Africa Property Investment Summit about African Real Estate Investment and Development: Sept 2013

Africa Property Investment Summit: 3-4 September 2013

BY Promotional Feature | July 11, 2013 at 15:07 http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com

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If investment and development feature strongly on your business agenda, then this commercial property forum is not to be missed. An annual event, the African Property Investment Summit has earned the respect of the industry and is an anticipated event on the African real estate calendar.
The Africa Property Investment Summit is fast approaching with limited bookings available. The two-day event, taking place in Johannesburg from 3-4 September 2013, will be once again be held at the beautiful Sandton Sun Hotel.
This summit presents a professional platform for learning about African real estate investment and development. Following its success in 2011 and 2012, the summit returns with the support of more industry heavyweights and an agenda designed to draw the leading minds in the property arena.
This is a unique opportunity to discuss current trends, share industry experiences and enjoy insightful debate. If you are committed to an African growth strategy, this is a property event you cannot afford to miss.
This year’s event features an exciting line up of speakers and panel discussion participants actively doing deals across the continent.
The two day conference package (R7,950/$895) includes all lunches and refreshments, an invitation to the gala dinner, parking and full access to all research, presentations and documentations. For booking information and enquiries contact Muhammad Joosub on muhammad@apisummit.co.za or +27 11 593 2288 or visit www.apisummit.co.za

Nairobi’s Prime Real Estate Growing by 25% faster than Miami (19.1%), London (12.1%).

Kenya’s luxury property market records highest growth globally in 2011

BY Claude Harding | March 29, 2012 at 21:39 http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com

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Kenya’s luxury real estate saw the greatest price increase globally in 2011, according to Knight Frank’s Prime International Residential Index (PIRI), which monitors price changes across the world’s top-end property markets.
Price growth in both Kenya’s capital Nairobi and the country’s Indian Ocean coastal hot spots was more than any of the other global locations included in the Index, with the value of Nairobi’s prime real estate growing by 25% in 2011 and the Kenyan coast by 20%.
Knight Frank defines “prime property” as a location’s most desirable and usually most expensive real estate.
Kenyan luxury real estate prices grew faster than major cities such as Miami (19.1%), London (12.1%), Moscow (9.8%), New York (3.1%), Shanghai (-3.4%) and Singapore (-4.7%).
It should, however, be noted that Kenya’s growth comes from a base of relatively low luxury property prices. The average price per square metre of prime real estate in Nairobi is only US$1,700, which doesn’t even compare with cities such as Monaco ($58,300/sq m), London ($48,900/sq m), Beijing ($17,400/sq m) or Mumbai ($11,400/sq m).
Increasingly affluent buyers from emerging markets are boosting residential property prices in developed world locations such as Miami, London and Vancouver. “When asked which nationalities will become most important as prime property buyers over the next five years, Chinese, Russian, Middle Eastern, Latin American and those from other growth economies consistently top advisors’ lists,” notes Liam Bailey, head of residential research at Knight Frank.
The reason for this is that many of the newly rich in the developing world fear that issues such as corruption and politics can pose a risk to property investments in their home countries. They therefore prefer safe haven locations such as London, which has a cosmopolitan environment, good education and both personal and property security.
Bailey says that New Zealand’s isolation from the world’s conflict zones makes it possibly the ultimate safe haven destination for the world’s super-rich.
Although ‘safe haven’ isn’t necessarily a phrase many people would use to describe Kenya in a global context, compared to its neighbouring countries it is just that, commented Ben Woodhams, managing director of Knight Frank Kenya.
Woodhams added that Kenya’s fast economic development is attracting domestic and international private equity. However, recent events such as the kidnapping of tourists staying on Kenya’s north coast and a steep rise in interest rates to almost 25% also highlight the potential vulnerability of some emerging prime markets.
Saskia Sassen, co-chair of the Committee of Global Thought at Columbia University and the person who coined the term ‘global city’, said that Nairobi is becoming “increasingly important in a rapidly urbanising world”.

Women founding Big Companies in the Male Dominated Construction industry (SA)

How Rachel Tladi is making a name for herself in a male-dominated industry.

BY Kate Douglas | May 13, 2013 at 10:38 http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/property/

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Rachel Tladi was 43 years old and working as an accountant when a client and friend challenged her to start her own construction company in South Africa. Under his mentorship, Tladi started Uvuko Civils, which was registered in 2002.

