Jack Ma’s team of Chinese billionaires arrives in Kenya to hunt for deals

Published on Thursday, 20 July 2017 09:04

Jack Ma, the founder and executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba, jetted into Nairobi Wednesday evening, starting a packed two-day visit that peaks with a public appearance at the University of Nairobi this afternoon to offer Kenyan youth tips on how to build successful business empires.

Mr Ma, who is currently Asia’s richest man with a fortune of nearly $30 billion (Sh3.11 trillion or nearly half of Kenya’s economic output), is accompanied by a large delegation of super-rich Chinese. 

In the entourage are China’s richest billionaires among them Internet tycoon Bob Xu, Alibaba’s founding partner Lucy Peng, founder and chairman of Mengniu Dairy Niu Gensheng and real estate tycoon Huang Youlong.

The 38 men and women, from the Beijing Chamber of Commerce, will be looking to cut multi-billion shilling deals with the government and local businessmen.

The Chinese tycoons are expected to scout for business opportunities in East Africa’s largest economy where Chinese influence has been rising rapidly, with the balance of trade highly in favour of China. Mr Ma, a special adviser for youth entrepreneurship and small businesses for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), is expected to share insights on entrepreneurship with Kenyan youth before flying out to Rwanda for a similar engagement.

UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said Mr Ma will focus on opening markets for small businesses and encouraging the culture of enterprise in Africa.

“I have discussed with Jack Ma and others that I would like us not only to grow African enterprises but also to start raising voices that a special market access waiver for produce from Africa, particularly from small business, is neeed,” Dr Kituyi said.

“Effort should be made to encourage young Kenyan entrepreneurs to access the Chinese market just like the Chinese are accessing local markets. Our challenge is not finding agents to import Chinese goods, I am looking for people who are willing to sell African goods to China.”

Mr Ma is this afternoon expected to address 500 young business leaders at the University of Nairobi and meet business leaders. A champion of global trade, Mr Ma has been urging developing countries to use e-commerce to bolster their economies, instead of creating regulations and taxes that could kill the emerging sector.

“We should not discipline the baby before it is born,” Mr Ma recently told a gathering in Geneva, Switzerland during UNCTAD’s annual E-Commerce Week.

China’s longtime angel investor Bob Xu is the founding partner of ZhenFund, a seed fund formed in collaboration with Sequoia Capital China and with more than 400 portfolio companies.

In his eight years as an investor, Mr Xu has made four investments that went on to go public in the US, one in China, while eight others have grown into billion-dollar businesses, including the bike-sharing company OFO, AgTech company Meicai, e-commerce companies Mia.com and RED.

One of Mr Xu’s biggest wins was investing $180,000 at a $2 million valuation in the online cosmetics company Jumei.com in 2009. The company then went public in 2014 at a market cap of about $3 billion (Sh311 billion).

Also in Mr Ma’s entourage is Alibaba’s founding partner Lucy Peng, the executive chairman of Ant Financial Services, the online finance arm of Alibaba Group.

Source: Business Daily Newspaper.

KENYA INVESTMENT POLICY

Published on Wednesday, 19 July 2017 09:43

INVESTMENT GROWTH FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

INVESTMENT GROWTH FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTJUNE 2017 | KENVINVEST | REVISED DRAFT 2016/2017

New Syokimau train plan for city workers

Published on Tuesday, 18 July 2017 10:26

Rift Valley Railways (RVR) is set to adjust its schedule to enable commuters travelling to Nairobi’s central business district (CBD) from Syokimau on Syokimau train to arrive to work early.

Under the new schedule expected to be effected by Kenya Railways on Monday, the RVR trains will depart Syokimau at 6:30am and arrive at the Nairobi Central station at 7:10am.

There will be another train departing Syokimau station at 9:05am to arrive at the Nairobi terminus at 9:45 am.

“Syokimau residents requested for an early train because by the time the train was arriving in Nairobi, majority of them who are working outside CBD were arriving to work late,” said Kenya Railways managing director Atanas Maina.

Currently, passengers leave Syokimau terminus via the link train at 6:55am to arrive at Nairobi station at 7:35am.

“We want to improve customer experience,” said Mr Maina.

Evening schedule

In the adjustment, the first train in the evening will leave Nairobi terminus at 5:50pm with the arrival in Syokimau set for 6:30pm.

The second Syokimau train will depart Nairobi terminus in the at 6:50 pm to arrive at the Syokimau terminus at 7:30pm.

The last train on the same route will leave Nairobi at 7:50pm to arrive in Syokimau at 8:30pm.

The train charges between Sh40-Sh60. It has 10 coaches carrying between 150-170 passengers per trip.

Source: Business Daily

Relief for borrowers as CBK maintains rate at 10 per cent

Published on Tuesday, 18 July 2017 10:23

The maximum cost of loans remains unchanged after the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) on Monday retained the base lending rate providing relief for millions of borrowers.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) maintained the benchmark rate at 10 per cent, saying the current monetary policy stance had reduced the threat of money-driven inflation.

This came even as banks continue to shy from lending due to the legal caps on borrowing rates.
Committee chairman and CBK governor Patrick Njoroge cited a relatively stable forex market, a narrower current account deficit and exchange reserves that continue to cushion the economy from unforeseen shocks as the reasons for holding the base rate unchanged.

“The Committee concluded that the current policy stance remains appropriate. The MPC therefore decided to retain the Central Bank Rate (CBR) at 10 per cent in order to continue to anchor inflation expectations,” said Dr Njoroge in a statement.
“The CBK will continue to closely monitor developments in the global and domestic economy, and stands ready to take additional measures as necessary,” said Dr Njoroge.
He noted that growth of credit to the private sector fell further to 2.1 per cent over the 12 months to May this year, attributing this in part “to significant repayments in manufacturing, transport and communication, and developments in the trade sector.”
“The Committee continues to monitor the implications of the capping of interest rates on lending and the transmission of monetary policy,” he said.

The government capped lending rates last September at four percentage points above the Central Bank Rate, saying they were too high and banks had repeatedly failed to lower them.
Kenya’s inflation fell to 9.21 per cent year-on-year in June, from 11.70 per cent a month earlier. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics partly attributed this to a drop in food prices. Month-on-month inflation was minus 1.2 per cent.

Source: Business Daily