Interesting things happening in kenya

There are a number of interesting development in kenya of late. One of the most interesting thus far is the launching of KenTv, an IPTV service based in the UK and focusing on the delivery of kenyan content to kenyans int eh diaspora. It is an area that is definately lucrative and I can see a number of individuals really latching on to the service. According to John Wesonga, the service is currently getting over 35000 view per day. Thats a huge number for a site that has just been launched that the is focusing on Kenyan content. The naviagation could use some work though and the 5 minute Nakumatt advertisement is a bit too much if you ask me.

Also, in news just released on bdAfrica, kenTv has just entered into a partnership with the steadman group to provide on demand research sevices to Kenyans in the diaspora. I think this service will be a hit both with kenyan students seeking to do research on Kenyan topics as well as with people seeking to guage the viablilitly of business ventures before plunging in. The turn-around time is good (92 hours) and the price is quite appealling ($3.99 per question with bulk discounts) considering what it would cost to do similar research on your own. Another advantage is steadmans ability to return research result of the entire East African region.

Also the Safaricom IPO is causing quite a stire as is to be expected with $500 million worth of equity in the pot. A number of major financial institutions (Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Credit Swiss, PNB Paribus to name a few), are gunning for advisory roles on the IPO along with a number of major internation law firms. I must say that i was a bit disapointed not to see Merrill Lynch as one of the firms in the running, I feel that they are letting a major entry point into the African market pass them by. This is quite sad considering the growth potential in this market. Setting up relationships early is definately going to be a key determinant going forward of who cashes in on the Afican Renaissance.