken East Africa, Loreal, Airtel, Bosch, Viva Global, Local and International Ad and Event agencies, and many others.

For Martin, his story has just started. He recently opened Arclivin Property Group Limited (APG), a 360° real estate agency to serve the growing property market in Africa.

Financial Matters at Work Lead to Low Productivity Financial stress significantly affects employee mental and physical well-being. This translates into higher health-related costs and significantly reduces productivity.

BY HENRY OZIANYI

P

hilip was a brilliant employee.

In his heydays, during the end of month reporting, he would hop from desk to desk assisting his other graduate colleagues to complete their report schedules, his being a non-graduate notwithstanding.

Then, he all of a sudden started having too many visitors. There would be people waiting for him at the reception when he is turning up for work, others calling him on phone and others waiting for him during his numerous cigarettes breaks that kept increasing.

In fact, this was happening around the same time when the government passed the no smoking zone rules and all areas in our organization were declared non-smoking zones. Smokers had to troop out into the street and into the designated county smoking zones.

He was an easy target; the visitors knew that he must come out in less than two hours to go and have his puff.

Fast forward, in less than 2 years, he had lost his job and sitting with him a few months before his eventual demise last year because of drug abuse-related complications, his story was sad as it was a learning point for me.

34 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I March - April 2020

Many employees are struggling financially and statistics show that 80% of workers are living paycheck-topaycheck. That causes them financial stress and creates problems for employers as well.

Whether its car payments, mortgage/rent payments, credit card debt, an unexpected expense or some other financial matter that they are worried about, employees are spending time at work on these issues rather than concentrating on the job they are being paid to do.

Philip started off as a contractor and worked his way up to the rank of a manager in 7 years. At the junior levels, he held his expenses and was comfortable and happy. “My problems started when I became a manager. Other employees looked up to me and I had to look the part. I decided to get a car on loan and moved to a 2 bedroomed house in South B. My expenses just tripled. In addition, a lady I had been eyeing got close to me and I had to act that boyfriend of power�, an intoxicated Philip told me between sips of his favourite Pilsner. “This meant that I had to start borrowing. Gradually, paying back required that I borrow from someone

Eunice understood how tough entrepreneurial landscape is for starters and hence spent months doing research to establish what customer pain points were and what exactly they needed in order to buy insurance. Also, she ensured she had saved enough money for one-year expenses, both personal and hew new found baby.

Armed with this readiness and the vision is to enable customers to access insurance and investment services in a transparent, convenient, and friendly manner, she jumped off the ship, to a journey to the unknown. Something she does not regret at all.

In July 2017, Bismart was launched – a supermarket for insurance products; a platform where customers can compare benefits, exclusions and prices for different products offered by Insurance firms.

To start with, Eunice leveraged on her network and partnered with 13 leading insurance companies in Kenya. Today, she is happy that tens of customers log on to the web-based platform to compare the policies offered by these companies.

a one-stop shop.” Eunice says.

Bismart’s portal leverages blockchain technology "Smart-Contracts" to facilitate the management of policies and benefit from the security of decentralized databases.

The firm brilliantly solves the problem of creating a pan-African distribution channel by "disrupting" the insurance value chain, from acquiring customers to risk management.

By implementing technologically assisted smart contracts, Bismart is increasing to pay another one. In no time, my transparency andelse efficiency in claims processing salary was not able to cater for the and thereby address theand primary barriers to I was interest all over a sudden, insurance and financial services drowning in debt. adoption.

Sometimes I had to sneak outisofable the office or absent myself Through the portal, one to complete completely inwithin order to3get awayof from a paper work and get a cover hours nagging shylock. I hid this from my submission. girlfriend who worked with me in the

“

same organization.

In no time I had no time to complete my work at work or I just could not get myself to think about work. I kept worrying and wondering which of my creditors had come for me and I felt suspicious all the time. I resorted to drinking local brews to help me with my panic attacks because they were cheap.

