BY SOLOMON KIRIMI

KENYAS economic growth

prospects may be dampened
by the by the unpredictable
duration of Eurozone crisis,
a new report shows.
According to the re-
cently published African
Economic Outlook 2012,
a deeper eurozone crisis
which has led to lower
earnings from exports and
tourism, lower infows of
offcial development as-
sistance, foreign direct in-
vestment and workers re-
mittances could also affect
African markets which are
Kenyas secondary market
after Europe.
It has been estimated
that a one-percentage
point decline of Gross
Domestic Product in Eu-
ropean States member
countries causes African
GDP to decline by about
0.5 per cent and Africas
export earnings drop by
about 10 per cent.
The report states that
deeper crisis in Europe
would lead to direct impact
on Kenyan goods especially
fowers and horticultural
products which rely on the
European market, as the
primary destination.
The report predicts
that if the crisis in Eu-
rope hits other advanced
and emerging countries,
it would deal a second
blow to Africas exports
to these countries which
are expected to serve as
alternative markets.
The importance of for-
eign investment, develop-
ment assistance and re-
mittances are diffcult to
assess, the report states.
The overall impact on
Africa of a deeper fnancial
crisis in Europe would de-
pend on the depth and du-
ration of this crisis and its
contagion to other parts of
the globe.
While launching the re-
port, the minister for plan-
ning Wycliffe Oparanya said
the worlds view of Kenya
and its growth is changing
due to high prospects of oil
discoveries.
Oparanya said this is ex-
pected to attract high value
foreign direct investments
and boost Kenyas efforts
remain the trade hub of
choice for multinational
companies venturing into
the region.
However according to
Kwame Owino of the In-
stitute of Economic affairs,
Kenyas gross Domestic
Product does not translate
to wealth for the popula-
tion because most of them
are not in a position to reap
from the new opportuni-
ties.
The growth rate for the
frst nine months is expect-
ed to rise to 5.2 per cent in
2012, and to 5.5 per cent in
2013.
He said Kenya needs to
fnd alternative ways of cre-
ating gainful of employment
for people who are neither
in the youth bracket or re-
tirement age, who currently
remain a neglected group of
jobless people.
These people need atten-
tion not because of fears of
upraising like it happened
in North Africa or class war,
but because they form a
critical group of skilled peo-
ple who just happened to be
out of school when oppor-
tunities were scarce, mean-
ing they have no working
experience in their chosen
professions although they
are above 35 years old,
Owino said.
36 LOCAL THE STAR Monday, August 20, 2012
BY SOLOMON KIRIMI
HOME-grown companies
Safaricom, Nakumatt and
Equity bank are among
seven companies that
dominated the top 20 UKs
Superbrands list of Kenyas
strongest consumer brands
2012.
The survey conducted by
London based The Centre
for Brand Analysis and
research frm TNS RMS,
sought to identify countrys
strongest brands.
In diffcult global
economic times a strong
brand provides businesses
with a powerful advantage
over rivals, said Stephen
Cheliotis, Chairman of The
Centre for Brand Analysis.
Safaricom in particular
should be delighted that
among the large number of
brands we researched they
came out on top.
The research incorporat-
ed the views of both expert
council and over 600 local
consumers.
Among the local brands
making the list, were M-
Pesa, Coca-Cola and Kenya
Red Cross.
It is notable that al-
though many international
brands, such as Coca-Cola,
have performed well in the
study the top end of the
rankings are not dominated
by multinational brands.
Cheliotis said.
The companies were
cited for offering custom-
ers signifcant emotional or
tangible advantages over
other brands.
The survey judgement
criteria includes quality as-
sessment and how reliable
it is, including whether the
brand can be trusted to de-
liver consistently on prom-
ises and maintain product
and service standards.
The criteria also evalu-
ates how well the brand is
known.
Local brands outshine multinationals in survey

H
business
UP TO DATE, ACCURATE BUSINESS INFORMATION
NEWS YOU CAN USE, EVERY DAY
Gloomy outlook for
Kenya in new report

Can YOU outsmart
the expert?
ALY KHANS
STAR
PORTFOLIO
I
always marvel at the popularity of my newspaper
seller. The appetite for news in Kenya is simply off
the charts. And that has been the case for as long
as I can remember. Of course, once upon a time, we
only had one channel the Voice of Kenya. Subse-
quently we have had a massive channel explosion. We
have a multiplicity of TV channels, radio stations. Others
are consuming their news via the internet leveraging the
real time via the likes of twitter and predominantly via
the mobile phone. If you pause for a moment, its actually
an extraordinary and increasingly 21st century informa-
tion landscape. We have venerable players like the Nation
Media Group, the likes of Citizen and the Radio Africa
Group who were once upstarts and start ups. Not forget-
ting Christopher Kirubis Capital radio.
The likes of CCTV have set up shop in Nairobi and last
week the New York times said this about the move;
Chinese news media ofcials chose to set up shop in
Nairobi because of its role as a news hub for the English-
speaking countries in East Africa.
And thats the point. We talk often of being a regional
hub but we are also a news hub and in what is clearly an
information century that is a marvellous thing.
By the way, the Chinese are spending $7b on this
media expansion and have set up quite a swanky gig
in the K-REP building in Nairobi. I did an interview with
Beatrice Marshall, where we were on a simultaneous live
feed with Tehran, Beijing and Washington. Thats pretty
impressive, in my humble opinion.
Look at Bharat Thakrars ScanGroup which has par-
layed a position in Kenya into an imminent Sub Saharan
Africa position.
The eyeballs and the scale of the market are con-
rmed by the congregation around my newspaper seller.
The media eco-system is in fact multi dimensional.
There is the traditional ofine newspaper and incredibly
is very protable, whereas in other parts of the world its
simply cratered.
Then at the other end of the spectrum, we have the
digital experience. I am an evangelist when it comes to
the digital space and think there is a parabolic growth
curve in mobile, digital media.
Nation Media Group released strong rst half results
and the share price has rallied about 15 per cent since
that release. The catalyst was the announcement of his
diaspora remittance card. All of us who have been abroad
have used the Nation web site for our daily dose of home
news. The eyeballs the Nation has on its web site was
never the issue.
The issue was how were they going to monetise?
The card was all about the monetisation of eyeballs.
And it is that penny that dropped with investors.
There is a bucket load of cash looking for toothpaste
and consumer businesses to buy out as everyone gets
excited about the East African consumer, I grant you that.
However, I venture our media sector in its many
dimensions and complexities is simply red hot and right
now a yellow brick road.
Shares go up and down and readers are advised that this
column represents Mr Satchus personal opinions.
KENYA HAS BECOME A
MEDIA LAB
INDICATOR: President Kibaki receives the Economic Survey 2012 report from Planning, Minis-
ter Wycliffe Oparanya at his Harambee House ofce on June 8.
Photo/FILE