Glad to hear Adan talk about the revival of the cotton and leather industry. I now see a some sort of light at the end of a tunnel.

Inflation returns to pre-VAT low level after dropping to 6.27pc - Inflation rate dropped to an eight month low in March to stand at 6.27% from 6.86% recorded in February despite marginal increases in the various indices. Food and Non-Alcoholic drink’s index increased by 0.56% due to an increment in price of some food items. Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ Index, increased by 0.28% due to a rise in cost of common cooking fuels. The Transport index increased by 0.30% due to higher costs of petrol, matatu/bus fares and parking charges --> KNBS

Good news this.
Calling on banks to reduce their lending rates. then we can smile here at the Equities corner!

Saw on TV yesterday that Comcraft Group is looking into listing into the NSE...any more details?

New Construction Rules to End China's Market Control

Foreign firms undertaking civil works in Kenya will be required to bid for just one project and do it in a joint venture with a local firm, the National Construction Authority has said.

The authority vice chair, Isabella Wachira said this will happen if proposed regulations by the NCA become law.

She said they are hopeful that the regulations will be enacted by the National Assembly which is currently scrutinizing the proposal.

"Foreign firms will be registered to do one project and our aim is to have these firms entrench their construction technology to local firms.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201404100679.html

2-3 years.....they aint serious

I don't like what I see here. Ascending triangle as the compression towards 87-87.50 zone intensifies towards a breakout... KES about to take it in the chin

"Joint Venture" and there lies the problem. The authority VC and her board of directors shouldn't take us for a ride. This how they plan to retire I suppose. Local content via Joint Venture in a country where corruption reeks to the high heavens yaawaaa madam we are not stupid.

Where people are progressive and free of too much corruption local content is achieved by ensuring foreign contractors have an overwhelming minimum cap of key technical staff as locals say 90% of engineers, foremen and plant operators etc. This means then as a foreign company if I can't find the necessary skills I set up my own training school or set up a JV with a university. For a foreign company to set up a training facility you surely can't limit me to a single contractual job. I need more jobs to justify the investment in the training program. The benefits of this approach are obvious, we have more skilled personnel in large numbers who can risk their capital in future and be the 'local chinese' or can take the same expertise to the counties and do credible work. If we training schools even better because we have skilled people being developed at a faster rate than they are being absorbed. One of the weaknesses in our labor force is that we lack skills and demonstrated expertise but are very educated.

Now what this law portends purposefully or ignorantly is tell us they are setting up a law to ensure as board members and their kin will from hencheforth be wealthy and all we need to do is support these laws which say before you bid you must select one rent seeker aka local company and by the way you only bid one job at a time so that we can have as many chinese companies coming in and as many rent seekers - local companies coming up in other words proliferation of rent seekers. We don't have to be lawyers to seek the mischief and loopholes in the proposed law. A simple question for the board and the repugnant law, how do you limit the number of brief case companies aka rent seeker from participating and how do you ensure skills transfer from the Chinese company to the brief case staff who will be ghost workers anyway.

^On the flip, and on a day like this, Eng. students must be encouraged to sit through campus as such policy initiatives stand to benefit them directly. Furthermore, they can form chamas and bid for TCL (Civicon) while they are at it!

As a side note, the honorable members of this profession are renown for their suave and qualifications to the hilt if you know what I mean.. So let's not knock their hustle just yet. Let's see..

Also, HF's technical school initiative will make a lot of sense by creating that local skill pool.

Labour wars - http://mobile.nation.co....l/-/31mwa2/-/index.html

Persistent labour wars depict a stagnant or econ slowdown with visible or hidden inflation. So far industrials are out of the money, agri is facing the same and tourism too. Something will snap very soon, eurobond or not... USDKES will signal...

Peak time for tourism, but humble pies this easter. Out of the monies - http://mobile.nation.co....ml/-/k50k3n/-/index.html