Kenya IGF Online Discussions. Day 3. Developments in Fintech and E-commerce

Dear Carolyne,

Many thanks for your insightful responses. Is there any capital flight
or would you say the funds are wholly invested locally?

Best Regards

On 7/13/18, carolyne mimano <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi Barrack,
> Having worked first hand in tech startups and innovation i can tell you
> that a lot of the investors are interested in international cofounders as
> oppossed to local.Mainly because we do not invest in our own.A lot of
> cofounders who get funding are those who leave silicon valley for
> Nigeria,Kenya and south Africa.Unfortunately we still prefer to invest in
> property -land etc as compared to research and innovation which is one of
> the reasons why a huge chunk of tech is foreign led.
> Research on tech and innovation should start with the younger
> generation.Note people like Mark Zuckerberg had programming tutors in
> middle school.
> Nairobi Innovation week is just a meeting place for tech enthusiasts,
> investors and startups looking for funding.A lot of work needs to happen
> all year round behind the scenes.
> And yes the government needs to invest more in research as well as we(the
> community) investing more in growing the next generation of innovators.
>
> kind regards
> Carolyne
>
> On Fri, 13 Jul 2018, 9:23 am Barrack Otieno via kictanet, <
> [email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Hi Ali,
>>
>> 1. We have made many gains in the Fintech and E-Commerce space due to
>> a conducive Policy environment. I am curious to understand why our
>> market is attracting a lot of venture capital. Is it that we are
>> innovative or do we offer cheap labor?, is there any capital flight
>> associated with the Venture Capital that is being channeled into our
>> market. I ask this considering the long debate about who invented and
>> owned MPESA. It eventually turned out that after all it was not a
>> Kenyan.
>> 2. How much is the Kenyan Government through the parent Ministry of
>> Information and Communications Technology pumping into the FINTECH and
>> Innovation Space. Better still do we have any Research and Development
>> fund to support the sector beyond the Nairobi Innovation Week. I
>> appreciate the fact that we have a CS who is at the fore front of
>> Innovation but are we matching the same with the kind of budget being
>> allocated to the Standard Gauge Railway?
>> 3. I would also like to find out from listers that might be in the
>> know , how many Kenyans have access to mobile money and gaps if any
>> that might exist. Is there any research that has been done that is
>> showing the current status of the Fintech and e-commerce eco-system.
>>
>> asking for Wakanda
>>
>> On 7/12/18, Ali Hussein via kictanet <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>> > Dear listers.
>> >
>> > Since the advent of Mpesa, Kenya has been recognized as Ground Zero for
>> > Mobile Money/Payments Innovation the world over. According to a World
>> Bank
>> > report one in every ten human beings regularly using mobile money is a
>> > a
>> > Kenyan.
>> >
>> > Over the last few years Fintech (Financial Technology) has become all
>> > the
>> > rage. American startups are setting up in Kenya. The more common ones
>> that
>> > we know are Branch and Tala who combined have raised over $150m of
>> venture
>> > funds in the last few years. These two are mainly mobile lending
>> platforms.
>> > Insuretech is taking root. Payment Platforms are proliferating. Banks
>> > are
>> > jumping onto the Fintech Bandwagon with mainstream banks like Barclays
>> and
>> > HF Group launching their mobile lending apps. Equity Bank boldly
>> announced a
>> > few weeks ago that they are building an API Bank. Banking as a Service
>> as it
>> > were.
>> >
>> > Not to be left out, Blockchain and it’s offspring, Bitcoin is threading
>> to
>> > complete the upheavals in the financial sector. On top of it all the
>> > government is playing catch up on regulation with the announcement of
>> > the
>> > Finance Bill 2018. See analysis from KPMG on this.
>> >
>> >
>> home.kpmg.com/ke/en/home/insights/2018/06/finance-bill-2018-analysis.html
>> >
>> > To ponder:-
>> >
>> > 1. Are we moving too fast? Is there a need to take a chill pill and
>> reflect
>> > on the gains and achievements of the sector? Should we regulate
>> > lightly
>> or
>> > heavily?
>> >
>> > 2. Should we regulate and cap the mobile lending platforms? Are they
>> playing
>> > a crucial role of financial inclusion or are they just loan sharks on
>> > steroids?
>> >
>> > 3. How about the Credit Reference Bureaus? Are they stuck in a time
>> > warp
>> or
>> > is the legislation in place encumbering them from innovation?
>> >
>> > 4. Lastly is the BlockChain conversation being overhyped? And how do
>> > you
>> > separate the technology from the cryptocurrencies it spawns?
>> >
>> > Over to you Listers.
>> >
>> > Ali Hussein
>> > Principal
>> > AHK & Associates
>> > +254 0713 601113
>> >
>> > Twitter: @AliHKassim
>> > Skype: abu-jomo
>> > LinkedIn: ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>> >
>> > \”We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but
>> > a
>> > habit.\” ~ Aristotle
>> >
>> >
>> > Sent from my iPad
>>
>>
>> —
>> Barrack O. Otieno
>> +254721325277
>> +254733206359
>> Skype: barrack.otieno
>> PGP ID: 0x2611D86A
>>
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>