February– March 2016 PRICE KSHS 250/-

For the small business opportunities

JULY/AUGUST 2016 PRICE KSHS 250

FOCUS ON AGRIBUSINESS

OPPORTUNITIES IN

KERICHO COUNTY

Sources of Money

for Startup Business

INVESTMENT NEWS 3

For the small business opportunities

INSIDE THIS ISSUE July/August 2016

Publishers View………… 4

Public Service Millionaires and

Corruption

The last word……………

30

Read how things are changing in

the realm of preaching

Quick News………………. 5

Books and culture…….27

REGULARS

SPECIAL REPORTS

PULL-OUT ON AGRIBUSI-

NESS OPPORTUNITIES IN

KERICHO COUNTY

Kericho County is one of the

Counties with many oppor-

tunities for small scale

businesses especially those

based on agriculture. In this

special pullout, we highlight

some of those opportunities

……………Start on page 11

Sources of Funds for your

small Business

Funding options running dry?

Here is a great source of finance

for your small business startup

………………..Start on page 7

Small Business Growth Plan

How business plan can help you

grow your small enterprise.

…………… Start on page 25

4 INVESTMENT NEWS

Investment News

Editor

Muli wa Kyendo

Associate Editor

Emily Muli

Contributors

Francis Ochieng

Wilfred Gachanja

Nguli Muli

Marketing

Charles Kavuu

Mary Mumbua

Investment News is published bi

-monthly by Investment News

Ltd, P.O. Box 20257-00100,

GPO, Nairobi, Kenya, Tel:

0773991820 , 0721302418,

Email: Editor

@investmentnews.co.ke

ISSN 1814 –9966

The Editor welcomes contribu-

tions but takes no responsibility

for loss or damage.

All rights reserved

Copyright: Investment News Ltd

PUBLISHER’S VIEW

‘Public Service’ Millionaires and

Corruption in Kenya

Since its inception, Investment News magazine has believed

in empowering local entrepreneurs even as Kenya encour-

ages foreign investment. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Rich Kenyans will offer more attractive market for foreign in-

vestors because businesses are looking for buyers of their

products. If those buyers can be found around where their

businesses are located, that much the better.

Wealth that is beneficial to investors whether local or foreign,

is wealth that is spread across the country. A handful of mil-

lionaires cannot make a market—and that is where we are in

Kenya today.

And the reason is that our millionaires are in the main, not

people who have worked for their wealth. They have looted it

from the public coffers. Count all of them and chances are that

they were in public service. You don’t need to be a genius to

know that the only way to make a lot of money in public ser-

vice is to steal. In other countries, public servants, even when

they are presidents, do not swim in wealth. They live in com-

fort.

“Public service millionaires”, apart from siphoning away public

money, do not have businesses that hire people to spread

wealth.

The type of millionaires that Investment News has advocated

are those that came out of personal initiative—people whose

wealth is a result of providing a service or product.

This type of millionaires have one great advantage—they

spread wealth. They establish businesses that hire other peo-

ple. From one millionaire, you can get ten others. And that is a

great contribution because it increases people with buying

power. It establishes a market for other goods and services.

And above all, it creates desirable environment for other in-

vestors—local or foreign.

INVESTMENT NEWS 5

Quick News

Bayer to Buy out Monsanto Bayer has offered a $62 billion deal to buy Mon-

santo the controversial promoter of genetically

modified seeds best known as GMO. The buyout

would create a global giant in agriculture technol-

ogy touching much of global food production

through the development of seeds and pesticides.

The buyout would create the world’s largest seed

and farm chemical company with a strong pres-

ence spread across the world. Bayer says the deal

would give the world more productive agriculture

to meet the food needs of a growing population.

There is concern about how the merger will im-

pact Monsanto’s business of selling genetically

modified crop seeds. The seeds have been

blocked in some countries and are a subject of

anxiety among consumers and the target of envi-

ronmental activists.

Bayer’s presence in Europe could mean Monsan-

to would try to spread it’s sales to that continent

although political resistance to genetically modi-

fied crops remains strong in Europe.

Bayer claims farmers will get a broader range of

products such as seeds and pesticides that work

better together.

Exposure to a pesticide significantly affects the

learning of honey bees according to a recent

study. The study is the first by scientists looking

into how bees respond to field-realistic-levels of

the neonicotinoid insecticide ‘clothianidin’ which

was banned

for use on

flowering

crops by the

European

Union in

2013, but is

still com-

monly used

in develop-

ing countries.

Scientists exposed honey bee workers to the

pesticide for 11-12 days and then assessed the

effect of the pesticide using a proboscis exten-

sion reflex conditioning assay, which tests how

bees learn to associate

an odor with a sugar

reward.

The scientists found

that clothianidin im-

paired the honey

bees’ ability to learn

on.

Pesticides that Kill Honey Bees Reduce Honey Production

Sprayining crops:

6 INVESTMENT NEWS

Funding options running dry? The Affirmative Action Social Develop-

ment Fund administered by your County Women Representative is one

of the cheapest and easiest sources of funds that can uplift your small

business.

T he Affirmative Action So-

cial Development Fund

was established after women

representatives complained that

they had nothing to make them

relevant at the grassroots. As a

result, a two billion shillings

fund was established. Its pur-

pose is to

Smart Funding For Your Small Business

BY NGULI MULI Former Devolution CS Anne Waiguru (Right) addresses women

reps after the launch of the fund last year. Below: Women in a

meeting to discussion the fund

TURN TO PAGE 27

And with it we start

our series to looking

at some of least

known and most ac-

cessible sources of

funds for your small

business.