My girl eventually learned of my problems from prying colleagues and left me, exacerbating the situation. I eventually was fired.”

Philip is not alone, In fact, according to Price Water-house Coopers PwC’s 2018 Employee Financial Wellness Survey, some 43 percent of employees spend three or more hours each week in the office thinking about or dealing with their personal financial issues.

That’s 150 hours of lost productivity per year per employee who is sidetracked from doing their work because of financial stress.

Financially stressed employees are often; 1. Absent from work frequently feigning sick or genuinely using sick leave and leave days to stay away.

2. Less productive. Although employees are physically at work, they spend time on activities unrelated to their jobs, such as managing creditors.

3. Having health concerns. Constant financial stress leads to health issues which leads to lower productivity and poor quality of work. This brings higher health costs both to the employee and the employer.

4. Having foul Mood at work. Distress over financial matters can contribute to irritability, anger, fatigue and sleeplessness.

5. Having work conflicts. Tardiness, incomplete work tasks, and accidents result when workers’ personal issues interfere with their job performance.

March - April 2020 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I 35

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FINANCE MATTERS

How to spot a financially stressed employee?

Common signs that occur in the workplace may be signals to employers of a financially-stressed employee include maxing on loans and frequently topping up on their loans, Frequently asking for payday Advances and u Unplanned leave Like Philip, an employee who keeps asking emergency leave could be hiding from creditors or does not have money to handle unexpected expenses like a broken-down car.

The inability of an employee to handle preventable medical issues like dental check-ups etc. that then blows up into large medical issues. This could have been avoided through preventive care that was unattainable because the employee was broke.

Today’s employees need to have financial literacy.

Financial literacy is the ability to manage expenses and make everyday life affordable by making their money do more – following a monthly budget, being wise shoppers and taking advantage of employer-offered financial wellness tools and voluntary benefits.

Financial Education does not have to be complicated or expensive, focus on finding an advisor with a sincere desire to help others and an interest in demystifying the world of saving and investing. Then, let their expertise bring added value to your plan and your employees because when employers help employees with their financial wellness, it pays off in less stressed employees who are more productive workers who are able to increase their employers’ bottom line.

7 Ways managers can help financially stressed employees; 1. Financial education; by scheduling financial education in their annual employee welfare activities, this education can help staff with money management including budgeting, saving, investing and debt reduction. In order to be effective, however, financial education at work needs to be more than just an information session that only outlines the features of the workplace savings plan and offers instructions on how to complete the necessary paperwork. This type of session is common but it does little to address the fact that, what most employees are desperate for is reliable information which provides them with the knowledge and confidence to manage their personal finances and plan for retirement.

2. Negotiating group voluntary benefits that provide employees the opportunity to access discounts while shopping starting from car insurances, to property insurance to store discounts using credit cards, etc.

3. Allow payroll deductions for employee savings into Sacco’s and also some select debt repayments.

4. Low-interest instalment loans and credit that help employees avoid payday loans and cash advances from credit cards.

5. Automated savings programs that encourage employees to save money each month from their paycheck.

6. Bill payment programs that empower employees with debt pay down strategies and the ability to make recurring bill payments on-time each month through payroll deduction.

How to spot a financially stressed employee?

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AUG - SEPT 2019 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I 31

Selfless Desire for the Good of Others Eliud believes that success in life is ultimately measured by the extent to which efforts are made to help and strengthen people around you. This is the greatest motivation for Kuza Initiative.

BY ROSEMARY WANJIRU

O

ne day on a Saturday afternoon while surfing through the internet, I happened to view an event for young people on Facebook.

Unlike most events, this particular one caught my eye because there were no high-profile speakers invited yet about 100 young people were interested in the event. I found this unique! The event was basically young people having deep, meaningful conversations on life and how it has unfolded for them at a personal level.

