Mombasa

Thanks to all of you for posting comments. Sorry I can not respond to them sooner!

I decided it was high time to take a short vacation after working so much. Unable to find a flight with my friends to Lamu, I booked a flight to Mombasa for the weekend to check out the coast of Kenya by myself. Mombasa holds a special place because we were denied entry with Semester at Sea in 2001 after the September 11^th attacks. The Kenyans will tell you that the pace of life in Mombasa is a little slower (probably due to the heat) and the coast is the location of the true Swahili culture. I can attest to both. The beaches north of Mombasa do not match up to those of Virgin Gorda, Barbados, Hawaii, Brazil, Costa Rica or the Seychelles, but then, I have high standards for beaches. My guide told me to visit the southern coast next time. For a tall American, blending in was tough and I was taken for a tourist by every street peddler in the city. The constant harassment and scamming usually does not bother me but here it detracted from the experience. Some of the trip highlights include, a walking tour of the Mombasa island, a day in the WhiteSands resort and a boat trip on a refurbished Arabian dhow. It was tempting to join up with a band of Somali pirates but I chose to return to Nairobi.

Here are more pictures…

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=nat.robinson&target=ALBUM&id=5275206951436060929&authkey=Z7fxekrsg5w&feat=email

Mt. Kenya Dairy Trip

Happy Thanksgiving! No turkey or pilgrims in Kenya. I even had to work today.

K-Rep sent me to visit some rural milk chilling plants to evaluate their future investment potential. The milk chilling plants are supported by the East African Dairy Development Project (EADD), will provide thousands of jobs and create massive milk revenues for rural farmers. Like the village banks, the chilling plants are owned and operated by the farmers who receive nice dividend payments when times are good.

A team joined me from a fantastic organization called TechnoServe which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is involved in setting up these milk chilling plants. TechnoServe provides the technical assistance and training involved in running a chilling plant.

We drove up the slopes of Mt. Kenya near Nyeri and met with a group of dairy farmers in the lush valleys of the Central Province. K-Rep is much less involved in this program (at this point) so I did not have any opportunities to give speeches or do some dancing…

More pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nat.robinson/MtKenyaAndNairobi

Nairobi Slums

Last weekend, my friend from K-Rep Bank drove me around some of the worst slums in Nairobi. These places we could only visit during the middle of the day on a Sunday. My digital camera was making my friend nervous so I could not take as many pictures as I liked.


We stopped and chatted with a local mechanic and shopkeeper to hear stories about how many people are killed in certain streets and that you can arrange a murder for around 3,000 Kshs or $43. We actually had to pay a tax the slum lord just to drive through his neighborhood. They do not get too many Americans walking around their neighborhoods and I attracted plenty of attention. Although, at no point in my time in Nairobi have I any incidents of being threatened.
It was still a fun experience to some of the rough parts of the city.

Mabera Village Bank

I took a short flight with the company CEO to a visit a town called Kisumu in western Kenya. We were on our way to the opening ceremony of an FSA in the rural town of Mabera. Kisumu is the situated on the banks of Lake Victoria and very close to the village where Obama’s father was born. In the airport, I noticed a truckload of CNN baggage on its way back to Nairobi following the election last week.

Western Kenya seemed to mix lush basins with rolling hills scattered with small holder farms and remote towns. The company truck was skillfully maneuvered along the pothole riddled mountain roads at high speeds by our veteran driver, Asika. Our team of five representatives from the K-Rep Group arrived in Mabera and were promptly introduced to the village leadership and provided with a tour of the new FSA building. Ceremonies soon began under a tent with several hundred of the village residents in attendance. The Mabera village leaders delivered a series of long-winded speeches and introduced the newly elected bank board of directors. Our ceremony was then graced with the presence of the provincial government District Officer and District Commissioner (along with their full security detail in tow). Thankfully, a group of elders and traditional African dancers preformed to break up the speeches. I managed to throw out a few moves myself.

Eventually it came time to explain why I was present as the only foreigner for hundreds of miles. I was handed the microphone after a lengthy introduction as Mr. Robinson from K-Rep and I proceeded to use as many Swahili phrases as I knew. At the end of my speech, I threw in a line about being an American and how I was happy for Barak Obama. The audience then gave me a standing ovation.

The Mabera community truly embraced this FSA and I expect the bank to be a valuable resource for small businesses. I even purchased three official shares of the bank myself and anticipate a dividend within the year.

