The Kenya ICT Board and All Amber Ltd, the organiser of premier mobile-related events in Africa, will partner to deliver Mobile Web East Africa for a second time. This senior level and progressive conference will take place on 22nd & 23rd February 2012 at the 5* Southern Sun Mayfair hotel in Nairobi, Kenya.
The main objective of the conference is to facilitate the growth of the mobile ecosystem in the region. It is this synergy with the Kenya ICT Board’s wider vision that is the backbone behind the decision to once again participate as the Official Host Organisation of the conference. Mobile Web East Africa returns to Nairobi after a 24-month gap and is part of a sub-Saharan Africa series of events that is contributing to a greater focus on this vital area of technological potential for the continent.
To ensure sector wide representation at this event start-up companies and application developers are eligible to apply for a 50% subsidy to make their attendance more financially viable. All the different elements of the sector will be in attendance and participants will be encouraged to interact to facilitate the establishment of relationships and enable sector expansion, as was the case at the highly acclaimed inaugural event held in February 2010.
Kenya Youth Parliament, the organizers of the 2010 National Youth Conversation; Conference on Peace, Reforms & Youth Economic Empowerment in Nairobi, Kenya from Oct 12th to 16th, 2010 invites you to participate in the oncoming largest gathering that brings together social activists, peace builders and youth leaders in the pursuit and defining of a Better Kenya.
This conference brings together only four (4)participants from every constituency as a ‘Call to Action’ to assist young people ‘learn’ and ‘understand’ their roles in Building a Peaceful Kenya and provide them with tools, information and ideas of participating and influencing the Reforms Agenda at the grassroots levels.
This will be achieved through the design of Individual Action Plans (IAP’s) to be implemented at grassroots level and coordinated Constituency Actions Plans (CCAP’s)to be coordinated by Kenya Youth Parliament and its partners.
This conference is a follow-up of activities being ran under the aegis of the Youth Platform for Change “YP4C” namely the National Youth Conversation Café’s in the grassroots areas, the Koffi Annan Justice and Peace National Tournament Coordinated by Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) and Sports Connect Academy (SCA) , and a play which has been specifically scripted to capture the issues in the proposed constitution as well as the events during and after the post-election, radio drama and stage play to be staged at different venues of the country by Artists Forum International (AFI).
Today all radio stations are warning Nairobi commuters about the traffic. It began yesterday with the imminent arrival of Barack Obama's number two Joe Biden. Add to that today he is meeting President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga while Parliament opens a new session - meaning everyone is texting each other "avoid town"!.
Then there is the massive road works project being undertaken throughout the country with the promise of making Kenya a super highway for domestic and cross-border trade. With the liberalisation of the market that has spawned a new generation of car dealer entrepreneurs whose used car imports cannot quench the market; this should have been the dream Kenya's Vision 2030 policy plan speaks of.
Alas that is not the case. Traffic jams have become the stock in trade. And the problem is not that one has to leave home before the crack of dawn just to get to work on time; but there is also the environmental problem with sub-standard cars jamming the streets spewing fumes to the detriment of the ozone layer.
Before the cry of Nairobi motorists was "those matatu drivers!". However today, even though matatu's still drive helter skelter, traffic jams still clog the streets.
Though it is commendable that the road work projects have the overall goal of reducing transport costs within Nairobi; for entrepreneurs the costs of being not just located in the Central Business District but now further afield in locales such as Westlands and Kilimani has meant that human traffic walk-in enterprises have had to readress their business models.
For the rest of us, we wonder what time we will get home today and what time tomorrow we have to wake up in order to get to work on time.
Sospeter Amenya of BenCro Transition Designs is a Kenyan social entrepreneur whose work mainly involves designing websites and developing custom software to help in various aspects that are aimed at creating more opportunities for the impoverished society.
We recently got a chance to interview him regarding the importance of determination to venture into enterprise as well as his future aspirations.
Here is a snippet of the interview:
Yipe: When and why did you decide to be an entrepreneur?
Sospeter: After doing my IT course at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture, (JKUAT) I started my business soon after graduating in 2008. I had to tarmac (look for a job) for a considerable time before I made a decision to start a business. I also wanted to get start up capital for my business.
I didn’t get a job though. So the idea of joblessness hit me hard and I started thinking of other means. I decided to put my skills in practice and I joined hands with my friend and started a freelancing webdesign business working from the briefcase. It was not registered though.
