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

Good people

Good conversations. Keep them coming. There are some questions addressed
to me and I will endeavour to respond to them at some point today.

Thank you all!

*Ali Hussein*

*Principal*

*AHK & Associates*

Tel: +254 713 601113

Twitter: @AliHKassim

Skype: abu-jomo

LinkedIn: ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
<ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>

13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing,

Chiromo Road, Westlands,

Nairobi, Kenya.

Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely
mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the
organizations that I work with.

On Fri, Jul 13, 2018 at 10:46 AM, WANGARI KABIRU via kictanet <
[email protected]> wrote:

>
>
> \” The solution (innovation) is what we most clearly see and what gets us
> most excited. But our stakeholders don’t necessarily see what we see. More
> important, their goals are different. They don’t care about our solution
> but rather about a business model story that promises them a return on
> their investment within a set time frame.\” – Ash Maurya
>
> Traction, traction, traction…
> @Barrack, your Wakanda should to know the above by now.
>
>
> Be blessed.
> Regards/Wangari
> —
> Pray God Bless. 2013Wangari circa – \”Being of the Light, We are Restored
> Through Faith in Mind, Body and Spirit; We Manifest The Kingdom of God on
> Earth\”.
>
>
> On Friday, 13 July 2018, 10:10:25 GMT+3, Barrack Otieno via kictanet <
> [email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> 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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>
>
> —
> Barrack O. Otieno
> +254721325277
> +254733206359
> Skype: barrack.otieno
> PGP ID: 0x2611D86A
>
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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people\’s times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don\’t flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people\’s times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don\’t flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>
>

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