Financial Crisis Contagion Bites

After many months of denial the Central Bank might at last be bowing to the pressure to cut down interests rates and rather this might be an acknowledge that the world financial crisis whose epicenter was the USA is now spreading its ferocious wings to African emerging markets and Kenya in particular. This was hot in the heels of a denial by the acting finance minister that all was well?


Financial Contagion
It is indeed true that any crisis in the developed economies of the world will have their effects on African emerging markets and Kenya being reliant on Tourism, Trade, and Remittance by Kenyans abroad, things might not be that rossy for us.
A decision by Central Bank to lower the minimum amount of money that investors need to buy T-Bills is yet another attempt to bring down interest rates and prevent the economy from going on a further downward spiral, analysts said.

Th reduction of minimum T-Bills purchase 10 times from Sh1 million to Sh100,000, opens a new window through which ordinary Kenyans can be drawn into funding government debt and pits commercial banks against the Central Bank in deposit mobilisation and interest paid to depositors.more

Regulatory Framework
What does the developing global recession portend for the local economy and our financial markets? What policy interventions are required? What audit and regulatory measures must be embraced in navigating the emerging challenges?
These are the pertinent questions we need to consider as the effects of the global financial crisis continue. More

Kenya's Vision 2030-a reality or not?

The media has been awash with news and information on the much touted kenya's Vision 2030 that is set to steer Kenya to the Status close to the First World. This vision has been 'dreamt' for us by the shennanigans and thinktanks at the Ministry of Planning and Vision 2030.

Pillars
If you may not be aware of this Vision its pillars as espoused in the details documents is economic political and social facets. I don not wish to delve into the nitty gritty of the same but my concern is the economic pillar in the sea of current economic quackmire and recession necessitated by the Sub Prime Mortgage Crisis in the US.This crisis has led to the collapse of the world financial giants while others are still reeling from its effects as they beg for Government bailouts.

World Economy
Indeed the world economy has been on a decline from the giant USA to the expansive Europe things have not been going well.This crisis to say the least has spread to Africa and Kenya is no exception. As it is said when US coughs Europe catches a cold and Africa shall be bed-ridden. Kenya that is reliant on Tourism and Exports within its struggling economy, will indeed realize reduced business and the uptake of tourist resorts and Villas even during this festive season shall be significantly reduced.

Outsourcing
Within the economic pillar of the Vision 2030 is the Business Process Outsourcing that has been seen to drive the Kenyan economy towards Vision 2030. This is indeed a new exposure for Kenya where companies in Europe and US alongside other developed economies od the world shall be utilizing the cheap services in Kenya alnd other emerging markets through outsourcing.
AS Kenya takes up th outsourcing bug the supply of business from the global economy may be reduced greatly due to economic crisis.

What next?
Although business process outsourcing is celebrated as a new ICT business to drive Kenya forward what next after the global Crisis?.Will Kenya still be the hub of business in East Africa or Will we perish with our Vision?

More Jitters in Banking Industry as MPESA Reigns

More jittersThe MPESA phenomenon ha continued to cause jitters and sleepless nights to many players in the banking industry who may have been lobbying the Finance minister to crack the whip.

Audit
Yesterday Hon Michuki, the Finance Minister joined the fray and in a rather stern statement called for an audit of MPESA by the Central Bank of Kenya on concerns about the safety of users’ money.

Regulations
M-Pesa and Zain’s equivalent, Sokotele-Now Zap Brand have been operating outside Central Bank’s (CBK) regulation unlike other money transfer services pending the passage of a National Payments Systems Bill.

Popularity
The money transfer system, launched in March 2007, has become popular with the unbanked population serving as a deposit account for some, hence causing jitters in the banking industry.

Money laundering
The phone-based electronic money transfer has been viewed as being prone to abuse by money laundering which is an illegal practice. Further concerns of the likely collaspse of the system have been rending the air and those shouting loudest are the banking industry players. Any guess?

Money Transfer
The MPESA daily money transfer service has been growing by the day and currently over 20B have been transferred through the System snce it was launched. Its registered account users now stand at over 4 Million and the number is growing by the day.

Parting shot!
The successful takeup of MPESA service has clearly demonstrated that Kenyans demands easily accessible, secure cash payment services in this fast growing emerging market and the regulators must take heed not to stiffle the growth with unneccessary and ill-advised regulations.