In the process of searching for clients, we bumped into one corporate client, an NGO that paid us Ksh 20,000. We used the cash as our starting capital to buy a desktop. And this is how we started. The business is now registered and almost 1yr old.
So the sole reason for starting is unemployment and the urge to create opportunities in future.
Yipe: What has been your learning experience in your business venture? Sospeter: One failure makes me sharper to cut through the next and the end result is always success.
Yipe: What’s the most challenging aspect of being an entrepreneur from your perspective? Sospeter: The challenge is lack of understanding from the people you must work with, particularly some clients. Secondly is accessing finance and the long process of business registration. Make it online would encourage others to start their businesses.
Seed Capital Investment Ltd has beenestablished to offer support to young people, businesses and to entrepreneurs in Kenya. It's focus in Kenya is to offer an avenue where those who are in business or aspire to be in business can access information; advice and support that can assist them succeed.
All projects and programs are facilitated by company directors who are entrepreneurs and managing their own businesses bringing in a wealth of practical experience in business startup and management.
As part of its objectives in supporting entrepreneurs in starting up and fine tuning their businesses, Seed Capital have organized a workshop to address the issue of acquiring funds and starting small and medium enterprises in Kenya under its Youth In Business Program.
The workshop is on 5th and 6th May, 2010 at the company offices off Ngong road, behind Coptic Hospital.
After the workshop, participants will document their ideas and present them live to a panel of prominent investors for possible funding after which they will receive ongoing business guidance and mentorship until they have formed successful companies which will create employment to other youth.
For further information, please contact:
Rhoda Mwihaki, Coordinator, Youth in Business Program, Seed Capital Investment Ltd. 1 Kindaruma Lane, off Ngong Road, P.O. Box 4720, 00200 Nairobi Kenya Tel 020 807 1309, 0710 492836, 0731 535018
Last Friday, once again Kenyans were shocked as they watched the death toll rise of consumers of the illicit brew – changaa in Shauri Moyo Estate in Nairobi’s sprawling Eastlands area; which as of today has reached 9 according to the Daily Nation.
Changaa is a local brew that resembles vodka, Tanzania’s Konyagi and Uganda’s Waragi. However unlike it’s East African sisters, changaa has not as yet been legalised.
This is not the first such case in Kenya. In June 2005, 49 people died in Machakos (EasternProvince) after they consumed an illicit drink suspected to have been laced with a poisonous chemical, and it seems that such cases are not going to end easily.
A regular changaa drinker was quoted in the media after learning that five of his friends had succumbed to the Shauri Moyo brew as saying it was "bahati mbaya", bad luck. However he added: "I will go back to drinking busaa, although it is more expensive, (than chang'aa)".
Indeed as John Mututho the Member of Parliament behind the recently passed Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill asserts, that the deaths and blindness were caused by extra chemicals added to the brew and “sold to unsuspecting poor Kenyans in the name of chang'aa".
Some commonly used additives include methanol and ethanol. Methanol has a high human toxicity. If ingested, as little as 10 milligrams can cause permanent blindness destroying the optic nerve while 30 ml is potentially fatal. Based on its abilities to change human consciousness, ethanol is considered a psychoactive drug. Death from ethyl alcohol consumption is possible when one’s blood alcohol level reaches 0.4% and a blood level of 0.5% or more is commonly fatal.
If the historic Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill which repeals the Chang’aa Prohibition and Liquor Licensing Acts receives presidential assent, this will mean that brewers of such liquor will have to face stringent quality standards and inspections. However with the current enforcement agencies so far being unable to cope in preventing future loss of life and blindness, it seems that more has to be done to ensure that the vendors adding dangerous substances to these brews are stopped.
Unfortunately the business opportunities in this sector remain attractive for those seeking to make a quick buck. Changaa is popular because it is cheap. A mug costs Sh10 (approximately 20 US cents). It also has the added attraction of being readily available, though not on supermarket shelves nor established bars.
And it is not just slum dwellers who have taken to changaa. Crippling taxes have forced formal sector brewers to hike their prices and the informal sector brewers have benefited from more customers due to their low priced product. However, unlike Kenya Breweries or Keroche industries who have to go through rigorous quality standardisation and expensive marketing to manufacture their products and attract customers, changaa brewing is a home based cottage industry where not even a hygiene inspection happens. Word of mouth is generally the marketing tool, and if the price remains low – customer loyalty is assured.
