It must have been in 1996. Just about to turn 30, I was the Chief Accountant for a parastatal that was doing well enough to have some excess funds for investment. Part of my ritual then included talking to Mr. James Murigu, a senior manager at the then Suntra Stocks Ltd to deal for us in the company’s bids for Treasury Bills from the Central…
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Which is the best SACCO to join if you want to save for a home? This question came from one of my Twitter followers. The reason why he asked about a SACCO and not an investment product is because he wants to access credit against his savings (which would then go towards the building). First of all, the government has some tax incentives for individuals who…
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As I write this post, Public Likes, yet another scam is collapsing with millions of Kenyans’ money. Public Liked was marketed as a “Revolutionary Social Media Marketing” platform, that paid people for paying to view ads and to recruit others. We have seen a number of social media posts from angry subscribers who are unable to withdraw their returns, and as at 11am, Safaricom announced…
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This post is a third on a series about how to save for our kids’ education. The first post looked at a savings account as a tool for accumulating savings and the second evaluated education insurance plans. There is consensus that when saving for the future, you should prioritize your retirement over your kids’ higher education. Why? While there are many programs that help students fund…
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The brochure is very compelling. It tells you that whatever your financial goal, an “insurance-investment” plan can help you accomplish it from as little as KShs 2,500 per month. This is a brochure for a typical insurance savings plan, whether it is for education, or general savings. They state that the insurance plan is linked to a fund that invests at the stock market (equity…
Read MoreOver a year back when Safaricom announced that it would be launching a card specifically for government offices, I did wonder what the difference between Safaricom and other banks really is. Yesterday, the company announced that it is piloting its debit card, designed as a Point of Sale (POS) payment card like the bank cards we use. It is designed as an upgrade to the…
Read MoreOver the last two years, Kenya Airways (KQ) has experienced huge losses that are said to have been caused by growing competition, poor fuel hedging contracts, poor management, reduced travel due to Ebola in West Africa and terrorism threats in Kenya. In 2015, the government loaned KQ Shs 4.2 billion which barely made a dent in the airline’s cash hole, and treasury is now looking…
Read MoreIt is no secret that the government would like Kenya to have just a few big banks. The Finance Cabinet Secretary at the last budget reading proposed a 400% increase in banks’ core capital from Sh1 billion to Sh5 billion, aimed at forcing consolidation and acquisition of the smaller banks. While he first disagreed with this, CBK governor’s initial enthusiasm for niche banks seems to be…
Read MoreIt is now becoming evident that the Chase Bank saga will end with an acquisition, which in my opinion is great for all stakeholders, especially the depositors whose money is still held by the bank. So far, we have 5 declared suitors; KCB (On Citizen TV last evening, their CEO hinted that there would be a deal by end of week), Equity Bank, Centum, CBA…
Read MoreEarlier today, I tweeted that I am probably the only personal finance enthusiast (note, I did not say guru. I am no guru, no one likes gurus) who is not a fan of the stock market. As I sent that tweet, I was listening a BBCWHYS episode where they were discussing the Chinese stock market meltdown. For the last 4 days, the Chinese market has…
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