What Kenya can learn from Singapore on corruption
Nov 29, 2015
Every week, we pick a trending topic and focus on it. This past week, several events brought corruption in Kenya to the forefront: The President effectively dropped 6 of his 19 cabinet team, meaning that 30% of the cabinet was dropped on corruption allegations The President, his November 23rd speech entitled, "We have opened a new chapter in the war against corruption declared corruption" a standing threat to our national security The Pope, during his visit to Kenya noted concerns about corruption.Having encountered corrupt practices, this is a topic that Cytonn is very passionate about.The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) defines corruption as the misuse of public power, office or authority for private benefit through bribery, extortion, influence peddling, nepotism, fraud, speed mone...Nov 22, 2015
This week, we saw the Kenya National Treasury announce that they had revised their 2015 GDP growth forecast to 5.8%, from 6.9% at the beginning of the year. For our Focus of the Week, we highlight the events that are shaping the economy and the investment landscape in Kenya and the region. As such, this week we wish to cover Kenyas economic growth path: the expectations with which we started the year, the journey so far, and finalizing with our outlook. Kenya presents to investors, developers, and entrepreneurial individuals a host of opportunities. Of the different Sub Sahara African regions, East Africa stands out due to the diversity and vibrancy of its economy; and in East Africa, Kenya stands out as the hub for innovation, technology, financial services and real estate development. At the beginning of 2015, the economic expectations in Kenya for growth were bullish, and pointed towards a stable macroeconomic environment, supportive of growth, through a...Analysis of listed Insurance Companies in Kenya
Nov 8, 2015
Cytonn Investment has completed an analysis of all listed insurance companies in Kenya, which aimed at assessing the attractiveness of both the insurance sector and the specific listed insurance companies, which we officially released on 2nd November 2015. As part of increasing our listed equities coverage, we turned our attention to the insurance sector. In our analysis of listed insurance companies, we seek to recommend to our investors which insurance companies are the most attractive for purchase, and stable from a franchise value and from a future growth opportunity perspective.In Kenya there are a total of 50 insurance companies, 3 reinsurance companies, 198 insurance brokers, 4 reinsurance brokers and 5,155 insurance agents. Kenyas insurance penetration stands at 3.0% compared to its peer-countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. Kenya has remained under-tapped in insurance, particularly within the middle to low-income bracket, which still remains informa...The Interest rates environment in Kenya
Oct 25, 2015
Interest rates on Government securities in Kenya have been on a steep upward trend and we have also seen the high rates passed on to bank customers. In a report by Business Daily this week, some customers have had as high as 12% revision in their bank rates and some being charged high rates of up to 27%.After covering the impacts of a high interest rates environment on the Kenyan economy, and the corresponding impact on investments in our Cytonn Weekly Report #38; this week we turn our attention to the key factors that determine the direction of interest rates in an economy, and which of these factors resulted into the high interest rates environment we presently have in Kenya, and finally we address what we need to do in terms of policy action to contain the volatile interest rates environment.Interest rates in an economy are determined by the below factors: ...Enabling the Diaspora to Contribute to Economic Growth
Oct 18, 2015
Last week we covered the importance of Diaspora to economic growth. This week we focus on how we can make it easier for the Diaspora to contribute to Kenyas economic growth. The potential contribution of the diaspora to a countrys development goes beyond personal remittances. These contributions range from knowledge exchange, increased trade links, and better access to foreign capital. It is estimated that the African Diaspora save USD 53.0 bn annually, most of which is invested outside Africa and could be potentially mobilized for Africa via various investment instruments such as diaspora bonds.The aim of this piece is to understand different ways - through investments, trade links, skills and technology - how diaspora resources can potentially be mobilized for the development of Kenya. Diasporas contribute to their home country through (i) intellectual capital, (ii) financial capital, (iii) political capital, (iv) cultural capital, and (v) social capital. In our Cytonn