Rachel Tladi

Uvuko Civils’ business is in building and construction and they have recently expanded the company, through a partnership with the Department of Public Works, to include repairs, maintenance and installations in the elevator industry. Uvuko Civils was founded and is wholly owned by Rachel Tladi, a determined and dynamic black woman with over 12years of experience in the civil and construction industry. http://www.uvukocivils.co.za/management.php
Last week Tladi was one of the guest speakers at the launch of the inaugural WIE Africa (which stands for Women, Inspiration and Enterprise) symposium in Cape Town, and took a moment to tell How we made it in Africa a bit about what it is like to be a woman in a typically male-dominated industry.
“You find that men [often] do not respect women and men do not believe that women can do the right thing [in business],” said Tladi. “For argument’s sake… when you have an argument and say, ‘no this is the wrong measurement,’ then they argue. They don’t take you seriously and in most cases, even when you are going to get funding, there is always an obstacle for women.”
However, in spite of the fact that Tladi feels she has to prove her business worth to men in the industry, she recognises that it was a man that actually convinced her to start her company in the first place and, in fact, provided her company with its first business. “He said, ‘this is what I am going to do, I’m going to give you a job to do for me for R250,000 and I will fund and will do everything so that you are successful’. And he took me along,” reflected Tladi.
Tladi’s success in business has been recognised in a number of awards. In 2008 she was awarded the Govan Mbeki Best Woman Builder of the Year award at both the provincial and national level. The following year she received the Provincial Govan Mbeki Woman Contractor of the Year award and in 2010 she was the recipient of the Regional Business Woman Achievers Award in the entrepreneur category, and a finalist at the World Entrepreneur Awards 2010.
Tladi is a firm believer in supporting and mentoring other aspiring business women. “How I assist other women in business is that I do skills development… and then I also do motivational talks to motivate women to be in business.”
While Tladi does feel that she is often discriminated against by men in the industry for being a woman, she feels that it can also be a challenge to instruct and mentor other women. She added that the problem with women leaders is that they don’t only face prejudice from men, but also from women, and Tladi believes that this can be a real problem for the advancement of women leaders in society.
“So the challenge as well is that you can’t give women instructions,” said Tladi. “You know, they feel that another woman is giving them an instruction and you want to take them along with you… And when you mentor a woman, you tell them about all these things, you say ‘you know when you get your first cheque you can’t go and buy something, you need to put it back into the business,’ and they think that you want to control them.”
Tladi believes that maintaining integrity and developing one’s skills are the most powerful pieces of advice she can give to other women looking to be successful in the industry, and in business in general.
“My number one advice to these women is that they must have workshops; they must work together, and have motivational talks as woman. And as a successful person, it’s not final. I’m still in a race… So for them, they must just have courage, to push to go open the door that you can’t open. And for them to be successful, they must not be afraid to ask ‘how do we do this?’ The most important thing for a woman is to have skills for them to get into this industry,” she added. “It’s not an easy industry.”

soleRebels: Africa’s largest footwear brands and transforming the economic landscape in Ethiopia

How soleRebels became one of Africa’s most celebrated footwear brands. http://www.solerebelsfootwear.co/#

By  http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/

By Making It Magazine | July 19, 2013 at 11:15

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An innovative footwear manufacturer that pays fair wages and uses locally sourced materials is helping to transform the economic landscape in Ethiopia. SoleRebels, which was founded by Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu in 2004, has become one of Africa’s largest footwear brands, with its range of artisan-made shoes now selling in 55 countries. In 2011, the company ramped up US$2 million in sales and it is expecting to generate over US$15-20 million in revenue by 2015.

Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu-Ethiopia Entrepreneur

Alemu has become one of Africa’s most celebrated businesswomen. She was featured on the front cover of Forbes magazine in January 2012, and was selected as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum 2011. In June 2012, she won the award for “Most Outstanding Businesswoman” at the annual African Business Awards, organised by African Business magazine.
Export-oriented success story
Her success with soleRebels is regularly cited as a sign that Ethiopia is ready to transition from being reliant on foreign aid to being able to direct its economic future by exploiting home grown skills, resources and business opportunities.
The company is also held up as inspiration for Ethiopia’s newly-emerging private sector, particularly as an example of an export oriented success story.
Alemu explained how she set up the company in a small village on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, “Having grown up watching our family and neighbours struggling, we decided to create the ‘better life’ we were all waiting for by harnessing our community’s incredible artisan skills and channeling them into a sustainable, global, fair trade, footwear business.”
She continued, “We selected shoes because we saw that footwear was an excellent platform to begin to share many of Ethiopia’s indigenous eco-sensible craft heritages and artisan talents with the world. Our approach to footwear creation – hand-crafted and eco-sensible – meant we could source and make almost all our materials locally, thereby creating an export product from 100% local inputs.”
Tyre-soled shoes
The soleRebels footwear range includes sandals, flip flops and shoes with soles made from recycled car tyres. Alemu explained that the recycled car tyre-soled shoe has existed in Ethiopia for a long time. “It was the footwear from back in the day when the original “soleRebels” fought off the invading forces and kept Ethiopia as the only African nation to never be colonised! We took this wonderful, indigenous, age-old recycling tradition and fused it with fantastic Ethiopian artisan crafts and excellent modern design sensibilities, and turned it into footwear that has universal flavour and appeal.”
She is proud of the production process, stating that all the company’s styles incorporate as much recycled and sustainable materials as possible, with ingredients like hand-spun and hand-loomed organic cotton fabrics, and natural fibres, including Abyssinian hemp and koba. However, she shuns the term, ‘green business’, stating that she regards it as something of a fad. “We are embracing these deeply sustainable and traditionally zero-carbon methods of production and materials because they are integral parts of Ethiopia’s cultural fabric, a tradition which we grew up within and feel passionate about preserving.”
Workers’ rights
SoleRebels is also setting a high standard for workers’ rights, providing 100% medical coverage for employees and their families and free doctor-run medical checks, as well as providing transport to and from the worksite for workers with disabilities. Alemu insists that workers are treated with respect, noting that on average the company’s 90 employees get paid four times the legal minimum wage and three times the industry average wage for similar work.
Unlike most companies in the apparel and footwear sector, soleRebels does not use a quota system. Alemu explained, “The quota system of work, endemic in the fashion business always struck us as truly demeaning. It is a system that shows no confidence that workers can be incentivised to achieve targets and it creates a hostile working environment. SoleRebels pays all workers based on negotiated wages that are subject to mutually agreed, company-wide goals. This means that we are all in it together in terms of making sure that deadlines are met and that top-notch product quality is always achieved.”
Expansion
In order to meet growing demand, the company is constructing a new production facility and when it is finished Alemu expects the workforce to grow in number to around 300 employees. “Built with indigenous, eco-sensible materials and employing 100% renewable and self-generating power, this first of its kind production facility will serve as a leading innovation centre, allowing us to develop the cultural wealth of the country, while simultaneously expanding and enhancing our own production capabilities.”
Alemu believes that her company can be emulated by others and help foster inclusive, sustainable development in Ethiopia. She said, “soleRebels is living proof that creating innovative world class products and trading them with the world is the best road to greater shared prosperity for developing nations like ours.”
She also sees lessons for the rest of Africa. “Today, Africa accounts for a mere two percent of global trade. If sub Saharan Africa were to increase that share by only one per cent, it would generate additional export revenues each year greater than the total amount of annual assistance that Africa currently receives. We simply need the opportunity to increase our market share, something every good, strong, global business seeks to do.”
This article was first published in UNIDO’s Making It magazine

The Top Six Biggest Companies In Kenya And Their Shareholders

Six Biggest Companies In Kenya

Article by Kenyaentrepreneur    @ http://kenyaentrepreneur.hubpages.com/
In this hub I will be listing the top six biggest indigenous Kenyan companies and their shareholders (people who own them). In indigenous I mean the companies that have their roots in Kenya or in other words that were registered and incorporated in Kenya. The likes of Barclays bank of Kenya and Standard chartered Bank are excluded because their holding companies are foreign in nature meaning they are owned outside Kenya and therefore don’t qualify to be included here.
For now though, here below are the top 6 biggest companies in Kenya in no particular order

1. Kenya airways
Website: http://www.kenya-airways.com
C.E.O: Titus Naikuni
Founded in the year 1977 after the collapse of the east African community, Kenya airways is today one of the biggest national carriers in the African continent. With over 100 flight destinations worldwide, the pride of Africa as is commonly known is undoubtedly one of the biggest, finest and respected companies in Kenya and beyond. The airline is a public-private partnership company after privatization back in the year 1966. The airlines stock is traded in the Nairobi securities exchange and the top shareholders are as follows;

• KLM has a 26% ownership
• Government of Kenya- 23%
• Paul Wanderi Ndungu- 3.32%
• Barclays bank Kenya nominees limited 2.5%
• Mansukhlal Khetshi Shah 2.03%
• Kumar Shah 1.26%
• Khetshi Dharamshi and company limited 1.13%
• Rameshchandra Shah 1.01%
• Apollo insurance company limited 0.94%
• Shah Mahendra Shah 0.92%