Our CEO flew back to Nairobi but Asika and I remained in Kisumu for another day and then drove the 7hr and 480kms home. I did not even notice the length of the drive since the scenery kept me well occupied. We would stop by street vendors in every town to purchase bananas, potatoes, sugar cane and anything else that might fit in the bed of the pickup truck. Asika explained to me that he was supporting the rural businesses and saving his family from the heavy costs of produce in Nairobi. This trip was a highlight to my experience this far and I hope to participate in a few more journeys throughout rural Kenya.

Here are some more pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nat.robinson/KisumuTripAndMaberaFSA

Apartment

I moved into an apartment right next to the K-Rep Bank. The place is massive and very nice but does not have any furniture. The bank owns the building and was kind enough to give me one of the vacant apartments for my time in Kenya.

Only… the hot water does not work for the shower and I have to wash my cloths by hand in the sink. The Kenyans thought it was crazy that I had my own washer/dryer combo when I was living in Washington, DC. Here are a few pictures of my spacious yet empty new home.

We are continuing to burn the midnight oil and work some crazy long hours at the bank. My day starts around 7:15 and I usually do not leave the office until well past 7:00pm. These last two weekends I have also spent some time putting this financing deal together for the Grassroots Business Fund. It is so refreshing to once again have some responsibility and a daily purpose. I never in my life thought I would have to evaluate a foreign currency swap hedge (wish I had paid attention in that class at business school).

This weekend… I am scheduled to participate in the opening of a rural Financial Services Association (FSA) that the K-Rep group is supporting with the government of Kenya. These FSAs are like village banks where the local residents can take microloans but are also the owners/shareholders with the ability to vote on board members and whether or not to distribute dividends. It is a fantastic model that has seen some early success in Africa. For all of you who are worried about where to put your money these days maybe you should consider purchasing equity in a few of these FSAs. Rural Kenya is well isolated from the global financial crisis.

PS- I am seriously concerned about my welfare as a US citizen in Kenya if Obama does not win. 89% of Kenyans say they would vote for Obama.

Weekend Safari

For much of the world, Africa is best known for its thousands of species of mammals, birds, insects and reptiles. Of course, just as important are its vast complexities of people, cultures and countries. That being said, the animals are incredible to see! This past weekend I joined two of my new friends, Craig and Crystal, on a safari through the National Park of Nairobi. We rented a taxi and drove for hours through herds of giraffes, zebras and water buffalo. I found it crazy.... all these animals walking around literally at the doorstep of a city of three million people. But yes, one of the best game parks in Kenya is only 15 minutes from my office.

The moment we entered the “lion territory” our 2wd minivan became bogged down in the mud. Our driver grabbed a shovel and started digging. Craig and I decided to get out and push while Crystal kept watch for any dangerous predators. Fortunately for us, nothing approached in the 40 minutes it took to get the van turned around and headed back to the paved roads. We did not see any lions or cheetahs but we hope this will be one of many safaris to come. Before today, my only exposure to some of these magnificent animals was in a zoo. The real thing is so much better!

It took a long time to upload these pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/nat.robinson/NairobiSafari

Week 1 in Nairobi

Parts of this city are right out of Born Free or the Lion King (not that I have seen either of those
movies) with the rolling savannas and acacia trees, while other areas give support for the city’s nickname, “Nairoberry”. My digs are located in the southwest part of the city near a major tourist market called the Ya Ya center. I was pleased to find my office was only a few blocks away and housed in the top floor of the tallest (and nicest) building in the area. It got even better when the president of the bank (Aleke Dondo) showed me my corner desk with spectacular views of the rolling highlands in the distance. Aleke is a local and international celebrity who seems to care a lot about my experience in Nairobi. I have found most of the local Kenyans and K-Rep employees to be overwhelmingly friendly and welcoming.

My immediate role at K-Rep is to assist the organization in building up their financial reports to qualify for some major financing from the Grassroots Business Fund. I sit with a small army of young accountants and try to decipher as much of the relevant financial and accounting statements as possible. Yes, I am the only American in the office which gives me flashbacks of my intern days in Shanghai. I never thought I would miss high-speed internet access but life is rough without it. Things like Skype, streaming fantasy football scores and even Facebook are nearly impossible to use. It will be tough to post any more pictures until I figure something out...