Doing Business in the Counties in Kenya

JULY/AUGUST 2016 PRICE KSHS 250

8 INVESTMENT NEWS

2016

EDITOR’S NOTE

Opportunities for Small Businesses in Kericho County

Copyright 2016 Investment News P.O. Box 20257-00100

Nairobi, Kenya. All rights reserved. No part of this publica-

tion may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or

transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic pho-

tocopying, mechanical recording or otherwise without the

prior permission of the copyright owner

Contents: Kericho County is one of the agriculturally significant areas of Kenya. It’s big

name comes from tea farming. The tea industry has however overshadowed the great

potential for other farming activities such as dairy, poultry and horticulture. It is this po-

tential that we focus on. This is however not an exhaustive analysis but it should be an eye

opener to the business and investment opportunities that are available in the County. Our

main purpose is to isolate opportunities that are available for micro and small businesses,

which benefit the largest number of people especially the youth, many of whose associa-

tions are registered with the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority.

Acknowledgement: There are many people involved in the production of a guide like this.

I can therefore not acknowledge everyone who contributed. It is however, important to

acknowledge the help we got from the County Government of Kericho which was always

ready to provide information whenever we needed it. Significant contribution was made

by Mr. Joel Kipsang Bett, County Secretary; Eng. Philip Mason , CEC Trade; Mr. Kipchumba

Koskey, Chief Officer ICT and Mr. Johnston Rono, Director Agriculture.

I would also like to acknowledge the contributions of the following: Mr. Jeremiah Rotich

and Johana Langat of Livestock Production; Leah Mwangi, Director, Fisheries; Mr. Joseph

Wainaina, Crops Officer and Michael Wairoma of Department of Trade.

INVESTMENT NEWS 9

GOVERNOR’S MESSAGE

Prof. Paul Chepkwony

K ericho is the “ County of Plenty” especially in

agriculture. Tea remains not only our biggest

industry but also our branding industry. It is the

foundation on which Kericho’s economy was

built. It is the foundation on which we continue to

built our economy even as we diversify to in-

crease the creation and distribution of wealth

among our people throughout the County.

In Kericho, we have chosen to concentrate on

creating an enabling environment for businesses

to set up and thrive. Key among these are the

roads infrastructure. Roads enable not only com-

munication and transportation of goods, they also

open opportunities for businesses as traffic in-

creases So far, we have constructed 1500 kilome-

ters of roads and our goal is to reach 5000 kilome-

ters by the end of 2017.

In health, we have concentrated on moderniza-

tion and installing new facilities. We have spent

Shs87 million to establish and equip a modern

start of the art ICU/HDU facility at the Kericho

District Referral Hospital making the hospital se-

cond only to Kenyatta National Hospital in size of

the facility with latest equipment.

Healthy people create most effective labour

force. Following on this, therefore, we are work-

ing to buy ambulances to be stationed in every-

one of the 30 wards to decrease the period tak-

en to respond to emergencies.

ICT—information communication technology

plays a key role in the development of modern

businesses. Our vision is to increase availability

and use of ICT so that Kericho can become the

leader in this regard. We started by establishing

ICT Citizens’ Service Centres in all the six sub

counties. The purpose was to bring internet ser-

vices close to everyone which is essential in

business. How far we have travelled in this direc-

tion can be attested to by the fact that Kericho

was ranked among the best counties in the use

of ICT by the Information Communication Tech-

nology Association of Kenya.

Trade and businesses are the key to develop-

ment. They create wealth and employment. That

is why we have spend Shs100 million to finance

small businesses and entrepreneurs through the

Jitegemee Enterprise Fund. We are pleased to

say the impact is already being felt. I am urging

traders and businesses to join established saccos

to continue to access low interest loans and par-

ticipate in making Kericho the wealthiest Coun-

ty.

Welcome to Kericho, the County of Plenty.

Welcome to Kericho,

‘The County of Plenty’

10 INVESTMENT NEWS

DEPUTY GOVERNORS MESSAGE

Economies of Scale Will Help Farmers and

Entrepreneurs Up-scale their Businesses

S ince we were elected

into office as the Gov-

ernment of the County of

Kericho, our major focus

has been to find out how

we can bring a difference

in the lives of our people.

We have been keenly

aware that the purpose of

setting up County Govern-

ments was to bring services closer to the

people so as to affect the pace and nature

of their development. People must there-

fore see a difference in their lives—in the

way they do their things and in their in-

comes.

Our first task was to find out what re-

sources and opportunities are available in

Kericho that we could build on. The next

step was to find out from the people what

they were best in .This led us to the con-

cept of One Ward, One Product that divid-

ed the County into Seven Sectors of Excel-

lence.

The idea behind this is simply that every

region has something it produces in abun-

dance and with ease.

Some areas will concen-

trate on fruits and fruit

products, others will pro-

duce milk and milk prod-

ucts and so on across the

County If everyone in one

region produced the same

thing, it would be easy to

market .

In this way it will also be easy for the gov-

ernment to help get markets for the prod-

ucts just as we have done for farmers of

sweet potatoes in Soin.

Of course, for the farmers to be successful

as business people, they need information

on a variety of subjects such as what to in-

vest in, financial sources, marketing and

business management. And that is why we

are joining up with publishers of Investment

News to highlight business and investment

opportunities within our County.

We hope that this supplement on agribusi-

ness opportunities for small businesses in

Kericho will be useful to both active and po-

tential small investors.- Susan Kikwai, OGW

INVESTMENT NEWS 11

A story is that told by an

American whose grand-

mother became overwhelmed

after hearing the story of Keri-

cho. She wrote to her son and

daughter in law who had just

settled in Litein. “Do you

know a place called Kericho?”

she wrote to her son.

“Yes,” the son wrote back.

“Kericho is 21 kilometers from

where we are!”

