Nairobi’s stature as a regional logistical hub for overseas investors is set to drive further growth in Kenya’s prime residential market, top Knight Frank officials have said.

The firm’s head of global residential Lord Andrew Hay and head of international residential Patrick Dring, who are based in the headquarters in the UK, had visited the Nairobi office.

They said Nairobi is the most promising market in Africa at the moment in this market segment which recorded a 10 per cent price increase in 2012, the eleventh highest price change globally.

UK companies with significant stakes in Kenya’s listed firms are taking home more than Sh20 billion in dividends and fees this year, underlining the former colonial master’s continued dominance in the economy.

Financial results so far released for the six companies with large British ownership show that the foreign owners will take home Sh20.3 billion of the total Sh38.6 billion declared in dividends and fees due to shareholders.

Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore

Telecoms firm Safaricom has recorded a 39 per cent increase in profit after tax to Sh17.5 billion for the period ended March 2013, on the backdrop of increased revenue flows from voice, M-Pesa and data services.

Revenues increased by 16 per cent to hit Sh124.3 billion in the 12-month period to March as the three platforms performed better than the previous year.

When three brothers ventured into technology business, their friends and relatives laughed off the idea. But, they also shrugged off the negative voices, convinced it was time to test the waters of the technology world.

They were coming together after taking different careers abroad and the gut-feel attitude that their life was hinged on self-employment. Today, after three short years — a period within which most start-ups die in Kenya, according to many studies — the trio’s idea is looking up.

An upcoming Sh500 million exclusive Malindi resort owned by Italian billionaire Flavio Briatore will open its doors in August.

Mr Briatore, who was on a one-day inspection tour of the project at the weekend, arrived at the Malindi Airport aboard a private luxury jet and went straight to the construction site where he met the contractors.

He held several meetings before leading journalists on a tour of the resort. A jovial Mr Briatore said a casino, which is one of the prominent features of the facility and the reception was complete.

Foreign investors flocked back to the stock market in April doubling share purchases in a reversal of the decline recorded in March, when election jitters are thought to have slowed their participation at the bourse.

Net foreign investor inflows to the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) rose to Sh3 billion in April, compared to Sh1.68 billion in March.

The General Election held on March 4 saw an entire month in which economic activity came to a near-standstill as the declaration of the winner took a whole week after casting of votes.

US tech giant IBM has opened an innovation hub in Nairobi to match IT innovators with investors who will help develop the ideas commercially.

The hub, which is the third in Africa after Morocco and South Africa, will allow software developers to test their new applications, network with peers around the world and link innovations with businesses that need the technology.

The centre will also link techies with capital owners who will inject money into start-ups in exchange for equity.

The Flower People is a floral company based in Kenya. They have created an online platform for the Kenyan diaspora to buy bouquets and arrangements of flowers for Mother’s Day or any other day or occasion.

Jackson, who prefers to use one name, is a Kenyan living in Texas, USA. He was introduced to an investment cooperative in Kenya by a friend, who is a member.

The performance of the cooperative, based on its reports, encouraged him. He now earns annual income of $160,000, an equivalent of Sh12.8 million.

“Getting reliable and honest partners who can represent our interests on the ground can be a challenge,” he says. According to Jackson, many Kenyans living abroad have been disappointed by agents, relatives, and friends they have entrusted with investment money.

Central Bank of Kenya employees hatched an elaborate fake bonds trading scheme in which the Treasury may have lost up to Sh2.6 billion, a Nairobi court has been told.

Blacklisted bonds dealer Fredrick Mweni claims in an affidavit filed in court that the CBK lost the colossal amount in a scam involving its staff, an unspecified number of brokers and investment firms.