Later on, I joined a WhatsApp group where these conversations happened on a daily basis through the founder of the initiative, Eliud Choge. The group is characterized by conversations around building healthy relationships, faith, career growth and occasionally politics.

On requesting Eliud to share how he began the initiative, he was open to it and gladly shared the Kuza Initiative story. This is what he shared with me: Kuza’s story began back in June 2013, during my last year at Segero Adventist High School in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County. I had just finished my tenure as School Captain, and we were having discussions with a friend of mine called Brian on what we can do to give back to the school community around us. There was a primary school close to our school and we figured why not start a mentorship program aimed at inspiring our younger brothers and sisters to develop character as they strive for academic excellence? And that’s how we started.

We first recruited mentors from high school students who were willing to mentor primary school pupils. We then focused on the pupils from class 6 to class 8, divided them into mentorship 38 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I March - April 2020

“

THE FOUNDATION OF DEEP, MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS IS THE SELFLESS DESIRE FOR THE GOOD OF OTHERS teams and assigned 2 mentors to each team. We would then have our sessions every Saturday afternoon for about two to three hours. We would have discussions on set topics, some of which the pupils themselves had suggested.

Topics such a peer pressure, how to handle failure, drugs, relationships with parents or guardians, stress, the mind, faith and values, getting through difficult times, setting goals, talents, purpose and personal development among others.

As we progressed with our sessions, week after week, our relationship with the pupils became stronger and soon we were not just mentors but friends.

They started opening-up more and sharing their experiences freely. After our sessions we would play games together and soon we became a family.

This taught us an important lesson; that the foundation of deep, meaningful relationships is the selfless desire for the good of others.

Our motto at Kuza Initiative is; “It’s ultimately about people; the love you show and the help you give.” We believe that success in life is ultimately measured by the extent to which efforts are made to help and

strengthen people around you. This is our greatest motivation. To serve and inspire many more young people to live for selfless excellence by promoting values of diligence and service to humanity.

Service is the reason we are on earth. To be stewards of the resources, talents and gifts God has given us – not as an end in itself - but for the blessing of those around us and for posterity. So what we do at Kuza is not a question of whether there’s an alternative, but Kuza simply embodies a way of life that we apply not just in how we run Kuza but in the way we run other aspects of our lives. Being intentional in building meaningful relationships and leveraging on them to make positive impact in the society.

We have since been continuing our mentorship programs in high schools across the country but as of 2018, we started a volunteering program that involves connecting our mentors and mentees to meaningful volunteering opportunities in Children Homes and other places where there is need for volunteers.

We have since connected our volunteers to Thomas Barnados Children’s Home in Lang’ata and Motherly Care Children’s Home in Ruai. We have an annual Kuza Volunteering Week where all our volunteers are involved in actual volunteering work as volunteer tutors, mentors or help in support work such as cleaning, tending to and playing with children in the homes. We have also been helping genuinely needy students raise their fee balances in an aim to meet the needs of young people in very practical ways. Additionally, we have several projects in the pipeline aimed

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YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR

at creating a sustainable benevolent system that is not entirely dependent on donations but can create value on their own.

We especially target young people who are in transition stages in their lives e.g. from high school to campus or just from campus to the job searching phase. We desire to solve the problem of widespread identity crisis and a lacking sense of direction among young people in the country that’s compounded by inadequate mentorship and support structures.

I can say there has never been a better time to stand up and be part of the solution to the challenges that face our country and in extension the African continent. To the young person reading this, my plea to you is simple: don’t be a passive citizen. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. There is no middle ground. Look around you and identity what is that one thing you can do to solve one problem in your community. It’s in doing our best and in faithfulness.

In conclusion, even in the situation that we find ourselves in – with a growing number of restless and unemployed youth,

rising cases of senseless killings, suicides, obscene greed, corruption and a general lack of trust in the systems built to uphold the interest of the public – there is still hope.

There is hope that the young people in this generation are taking it upon themselves to be active citizens and be part of the solution. One of my favourite authors, Ellen G. White in her book Education p.

