Tanzania Foreign Investment News (Page 25)

Listing by introduction occurs when a company takes its existing shares and lists them on an exchange without the aim of raising capital immediately, but to be able to do so at a later date when the company is in need of capital.

Sansora’s backing is a major boost to the bank’s listing prospects ahead of the annual general meeting (AGM) scheduled for June 24 with the listing proposal topping the agenda.

“Our company is broadly supportive of the plans to list at the NSE, even as we await shareholder and regulatory guidance. We at Sansora believe the listing will receive broad support from other shareholders at the upcoming AGM on June 24.

However, Sansora has no plans to sell its stake in the bank in the foreseeable future,” Sansora Group chief executive Leon Nyachae said in an interview.

Sansora, which owns about 27 percent of the bank’s shares said the listing proposal has opened the lender to a growing interest from both the local and foreign investors.

Last year (2023) the tier 3 lender sold a 20 percent shareholding to a Mauritius-based private equity fund Shorecap III after the deal was consummated in April following approvals from the Competition Authority of Kenya and the Central Bank of Kenya.

Credit Bank is seeking more funding to implement its aggressive five-year (2021-2025) growth plan with hopes of achieving an asset base of Sh49 billion and Tier II status.

The lender is also in talks with a foreign private equity (PE) firm to sell an additional 25 percent stake.

As at December 31, 2022, the bank’s authorised share capital was 75,000,000 ordinary shares of Sh100 each of which 29,159,714 shares were issued and fully paid.

“The Sansora group of companies have served as the anchor shareholder of Credit Bank since 1986 and we look forward to playing this role for many years to come,” said Mr Nyachae.

Credit banks began operations in 1986 as a non-bank financial institution before securing a commercial banking licence in 1995.
Between 1995 and 2010, the lender served a niche market, mainly large businesses, before the strategy review in 2010 which positioned it as a retail-facing bank.

And now AfDB has lauded the move as a game-changer in facilitating the free movement of workers around the continent and helping create the African Union-backed African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) trading bloc.

AfCFTA is projected to be the world’s largest market on full implementation with a population of about 1.4 billion people.

“Implementing policies that enable free mobility of labour and services—such as the open visa entry for Africans being championed by Kenya and Rwanda—would facilitate the operation of the AfCFTA,” AfDB analysts wrote in the African Economic Outlook 2024 report published last week.

“The AfCFTA can be a game changer if fully implemented and domesticated by all African countries. It will create a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of capital, talent and skills.”

Kenya’s visa-free entry policy requires travellers to apply through Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) 72 hours before arrival to be granted permission to enter Kenya.

Nairobi, however, requires travellers to pay $30 when applying for eTA, a condition that analysts insist is a visa by another name.

Critics have also pointed out that the eTA system— the online visitor registration platform — was not accommodative for African traders who need to travel to Kenya for emergency reasons and those wishing to change travel time.

The complaints prompted the Department of Immigration and Citizen Services to exempt citizens of Ethiopia, South Africa, Comoros, Congo-Brazzaville, Eritrea, Mozambique and San Marino from paying the fees when applying to travel to Kenya via eTA.

The fees do not also apply for citizens from member countries of the seven-nation East African Community trading bloc.

The backing from AfDB has come at a time when traders have complained of lengthy border checks and varied quality standards at the border points, listing them among the biggest threats to the creation of a common market on the continent.

The complaints arose from their experience following the launch of the Guided Trade Initiative (GTI) in October 2022, which aimed at stress-testing the operational, institutional, legal and trade policy environment ahead of the full rollout of AfCFTA.

The initiative covered trade in tens of products such as tea, coffee, ceramic tiles, batteries, processed meat products, sugar, pasta, glucose syrup, dried fruits and sisal fiber.

The pilot scheme was implemented in eight countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana Egypt, Mauritius, Cameroon and Tunisia.

Traders, however, said bureaucratic red tape at border posts in some participating countries was proving to be a bigger barrier to free movement of goods on the continent than its weak transport and logistics capacity.

“If it is taking us so long just to do standards, you can imagine the kind of challenges we are facing around access to the markets,” Flora Mutahi, the founder of Melvin Marsh International, told a forum in Nairobi last year. “Logistics around getting to the market…are cumbersome. These are barriers that we need to first overcome.”

Trade Principal Secretary Alfred K’Ombudo said at the time that the biggest task for the Accra-headquartered AfCFTA secretariat should be more of simplifying customs procedures, than eliminating tariff barriers which, he says, are coming down.

“If you want to trade internationally, it’s not just about bringing down tariffs, but it’s about dealing with borders…transport logistics, shipping industry, and making sure that your goods arrive competitively,” Mr K’Ombudo said.

He added: “It’s about ensuring that you package your goods according to the requirements of the foreign market and comply with the requirements in sanitary and phytosanitary and all of those issues.”

At her home, she has created a beautiful xeriscape, a practice of designing landscapes to reduce or eliminate the need for irrigation or constant watering.

She has grown over 25 species of succulent plants. The garden has more than five species of agaves, which have rosettes of succulent leaves used to make tequila. Her garden also has false pineapples, aloe vera, ponytail palms and jade plants.

