Author: Opinion

With more than 11 million confirmed cases and over 530,000 deaths globally, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a devastating impact around the world.  While many countries continue to grapple with the ongoing surge of new cases, the pandemic has offered the opportunity to reflect on the current achievements and challenges of our healthcare systems. For one, the novel coronavirus has created an unprecedented disruption for healthcare systems, which have had to balance between maintaining ongoing operations, scaling-up infectious disease programmes, supporting healthcare workers, and managing financial stress while supporting their communities. At an institutional level, the pandemic has forced…

An understandable response to the economic fallout of Covid-19 is for governments, industries and businesses trying to predict the path that the global economy will take in the coming months and years. However, given that this is a challenging exercise at best, it is probably a better investment of valuable time and effort to ponder the many lessons – some very hard to swallow – that the pandemic has taught us, and integrate them into our future business and investment plans and strategies, so that we are more prepared for what the future brings, irrespective of what that is. For…

On the 10th of July 2020, Helios Holdings Limited announced a merger with Fairfax Africa Holdings Corporation to form Helios Fairfax Partners Corporation – a pan Africa focused alternative investment manager.[1] On the same day, Eversend, an African fintech startup also announced over a $1M raise through crowdfunding.[2] Prior to that Helios announced a $100M investment from the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) into their fund IV.[3] On the 1st of July 2020, our portfolio company, www.hotelonline.co announced the acquisition of two travel tech companies.[4] On 30th June 2020, www.msfafrica.com announced the acquisition of fellow fintech Beyonic based in Tanzania.[5] On…

Rarely does any so-called “world leader” impress me. Some of them probably mean well in that superior, “I know better than you do what’s good for you” kind of way. But in the big scheme of things, they are all elected for very short periods of time in office. Australian Prime Ministers get only three years at a time. US Presidents get four, maximum eight years. In my view, that means they have little or no realistic chance to effect meaningful change for the good and leave their mark, unless they attempt something radical and reckless in the short term,…

In the past years, more research has been conducted about the alternatives of our current linear economy that is focused on ‘take-make-dispose’. A circular economy is an alternative model, that enables green growth and green industrialization by closing the loop of resources and by developing regenerative and circular systems. As stressed by Chatman House1, the circular economy has been mostly seen as a rich-country agenda. However, the circular economy has enormous potential for lower and middle-income countries. Here are four reasons why circular economy supporters should focus on the (East) African region to unlock the potentials of the circular economy…

The Republic of South Sudan’s path to economic recovery has not been an easy one, however, the country’s 2017 decision to join the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) has been a positive step in the right direction. ATI, a multilateral provider of investment and trade credit insurance, offers insurance against political and commercial risks, by attracting foreign direct investments into the region.  In just a few short years, ATI’s support for the country is valued at over US$500 million. Albert Rweyemamu, a Senior Underwriter at ATI, shed some light on the organisation’s work with South Sudan, which has largely focused…

Coronavirus has brought enormous setbacks, suffering, and forecasts of a global depression ahead following the closure of so many economies for so long.  However, if there has been one area where it has exposed our global fragility, that area has been food.  Certainly, the curfews, lockdowns and workplace closures delivered an uptick in power cuts, but there is no great clamour about our energy infrastructure now being under threat of failure. Likewise, with water, it remains far from accessible to all, but it has not been plundered by this year’s pandemic. Shelter could take a hit on joblessness and unpaid rents.…

Bearish sentiment protracts continues being the dominant theme in the Kenyan equities markets as uncertainty clouds economic and business recovery from the effects of the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic. On a year-to-date (YTD) basis, the Nairobi Securities Exchange 20-Share Index (NSE-20) and Nairobi Securities Exchange All Share Index (NASI) have posted negative returns of 24.2% and 14.1%, respectively. Notable out-performers YTD are Barclays ETF Gold (+22.1%), a security whose value is pegged on the value of gold (a safe haven asset); Kenya Airways (+39.5%) on a recent price rally; and Carbacid Investments (+12.0%). On month-to-date basis (MTD), there have been outstanding outperformers…

As countries across the globe start to lift lock-downs and relax restrictions, there is the natural human impulse to do something to celebrate freedom, survival, hope and a future. Be careful!! As wealth managers many of our clients have asked us how best they can stay safe financially as the world threatens to return to a new normal…..  Firstly, my own opinion is that medically things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better. Government management of the pandemic has been very, very poor nearly everywhere and I expect a large second wave of infections in UK,…

The post-Covid-19 era will not be good for the economy, especially the insurance sector. The economy has taken a beating and premiums are not being paid leading to lapsing of policies. Cars are not being imported therefore motor insurance premiums are being lost. Premiums from travel insurance are not being realized because airlines have been grounded…the situation can only get worse. 

Moreover, coupled with that are the moribund laws being enacted in the insurance sector deliberately crippling insurance intermediaries. The recent passing of the Tax Laws (Amendment) Act 2020 ostensibly to take care of the small man was anything but. Value Added Tax (VAT) was introduced to insurance intermediaries leading to them being the most taxed group in Kenya seeing that they are paying withholding tax and income tax at the same time.

No one bothers to find out the stakeholders’ views on these laws and the regulator needs to be held accountable for these developments because they are advisors of the government on matters of insurance. The result will be complete death of the insurance industry unless some of these laws are rescinded. Intermediaries are already looking for better things to do because the effort of their labour is neither being recognised nor bringing in any returns. Yet that seems to be the intention of the government because it appears the only group left to do insurance in Kenya will be the banks.