For the Bill (if enacted) to make any significant inroads in preventing the deaths that occurred in Shauri Moyo from happening again, emphasis must be placed on ensuring proper regulatory structures are put in place. The National Campaign Against Drug Abuse Authority (NACADA) has so far been instrumental in making the public aware of the hazards of excessive alcohol consumption. However, the main thrust of their campaign has been the “don’t drink and drive” approach. This means nothing to the changaa drinkers whose main mode of transport is their legs.
Though the objectives of the Bill are noble, there has to be a holistic approach that also educates the changaa brewers and consumers on the dangers of additives. However, as these vendors generally tend to operate from their homes, the Bill does not give cognisance to their informal business culture. To say that brewers will have to be licensed will only mean that many will continue to operate illegally. For those that do get the licence from the proposed District Committee’s, the prescribed licence fee will be passed onto the consumers meaning loss of market.
Even the application for licence procedures will be an issue for brewers who will have to provide “a comprehensive proposal on the nature, orientation and other justification for the establishment of the alcoholic plant” amongst other requirements.
It remains to be seen whether the Bill will make a difference in the lives of the changaa consumers and brewers. Ensuring that the barriers to entry remain attractive but also strictly enforcing quality standards by providing the relevant agencies with appropriate resources will most definitely prevent future loss of life.
Juma sits on a bench at the Kenyatta National Hospital waiting to be called for his physiotherapy session. He has been coming every week for the last two months after he got injured in a car accident whilst driving the company car.
A driver by occupation, Juma was employed by Antoinette the owner of a small boutique in Nairobi. He has always had a good relationship with his boss who also happens to be his aunt, but recently he can see that she is not as happy with him as she was before.
Everyone in the boutique, including Juma knows the reason for this. It is because he can no longer drive and it is now becoming a drain on Antoinette to keep paying his salary as well as his medical bills.
As an employee of a micro or small enterprise, Juma is hardly any different from what other employees in such businesses face. It came to pass that Juma lost his job at the end of August. Antoinette explained that she needed a driver and as he was unable to handle a car for the next few months, she had to hire someone else.
Decent work
Job creation seems to be the buzz word going around these days. Even the newly inaugurated second National Economic and Social Council was directed by President Kibaki to address youth unemployment. There are approximately 3 million unemployed youths, but are they really any worse off than our recently unemployed friend Juma?
This week marked the commemoration of the World Day for Decent Work. The day brought together global trade union advocates with the declaration that every person on earth should have access to a “job that enables them to live a good life in which their basic needs are met”.
Not just any jobs, but decent jobs.
To most people around the world, lack of decent work means poverty. A 2007 UNDP on employment in Kenya (Pollin et. al) found that the earnings received by the majority of Kenyan working people placed them close to the official food consumption poverty line. In their survey on non-agricultural enterprises, monthly earnings in 2007 for employees was Kshs. 2,370 for all firms, Kshs. 2,200 for informal and 6,000 for formal sector enterprises. The informal sector salary is well below the national minimum wage level.
In the same year, about 475,000 jobs were created in the informal sector whilst formal sector jobs went down 50,000 positions. This is why the push for entrepreneurship development has become even more vigorous. The government understands that entrepreneurs are the drivers of economic prosperity and empowering them translates into jobs.
The 475,000 jobs created last year is no mean feat, but can they really be described as jobs? With the majority of the positions being low paying, with low job security, working within poor workplace conditions. Even the unions do not have much clout in these small enterprises so the workers have virtually no social protection or recourse in the event of job dismissal.
One cannot blame these small businesses or their owners for that matter. They are also struggling and face challenges on a daily basis. This mainly results from sub-optimal capitalization, shortage of entrepreneurial skills, weak market linkages and lack of business development services and associative networks. The overall result is an extremely high rate of enterprise death.
So Juma is without a job, all because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, he has lost his livelihood. And you really can’t blame Antoinette either, she has a business to run.
Decent Job Creation
Just creating jobs is not enough. There are various reforms that will ensure that enterprises are able to offer rewarding job placements. These are just a few:
Improving the physical and financial infrastructure in order to enhance private enterprise productivity and competitiveness;
Ensuring greater access to financial resources especially for institutionalization and expansion.
Ensuring that an enabling environment for business is in place.
Promoting entrepreneurship development by ensuring that the three keys for entrepreneurship supply of entrepreneurial spirit, human and venture capital are abundantly in place.
Providing technical assistance and business development services to MSMEs;
In short, first ensure that the entrepreneur can pay a decent wage, then act on job creation.