57.3 puts it this way: “The greatest want of the world is the want of men—men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.”

Rosemary is a Kenyan Journalist, Story Teller, Avid Reader, Champion of the Girl-child and Communication Officer at Alabastron

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For Eliud, Kuza Initiative is about People; the Love you show and the Help you give

March - April 2020 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I 39

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INVERSK MAGAZINE

FOCUS - REAL ESTATE

Top 10 Questions to Ask When Buying A Car

By Cheki.co.ke

Y

car to buy.

In the event you want to save money, you have to steer clear off SUV and other fuel guzzlers.

This because such cars tend to consume a lot of fuel per kilometer which tends to make them more expensive to buy and maintain.

1. Is there a car that fits my needs?

When shopping for a car, do not be too invested in the brand as compared to the practicality of the car. You need to think about the functions that your car will carry out as opposed to how good you look cruising around it.

To help you figure out the type of car you need, ask yourself these questions: Will you need the car for long-distance travels? Do you have a family? If so how many members? Is the car your buying the main car or your secondary car?

Having answers to these questions will give you an easy time when explaining to a salesperson what exactly you want. In turn, they will get you a car that fits your needs.

8. What extra addons does the car come with?

The add-ons that come with a car

ou have cut off all the luxuries in life to save up as much as you can to buy a car. Congratulations on having the discipline to save.

However, before you start car shopping, there are some questions you need to ask yourself.

which are the parts that are made in the factories.

On the other hand, the powertrain warranties cover everything the automaker manufactures. This includes the powertrain, the air conditioning, electrical system, and even the radio.

It’s important to know exactly what the car warranty covers before you buy it to avoid surprises when something is damaged in your car.

5. Which repairs do I need to carry out?

When buying a new car, conduct extensive research on the common 2. Is the car an all-wheel-drive or repairs that your car needs. Once you four-wheel drive?

Living in Kenya, you already know how have a general overview, talk to a bad the road conditions are. It is therefore specialist to help you figure out how necessary to know if the car you are buying much it will cost you to either carry out has four-wheel-drive capabilities. the major or minor repairs annually. It When buying a car, you should ask the is also good to know the frequency of seller the drivetrain capabilities of the car carrying out these repairs. even though nowadays most cars are fourwheel drive.

6. Do you have other fees?

Be very wary of additional charges 3. Is there a warranty and how long does that may be imposed on you when it last?

You need to know if the car you are buying a new car. These could include buying comes with a warranty and how additional car accessories that or even long it will last. The warranty shows you brokers' fees. Ask beforehand if there how much faith the manufacturers have in are additional fees that will be included their product. A warranty that is too long and prepare yourself accordingly.

(7-10years) may mean that there are Do your research and visit several underlying problems in the car. A good dealerships to avoid getting ripped off. warranty lasts up to about 36000miles which is about 3-4 years.

7. How much fuel does the car consume per kilometer?

4. What does the warranty cover?

Knowing how much fuel the car Car warranties differ from car to car and consumes per kilometer will help you from manufacturer to manufacturer. Basic budget for fuel in advance. Additionalwarranties cover the makeup of the car ly, it may help you in deciding which 40 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I March - April 2020

also determine the price of the car. Do you need a wheelchair-friendly car? Do you want a convertible car? Does the car come with a sunroof? Knowing all these will help you when negotiating for a new car. It is important to ask about these extra accessories when buying a car.

9. What is your car holding policy?

A car is not a shoe. It’s a very big investment and the decision to buy a car takes careful consideration.

Therefore, you need to ask the salesperson what their car holding policies are. How long will they hold the car while you consider the options? Will you be required to pay for this? If yes, how much? Not asking will lead you into panicking and making a rash decision that you may eventually regret.

10. Do you do deliveries?

If you are importing a car, buying the car online or even buying it from some remote dealership somewhere in Lokichogio, you will need to know if they do doorstep deliveries. If they don’t, you need to make arrangements to go and pick your car or organize for third party delivery.