2. Safaricom limited

Website: http://www.safaricom.co.ke
C.E.O: Bob Collymore
With over 18 million subscribers safaricom is the mobile phone and communications provider of choice in Kenya and as such the company is the biggest company not only in Kenya but in the east and central Africa region. Safaricom may not be offering cheaper calling rates like its competitors like Airtel and Orange but what has made them the darling of Kenya mobile phone users is the award winning M-pesa service (mobile money transfer service). One can transfer as little as ksh.100 to as much as ksh. 200,000 in a day from one mobile phone to another and withdrawals can be done any of the nearest over 20,000 agent outlets across the country at a very affordable rate.
The company’s main products that generate chunk of its revenue are voice, data and mobile money transfer services. U.K telecommunication company, Vodafone owns 40% of safaricom limited while the remaining 60% is owned by individual and corporate investors who are mostly Kenyans.

3. East African breweries limited
Website: http://www.eabl.com
C.E.O: Seni Adetu
Founded in 1922 east African breweries is one of the biggest companies in Kenya and the east African region. The Ruaraka based alcoholic beverage manufacturer produces some of the top beer and wine brands in Kenya and this is testified by the presence of its products in every Kenyan bar. The company’s biggest shareholder is Diageo plc of the United Kingdom. The top shareholders of eabl are as follows

• Diageo Kenya limited 42.82%
• N.S.S.F board of trustees 4.82%
• Diageo holdings 4.60%
• Barclays Kenya nominees account 3.06%
• Guinness Overseas limited 2.61%
• Karsandas babla 2%
• Kenya reinsurance corporation limited 1.38%

4. Kenya commercial bank limited
Website: http://www.kcbbankgroup.com
C.E.O: Martin Oduor Otieno
Kenya commercial bank is the banking and financial service provider of choice for many individual, business as well as corporate customers in Kenya and the larger east African community region. With assets of over $2.65 billion and a branch network of over 168 branches in Kenya alone KCB is truly one of the biggest brands in Kenya. Share stocks of Kenya commercial bank are listed in the Nairobi securities exchange as well as cross listed in Uganda securities exchange, Rwanda stock exchange and Dar-es-salaam stock exchange.
The top shareholders of Kenya commercial bank are as follows;

• Government of Kenya 26.23%
• Icdc investment company 5.04%
• N.S.S.F 4.74%
• Kcb staff pension fund 3.43%
• Sunil Narshi Shah 2.23%
• Cfc stanbic nominees 1.53%

5. Equity bank limited
Website: http://www.equitybank.co.ke
C.E.O: James Mwangi
Like KCB, Equity bank limited is an indigenous Kenyan bank which started as a building society back in the year 1984. Since then the bank hasn’t looked about and today it boasts of an asset base of U.S$1.7 billion and over 6 million customer base. Although it provides the same services as other commercial banks in Kenya, what differentiates Equity bank from other Kenyan financial service providers is its business portfolio that mostly targets the low income earners in the Kenya economy.
Majority of the bank’s customers are individuals who are in the lower income bracket whom it continuously provides them with cheap financial products like loans and mortgages. This business initiative has enabled many poor people access affordable loans that may contribute to their lives in one way or another. Equity bank’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed and that is why the bank has won many local and international awards. It was named the best performing company in Africa during the annual African investor index awards that was held in New York City in the year 2009. Euromoney also voted the bank as the best in Kenya in the year 2008.
Equity banks top shareholders are as follows;

• British American Investment Company 14.75%
• Nelson Muguku Njoroge 8.3%
• James Mwangi (current C.E.O) 7.32%
• John Kagema Mwangi 6.29%
• Equity bank employees 5.52%
• Africap limited 5.52%
• Andrew Kimani 4.02%
• Fortress Highlands Limited 3.72%
• Peter Munga 3.2%
• Mary Wamae 1.97%

6. Nation media group
Website: http://www.nationmedia.com
C.E.O: Linus Gitahi
Nation media group is the undisputed top media company in east and central Africa. Headquartered in nation centre along Kimathi Street in Nairobi central business district, the media house is the leader in print and electronic media across the east African region. The company has subsidiaries in both Uganda and Tanzania. In Kenya nation media group owns the popular Daily Nation newspaper, Business Daily newspaper, The East African, NTV, Easy fm and Q fm. In Uganda it has the Sunday Monitor newspaper, ntv Uganda. In Tanzania it has the Mwananchi newspaper. The Nation Media Group is a project of the Aga Khan and he is believed to be the majority shareholder.