M-PESA Revolutionize M-banking and threatens Banks

Innovations
When Safaricom-Vodafone launched the M-pesa revolution many did not imagine that this new innovation in the Mobile Telephony industry would emerge to become a force to reckon with in the mobile banking industry.

MPESA
M-PESA is a Safaricom service allowing you to transfer money using a mobile phone. Kenya is the first country in the world to use this service, which is offered in partnership between Safaricom and Vodafone. M-PESA is available to all members of the public, even if you do not have a bank account or a bankcard.

Millions
Today Mpesa is transacting hundreds of millions of shillings across the country enabling many Kenyans send and receive money in the most convenient of ways.

Unbanked
Infact this revolution has enable many unbanked kenyans who may have been averse to opening bank accounts maintain virtual accounts in the name of Mpesa accounts that ar also connected to their mobile numbers.

Profitability
The company has made unparalled substantial profits in recent years and this is set to even rise tio unprecedented levels come the next fiscal years.

Market Share
Though the Kenyan market is abuzz with the entrance of new players Orange and Econet alongside Zain network, Safaricom is still the giant with amazing innovative team and this company is set to go places. Recently it launched a bill payment service in partnership with some corporate players and customers can at the comfort of their living rooms pay their bills. What morwe do one need.

Banks are shaking with every new day of Safaricom innovation.

Stocks
Thought it shares have been doind badly at the bourse,this is partly due to the global financial crisis and partly due to oversupply of its shares at the market a miscalculation that was done by the transaction advisors during the listing process. However, the future of this company is bright and with foreign investors keen on investing in Kenya as an emerging market with alot of funds, This share is still a good long term bet. Trust me!

Wall Street Crisis

Dear readers,
After many Month of absence from the blog scene due to some unavoidable circumstances am happy to be back and rolling!!!! yepyyyyyyyy...

Crisis
However and quite sadly the goings on at the World's famous Street has led to financial contagion across the other markets of the world and many investors are loosing alot of money in their cherished financial assets.

Short Selling
The emegence of this crisis fueled by the Subprime mortgage crisis led to panic across major markets. This neccessitated the drastic drop in the prices of vibrant and fundamentally strong companies across the globe.

Short selling
Short selling a phenomenon involving selling of borrowed shares in the hope of replacing them as prices continue to fall became the order of the day.
This did not augur well for most of the counters amidst rapid flow of information from one continent to the next.

Rescue package
As the Wall Street giants continue to wallow in financial crisis and illiquidity, the Fed government's rescue of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG demonstrated clearly that the financial turmoil continues on Wall Street and it is a matter of time before sanity resumes and investor confidence is restored.

Financial Contagion
Other major stock markets also tumbled with news of this crisis including Russia, Paris,Toronto, Germany, Asian Markets as well as emerging African markets amongst others.

Kenya
The Kenyan stock market was no exception and neeedless to say that most of these Wall Street investors had ventured into the Kenyan market through the much touted Safaricom IPO and their crisis in the far west will impact negatively in our market.
AIG for example is a major player in the stock market investing substanbtial amounts for perosns in Kenya and also abroad and more especially those who are keen on investing in emerging markets.
The rescue package might have come as a sigh of relief but time will tell where the markets are headed despite the slight rebound. Whether south or north!

Financial Reforms
The onset of this crisis has laid bare the need for stringent financial reforms to protect investors assets from rapid erosion once fundamentals change though in the slightest of ways. Further these reforms would ensure proper management of our financial markets and regulations of all financial innvoations icluding derivatives that are widely traded across the globe though not fully appreciated and understood by many.

Political will
This is imperative if rapid reforms and proper infrastructure is to be set up to avoid continuous problems facing investors young or savvy both in the developed economies of the world as well as the rapidly emerging markets.

Safaricom Much touted IPO: Bits and Pieces

D-day At Last
Kenya's largest mobile telecommunications network service provider, Safaricom, will launch its initial public offer March 28 and closes on April 23 taking a total of 26 days. This offer for sale will give Kenyans amble opportunity to invest.

Stakes
The government will offer 25% of the issued ordinary shares of Safaricom. The IPO will offer 10 billion shares priced at 5 Kenyan shillings a share, which implies a value of KES200 billion ($3 billion).