On reading this, the story goes

on, the old woman sold all her

property and packed and

moved to Kericho where she

started a nursing home. That

was in 1924.The ending of the

story is that the old woman

A Fascination with Kericho

brought first her sister and later

many other Americans who fell

in love with the lush, sprawling

beautiful tea farms in Kericho.

This is the poetic description of

another European visitor to

Kenya. “Tea plantations spread

across acres and acres of land.

The bright green of the leaves

were brilliant in the sun, glis-

tering with moisture from wa-

ter falling on the leaves…”

From Kericho alone millions of

kilograms of tea are produced

every year, making it the home

of tea growing in Kenya.

The entry of locals into trade is

dramatically captured in the

story of the White administra-

The main street in Kericho town in the 1930s

They came, they saw, they settled

12 INVESTMENT NEWS

tor, Gregory Smith, known lo-

cally as Kiptabut, from his hab-

it of entering kitchen granaries

to look for excess food for pub-

lic distribution. He was dis-

tressed to see local people go-

ing hungry or dying during one

particular period of food short-

age in the 1930sthat he went

across the entire breadth and

length of Kericho personally

entering the kitchen stores to

see if there was millet stored

there. Wherever he found

some, he would take it out and

give it out to the needy

It was from this that in 1949,

Kiptabut decided to organize

Africans in the first ever coop-

erative in Kericho, Kipsigis

Traders Savings and Credit

Cooperative Society, -which

still stands— so that they

could access stock for their

businesses at factory prices.

Kipsigis traders spread open-

ing new shopping centres and

A street in Kericho town today

markets.

And although the spirit of trad-

ing ebbed out somewhat after

the exit of these early entrepre-

neurs, there is no doubt about

the contribution they made in

opening up the County to con-

cepts of business.

There is a growing number of peo-

ple wanting to start and run businesses in

Kericho County. There is therefore a

need for a variety of product and service

providers such as financial and infor-

mation institutions to assist the business

community.

The demand was demonstrated when the

County asked for applications from peo-

ple who wanted small loans for business

under a County programme called

Jitegemee Enterprise Fund.

The County had allocated Shs 100 million

to the Fund. But the applicants were

13,000 applicants raising the demand to

Shs6 billion.

Following this, the County is working to

revive dormant saccos to increase

sources of funds. We are also encourag-

ing businesspeople to join existing sac-

cos and benefit from loans provided un-

der their microcredit sections

INVESTMENT NEWS 13

T he opportunities that have

arisen out of the Kericho

County Government policies are

best exemplified by the subdi-

vision of the county to what has

been called “the seven sectors

of opportunity.”

The idea, according to the Coun-

ty, is to encourage each of the

seven regions into which the

County has been divided to con-

centrate on what they can best

produce given their situation and

natural resources.

It is a system that is likely to

increase productivity because it

also tackles one of the most im-

portant problems in business—

marketing. As the County ex-

plains, producers will be able to

join up and market their products

together, thus minimizing mar-

keting and transport costs.

The County Government has put

great effort in modernizing roads

joining up market centres. New,

well constructed roads offer

great opportunities for roadside

businesses. Shops, hotels, kiosks

and vegetable stalls are some of

the obvious ones, but there are

many more including photocopy

shops.

Investors will find much supply

of water as Kericho County is

endowed with ample rainfall,

thus water can easily be individ-

ually harvested and stored for

use in business.

Of importance too is the health

of the work force. The County

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Government has upgraded and

expanded education and health

sectors with hospitals and dis-

pensaries being equipped and

face lifted across board.

Other significant improvements

have occurred in the communi-

cation sector where the aim is to

establish a knowledge-based

economy. The County Govern-

ment has established ICT cen-

tres and has plans for newspa-

pers and magazines.

Youth polytechnics have been

equipped with internet facilities

ICT is closely related to availa-

bility of electricity. And the

County Government has been

working hard to increase supply

of electricity. Nearly all mar-

kets, towns and even villages

have ample electricity supply

from the national grid.

In the following pages, we look

at selected and varied types of

business opportunities that are

available to small businesses in

Kericho County. The emphasis

is on opportunities that do not

require much capital or land. In

doing so, we have talked to peo-

ple involved in the businesses or

experts in the various fields.

For a business to succeed you

need a reliable financial partner

and in this regard we discuss

some sources of low interest fi-

nance. Imarisha Sacco in one of

the most active and you can read

about the projects and the expe-

riences of some of the people

they have helped.

County puts its best foot forward in creating a welcoming Climate

ICT Centre at Kapkatet

14 INVESTMENT NEWS

Dairy farming is one of the fast-

est growing sectors in Kenya.

The common breeds of cows

Kept by farmers are; Freisian,

(Potential yield: 40-60 litres

milk/day), Jersey, 20 litres/day,

Aryshire (30 litre/day and

Guernsey(25 litres/day

To start a dairy enterprise one needs to do cost-benefit analy-sis so as to make informed deci-sion on level of investment and the anticipated benefits. It is necessary for dairy producers to view dairy farming as a busi-ness with a view to minimizing the cost of production while increasing yields through use of appropriate management tech-niques. These include: feeding accord-ing to animal maintenance and production requirements, use of quality breeds, good health and ensuring cow comfort.

It is important that a farmer maintains proper records that include history of the animals

Opportunities in Dairy Farming Fastest growing sector with highly profitable opportunities

profits can shoot to 500% gross or

300% net.

You will need an initial capital of

about Shs100,000 to among other

things, purchase branded tumblers

to package your yogurt. When you

have expanded, you will need an

additional Shs350,000 to buy a pas-

teurizer and another Shs32,000 to

register for KEBS certification.

