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TRENDS INTEL INDUSTRY COUNTRY PURSUITS HOUSING FUND CONCERTS E-COMMERCE KENYA TRAVEL GEMS NOT FOR SALE NOT Corporate Magazine | October - December, 2018 E-COMMERCE REPORT Thanks to the Internet and Mobile the power of smart phones, entrepreneurs are taking advantage of opportunities created by e-commerce and are commerce scaling their small businesses revolution into success stories Regulated2 by| the Central Bank of Kenya 37 KCB Bank’s Simba Points program Through the Simba Points program, the bank is rewarding its customers for transactions they make. 6 Housing pillar and the opportunities for investors The government has prioritised housing as one of the pillars that will drive growth in the next five years. 42 Hidden gems for tourists It is the holiday season again, a time when people are planning to go on holiday. To help you choose, we have curated some of Africa’s best hidden gems. 24 8 Making of a memorable concert From dukawallas to Jumia There are many factors Over the years, Kenya’s retail sector has that take place behind-the- experienced tremendous growth. Corner shops, scenes which determine if the which were the norm, are being replaced by audience get value for money. mega shopping malls and virtual stores. Nairobi’s ‘kibanda’ traders make a big splash online Marketers are leveraging on the power 18 of social media to advertise and sell their products and services. | 3 WORDFROM THEEDITOR Latching onto the digital platforms few of years ago one would have been quick to dismiss the suggestion that e-commerce would one day kill “brick and mortar” retail as lazy thinking. A It’s true that the digital age has E-commerce has completely upended the way we go tremendously reduced through our day-to-day lives. From the way we communicate, the transaction costs transact and even in buying and selling; the transformation associated with KCB Group Head of Corporate and purchase, sales, Regulatory Affairs has been deep and far reaching. Judith Sidi Odhiambo The developments within the retail sector especially have operating a business brought forth the heft and impact of online shopping in the and holding inventory. Director Marketing and Communications country. Manufacturers, traders and consumers can now Angela Mwirigi reach the market more quickly and get more information Brand Manager Marketing and than they could ever before. E-commerce has tremendously Communications reduced the transaction costs associated with purchase, Charity Wanjau sales, operating a business and holding inventory. KCB Group Corporate and Regulatory In terms of non-financial benefits, e-commerce has Affairs, Kencom House, Nairobi significantly helped improve human resources and Tel:0711087000 or 0732187000 / 0711012199 timeliness, quality of services and customers’ satisfaction. www.kcbgroup.com In this issue, we have cast the spotlight on e-commerce, Facebook: KCB Group with in-depth articles on e-commerce in the 21st century, Twitter: @KCBGroup An indicator that there is a huge potential and steady Instagram: @KCBGroup momentum for growth in e-commerce is seen in the Give us your feedback at: number of young people who are embracing online [email protected] businesses. Most youths find it much convenient KCB Venture is published for KCB to do business online instead of opening shops Group by Oxygène MCL where huge financial outlay is required to set [email protected] up the infrastructure. This is a classic example www.oxygene.co.ke of the potential ICT holds in unlocking youth Editor and KCB Bank Corporate unemployment. Communications Manager The housing fund is also another key issue Peter Mwaura featured in this edition. The Government Project Editor of Kenya, the National Housing and Anne Mathenge Development Fund will soon collect up to US $34m annually from employers and Production Editors: Mugumo Munene, Esther Karuru, Mutave Mutemi, John employees through a recently passed Ngirachu housing fund levy contained in the Finance Bill 2018. This is in line with the Contributing writers: Josephine Mosongo, Donald Kogai, Vanessa Big 4 Agenda where the provision of low- Wanyee, Ritah Nyawira, Peter Swaka cost housing is one of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s legacy projects. Art Director: Dennis Makori Of course, we have also retained your KCB Venture is available at all corporate favourite sections on Trends and Intel branches and at select hotels and as well as Pursuits, with focus on how to businesses in Nairobi. organize a concert. ©2018 No part of the contents may be Enjoy the read. reproduced without prior permission from the publishers. All advertisements and non-commissioned texts are taken in good faith. While every care is taken to ensure accuracy in preparing the magazine, the publisher and KCB Editor-in-Chief Venture assume no responsibility for effects arising therefrom. 