This week, we explore the proposals in the Health Amendment Bill of 2021, including the regulation of medical fees and restricting the bandwidth for hospitals to seek deposits before offering emergency services a how that could impact hospitals. We also talk about Game's announcement to leave the Kenyan market, following the list of South African businesses that find Kenya a waterloo. We close the episode discussing development in Apple's digital drivers' licence and how the world is moving towards more digital access and identification keys. 

In this episode, Brian Myers and Mwakaneno Gakweli break down the importance of financial literacy in shaping investment decisions, avoiding scams and improving participation in investment products. We also talk about the role of different stakeholders in the finance space, like investment companies,  trading brokerages, and regulators, in democratizing investor education to build trust in the sector. Finally, we highlight the various resources investors could consider in building their knowledge base around the subject, detailing the importance of time and experience as the ultimate guide to making better long-term investment decisions. 

This episode features:

Brian Myers - CEO, Equiti Capital

Mwakaneno Gakweli - Business Journalist, Producer and Podcast Host, Hisa

This week, we discuss the hike in tuition fees for postgraduate and select undergraduate courses at the University of Nairobi following lower admission rates for self-sponsored students in recent years. On one hand, the university is stuck with debt and unpaid statutory fees. On the other hand, increasing tuition will likely scare off some potential students, feeding into the already dwindling admission rates. Is it time public universities in Kenya consider other sources of revenue beyond thinning tuition? We also break down the Laikipia County Infrastructure bond, a one of a kind instrument and whether some guests on the show would put their money in it.

Regionally, we head down south, detailing South Africa's record 34.4% unemployment rate for 2020 Q2 and how its citizens are now moving to sectors like manufacturing and construction, later outlining th potential to grow jobs through the country's cannabis sector as details in its national strategy. 

Globally, we talk about the role of Vice Capital in enabling businesses considered "bad", such as firms in the adult content sector, building upon OnlyFans' decision to ban explicit content, and a later announcement reversing the move. 

In this episode, Eric Asuma, Dr Manoj Shah, Dr Manilal Dodhia, and Sandeep Malu break down the success story of Dr Manoj, detailing his lessons, attributes, and principles that contributed to his success as a businessman and turnaround artist. We travel back to his early days in business, breaking down his core elements of success such as teamwork, mentorship, onward planning and global focus enabled him to build and scale Kingsway Group, MP Shah and Lions Sightfirst Eye Hospital. Finally, we talk about his biography "One in a Million" and why upcoming business people should read this encyclopedia for success.  

This episode features:

Eric Asuma - CEO, Hisa Technologies

Dr Manoj Shah - Vice Chairman, Lions Sightfirst Eye Hospital and Chairman of Kingsway Group and MP Shah

Dr Manilal Dodhia - Chairman, Lions Sightfirst Eye Hospital

Sandeep Malu - Author, One in a Million

This week, we break down banking sector results and how investors on the NSE reacted to the different counters. We also discuss the opportunity in DRC, which banks like Equity and KCB are looking into, and the hurdles like instability and poor infrastructure could affect businesses eyeing the market. We close the episode talking about activity in global markets, focusing on the OnlyFans' changes in content, following pressure from banking partners, and what that would mean for investors and creators on the platform.

In this episode, Mwakaneno Gakweli talks to Billy Owino on how Kenya's credit sector has evolved with the COVID-19 pandemic, and how best lending institutions, policymakers and credit reporting agencies can leverage data to improve lending post-COVID. We discuss the power of alternative data sources to build credit scores, and what building bespoke lending terms could improve access to loans for clients with poor credit scores. 

This episode features:

Billy Owino - CEO, TransUnion Kenya

Mwakaneno Gakweli - Business Journalist and Podcast Host, Hisa

Episode Artwork by Munyigu Njoroge - Creative Designer, Hisa

In this episode, Mwakaneno Gakweli talks to Franziska Reh on why it is important to focus investment on founders, especially local founders and how that can make a large difference given their knowledge and experience in the market. We also discuss Uncap's investment strategy, leveraging ticket sizes between 10K - 50K USD to early-stage founders through a tech-enabled platform that helps build a portfolio that they can use in future funding rounds, as well as what fund managers can do to bridge funding gaps in regions and gender. 

In this episode, Mwakaneno Gakweli talks to Rina Hicks, founder of Money-Wise and Valentine Njoroge, Co-Founder and CEO of Africa's Pocket, recounting their experiences in losing money through failed investments and how it informed them to build Investable, an online course that gives you the confidence to make an investment plan that empowers you to be in control of your financial security. Rina shares her story of losing over $5000 to a scam packaged as a bitcoin mining company. In contrast, Valentine lost her finances to a fish farm after failing to streamline her operations.

Some of the key takeaways on avoiding failed investment from the podcast include:

• Conducting due diligence on the investment, the management team behind it, and how it generates revenues. 
• Having clear goals before investing. 
• Diversifying an investment portfolio. 
• Making investment decisions in light of an individual's personal circumstances, such as cash flows, liquidity requirements, and debt. 
• Understand the true opportunity cost of every investment decision.

Investable will help you learn how to make smart investment decisions so that you are better equipped to avoid failed investments.

Your free guide to investing: https://africaspocket.ck.page/7711988375

In this episode, the Hisa team looks at CIC's performance for the half-year ended June 2021, analyse how local investors on the NSE outpaced foreign investor activity for the first time in a long time and weigh in on how unrest in Afghanistan and the Middle East could affect global commodity prices. 

Highlights: 

• CIC reported a net profit of KSh260 million for H1 ended June 2021. Gross written premiums rose by 15% to 10.8 billion, while net earned premium rose by 0.5%.
• The counter rose by 47% YTD and 54% YoY, ranking at 3rd on the exchange in YTD performance. 
• Local investors accounted for 65.65% of the total market activity on the NSE, overtaking foreign investors at 34.35%. Most of the investment went into Safaricom, Equity, KCB and Cooperative bank, while foreign investors mostly focused on EABL. 
• NASI was up by 1.5%, closing at 181.18 basis points. The NSE 25 rose by 0.84%, closing the week at 3950 basis points. The NSE 20 fell by 0.68%, closing at 1961.07 points.
• Equity turnover was up 64.3%, closing the week at Ksh 2.45 billion trade in terms of trade. The bond market was also up 2.9%, with Ksh 21.9 billion worth of bonds traded. The total shares traded rose by 142%, with 110 million shares traded in the week.
• Bank of Kigali was the top gainer for the week, up by 18%, closing at Ksh 38.25.
• NBV was the top loser, shedding 14.8% and closing at Ks 5.92.
• Ghana was the top-performing sub-Saharan African exchange for the week, with its all share index gaining 40.5% YTD. Zambia, Kenya and Uganda followed, gaining 19.2%, 19.1%, and 18.3%. 
• A destabilised Middle East would not board well for commodity prices starting with oil, likely affecting other markets.  

In this episode of We are Curious, the Hisa Team discusses how Ethiopia's Tigray war affects prospective investments in the country, following MTN's decision to pull out of the second licence bid. Could this affect Safaricom Ethiopia's prospects should the conflict stretch to 2022? We also question the incentives that should drive savings in Kenya, as the country battles with job losses thanks to COVID-19 and grapples with high living costs. Finally, we close the episode chatting on the weakening Kenyan shilling, and how that is likely to affect dollar-denominated debts.