When all these are done, you are

ready to spread your products to

the market. The beauty is that, like

in the case of milk, you can start

with your neighbours before ex-

panding to the supermarkets and

other stores. A well managed yo-

gurt business should bring you Shs

100,000 per month in the initial

stages.

You do not have to own a cow to

join the dairy business. Buying and

selling milk is a profitable business.

And what is best is that you don’t

need a large capital to start.

Fresh milk will on average cost you

Shs 40 per litre and you will be

able to sell your purchase at Shs60

or Shs65 per litre. That gives you

Shs20 to Shs25 without you doing

much more to the milk.

You can also add value with little

effort and sell your milk at a much

higher price. A simple value-added

product in Kericho is mursik which

can easily be packed and sold to a

fast growing market.

Yogurt is another product which is

easy to make and sell. Estimates

indicate that with yogurt your

Simple Profitable Business for those without a Cow

and milk production rec-ords per animal .

INVESTMENT NEWS 15

Sweet potato is an upcoming crop in the

county having been popularized as an alter-

native crop to maize as a food security crop.

Maize was the main staple crop in the county

being consumed as ‘ugali’ for breakfast, lunch

and supper. In 2012 maize was infected by

Maize Lethal Necrotic Disease (MLND) and

yields started to decline significantly. Farmers

were forced to either totally abandon plant-

ing maize or replacing some maize acreage

with other alternative food crops. Sweet po-

tato proved to be the ideal replacement in

the warmer areas of the county while Irish

potato was preferred in the cooler areas.

Soin/Sigowet and Belgut Sub Counties were

the traditional sweet potato growing areas

and with the advent of the maize disease the

crop acreage began to increase gradually.

Some little sweet potato is grown in Kunyak

area of Kipkelion Sub County. With good

management the crop can yield upto 20 Tons

of tubers per acre. In 2015 the area planted

with the crop was 532.5 Acres.

Production of sweet potato was boosted in

2014 when SACOMA (a UK based Kenyan

owned company) started to import sweet

potato tubers from Kaplelartet Ward in Soin/

Sigowet Sub County. Initially the sweet pota-

to varieties planted were very few with the

local white-fleshed variety (Chebolol) being

common. SACOMA linked up with CIP

(International Potato Centre) which intro-

duced farmers to the orange-fleshed varie-

ties, which are fortified with vitamin A. Farm-

ers were also capacity built on aspect of tu-

ber production and seed (vine) multiplica-

tion. In addition, some farmers were provid-

ed with free vines to start commercial sweet

potato seed (vine) multiplication. The varie-

Sweet Profits from Sweet Potatoes County Government Gets International markets for local crop

By Joseph K. Wainaina

County Crops Officer – Kericho

16 INVESTMENT NEWS

ties that were introduced by ICIPE were Vita

and Kabode.

Another buyer of sweet potato by the name

Ringa factory (Homabay County) has entered

the market and is purchasing the Vita and

Kabode varieties of all sizes, unlike SACOMA,

for making of sweet potato puree which it

sells to Tuskys Supermarkets for making con-

fectionaries. The factory relies heavily on

supply from Kericho in the dry season be-

ITEM UNITS PRICE/UNIT

(KSH)

QUANTI-TY

TOTAL VALUE (KSH)

Gross Income

Yields - Tubers Tons 10,000 20 200,000

Vines Vines 1 25,000 25,000

Total Gross Income 225,000

Variable Costs

Planting materials Bags 1,000 6 1,200

Manure Tons 1000 4 4,000

Insecticide e.g Dimethoate Lts 800 ½ 400

Land preparation

1st Ploughing Acre 3000 1 3,000

Labour

Manure application Acre 1500 1 1,500

Ridging/Mounding Man Days

200 6 1200

Planting MD 200 6 1200

1st Weeding MD 200 6 1200

2nd Weeding/ Earthing up MD 200 6 1200

Harvesting MD 200 10 2000

Gunny bags Bags 30 180 5400

Cleaning, sorting and packaging MD 200 6 1200

Total variable cost Ksh 28,300

Gross margin = (TGI-TVC) (225,000-28,300)

Gross margin/Acre Ksh. 196,700

How much you can get from an acre of

sweet potatoes

cause kericho receives extended rainfall al-

lowing for year-long production.

Demand for sweet potatoes is projected to

increase with commissioning of the Kiptere

Sweet Potato factory based in Soin/Sigowet

Sub County in the near future. Engaging in

the sweet potato enterprise is profitable as

indicated by the Gross Margin analysis

shown below;

INVESTMENT NEWS 17

According to Leah Mwangi, Director of Fisher-

ies in Kericho, the demand for fish is increas-

ing fast in hotels, universities and even among

individuals. This presents a big opportunity for

farmers to go into fish production. And the

County Government of Kericho, is providing

support to the farmers by providing qualified

extension workers to guide the farmers.

Ms. Mwangi says, “Fish has a large market

that has not been exhausted.”

Varieties of fish that do well in Kericho are

tilapia and catfish.

To start farming fish you need water from a

permanent source. In Kericho where rainfall is

abundant, water is plentiful and you can easily

make a pond in which to rear your fish.

To succeed in fish farming you need the ad-

vise and guidance of an expert. Ms. Mwangi

advises farmers to seek help from the minis-

try to avoid being misled by quacks.

