Author: NLM Correspondent

While not every business is online, it is better to understand why it is critical to go that route especially now that experts say 66% of consumers are more loyal to the brands they follow on social media. For Kamaldeep Sandhu, it was an eye-opener to realize that online presence for her business was the “booster” she had been missing. Ms Sandhu is the managing director of Malaika Gifts and Interiors, a Kenyan based start-up that links artisans with clients. Since its founding in 2012, she says, the company has been operating from a physical shop in Nakuru, and mainly…

You don’t need a lot of funding to start some businesses – just energy, passion and the drive to succeed. Today, more and more individuals are considering starting their own business, and for good reasons. On average, one might have two and three careers during their work life. Those leaving one career to another often think about their second or third career move being one they can manage as a side hustle. The good news: creating a second incoem stream is within the reach of almost anyone who wants to take a risk and work hard. Experience, training, or licensing may be needed. …

By Fred Ndung’u The new business normal brought about by Covid-19 pandemic means new capacity gaps for business owners in leading their businesses to sustainability and growth. For Phoebe Nyangweso, resilience programs are very important especially when building a tech empire. As the managing director and founder of Agro and Real Limited, an ICT operating company, the need to spur growth led her to appreciate the need for capacity building as the starting point in putting her business on a positive recovery and growth path. Ms. Nyangweso said her business scooped its share of challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic, especially…

Investors can now start earning passive income from real estate without necessarily owning the properties By ZADOCK MALIKA Rental arbitrage, which is the act of renting out an already rented property, is a hot model right now. It involves leasing a rental property especially to travellers usually for a longer term. Every so often, one would list his/her property on various online portals, and re-rent it out on either a short-term or long-term basis. The model has been adopted across many countries – a typical three-bed house on an online booking platform like Airbnb might go for Sh15,000 a night,…

The National Housing Corporation (NHC) is set to construct 10,500 homes dubbed “Stoni Athi Waterfront City” in Athi River, Mavoko Sub County By Conceptah Isanya and Rachael Kilonzo, KNA Speaking during the launch of Stoni Athi Waterfront city in December last year, Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development and Public works CS, James Macharia noted that the houses are being developed on 150-acre land at a total cost of Sh20bn. Macharia observed that the houses which target low, middle, and high-income earners will be a multipurpose housing entity varying from residential, commercial, recreational facilities, schools and hospitals, adding that they will…

Looking beyond the borders can provide opportunities for Kenyan investors By Robert Ochieng’ A stock exchange is a marketplace for the buying and selling of shares, bonds and securities. Stock exchanges can serve as a measure for the health of the national economy, and can also be a key indicator of world economic strength. Most exceptional brands and companies in Kenya are listed in foreign stock markets, which is a larger strategy to keep money flowing. Each and every Tuesday, Pizza Inn outlets in Nairobi have a Terrific Tuesday promotions for “buy one pizza and get one free”. The brand is…

It will take at least another decade before smallholder farmers in Africa are able to smoothly supply multinational food chains BY David Thuita Kenyans on social media platforms were at it again, and this time after food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) ran out of potatoes. One perspective I completely missed in all the online posts I came across was the market share between the formal and informal markets for farm-sourced commodities. This comparison would have have brought in a whole new dose of information that would have quickly drenched out the fury. Let me shock you, did you know…

Challenges cloud migration to electronic passport By Eliud Kibii For the third time, Kenya has postponed the deadline for phasing out the old generation passport and the introduction of the biometric e-passport. Kenya, together with its East African Community (EAC) partners, is doing away with the “analogue” passport and replacing it with an electronic document. The new document has a chip that, according to immigration officials, stores the passport holder’s information and travel history, thus conforming to international passport security standards that require passports to contain a tamper-proof electronic chip. The rollout, however, has been shambolic, with various deadlines extended since 2018.…

Enkavilla properties founder and managing director Lilian Nzula has expertise in projects and partnerships management, team building and operations, business development, risk and compliance as well as finance. Ms. Nzula also finds value in technology, and has worked across Sub-Sahara Africa with global brand, IBM before co-founding Enkavilla Properties Limited. She says her drive lies in problem solving and embracing a data driven approach to ensure incremental growth in overall value for her organization. She had a chat with Victor Adar regarding various aspects of investing in real estate.  As a customer, why Enkavilla Properties? What makes Enkavilla Properties’ unique? …

A private security firm, SGA, has attained the International Standards Organization (ISO) 18788:2015 certification – the highest standard for any security firm in Kenya and the region. The certification is in recognition of the company’s conduct and compliance of risk management capacity to meet the professional requirements of clients and other stakeholders in the Security Operations Management System (SOMS). It was awarded by Intertek, a global quality Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification Company. Speaking at the presentation ceremony, SGA Security CEO and Chairman Julius Delahaije said the certification is the highest-level certification in East and Central Africa that demonstrates accountability to…