High Expectations
Thw Governement hopes to raise KES50 billion from the IPO, which will be used to finance development programs and hopefully to supplement the budgetary deficit that had been witnessed in the FY 206/07.


Pools
The offer will be split into two pools - domestic and international. The international pool will be open to institutional investors only. The price will be determined through a book-building.
Investors in the domestic pool will have to buy a minimum of 2,000 shares. This means that any Kenyan intending to invest (and i know many including mama mbogas) are keen to have a stak of this 'sexy pie' and probably make a kill when it comes for trading in may.

Market Share
Safaricom's estimated market share at the end of December was 80%. The company has nearly 10 million subscribers.

Advisors
Morgan Stanley and with local investment bank, Dyer & Blair are the transaction advisors alongside other banks as citibank.

Official IPO site
The official IPO site is here

NSE will be most Volatile in 2008

Crisis
It is now evident that if the current political crisis is not resolved as soon as possible the NSE that is often the barometer of economic growth is in for the most volatile period with suppressed activity despite entry of foreign investors into the market.

Facts
Since the year began, the NSE has shed Sh44 billion in market capitalization from a high of Sh851 billion at the beginning of the year to Sh810 billion as at the close of trading yesterday - a five per cent drop.
During the same period, equity turnover has declined by almost 30 per cent from daily trades worth Sh505 million on December 24 last year to Sh347 million at the close of trading yesterday.

Economic Slowdown
Economists had predicted a slow down in the economy pointing to a dip in tourism revenues, disruption of agricultural production and lower business turnovers in the wake of recent political turmoil.

Investor Confidence
Pundits have been quite to point out that a speedy resolution of the current stalemate and rejuvenated investor confidence is key to a speedy economic recovery and renewed momentum in the equity market.

Post Election Violence
The outbreak of post-election violence has eroded investor confidence in the market leading to some of the most aggressive sale of shares at the bourse with retail investors as the most active.

January/February Trades
The market was throughout January characterised by thin trades with retail investors - rushing to liquidate their positions in the short term - as the main sources of supply.

Institutional Investors
Battered investor confidence has seen institutional investors concede that any resumption of normalcy at the stock market depends on a speedy settlement of the political crisis.

The Aftermath of Election 2007 on economy

Volatility
The Nairobi Stock Exchange will remain volatile for most of 2008 reflecting the turbulence in the political arena that has been witnessed since the announcement of the controversial December 27 General Elections.

Downsizing
Most companies are now bracing themselves for downsizing and other restructuring measures geared towards cost cutting and enhancing profit margins.

Reduced Profitability
The profitability that has been witnessed in most banks at the beginning of the previous years quarterly results may be no more and by and large greatly reduced.

Economic Growth
The economic growth rate although deemed to remain resilient may not be sustainable if the spate of violence continue into the next quarter of the year and the government revenue collections will be greatly hampered.

Pillars of Vision 2030
The pillars of Vision 2030 that had been lauded to steer Kenya into rapid economic growth phase including Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Information technology, Tourism and telecommunication are now reeling from the effects of the post election violence.

Kenya Economy Reeling From Post Election Violence

Economy
The orgy of violence that has greeted Kenya's disputed election result has led to hundreds of deaths and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes.The post election violence witnessed in various parts of Kenya has indeed raised pertinent questions on the resilience of the economy to sustain long periods of civil unrest and violence.

Tourism
Kenya's tourism industry, which brings in some $900m (£455m) a year and attracts more than one million visitors a year, is sure to take a hit after four days of rioting and ethnic clashes. Its relative economic success has been helped in part by its thriving tourist sector, with visitors attracted by its abundant wildlife and pristine beaches.Provisional figures for 2006 from the Kenya's tourist board said the country had received 1.5 million visitors for the year, a growth of 5.2 per cent.

Repercussions
The stalemate over the election results has cost the economy billions of shillings with the repercussions being felt across East Africa.

Bankers Analysis
Several bodies including the Treasury, Nairobi Stock Exchange, Tourism sector, and financial organizations have given their predictions and analysis of the implication of the destruction and sporadic violence that errupted in the country against a backdrop of controvesial presidential elections and delays in announcements.
The effects are indeed immense and portends widespread implication for Kenya as an emerging economy that has recently been rated the fast growing and most preferred by investors seeking emerging markets.

