Rotaract Club of Muthaiga Pitch Peter Mbui Investing

Date: 29 August 2014
Time: 5:45 - 8:30 PM
Venue: Research Cube - 5th Floor, Victor House Kimathi Street 
Charges: Free
Speaker: Peter Mbui

India's Richest Man Buys Sh2.9Bln Land in Nairobi

India's richest person Mukesh Ambani has acquired 10 prime land slots in Nairobi worth Sh2.9 billion ($33.9 million), in a move geared at increasing his real estate investment in the capital.

Ambani who was recently ranked 22nd in Forbes' Billionaires list is seeking to use the land for commercial and residential property development through his companies Reliance Industries and Delta Corp East Africa.

JP Morgan to Open Office in Kenya

U.S financial services giant JP Morgan Chase is set to open a representative office in Kenya after it got approval from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

This is seen as a major stride for Nairobi as it seeks to be East Africa’s financial and life insurance hub.

JP Morgan Chase which is the largest bank based on asset in the U.S will join a growing list of big global lenders that have set base in the country. 

Kenya Ranks Fifth in Africa's Top Foreign Direct Investors

Kenya is the fifth largest foreign direct investor in other African countries, this is according to a recently released Ernst & Young survey, '2013 Africa Attractiveness Survey'.

The survey which was based on the number of new projects initiated in the past five years, had India leading with 237 projects South Africa followed with 235, UAE was third with 201, The Republic of China fourth with 152 while Kenya had 113 projects.

Kenya to Host Inaugural Investment Conference for Somalia

Kenya will play host to the inaugural investment conference for Somalia in June 12 - 13 at the Intercontinental Hotel Nairobi, to showcase opportunities that exist in the Horn of Africa nation.

Organized by Somalia Economic Forum (SEC) in partnership with the Global Event Partners Ltd, the 2-day conference dubbed Somalia Investment Summit (SIS) will focus on the numerous opportunities in Somalia and ways the government is working on rebuilding and restoration of the nation.

A good 2012 for Investors at the NSE

NSE was the second best performer in Africa and Middle East, after Egyptian Exchange (EGX) and eighth globally.

According to the annual market performance indices released by the Nairobi Securities Exchange, 2012 was definitely a good year for investors at the Nairobi-based bourse. Closing the year at Sh1.27 trillion, the bourse was also the second highest gainer among stock exchanges in Africa and the Middle East.     

An investor at the NSE closed the year 40 per cent richer according to the All-Share Index, a new indicator of the market performance while the benchmark NSE 20 share index that tracks blue chip firms rose by 28.95 per cent to close at 4,133.02 points.

Pradeep Paunrana is the richest Kenyan on Nairobi Stock Exchange

Ventures Africa has released the 10 richest Kenyans on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) based on top investors holdings at NSE as at the end of trading on Friday, December 14, 2012.

Athi River Mining Ltd CEO Pradeep H. Paurnana

Kenyan CEOs have shown that they own considerable shares in their companies and are also good investors at the bourse. Athi River Mining Ltd CEO, Pradeep H. Paunrana , tops the 10 richest Kenyans on the NSE list that includes Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi, Scan group CEO Bharat Thakkar, Co-founder of the NSE and Dyer and Blair CEO Jimnah Mbaru, and industrialist Chris Kirubi.

Other CEOs with considerable stake in their companies but missing in the list include AccessKenya Group CEO Jonathan Somen, Co-operative Bank of Kenya CEO Gideon Muriuki and Rea Vipingo Plantation CEO Neil Cuthbert.

NSE Introduces Virtual Stock Trading

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has opened up a new avenue for individuals wishing to trade at the bourse using a simulated online trading platform.  

The initiative, which is supported by the Kenya Association of Stockbrokers and Investment Banks (KASIB), will have interested individuals go through basic train before they acquire virtual accounts to explore the world of stock markets.   

FastJet introduces low-cost airline in East Africa

'Changing the Landscape of Aviation in Africa’

Flying may become cheaper with a yet to be introduced low-cost airline by FastJet, a Pan-African discount airline start-up.

FastJet backed by EasyJet Plc, the world’s second largest budget airline is first planning to start operations in Tanzania before commencing in Kenya where approval to operate is not complete.

Investing in the Nairobi Securities Exchange lessons

As Warren Buffet, arguably the greatest investor in history said, “Never invest in a business you can’t understand.” Investor Education is what novice investors in the world and Kenya in particular are missing.

Over the years, Kenyans have fallen victim to Pyramid schemes (fraudulent ‘investment clubs’) leaving stockbrokers, brokerage firms, and other stock market experts to blame unmitigated gratuitous speculation and inept investment strategies. However, the problem lies deep on overlooking of basic literacy in investing and finance as a whole.  

A stockbroker whose roles may range from determining market values to giving investment advice to their clients will rarely educate you on the much-needed basics, which is the only safeguard for any investor and especially those wishing to start investing in the stock market.

As stated by Ben White in ‘Top 5 mistakes made by investors Africa’; Lack of Knowledge has been identified as one of the biggest challenges to African investors.

Uganda is quite different from Kenya. Ethiopia is a world apart from Nigeria. Each of the continent’s 55 countries has a unique regulatory environment and tax regime. Investing in one country come with different terms, possibilities, and restrictions than another.

Too often, there is a lack of planning in advance. Research needs to be conducted on the target market before investment s can be made into particular ventures. Is there a minimum capital requirement in country, is this legislation up for renewal, how can capital eventually be exited, how does the tax system historically deal with the sector? Many questions and areas need to be considered in order for an investment to make sense long term.

An alternative to the consensus opinion or what may be considered mainstream investing is contrarian investing. In finance, a contrarian is an investor who seizes the opportunity to buy shares of stock when other investors are busy selling and sells when others are buying.

A good example from Wikipedia, widespread pessimism about a stock can drive a price so low that it overstates the company’s risks, and understates its prospects for returning to profitability. Identifying and purchasing such distressed stocks, and selling them after the company recovers can lead to above-average gains.

Conversely, widespread optimism can result in unjustifiably high valuations that will finally lead to drops, when those high expectations don’t pan out.   

Amazingly, the world’s third-richest person Warren Buffett is a contrarian, who believes that the best time to invest in a stock is when shortsightedness of the market has beaten down the price.

Kenyans who are new or want to start investing at the Nairobi Stock Exchange visit this resourceful site http://www.contrarianinvestingkenya.info for more about investing in NSE. The investor education section starts with the elementary Price to Earnings multiple (PE), and how to apply the PE ratio.