CAT FISH PRODUCTION

Pond size 5mx5m by 2m deep=50m3

Excavation of pond Labour cost = 3,000

Cost of pond liner(Incase you do it away from rivers)=

2,000

Cost of Fencing of fish pond( Chain link 4m height and

posts) = 3,500

Stocking rate 50 cat fish/m3

Fingerlings to stock 50x50m3=2,500

Cost of fingerlings = 2,500xKshs 5 each =12,500

Fish feeds for 8 months = 1,000 Kgs

Cost of fish feeds = 1,000xKshs 80/Kg= 80,000

Total Cost= Cost of pond construction+ Cost of pond

liner+Cost of fingerlings+Cost of fish feeds

=3,000+2,000+12,500+80,000=97,500

Minimum Income from sale of fish =2,500xKshs 100

per fish

=250,000

Net income= Income – Expenses

=250,000-100,500=149,000

Money from Fish

Vast market, little supply

Inspecting a fish pond in Kericho County.

18 INVESTMENT NEWS

Gross Margin Analysis based on one indigenous hen for meat Pro-duction

Chicken farming is best suited

for the small business person.

You should start by deciding

whether you want to rear free

range or hybrid chickens.

From a small town plot, statis-

tics show, you can make as

much as Shs100,000/- per week

from eggs and chicken sales.

According to Dr. Alex Kimeli,

Unga Feeds Technical Repre-

sentative of South Rift , for com-

mercial purposes, a farmer can

choose to specialize in layers,

which are chickens for eggs,

broilers, chickens raised for

meat or improved kienyeji.

Having made your choice, you

can now specialize in any of the

following sub-sectors, a combi-

nation or even in all.

Eggs for the market: Compared

to other opportunities in the

chicken business, egg produc-

tion and sale can be more profit-

able because of the lower cost

of production.

Day Old Chicks: The business of

raising day old chicks is becom-

ing attractive as more farmers

engage in poultry farming. How-

ever, this specialized area re-

quires the businessman to be

proficient in artificial hatching

and have quality chicks to meet

Local Poultry Farming customers’ demands. An incu-

bator for 48 egg will cost you

about Shs 20,000/- while an

incubator for 96 eggs will cost

you Shs30,000/=.

Broilers: Broilers are profitable

when sold early enough. Look

for a guaranteed market to

supply.

Roasters: Roasters are fairly

mature chicken. Generally they

are sold when four or five

months old when they are

heaviest but still with tender

flesh. They are profitable raised

free range Frequently they are

fattened for two weeks or so

before going to the market.

Layers Egg farmers are glad to

pay higher prices for chicken

raised to the point of laying so

as to avoid risks of deaths and

other uncertainties incidental to

raising chicks.

Hardening In this you raise

chicks up to about four weeks

ensuring that you provide all the

necessary vaccinations before

selling them at a good price

“Whatever sector you choose,

you have to make responsible

managerial and financial deci-

sions to make your chicken farm

business a profitable one,” says

Dr. Kimeli

GMA by Johanna K. Langat, Ker-

icho County

INVESTMENT NEWS 19

Stories by EMMA MULI IMARISHA

SACCO SOCIETY

K ericho-based Imarisha Sacco Society prides

itself of being a premier sacco in Kenya – in

deed, it is the ninth most significant sacco in the

country. The Chairman Mr. Mathew Ruto sees it

rising even higher to play a much bigger role as a

leader in creativity and innovation in Africa and

beyond.

“We intend to keep looking for new, improved

and affordable ways of empowering our mem-

bers and customers,” Mr. Ruto told Investment

News in a discussion about the role the sacco is

playing in the new devolved system of govern-

ment.

With a share capital base of more than Shs 4.8

billion and a membership of close to 50,000 and

a strong base in Kericho town where it owns

some of the most outstanding land mark build-

ings, the sacco has the capacity to spread its

wings. “We have now started the journey to

spread our services to impact more lives.”

The journey started with rebranding in 2014 from

the already powerful but region-based Kipsigis

Teachers Sacco to create a national image with a

new name, Imarisha. “The new name carries our

vision - to assist our members and customers to

become self-sufficient and to start their journeys

to create wealth for themselves and the nation,

Shs300 million in Member

Dividends Goes into

County Economies

This year alone, Imarisha Sacco pumped into

the economies of the

counties they operate in TURN TO PAGE 23

Mathew Ruto, Chairman, Imarisha Sacco

Building Wealthy Counties Imarisha Sacco makes important contribution in Kericho County

20 INVESTMENT NEWS

Mr Ruto told Investment News.

To achieve the objective, the

sacco has created a variety of

low interest loans to enable

members start and grow their

businesses. “We see this as the

best way to impact the lives of

communities. With profitable,

small businesses, we are creat-

ing and spreading wealth.

The idea of empowering com-

munities with low interest busi-

ness loans took root during the

banking crisis of 1998. Commer-

cial banks decided to raise the

minimum amount of money

that accounts should have. “It

was a real crisis because civil

servants and teachers who

make up the core of our mem-

bers could not afford to main-

tain such balances. There was a

nationwide outcry.”

Saccos reacted by transforming

themselves into banks. “We

started to offer the services that

commercial banks were offering

– in deed we were the second

sacco in the country to start the

banking services after Muhigia

Sacco . Most importantly, our

banking section – the Fosas –

started clearing salaries and pro-

ceeds from our members. Then

we realized we had established

a capacity for other types of

products that could reach peo-

ple who were now rendered

unbankable to the commercial

banks. We started a micro-

finance department to reach

these people.

Our mission is to

empower our members

to create wealth for

themselves and the na-

tion

Through the section, the sacco

gives low-interest loans to small

businesses and farmers.

“Through the section we also

work with Central Government

and financial institutions to

manage their funds for on-

lending to small businesses and

farmers. We can assist county

governments to do the same

because we have the branch

network and technical know-

how to manage such funds. In

fact, we are encouraging the

counties to let their employees

join the sacco so that they can

also benefit from our low-

interest loans with user-friendly

terms.”