East Africa
The pinch on the economy is not only being felt locally with close to 4B having been lost but has spilt to Uganda, Tanzania Rwanda and Burundi where essential products were not forthcoming as fuel passing through Kenya was unavailable due to closure of roads and violence.

Central Bank of Kenya analysis
Kenya’s economy has grown steadily in the past five years with all indicators pointing out that if the trend was sustained, growth would hit 10 per cent. The economic recovery that started in 2003 has achieved some major milestones and laid down solidly the growth fundamentals. The growth fundamentals laid down have reversed growth decline that had taken years. It is true that the recent violence in some parts of the country could adversely affect the tempo of economic activity, but cannot destroy the growth fundamentals so far laid down. more

Foreign investors
Private investment has been behind Kenya's thriving economy. It has averaged GDP growth of 5% since 2002 and the economy is expected to expand by 7% in 2007 - rates of growth that are only beaten in booming Asian countries such as China.
Kenya's shilling strengthened by 9% against the dollar in 2007 as foreign investors poured into the country's stocks and bonds, but those gains were largely erased when currency markets began trading on Wednesday.

Equity Market
The equity market on the Nairobi Stock Exchange lost 40 billion Kenyan Shillings ($591 million) in value on its first day of New Year trading Wednesday. Kenya has attracted a large number of multi-nationals and is home to one of the world's fastest growing stock exchanges.

Positive Prospects
Expected planned sale of Safaricom shares might stir the market once again back to its feet .

The Allure of NSE Growth Despite Electioneering Politics

20-share Index
It is noteworhty that the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) came from an earlier 10% plunge this year to exploit one of its most prosperous years of the decade with the 20-Share Index, rising to above 6,000 points at one point.The phenomenal growth of the 20-share index, a reflection of the investors' growing wealth, is expected to continue into the New Year as the capital and financial markets shed fears of political uncertainty, expected to end with the December 27 presidential polls.

New Listings
This year's stock market trade was continually dominated by the events of 2006, which saw the successful listing of the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KENGEN). This warmed the once dormant market and brought in 250,000 first-time investors.The NSE owes its milestones this year to the increased market confidence, exemplified by the coming to the market of family-owned businesses. The listing of the Scangroup, a multiparty marketing, advertising and research firm and Access Kenya, enabled the NSE to diversify its source of income and grow its market capitalization to new heights, with the later becoming the first ICT company on the bourse.

Panic Selling
The market took a mid-year beating from political activity this year with the 20-Share Index plunging by 9.24% due to panic selling of shares, mainly by the first-time investors who did not understand the meaning of market correctional activities.The June market plunge initially seemed to be a bad precedent but it came as a blessing in disguise as foreign fund managers, who had exited the market in the mid-1990s, and had been watching the market from the sidelines, came back rushing to buy the shares.

Collapsed Stock Broker Replaced
Investors panicked after the market regulator took action against Francis and Thuo Partners, one of the oldest stockbrokers, which was found to violate trading rules by using investors' funds without consent.Mr. Francis Thuo was replaced by Renaissance Capital, which purchased the seat at Ksh420 million. The money was used to partly pay off investors who had lost money with the collapse of the rogue investment firm. The NSE paid up over Ksh.200 million.

Investor Numbers
The number of investors at the NSE rose to historical levels this year to hit 750,000 compared to the 80,000 investors who traded at the NSE in 2003. The NSE, however, estimates that only 100,000 shareholders trade actively. NSE still faces stiff challenges, especially on investor education, a portfolio which falls with the market regulator, the Capital Markets Authority (CMA). The NSE reached its decision to sell the vacant seat to the Russia-registered Renaissance Capital in a bid to deepen the capital market in Kenya, by bringing in foreign capital.

Renaissance Capital and Morgan Stanley
RenCap ecured a stockbrokerage license from the CMA, allowing it to enter the growing market in Kenya, while one of the world's greatest investment banks, Morgan Stanley, also gained entry into the Kenyan market, thanks to the pending Safaricom listing.
Morgan Stanley partnered with Dyer and Blair Investment Bank to win the coveted bid for transaction advisor for the Safaricom Initial Public Offer (IPO), which is expected to be the next big bang in Kenya's capital market.The mega deals which dominated the NSE in 2006 trickled over into 2007, constantly putting bourse on a steady growth path and shaping the market activity.

