Safaricom, arguably the most successful company in East & Central Africa closes its roller coaster initial public offer on the 23rd of April, about 30 hours from now.
For the nay sayers, this is your last chance to buy. When it comes to telecom stocks in Africa, am a great believer! I have heard many say that Safaricom will not do that well because...Kenya is unstable. Hold on!! What has fundamentally changed in the structure of the Kenyan economy of recent? Not much. Tourism has slowed down somewhat since the November 2007 boom but other than that, its business as usual. It has been said that the Communications COmmission of Kenya is about to license four other players. Without knowing the exact nature of these proposed licenses, its hard to tell what their effect will be. Nevertheless, even if all these are tier 1 licenses, evidence from next door in Uganda has shown that it is difficult to dethrone the incumbents.
Overall therefore, my gut feeling is that this is still a good buy and once missed, it could take quite a while before another comes by...
Monday, April 21, 2008
Situation in Zimbabwe...
Yesterday the East Africa Law Society (EALS) and the SADC Lawyers association called a meeting to discuss the impasse over election results in Zimbabwe.
According to the Zimbabwean , the one day meeting will, among others discuss the impact of the delay in releasing the presidential results. Bringing together participants from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Botswana, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Zambia, Malawi, Swaziland and South Africa, "the meeting will use the opportunity to add its voice to the pressure on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to release the results of the elections held on March 29.”
It is my hope that this meeting will come up with some stern resolutions. Unfortunately, in the end, they can only be just that: resolutions! It is hard to imagine how the Attorney General of Zimbabwe, together with the Chief Justice of that nation can continue to superintend over this impasse without a shred of shame. I know that these folks are not members of the International Bar Association but for whatever it is worth, the IBA should prospectively strike them off the international roll!
According to the Zimbabwean , the one day meeting will, among others discuss the impact of the delay in releasing the presidential results. Bringing together participants from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Botswana, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Zambia, Malawi, Swaziland and South Africa, "the meeting will use the opportunity to add its voice to the pressure on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to release the results of the elections held on March 29.”
It is my hope that this meeting will come up with some stern resolutions. Unfortunately, in the end, they can only be just that: resolutions! It is hard to imagine how the Attorney General of Zimbabwe, together with the Chief Justice of that nation can continue to superintend over this impasse without a shred of shame. I know that these folks are not members of the International Bar Association but for whatever it is worth, the IBA should prospectively strike them off the international roll!
Monday, February 4, 2008
Welcome Message!
Welcome to what should hopefully be a useful space to exchange knowledge or even ideas on issues that affect the development and proliferation of technology in Africa, from the legal point of view.
For a long time, i have felt that this area, better understood elsewhere but neglected in Africa could unlock our potential to develop. Areas of interest that may not necessarily fall squarely under the main theme are:
For a long time, i have felt that this area, better understood elsewhere but neglected in Africa could unlock our potential to develop. Areas of interest that may not necessarily fall squarely under the main theme are:
- Telecommunication & IT
- Infrastructure development
- Investment & Trade
- Good governance
In the next few weeks, I hope to post more of my thoughts on these subjects. Feel free to interject and share your experience or perspective...
Blog on...!!
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