In Summary You are now ready to ask the right questions when buying a car. Where you choose to buy a car be it from a car dealership or online is up to you.

However, the fact remains that you are buying a car and have to be well prepared. We hope we were able to assist you.

INVERSK MAGAZINE

ADVERTISER’S FEATURE

This is Why You Should Invest in Embu County, the Land of Opportunities As an agricultural hub, Embu holds a great opportunity for real estate investors due to the increased demand for proper and affordable housing.

BY INVERSK TEAM

I

nvestment in real estate has been on the increase in Kenya mostly in towns and now clustered in Counties in the current legal systems of County Government contributing to over 7% to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) directly and therefore one of the key Sectors in Kenya.

Formerly the headquarters of the Eastern Province, Embu County, with a population of more than 650 000 occupying 2,821 km² of land offers investment opportunities for people looking for a serene metropolitan area.

As an agricultural hub, Embu holds a great opportunity for real estate investors due to the increased demand for proper and affordable housing.

In 2016, Embu was reported as one of the key Counties in Kenya, with a fastgrowing need for housing and a rising number of investors in real estate, residential and large commercial houses attracting over five international investors in the last three years (20152018).

Embu town is also a major trading centre for Agriculture, which is the backbone and livelihood of the people of Embu County, and Industrialization which ensures cash flow in the region.

County government Support

Embu County Governor Martin, Nyaga Wambora, who in his first term together with his government resolved to create opportunities for people to invest in the region, announced that ample land would be made available to investors who want to set up in the county, seeking to boost trade with private investors.

The government also has a functioning

“

“LAND WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE TO INVESTORS,” ~ Governor Wambora

Infrastructure, Energy & Housing department that ensures passable, proper road network and proper housing, availability of power and safe transport.

Embu has an expansive road network with coverage more 120 km of tarmac including the Meru-Embu Highway and Embu-Kĩrĩtirĩ connecting the county regions easing transport.

On the other hand, there is an Airstrip located at Don Bosco in Embu town making possible for domestic air travels.

Property Availability

Embu County is naturally endowed with plenty of lands with slopes on the Eastern side of Mt. Kenya and it is less steep which makes it ideal construction of houses and industries and it is available to investors.

“Land will be made available to investors,” said Governor Wambora during a business connect dinner in Embu organized by Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) in 2015.

Endowed with tourism attraction Embu allows for investment in the hospitality and hotel real estate.

On December 28th, 2018, the County governor signed two laws that enabled the county government to partner with the private sector to establish investments in tourism and other areas in order to spur development.

The Tourism Development Act enables investors to exploit the nascent tourism potential while the Embu County Investment and Development Corporation Act allowed the county to set up an investment arm through which private entities can do business with the Embu county government.

15KM from Embu town along the Siakago bypass lies Wezesha Real Estate’s Amani Gardens, the county’s most ambitious project on an expansive 70-acre piece of land. The project offers the most ideal place for investors looking for a place to retire away from the populous Nairobi city as well as those looking for futuristic capital gain.

Investors interested to get a piece of Amani Gardens can SMS the word Embu to 40073 or call 0731 000111.

1/8 acre is selling at Ksh 299,000 where one deposits Ksh 100,000 and clear balance in 6 months. However, the company is giving cash buyers get a discount of Ksh 20,000.

March - April 2020 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I 41

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FOCUS - REAL ESTATE

Is it okay to Buy land with a charge?

This requires a trustworthy developer who does not divert the money.

BY OPTIVEN GROUP

H

ere is the big question: Is it okay to buy land with a charge?

Or in other words, is it okay to buy land that has been purchased by a developer through a bank loan? It is highly likely that the portion of land or the plot of land that you are about to purchase from any of the wellestablished land developers in Kenya is funded by a financier.

