38 LOCAL THE STAR Monday, January 11, 2016 ! UP TO DATE, ACCURATE BUSINESS INFORMATION business NEWS YOU CAN USE, EVERY DAY Can YOU outsmart Fastjet Tanzania the expert? brings battle to ALY KHAN’S STAR KQ’s doorstep PORTFOLIO 2016 STARTS WITH A BANG he year 2016 started with a cratered except for gold [a geopoliti- bang. North Korea’s ‘Lil Kim’ cal proxy] which got a nice pop back set off a bomb and the global to the $1,100 area. Commodity-based media has been busy chal- currencies dropped like a stone. The Tlenging whether it really was an ‘H’ commodity markets have been a bomb. In a show of support for South persistent signal in the noise. The Korea and as a show of force, the US Japanese yen rallied big and actually deployed a B-52 bomber on a low- one of my conviction trades for 2016 level flight over South Korea yester- is to buy the yen against just about day. Saudi Arabia conducted its first everything. Dollar/yen closed at 117.30 mass execution of political opponents Friday and I think can get to 105.00 since 63 religious extremists were and even 95.00 this year. publicly beheaded for the 1979 siege There are clearly winners and los- in the Grand Mosque of Mecca. The ers in Africa. The big elephants in the execution of Sheikh Nimr-al-Nimr was room, Nigeria and South Africa [which the catalyst for the sacking of the together make up considerably more kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s embassy than 50 per cent of sub-Saharan Af- in Tehran and relations between the rica GDP] are getting mauled. Madam two have apparently entered a tail- Lagarde [MD of the IMF] was in Lagos spin. Last year, I spoke of how the and trying her elegant level best to world had entered a new arrhythmic cajole President Buhari into devaluing [irregular heartbeat.] Normal and the the Nigeria naira and at a time of his geopolitical heart in the year 2016 has choosing rather than in a disorderly evidently not normalised. Geopolitics manner and at a time of the markets COMPETITION: A Fastjet plane taxies at Kilimanjaro International Airport in Tanzania. was however eclipsed by events in choosing. A 20-25 per cent devalu- the financial markets. ation of the naira is predicted and BY RICHARD MUNGAI entertainment, choice of for regional air travel. Nowadays the markets begin their predictable. In South Africa, the rand "ve !ights every day and a Fastjet has been !ying day in China. China sets the tone for traded back above 16.00 0n Friday FASTJET Tanzania, will to- chance to get a refund on internationally through its the rest of the day. China’s Shanghai and within a whisker of ‘David van day launch its maiden !ight your ticket as some of the subsidiaries in South Africa, Composite Index slid 10 per cent for Rooyen’ Lows. I have an admittedly between Nairobi and Dar es things that gives it an edge Zambia, Uganda, Zimba- the week but that does not tell the outlier call of 20 to the dollar in 2016. Salaam, following clearance over the low cost airline. bwe and Malawi. whole story. There was carnage in a In a bear market the President Zuma by Kenya and Tanzania civil Other competitors such The airline plans to launch week that saw two abbreviated trad- hair-cut is going to get deeper and aviation authorities, accord- as Ethiopian Airlines, Pre- Fastjet Kenya, a separate ing sessions [one of just 29 minutes] deeper. ing to its management. cision Air and Rwanda company within the Fastjet and by Friday, the authorities decided There is no Hail-Mary pass coming The low-cost airline said Air, are currently charging group, targeting !ights be- to ditch the whole circuit-breaker for the commodity producers, and scheduled !ights between about $237 (Sh24,210), tween Nairobi and Entebbe, business. Massive buying by state from Abuja to Luanda, from Lusaka Nairobi and Kilimanjaro $222 (Sh22,675) and $236 Kinshasa, Harare, Kiliman- institutions staunched losses which to Johannesburg, the denouement is will also commence today, (Sh24,105), respectively, jaro, Juba, Lilongwe, Lusa- would have been off the charts oth- still ahead and the risks of a disorderly adding fares will be sig- which include taxes, for a ka and Zanzibar routes. erwise. Chinese weakness spilt over break-down are spiking just like the ni"cantly lower than those one way !ight on the same However, its yet to get the into other markets with Germany’s Chicago Board Options Exchange charged by other airlines route. necessary approvals from DAX Index falling below 10,000 for Volatility Index. currently operating direct “The maiden !ight from the Kenya Civil Aviation the first time since October, Europe’s Which brings me back to East Africa !ights between the two Dar es Salaam to Kenya is Authority, which in Novem- Stoxx 600 Index lost 6.7 per cent for and Kenya. There is a massive trend- countries, a move which is expected to land at the Jomo ber announced in a gazette its biggest drop in four years. A gauge change occurring in front of our eyes expected to stir competition Kenyatta International Air- notice, that FastJet Kenya of emerging-market equities com- in what was a previously intractable on the route. port on Monday,” Fastjet had not been granted an air piled by MSCI fell 6.8 per cent. The US problem, the perennial current ac- Fastjet said fares from general manager for East service licence to operate S&P 500 .SPX suffered its worst five- count deficits. This is an important Nairobi to Kilimanjaro will Africa, Jimmy Kibati, said !ights from the Jomo Keny- day opening to a year on record going point to note. Our import bills [fuel start from $50 (Sh,5017) in a statement on Friday. atta International Airport. back to 1929 and the Dow notched its and associated product are the single one-way, while fares from “Tickets for !ights on According to Kibati, worst start to the year on record dat- biggest expense item] have cratered. Nairobi to Dar es Sa- the new routes are on sale Fastjet further expects to ing back to 1897. The Chicago Board At current prices, I estimate Kenya laam will start from $80 immediately. Fastjet recom- launch !ights between Zan- Options Exchange Volatility Index is on-side by $150 million a month. (Sh8,171) one-way, both ex- mends passengers to book zibar and Nairobi and Dar surged 48 per cent to 27.01. The VIX’s This is big and this is why the shil- cluding taxes. early to take advantage of es Salaam and Mombasa biggest jump in a month left it 61 per ling has turned ‘teflon’. In fact, whilst National carrier, Kenya the lowest priced fares,” he later in 2016. cent above the one-year average of Kenya still runs behind Tanzania and Airways, yesterday said in said. “We are very grateful to 16.7. This is extreme price action any of course Ethiopia on a GDP basis, this an advertisement that its He said Fastjet will be use the authorities in both Ken- which way you care to slice it. part of Africa is now outperforming charging $266 (Sh27,169) modern Airbus A319 jet air- ya and Tanzania for working Crude prices plunged to a 12- the rest of sub-Saharan Africa and for an all inclusive one way craft with seating for up to together to make it possible year low and look headed into the the outperformance is accelerating ticket for a !ight from Nai- 156 passengers and the low for us to realise our vision of $20.00-$30.00 range as early as and we might just find ourselves in a robi to Dar es Salaam. cost model will be targeting growing the number of con- next week. Commodity prices have sweet spot. It lists free refreshments "rst-time !yers who cur- sumers who can access the on board, up to two bags rently travel by road, due to convenience of affordable Readers are advised that this column represents Mr Satchu’s personal opinion. free in the hold and free the prohibitively high fares air travel,” he said..