4 | OPINION KCB Bank’s place at the In 2017, we enabled deals heart of global e-commerce worth over KES236 billion Peter Kathanga through mobile phones. The he world of e-commerce is uptake in terms of usage had a significance Bank now upending legacy commerce increase from 23% in 2016 to 63% in 2017. has over systems in ways that are The rise in mobile money is pushing up 13.6 million mind-boggling when e-commerce significantly. customers on T examined through the In 2017, we enabled transactions worth our mobile rear-view mirror. over KES236 billion through mobile platform. Words like mobile money and mobile loans phones. The Bank now has over 13.6 million and savings were literally unheard of two customers on our mobile platform. The decades ago. Today, electronic payments, number of transactions on digital channels powered by the internet, are driving was over 87% of total transactions. To enable multi-billion shilling business models and efficiency and convenience, we continue to economic juggernauts across the globe. invest in systems and people to drive this 87% E-commerce has brought about some of transformation while introducing modern the most dramatic business shifts witnessed touch points that offer customers simple Number of in recent memory. solutions while improving their experience. transactions on According to a McKinsey comparative Such include mobile USSD and the KCB digital channels analysis on the changing consumer App, cards, social media, chat boxes and as a percentage landscape, in 2000, Kmart was the third- smartphones. of total largest US retailer, with $36 billion in sales; Mobile money for us is not just a business transactions. by 2014, its annual revenues had declined by product but an economic enabler especially two-thirds. when you circle back to the power of The consulting firm also reports that e-commerce. Today, a craftsman working over the same period, Amazon’s annual out of a rural town in Kenya can sell sales grew to $89 billion from about $2.8 to a global marketplace thanks to billion. Alibaba, the market leader in China’s e-commerce. booming e-commerce business, was only a Big brands have also carved 15-year-old company when in 2014 it filed the a niche in the ever-growing largest IPO ever, valued at $25 billion. e-commerce platform by For a while, the developed world seemed evolving in order to survive this to “own” the disruptions brought about 21st century disruption that has by technological innovation. But right levels of kinesis that are moving here in Africa, we have witnessed our own commerce to a new normal every so disruptions, powered by mobile phones and often. We must embrace an extract their rising capabilities gliding on the wings the full benefits of the rise and rise of the Internet. of e-commerce. We at KCB Bank know this only too well thanks to the digital journey that we are The writer is walking with our customers. the Director, In 2017, card usage increased by 46% in Corporate line with the cashlite agenda that encourages Banking at electronic transactions such as shopping and KCB Bank paying for bills. In the same period, mobile Kenya Number of customers on 13.6 million KCB’s mobile platform | 5 TRENDS&INTEL INVESTMENT Housing pillar and the opportunities for investors overnment’s renewed focus 500,000 houses by 2022 under the government has put on the housing sector housing pillar in the Big Four Agenda. forth,” said Kwame Owino, offers opportunities IEA estimates that putting up the IEA’s chief executive. for investment in 500,000 houses will cost up to Ksh300 Investors can bet on G Public Private billion, meaning that investors looking increased demand for the materials Partnerships, for good returns can work with the that go into making the three making building materials or providing government on the Public-Private discrete parts of a housing unit – the finance for companies in that area. Partnerships framework. floor, roof and the walls. According to an analysis by the “This is a massive opportunity “This (housing) plan offers a lot Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) on for housing developments and of business opportunities to building behalf of KCB Group, the three main financial institutions should be material solution providers like us,” areas should provide good returns keen to participate in the Public said Winnie Ngumi, the Managing as the government looks to put up Private Partnerships (PPPs) that the Director of Space and Style Limited. The company that is famous for Decra Roofing Tiles is planning to launch a factory in Kenya to 500,000 manufacture stone-coated rooting tiles, Houses government plans which Ms Ngumi says will offer cost to put up by 2022 savings to developers and increase the availability of the tiles. Ms Ngumi says the drive to increase KES5,000 housing also boosts job creation across the construction cycle - building Amount employees must consultants, contractors, financiers, contribute to the National suppliers and tradesmen (fundis).