Most of these huge developers, the world over, and across the real estate industry, usually buy huge chunks of land that is mostly funded by either: private equity, joint ventures or bank loans among other financing options.

“A land with a charged title means that the entire property at hand is funded by a bank, and the title is held by the bank as security for the loan led. Which is a good thing for you, since you are assured of thorough due diligence on the property at hand.

In such a case, the property developer will always give you a bank escrow account so that once you have completed paying for your particular plot of land; you automatically get partial discharge of charge as part of your completion documents,” says George Wachiuri, Optiven Group CEO. Mr. Wachiuri adds that “this requires a trustworthy developer who does not divert the money.”

An escrow account on the other hand simply means an account that is owned by both the land owner and the bank. Once

you get your partial discharge of charge, your small portion of land cannot be taken back by the bank if the landowner or developer fails to honor the loan.

Mr. Wachiuri further observes that buying a property that has been financed by a loan then, is a very common thing. He also points out that the price of such property, just like any other property that has been individually financed, is independent of the bank loan associated with it and only determined by the prevailing market price and as per its valuation. He notes, “Such an arrangement is only but very in-house, only involving a developer and their financer, and does not in any way affect the retail purchasers of the plots that are hived off the main piece of land.”

A partial discharge of charge is a one page document in 3 copies and it is prepared by a lawyer, stamped and signed by the bank, and that is anchored against the lands act 2012 and the registered land act, 1963, now repealed, (cap 300).

“This document means that the buyer of a portion of land or a plot for that matter is officially, legally and safely out of the development loan and has no risk whatsoever of losing their fully paid property.

Having completed your payment, you now also have a subtitle that has your name on it and legally speaking,

you are not only the rightful owner of your property, but now you are also completely out of any attachment to the developer versus their bank’s loan,” says Wachiuri.

This document comes in triplicate – one copy to the client, a copy to land Registry and one copy to the financier.

The document is a proof that you are not part of the loan and financier cannot repossess your property in case the principal borrower fails to honour the loan obligations.

The CEO notes that over the years, Optiven Real Estate has undertaken a number of massive projects and partial discharge of charge is part of the completion documents. He adds: “There are very few real estate developments that are done on cash basis, save for a few smaller projects.”

Other completion documents include original title deed or certificate of title, rates and rent clearance certificate, sellers pin and a copy of a national identity card. If selling is by company, the certificate of registration, a CR 12, three copies of transfer forms, consent to transfer, among other depending on the nature of the property ownership document.

So, the only property buyer who can lose their property due to a loan that has been taken by a developer is those who have not paid through an escrow account and who have not been given a partial discharge of charge after completing their payment of their portion of land.

March - April 2020 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I 43

State of the Real Estate Market in Kenya

R

eal estate in Kenya has seen a number of changes in property prices, supply and demand and the ever common affordable housing project which has been the talk of the town.

BuyRentKenya breaks down property prices in 2019 and what to expect in 2020.

The sample size for this analysis is over 30,000 listings in Nairobi, Kiambu, Machakos and Kajiado which account for 96% of all listings that have been live on BuyRentKenya in 2019.

average of Kshs 40M but currently goes for Kshs 90M. This spike is due to an increase in demand for property in the area.

An acre of land in Ruaka is more expensive compared to other locations such as Kiambu Kshs 43M, Mlolongo Kshs 27.2M and Ruiru Kshs 25.6M. Infrastructural improvements which have made it easy to move around the town and the rise in commercial properties like Two Rivers Mall, people are investing in places Ridgeways and Ruaka.

Land

Closer to the CBD, land prices are high and expected to remain consistent. For instance, we expect the price of an acre in these areas: Muthaiga Kshs 176.1M, Spring Valley Kshs 168.3M and Nyari Kshs 105.6M to remain fairly consistent. These high-end residential areas have high prices due to strict regulations which give restrictions on the amount of space where people can live. This is shown in the land prices in areas such as Kileleshwa which is Kshs 310M and Lavington with Kshs 237M where the zoning regulations are not as strict.