Currently the sacco operates in

Kericho, Bomet, Nandi, Nakuru

and Kisumu counties. And it’s

looking to spread its services to

more counties starting with

Nairobi.

INVESTMENT NEWS 21

Shs 300 million in form of dividends and in-

terest on deposits paid to members for year

2015. But the real impact of the Sacco in em-

powering people where it operates in can

best be seen from the statistics.

Since its inception, it has given out loans to-

taling Shs 34,361,121,126/-, thus enabling

thousands of people to stabilize their in-

comes or to start businesses that create

wealth and employment. It has encouraged

its members to save up to Shs

4,857,357,137/- while loans currently held

by its customers are Shs5,633,059,770/-.

“This is not only great resource mobilization,

it is also a great effort in empowering the

ordinary people financially,” says Mr. Kipru-

to Arap Sigei , the CEO of the sacco.

The Micro Credit is the key arm through

which the sacco empowers the business and

farming community. The manager of the de-

partment, Mr. Joseph Kirui says that mem-

bers to the unit must be people over 18

years who operate businesses. Members

should also be in groups registered by the

Department of Social Services.

“The unit is helping the small business peo-

ple who could not access loans. A typical

person is the boda boda or the small

Shs300 million for County Economies

FROM PAGE 21

Imarisha Sacco supports a variety of businesses in the Counties it operates in . To qualify, you must:

be a member of a group that is registered by the Department of Social Services whose ob-jectives must be business and clearly so indi-cated in their bylaws. have saved with Imarisha Sacco for two months..

have running business, not a startup Those who fulfill the conditions get loan fives times their savings repayable in one year with a grace period of one month. The rate of interest is low at 1.5% per month. Loans are guaranteed by the group.

How to Join Imarisha Sacco Microcredit

Kipruto Arap Sigei HSC, Chief Executive Officer

22 INVESTMENT NEWS

farmer,” says Mr. Kirui.

Such a borrower goes

through rigorous training for

two months during which the

sacco gets to know them

quite well. “During the two

months we hope to develop a

culture of patience and bet-

ter business management

skills among borrowers. In

the process you identify the

serious business people.”

Small business people receive

“graduated” loans. “The

loans have a multiplier of five

times your savings and the

first loan has a maximum of

Shs20,000 repayable at an

interest of 1.5 per cent. On

repayment of the first loan, a

member can apply for anoth-

er of Shs40,000/- gradually

continuing the upward

trend.” Because the loans are

guaranteed by members, the

sacco recommends that

members must be from a

certain radius so that they

know each other well.

The unit has over 100 groups

with members engaged in all

types of businesses.

Mr. Sigei, outlines some of

the main advantages that

make the sacco an excellent

partner for the business

community:

It has a large branch net-

work with VISA branded

ATM cards

its interest rates can be as

low at 12 per cent (as

compared with 24 per

cent in commercial banks

it has excellent reputation

and goodwill.

When he left school in Form Two due to lack

of school fees Solomon Korir was sure he

wanted to live in the rural areas. “Life in the

rural areas is stress-free and easy,’ Bernard

told Investment News philosophically at his

farm in Tegat, Belgut. And that meant he

SOLOMON KORIR Success Recipe:

A dream, patience,

passion and a Loan

Imarisha Sacco supports farmers in dairy farm-

ing with credit and training on finance and busi-

ness management.

INVESTMENT NEWS 23

would be self-employed. So

he joined up with other youth

to form a group so that they

could uplift their standards of

living.

They went into tea seedling

growing. However his dream

was to start dairy farming, a

dream he formed when he

saw a successful, zero grazing

farm of a neighbor. With the

first loan of 7000/-which he

got from the group, Solomon

bought a cow that was bring-

ing him only 2 litres of milk

which was hardly enough. He

wanted to buy a cow of a bet-

ter breed. And the only prob-

lem was that it took six

months for his turn for a loan

from the group which would

amount to only seven thou-

sand – hardly enough for his

farming business.

“Fortunately we heard about

Imarisha Sacco and its friendly

loans. We decided to be-

come members as a group.”

Solomon applied for a loan

from the sacco and a loan of

Shs20,000 was quickly pro-

cessed for him. With the mon-

ey Solomon bought a young

heifer of a better breed which

gives him 12 liters a day

“I was so excited that I

named the cow Imarisha just

to remind myself from where

I got the money that changed

my world!”. He now has a

modern dairy farm with five

cows .

Solomon’s plan is to upgrade

his cows to 15 to 20 litres a

day each. And he knows he is

on the way to doing so.

“With Imarisha loans, I be-

lieve mine is an achievable

dream. His philosophy is to

have a dream, be patient and

have passion. “You can wait

when you have passion.”

Family that Has

Grown with Imarisha

KENNEDY TOO

Kennedy Too who describes

himself as a mixed farmer in

Kepkelion, Kericho County cred-

its Imarisha Sacco for almost

everything he possesses today.

He discovered Imarisha when

he was a young teacher. He

used his first loan of Shs6000/-

to buy cows which at the time

cost some Shs 600/ each.

Kennedy Too shows some of his chickens

24 INVESTMENT NEWS

“I even used some to pay for

my wife’s dowry.,” he laughs

“Since then, I have regularly

taken loans. I have taken loans

to buy pieces of land including

the one we live in. We have also

established several successful

small businesses – all with

loans borrowed from Imarisha.

That is why when his wife Viola

- joined a women's merry go

round he advised them to join

Imarisha Sacco microcredit.

“With merry go round, its diffi-

cult to safe enough for a mean-

ingful business because you get

just what you saved. With

Imarisha, you get five times

what you have saved. And in

just two months!”

“Imarisha also gives training on

finance and business manage-

ment. ‘

With the loan she got the Toos

bought 260 chickens which they

bought at Shs70 each. “Now we

have around 900. Our target is

to reach 3,000 chickens.