Kenya Reinsurance
State re-insurer, Kenya Reinsurance Corporation, statutorily allowed a 30% share in any insurance deal in the market, also came to the market this year, bringing on board a hoard of fresh investors, both local and foreign, who came to profit from the June meltdown.

Market Capitalization
This year, market capitalization increased to historical levels, from Ksh112.5 billion in 2002 to Ksh732 billion in mid 2007 before peaking at close to Ksh800 billion in December.
The 20-Share Index has also stabilized at an average of 5,500 although it breached the 6,000 mark within the year before taking a deep plunge due to political volatility. The growth of the share index from 1, 364.85 in 2002. The index stood at 5,332.03 as of 11 Dec.
The share index shed nearly 600 points in October this year, closing the second week of the month at 5005.89 points compared to a high of 5611 points in early September.

Scangroup, Equity, PTA and Barclays
The listing of 69 million Scangroup shares, the Equity Bank placement in the market's main investment segment, the listing of the PTA Ksh1 billion bond, the listing of Barclay's three-year corporate bond of Ksh5 billion, played as major movers of business.

Banks Profitability
Stock market analysts say the first six months of the year was dictated by the high after tax profits posted by the listed commercial banks increased.

Parting Shot
The new year portends new growth heights for the NSE as foreign investors flock into the Kenyan market after a decade of shying away. This is a clear indication that Kenya as an emerging market is going places.

Don't be left out!!!!

Banks Analyst at its Best

By the way many have already met bankelele either physically or through his avid analysis and many have become members of his blog. Each day he continues churning surprsising pieces of analysis on various topical business issues and sometimes a dose of the pilitic-business.

Among his latest works is an analysis of the banking sector.

Read more of (part1) here and (part 2) here.

Hats of Banks for analyzing our banks!!!!!

The Changing Faces of Banks in 2007

Radical changes
The banking sector has come a long way and with mergers and acquisitions in the offing as well as the emergence of near financial supermarkets the future is indeed bright for our banks.

Investors
Most investors in banks stocks have often made a kill over the last few years with splits, dividends, bonuses and price appreciations having been witnessed.

New products
The banking sector is indeed undergoing radical changes and new products are being unveiled everyday target the larger populace as oppossed to the big-mans-bank syndrome that had been evident a few years ago. Banks are now literally going to the streets to hawk their wares and sell the loans to every would be buyer with little or no requirements at all.

Interest rates and competition
Interest rates have dropped drastically as banks strive to offer cheap products to borrowers for their businesses and other needs.Competition in the banking industry is indeed evident and every new day new banks are emerging.

New Banks
Most non deposit taking institutions are now converting into microfinances and finally banks in a matter of years and the number of banks is increasing by the day.

Banking stocks
The banking stocks have continued to soar to new record highs never witnessed before as investors both local and foreign rally to buy them.

Cross border trading
These banks have even dared to cross border to other regions talk of KCB in Uganda and southern Sudan where it continues to serve its customers. Others are savouring the region for strategic partners to inject new blood inform of liquidity into the system talk of Equity and Helios deal as well as Stanbic and CFC deal.

Stock broking
Other banks are craving for a piece of the stock market pie with ventures into stockbroking. NIC failed bid for the stake of the collapsed Francis Thuo (won by renaissance capital) has seen it partner with another securities dealer. Talk about slowly getting their.

Asset Finance
Asset finance is becoming the talk of town with considerably lower interest rates charged by banks for the same. This was started by NIC bank but now adopted by NBK, KCB, Equity, Family Bank, Stanbic and the list is growing.

...and the changes go on...

Of Investment Groups and Target Products

Investment Club
Now that it is evident that over the recent past, the number of investment clubs also called investment groups has grown phenomenally. An investment club is a group of individuals who meet on a regular basis for the purpose of investing money.

Contribution
The invested sums can be as little as $10 a month. The first investment club on record dates back to the 1800s in Western America. Various online communities devoted to this type of investing have recently emerged and have contributed to the personal investing boom in the United States. One of the reasons that people come together in investment clubs is to learn how to invest. While investment clubs are commonly organized with members contributing money and investing as a group in a single club portfolio, members of other self directed Investment clubs simply meet and learn about investing but invest on their own. With the advent of computers and the internet investment clubs have also moved into cyberspace.
Investment clubs are generally formed as general partnerships, but could also be formed as limited liability companies or limited liability partnerships (in states that allow them). more on wikipedia

Membership
Joining one has become almost the norm. An investment club is typically a group of family, friends or co-workers who have teamed up together to pool funds and invest them collectively in assets such as the stock market and real estate.For an investment group to work, it is important for you to look for like minded individuals who are committed and intent on going to the next level. Look for people who want to share research and knowledge about the market. Look for people who are pursuing different careers from your own so that you can have a mix of ideas. more on businessdaily.