Kitengela and Ngong still maintain their high demand when it comes to land with an acre going for Kshs 24M. Kiserian remains the most affordable satellite town in terms of land with an acre going for Kshs 7.5M. Upperhill is the most expensive with an acre going

In 2019, demand for land started low in Q1, doubled in Q2, went down in Q3 and got worse in Q4. Land returns have gone up within the last decade compared to other assets like equities and government bonds which makes land the top investment bet.

Kiambu county showed the most growth in supply in 2019. Demand for property in the area went up especially in places with coffee plantations. It comprises of more shopping malls and gated communities. This growth is from the growing middle-class community who prefer to livein satellite towns which are more affordable.

There was an increase in the value of properties in areas with large infrastructural improvements which affected early buyers. Before the Northern Bypass, an acre of land in Ruaka was an 44 I INVERSK MAGAZINE I March - April 2020

Land Prices

for about Kshs 545M followed by Kilimani at Khs 433M.

Conflicting Data There is a huge disparity between the value of land online vs value on the ground vs value at the land office. The data is very hypothetical and lacks transparency. With more data, buyers and sellers can make better decisions when investing in land. For example, land values in Nairobi are very flexible.

They are going down in various nodes by 25%-30% and in some cases by 50%.

At the end of the day, there will always be someone willing to buy the land.

Land use has become very flexible making the values very distorted e.g. with the shift from agricultural to commercial land in Kiambu e.g. the land where Two Rivers Mall is situated was historically affordable and agricultural land but since the Mall opened all that has changed. We expect a boost in the land space if the interest cap is scraped and applicants receive better terms.

Residential Finding affordable property in the capital becomes a rumour YoY. The worsening economic state is leading home seekers to remote areas such as Ruaka and Rongai. The average price of a house in Nairobi shot up from Kshs11.5M in January 2013 to Kshs 32M in October 2019. The price of a 4 to 6 bedroom goes for Kshs 39.1M,

INVERSK MAGAZINE

FOCUS - REAL ESTATE

while a 1 to 3 bedroom is Kshs 15M. More people are opting for modern affordable houses in places like Ongata Rongai, Mlolongo, Limuru, Thika, Ruaka and Kitengela. There was an increase in the rent price in these locations from July to September.

According to Cytonn, in the year 2018, Kilimani was the top suburb to receive approvals in apartments at 938 units, and then Parklands which had 565 apartment approvals. Kileleshwa had 495 and South B and C had 421 which shows that people are moving away from the stand-alone houses.

For example, a 1 bedroom apartment in Ruaka or South B is Kshs. 20,000 – 25,000 which sits well for many property seekers. They are looking for affordable housing as they try to save money. With the increase in the cost of living, people are choosing to spend more money on transport than rent hence more people opting to move to satellite towns outside the city centre.

On the flip side, the population in Nairobi is growing. The government is working towards providing more affordable housing in estates such as Jeevanjee, Uhuru, Old Ngara, South C, Ngong Road and Pangani. The apartments will sit on the land which has the colonial era estates and each will house close to 30 residents.

Commercial

Challenges Affecting Real Estate

Most of the offices are located along Mombasa Road with 14.1% office space while Parklands has 7.6%.

Shopping malls/commercial spaces are posting huge losses with an ongoing oversupply. This is forcing landlords to cut rental charges to retain existing tenants. We expect this trend to continue.

Due to changes in the zoning policy, developers and landowners were able to build buildings that go up as high as 15 floors from the previous four-floor limit. Demand for property in Ruaka will rise because of easy accessibility to other parts of Nairobi. This means a rise in social amenities in Ruaka. There will be a spillover of companies setting up shop from areas such as Parklands and Westlands.

Developers are opting for vertical building concepts in a bid to maximise on available land and leveraging on air rights. There is still buying activity but with less confidence as people have a lot of uncertainty about the economy. According to Hass land index, demand for commercial land in the suburbs went up.