“Our desire now is to buy a

large incubator – and we are

planning to get a loan for it

from Imarisha.”

The Toos raise improved

kienyeji chickens. “We chose

KARI Improved Kienyeji Chicken

because although they take

longer to mature, they are

cheaper to feed and are quite

disease resistant.”

Kienyeji chickens are also more

profitable. He sells a six week

old chicken at Sh 250 and a

kienyeji egg at Sh 15 or Sh 20,

much higher than the regular

eggs which fetch Shs 10 an egg.

A full grown Kienyeji chicken

goes for about Sh 800 while the

broilers go for about Sh 270-Sh

300.

At times, he sells cocks at Sh

1,000 and above during holidays

such as April and December.

“You cannot satisfy demand for

Kienyeji chicken especially in

Western Kenya.”

Kennedy Too and wife Viola at their farm

INVESTMENT NEWS 25

Finlays is one of the oldest and best established

international companies involved in tea farming.

Based in Kericho the company produces 30 mil-

lion kilos of tea a year from its four tea estates

and factories in the Kericho area and Bomet. But

its not just tea that the company is involved in, it

is also doing a lot to improve the welfare and eco-

nomic circumstances of the people of the areas.

“We can’t do business where livelihoods are low.

We try to improve lives of the communities

around Finlays,” Mr. Sammy Kirui, the Corporate

Affairs Director told Investment News.

The best example of Finlays social concern is that

of small scale tea farmers who after years of be-

ing underpaid approached Finlays for assistance

to process and market their tea. The result was

the establishment of coopera-

tives with an umbrella one called

Fintea to simplify administration

and enable them to benefit from

economies of scale and improve

productivity.

“Members jointly own the busi-

ness, enabling them to share

profits and improve their liveli-

hoods,” says Kirui.

Fintea provides services such as

bulk purchase of inputs and has

assisted members to diversify

their crops to cushion against

unstable incomes. “We belief in sustainable envi-

ronment. That is why we take members of Fintea

through Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance to be

certified so they can access international markets

and get premium prices,” says Kirui.

Finlays has an out growers department with field

officer to train farmers on good agricultural prac-

tices. As a result quality and yields per acre have

improved. And prices can be as high as Shs48 per

kg as against an average of Shs 28 at KTDA .

Finlays is also involved in construction and equip-

ping of school libraries and dormitories in Kericho

and Bomet. They also give annual scholarships to

secondary and university students from the same

counties.

A Legacy of Tea Farming Finlays does more to improve livelihoods in Kericho

26 INVESTMENT NEWS

INVESTMENT NEWS 27

support women, youth and mar-

ginalized groups.

The fund has however had little

uptake, mainly because it remains

unknown by those who would

benefit from it. Because of this, it

has become controversial with

members of Parliament calling it

an unnecessary burden. But as a

small business person falling

within the specified groups you

can still benefit from the loan

wherever you are in the47 coun-

ties.

Women representatives adminis-

ter the fund. And it can be a great

way to jump start your business,

whether you have it underway

already or have only a fool-proof

business plan.

Here Investment News looks at

the operation of the Fund in

A school at the Coast that benefitted from funds of the MP.

Funding for Business

FROM PAGE 6

Machakos County where

the women representative

is Dr. Susan Musyoka.

As defined in the regula-

tion, in Machakos County,

fund is targeted specifical-

ly to Kenyan citizens who

are marginalized, specifi-

cally women, the youth,

children, the elderly and

the physically challenged.

According to Mr. Samuel

Nzioka, the Assistant

County Coordinator of

fund any group applying should

have about 70% of its members

fitting those criteria. As a gov-

ernment loan to boost business-

es, its interest rate is low at only

5 percent.

This fund is not entirely meant

for start-up businesses; educa-

tion and other non-profit pro-

jects are also funded with the

same money.

In Machakos County, the fund

has been successfully used to

implement a good number of

community projects, including

talent nurturing and establishing

gender based violence (GBV)

centers.

For businesses, Mr. Nzioka says

that one can only apply as part

of a group of at least 20 people.

Records kept in the Machakos

Women’s Representative office

show that about 20 such groups

have applied for the fund so far

in Machakos County and at least

one has been able to obtain a

loan of over 1 million shillings.

The group is focused on devel-

oping modern charcoal burners

(jikos) which they manufacture

themselves, among other activi-

ties.

“We went down to their place

and saw the great work they are

doing and were impressed. That

gave them points for approval of

their request,” Mr. Nzioka in-

formed me.

Most of the groups applying for

the loan seem to be focused on

agribusiness. Bee keeping, horti-

culture and poultry appear most

frequently. Basically, if you are

able to convince he committee

that you have a market for your

product or service, you have a

high chance of obtaining a loan.

28 INVESTMENT NEWS

The Small Business Growth Plan

The Column that guides you on how to move

your business to the next level

Why It’s Important to Make a Business Plan

( and How to Make One for your Business)

Although money may not be the

only reason you establish your

small business, it will be the main

reason you will continue to run

your enterprise. It is simply be-

cause without money, you will

not stay long in business. If the

goal of your business is to make

money, then you may draw a road

map. A road map is a plan.

In fact many small business own-

ers are not familiar with business

planning, or marketing plans part-

ly because of the way they start

their businesses and the skills they

possess. A producer who has a

great track record in terms of pro-

duction may not have strong plan-

ning skills or may neglect the

marketing side of the business.

A business plan will help guide

your decision making. It includes

analysis of how the business will

work and plans for operation

(marketing, production, human

resources, finances, etc.).

The most important thing about a

business plan however is that it

forces you to think. Here is a sim-

ple structure for your business

plan.