Her balcony has potted plants and she has used traditional kettles and cups, giving the space a touch of Africa.

On one side of the garden, there is a colourful array of flowering plants including marigolds and African daisies. She refers to this area as the “pollinator hotspot.”

“My home now attracts a lot of bees and butterflies. I love to see how nature interacts with each other. I also have birds, lizards, frogs, geckos, and even hedgehogs,” says the 48-year-old, adding, “I get to interact with nature despite living in a dry area”.

For many people, the late 40s signals a more relaxed living, perhaps away from the city, but they cannot live far because of the long commute time to work or school. However, Ms Migwi says living in Isinya has worked perfectly for her family and the greenery is now a bonus.

“We have lived in several places, including Uganda, Tanzania and different locations in Nairobi. Now I’m working as a consultant/entrepreneur, so Isinya is a perfect place. As much as it seems rural, it just felt right. Our children are also big enough to cope with living here and we have only one daughter in school whom we drop and pick and it works out quite fine. I also have another brother who lives not too far away and that gives us comfort in its own way,” she says.

Ms Migwi’s love for gardening started when she was young.

“Since I was a child, I have always been fascinated by flowers, especially roses and the mimosa. The little things fascinated me so much and so I always had a love and interest for plants. The more I ventured into it, the more I just fell in love with it,” she recalls.

Her first garden gave her a space to experiment with vegetables and beautiful flowers such as monsteras – the evergreen perennial vines and other flowers that are essential for any plant lover with high expectations of creating beautiful botanical worlds.

“The climate of this area said a lot about how the art would be done. It is so dry and hot. I had the idea of planting beautiful flowers, but the plants died a painful death even when I watered them. They reminded me of the climatic conditions I live in,” Ms Migwi recalls.

She did not give up. She went back to the drawing board.

“Plants will let you down, they will die, and that’s probably every gardener’s first experience. We always have that period where you start and then you say no, this is not for me,” says the mother of three.

She has had many such episodes but always comes back stronger.

“Just two years into desert landscaping, my love of working with plants and creating garden spaces has grown far beyond the reach of secateurs or loppers,” says Ms Migwi, adding, ” I’m a creative person at heart. I thought about how I could paint the landscape into a picture that represents who I am, a place that would make me and others feel at home. While most people choose to grow food, I wanted to do something different.”

The art extends into her house. The corridors are lined with potted money plants [Epipremnum aureum, grown to fill the house with prosperity and wealth]. She also has a Hoya, a reliable warm-weather bloomer which thrives in the right soil, plenty of light, and adequate water. She also has multicoloured Aglaonema, which she bought from local vendors.

“Many residents here don’t know about ornamental plants, but they [plants] grow best here. So I thought, if I can show people, they can go and practice it in their homesteads so they can have beauty around them,” she says.

For those looking to pot their flowers, she says “potted plants can become stressed because they are confined to a small space.”

“Plants communicate and thrive when they grow together, sharing nutrients and water. When a plant is alone in a pot, it can become weak and dry up quickly. They may appear unhappy because they are solitary and require more attention,” she says.

Her secret to maintaining a lush garden is to stick to the basics. When planting, she uses compost alone or mixed with soil. Occasionally she feeds the plants to ensure they have nice, healthy-looking leaves, and finally, she adds natural fertiliser. She uses a mixture of black cotton soil and sand.

“The black cotton soil holds a lot of water. The sand is added to drain the excess water because plants don’t thrive in waterlogged conditions. Plants store water in their leaves, taking only what they need and releasing any excess. If you grow them directly in the black cotton soil, they will rot,” she says.

“When trying to improve your space, it’s important to consider your climate. Don’t try to grow something just because you’ve seen it elsewhere and assume it will work for you. When it comes to ornamental plants, soil quality is not a concern. If the climate is suitable, the soil will be too,” she adds.

“As drought-tolerant plants, “I don’t water them at all. Instead, they draw water from the humidity,” she says.

Ms Migwi does not see it as a challenge to look after her plants. “I only do weed.” “If you are a busy person and you want to garden, you can start with ornamental plants. They are easy to maintain, they don’t bother you with diseases, you don’t have to worry when you travel,” she notes.

But for her lawn, what was supposed to be her living space became her drying space. She had to spread 20 tonnes of fertiliser to get her Kikuyu and Pemba grass to stick.

“The rainy season was a blessing for my grass, it gave me the boost I needed,” she says.

Beyond her own garden, Alice extends her passion to the community. As a consultant, she designs outdoor spaces for local families, often creating areas for play and relaxation surrounded by wildlife-friendly and fragrant planting. She is also an author, sharing her knowledge and love for gardening with others.

Alice’s vision as a gardener is to create a community space with native plants where people can interact with nature.

“I enjoy all aspects of gardening, from planting seeds to pruning hedges and clearing branches. Gardening is the best form of exercise, and I’m always surprised by how good my body feels after just a few minutes in the garden,” she says.

Alice Migwi has found joy and peace in xeriscaping, proving that with passion and perseverance, even the driest lands can bloom beautifully.

“The glory of gardening is to have your hands in the dirt, your head in the sun, and your heart in nature,” she reflects on the words of Alfred Austin (English poet).