This is because of the completion of Waiyaki Way to Redhill link road.

The sector faces a myriad pf challenges encompassing delays in processing construction permits, an oversupply of property and slow private sector credit growth. Despite the growth in areas such as affordable housing, the property sector is still experiencing a slowdown. Same as in tourism and foreign trade which are experiencing job cuts, low profit, hiring freezes and near stagnant wages.

Building lavish estates is now becoming a losing investment as Kenyans try to adjust to the tough economic situations. This we have seen with developments in the satellite towns outperforming those in the capital based on affordability.

What next?

Developers should focus on getting smaller profit margins and sell more units to avoid ending up with empty properties and going on a loss. The way to go about this is to find an entry point into affordable housing. This partly explains why there is huge supply in the property market because people can’t afford what’s available. Property seekers pay high prices because developers are also experiencing high costs in land, financing and infrastructural challenges which raises the cost of construction.

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BY INVERSK TEAM

INVERSK MAGAZINE

ADVERTISER’S FEATURE

I

n 2006, Patrick Walsh, Greenlight Planet’s founder, who was then a student, saw the need for better lighting options when he was interning with Engineers Without Borders, an organization that was working on developing village electrification solutions in rural Odisha, Eastern India. He realized that villagers there used ubiquitous and low-intensity lighting options like kerosene lanterns.

Driven by the passion to provide these villagers with better lighting options, Patrick designed a solar lamp that was better than kerosene lanterns in terms of intensity and long-term affordability. Two years later, he was joined by Anish Thakkar and Mayank Sekhsaria to form a company, Greenlight Planet, that now serves more than 50M people with Sun King solar lamps, home systems, and appliances in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Central Africa.

The first Sun King solar lamp was sold in rural India in early 2009 with the founders building a “Direct to Village” sales network which escalated to thousands of door to door commission agents eventually.

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products within their communities to make an additional income.

The company expanded operations to Kenya in 2012, opening an office in Nairobi with five employees. Despite many economic developments in Kenya, research indicates the population of Nairobi accounts for 50% of the access to power and consumes half of the electricity. In rural Kenya, people tend to use kerosene lamps or for some, the old plain natural moonlight.

On a mission to power, the lives of the underserved, Greenlight Planet has focused on rapid innovation in its product offerings and distribution strategy ever since it initiated operations in the country.

With products to serve every home and small business’ energy needs, Greenlight Planet’s products range the Sun King Pro (a solar lamp with mobile phone charging product), Sun King Home 60 (a multi-light solar-powered home system, allowing families and businesses to install grid-like energy solutions) to a Sun King 400 (a package with tube lights and a television) among others.

So, if you have a problem with lighting back in Ushago, Sun King products can be very useful for you. The lamps come with a radio and a USB port that can charge electronic devices.

Greenlight provides a Sun King Pico (study lamp) that has an embedded solar panel at the price of Ksh. 800 and

also provides other home solutions that vary from Ksh. 8,000 to Sh 60,000.

Ms. Naomi Kioi, Head of Marketing for Africa at Greenlight Planet, based in Nairobi, says that they have been developing some of their products keeping in mind the evolving needs of rural customers. One of the lamps called the Sun King Boom can read an SD card along with a radio function. The company has also introduced home system solutions that can power TVs and fans.

“You can buy all our products through cash or you can pay in installments of Ksh.15 a day for 9 months to 18 months”, says Ms. Naomi.

The company caters to the common Kenyan by devising a financial plan of payment with the pay as you go (PAYG) technology. Greenlight Planet’s SunKing products enabled with the pay-as-you-go technology allow potential users with limited access to financing to pay for their Sun King product in small installments over time. It looks quite convenient, right? With 2 million products sold since inception in Kenya, nearly 1 in 5 Kenyans have benefitted from Sun King solar products impacting 11 million citizens in the country.

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2 I INVERSK MAGAZINE July 2019