New Products
Equity Bank, Britak and Housing Finance have launched a product targeting these investment groupds dubbed Hekima Milele that ius set to radically change the way investment groups have been doing their business. Talk about a financial supermarket and its new products!

Tips
Some useful tips on starting and running a successful investment club are available. Smaple this:
-How to start a club i.e starting and running profitable investment clubs.
-Learning from the wonderful world of proshare investment clubs.
-Endeavoring to undertake better-investing.
-Australian stock exchange tips on investment clubs.

2007: My Twelve Reflections

As the year draws to a close with the upcoming general elections many especially in the business cycles are taking stock of their ups and downs during the year.

1. The stock market during the early part of the year was abuzz and on a crazy upswing mode and many investors did make a kill.
2. New entrants into the stock market exclusive leage-Renaissance capital is already making inroads into the equity market with plans to invest more in stocks come the next years.
3. New IPOs slated for the year were realized but the mother of all IPOs is still being awaited and investors are bracing themselves for a bruising battle come the release. Despite the dragging court cases the governement is still determined to sell this cashcow and seal the deficit hole in thw budget that is over Kshs100B.
4. The shilling realized significant gains and is now on new highs with strong inflows from:
-Shs 26B purchase of 51% stake in Telkom Kenya.
-Transcentury continues to spur investment area with its new ideas from the spindoctors therein. It is now selling its shares to the strategic investor.
-The prospects of the dollar on the global front is dwindling
-Foreign investors flock to the NSE to get a stake in some of the blue chips and Kenya is the new emerging market where foreign investors are diverting their investments.
5. Equity continues to surprise us despite fears of imminent collapse with new profitability feats and innovative product and now the sale of 24.9% stake to Helios-a strategic partner. What more can we say it is going from strenngth to strength and their stocks might be worth your pennies...
6. The banking sector was abuzz with profitability and more is yer to come.These stocks are good buys dont you think?
7. The emergence of the pyramid schemes that fleeced many investors their hard earned monies and left many crying remember Deci, CLIP, Sasanet and many others?
8.Many investors woke up to the realization of the stock market as an investment destination.
10. Tourism earnings and prospects are good and the earnings from this sector are set to rise exponentially come the next year.
11. The economy grew by over 6% and whether this translated to more money in our pockets is subject to discussion.
12. Business Process outsourcing (BPO) the new craze in town for kenya as an emerging market and this is expected steer our country to the leagues of India and other fast growing economies.

more to come.......

Implications of Strengthening Kenya Shilling

Kenya Shilling
The Kenya Shilling has been on an upward trend in recent past and this is attributed to the entry of foreign investors into the market that has rallied the Kenyan shilling to new highs.

New Highs
Yesterday, the shilling settled at one of its strongest positions to the dollar at a mean rate of Sh65.40, the strongest level since 1999.

Causes
The strengthening of the local currency against the US dollar was steered by increased foreign exchange inflows amid subdued demand from:
1.Foreign Investors rallying to invest at the NSE including top Wallstreet operatives.
2. Offer by Helios, an international investor, last week by buying a 24.99 per cent stake in Equity Bank worth over Sh11 billion.
3. This was followed by news that France Telecom would acquire a 51 per cent controlling stake of Telkom Kenya worth Sh26 billion.
4. Increased demand for the shilling from exporters to meet end month demands.
5. Increased tourist reception into the country with projections likely to go higher with the festive season approaching despite the impending electioneering period.
6. Strategic positioning by various players before the anticipated upcoming Safaricom IPO.
7.Other variables

Players in the forex market include:
-Interbanks
-Commercial companies
-Central Banks
-Hedge funds
-Retail and forex brokers
-Investment management companies

Effects
1. Exporters will face challenges of penetrating foreign markets as exports become expensive
2. There will be a significant reductions in local revenue terms for exporters.
3. Kenya will become expensive to trade with.
4. Net foreign exchange earnings will go down.