1.Products and Services

Describe the problem that you

solve for your customers and the

solution that you are selling.

It is always a good idea to think in

terms of customer needs and cus-

tomer benefits as you define your

product offerings, rather than

thinking of your side of the equa-

tion (how much money the prod-

uct or service will bring in).

2. Market Analysis Summary

Use this section to discuss your

customers’ needs, where your cus-

tomers are, how to reach them to

deliver your product to them.

You’ll also need to know who

your competitors are and how you

stack up against them—why are

you sure there’s room for you in

this market?

3. Strategy and Implementation

Summary

Use this section to outline your

marketing plan, your sales plan,

and the other logistics involved in

actually running your business.

You’ll want to cover the technolo-

gy you plan on using, your busi-

ness location and other facilities,

special equipment you might

need, and your roadmap for get-

ting your business up and run-

ning. You’ll need to outline the

key indicators you’ll be tracking

to make sure your business is

headed in the right direction.

5. Company and Management

Summary

In this section, describe the organ-

ization of your business, and the

key members of your team. In-

clude summaries of your team\s

backgrounds and experience.

6. Financial Plan

At the very least this section

should include your projected

Profit and Loss and Cash Flow

tables, and a brief description of

the assumptions you’re making

with your projections.

You may also want to include

your balance sheet, your sales

forecast and a break-even analy-

sis.

INVESTMENT NEWS 29

TRAVEL, CULTURE AND BOOKS

O ne of the most interest-

ing features of Muli

wa Kyendo’s book,

Kioko and the Legend of the

Plains is the culture it portrays.

Reading through it is like going

through the ancient cultures of

two communities.

You begin with the culture of the

people of Nzaui who we assume

are the Kamba although they

are not named in the book. The

main character Kioko and the

other names of this community

are clearly Kamba.

Before Kioko starts off to search

for a cow, he exposes a variety

of cultural activities in which chil-

dren in his community are or

were engaged

And then we learn a lot from

Grandmother. She knows the

fears and triumphs of the com-

munity. And what’s more, she is

Kioko’s mentor. Everything Ki-

oko knows—at least almost all -

is from Grandmother

When he reaches the land of the

Cattle we are immersed into the

culture of this community.

Another significant aspects

which is described is the flora

and fauna. Kioko starts form the

hills of Nzaui—I assume this hill

is the one with the same name

which is in Makueni and which

has a lot of myth and history of

the Akamba people. And again it

may not, because the real

mountain lies in the plains while

the one described in the book

seems to close to the hills. Be

that as it may, Kioko starts from

the hills of Nzaui and tracks

down to the plains in the trail of

the warriors led by the father.

When he loses the warriors in

the plains, Kioko is left on his

own where we get familiar with

the flora and fauna of the expan-

sive (Kapiti?) plains. We are

introduced to all kinds of ani-

mals and their relationship with

human beings. I was intrigued

by the lion and is cultural beliefs

attached to it.

A writer and children book ex-

pert Megan Green whose review

of the book is quoted says “This

is an incredible story with a tight

plot, a character any reader will

empathize with, and a wonderful

lesson...a tale that is steeped in

culture, that illustrates a beauti-

ful setting, and that shows how

two cultures who previously

thought they were enemies can

live in harmony”

In these aspects (information

about cultures, flora and fauna)

—and even in the storytelling, I

would say, Kioko and the Leg-

end of the Plains is superior to

international stories such as Li-

on King which is also based in

the Kapiti plains and tries to por-

tray flora and fauna of this ex-

pansive and much written about

plain. The superiority of Kioko

and the Legend of the Plains

lies in the fact that the author

knows the area very well and

can access cultural and commu-

nity resources that foreign story

tellers don’t have access to.

Cover of Kioko and the Legend of

the Plains

Author: Muli wa Kyendo

Publisher: Syokimau Cultural Centre

Imprint: Ushanga Books

ISBN 9966-7020-0-8

Availability: Bookshops in Kenya

www.amazon.com

Better than Lion King?

by FRANCIS OCHIENG

30 INVESTMENT NEWS

Times are changing —

and for the better?

Recently I listened with excitement and won-

der as a preacher urged his audience to make

a vow with themselves to assist someone in

need.

The pastor went ahead to discuss what he

called the chances of living a virtuous life. He

himself, he said, was in charge of bursaries in

the church.

“I have never taken a bursary for my child! Yet

I have children in secondary school and two in

the university. Obviously they need bursaries.

But my conscience does not allow me to take

anything for my children.”

He went ahead to explain how a friend had

called him asking for help. “He wanted me to

help because he thought I was rich. I told him

I wasn’t. I advised him to do what I do—pray

and work hard so that we can raise enough

funds for ourselves and others in need.”

His audience keenly listened. To them, I am

sure it was a new message in a country where

even educated people are beginning to won-

der whether corruption isn’t in the Kenyan

genes.

The churches are full of thieving “men and

women of God.”

At around the same time, I had listened to a

well-known TV evangelist telling his congre-

gation that the biggest sin is not giving money

to the church. “God will open the door, look at

your record, and the first thing he will want to

see is how much you gave to church. Was it

all you could afford or were you like Ananias,

hiding a portion of what you should give?

“That day, no one will pass the gate if they

made no contribution to the church. Even me

as your pastor, I will not go there and say I am

pastor let me pass. My record must be clean.”

It was a variation of the usual plant a seed

story that the government recently outlawed

on TV. By the way, that is one thing that I can

say the government has done that has

pleased me.

Not that I am against churches making mon-

ey. Everyone who goes to church and listens

to an inspiring sermon should pay just the

same as anyone who goes to hospital. That

way you encourage the church minister to do

even more for you.