Opinion
Pros, woes of privatization & how we streamline our way through this inevitability
Sammy Ndolo, CDH Kenya Partner in the Corporate & Commercial practice provides guidance on how the upcoming privatization laws are to have both favorable and unfavorable effects on the Kenyan economy.
For decades, Kenya has been implementing a long-term strategy to not only restore the economy and expand opportunities for all Kenyans, but to deepen human capital development efforts and increase productivity, and ultimately, prosperity for the nation.
Part of this strategy involves the systematic privatization of certain publicly controlled industries with the aim of improving efficiency and competitiveness, modernizing key infrastructure facilities, and developing capital markets. The problem is that the privatization of public entities takes ages despite the sensitivity and need for urgency.
Privatization is the process by which assets owned or controlled by the government are transferred to a private person primarily through the sale of shares or assets. The process starts with the publication by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance in the Kenya Gazette of a program containing the assets that are eligible for privatization and the Privatisation Commission is tasked with developing proposals to achieve the sale. Further approvals by the Cabinet and the National Assembly as well as publications in the newspaper and the Kenya Gazette must also be undertaken before the sale can be concluded.
Although there are clear benefits, like with all things, we should approach them with caution. Government-owned entities are generally considered to be inefficient and wasteful. Privatization usually seeks to facilitate and catalyze growth, create sustainability, and maximize the profitability of the entity, the relevant sector, and the economy more broadly. This has long been considered by the government as the right way to go.
Yet there are some all-too-common challenges that face state corporations in various sectors that should be a cause for economic concern on the privatization front. These challenges include bloated workforces, poor and mismanagement of resources resulting in unmanageable debt, limited government funding, complex slow decision-making processes, and procurement methods, and overlap and duplicity of functions.
In the end, we cannot ignore the fact that privatization is happening, especially considering the government is seeking to increase the number of listed State-Owned Enterprises at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). So perhaps this process can be accelerated.
The privatization process is a chronological step-by-step action baked into the Privatisation Act and the ability to accelerate the process is unfortunately limited. The privatization option that allows for the most flexibility is the public offering of shares, but the government entities are in many instances unable to meet the conditions for a public offering of shares given the challenges they face.
Other options that can allow an acceleration of the process include a rights issue to existing shareholders or a balance sheet re-organization where the government shareholding in the entity is reduced when it does not take up the new shares.
As noted above, the privatization process under the Privatisation Act requires that the Privatisation Commission follow a lengthy and detailed process before the sale can be implemented. This results in the process being time-consuming and puts off private investors given the uncertainties it presents. This is also impacted by the retirement of Commissioners and their absence delays the implementation of the privatization program.
The poor financial and management state of our government entities also tends to result in a mismatch in price between what the investors are willing to pay and what the government expects to receive. As such, there is difficulty in finding suitable investors willing to pay a premium for the assets sought to be privatized.
However, there is hope for some. Public entities on the privatization program that are solvent and well-managed can consider the option of making a public offer of shares as this provides the greatest flexibility under the Privatisation Act. Such entities can also consider a rights issue.
Even a financially distressed or insolvent government entity can also consider the option of balance sheet restructuring or liquidation to facilitate the sale of assets while getting relief on repayment of outstanding debt.
Failure by counties to collect revenue equals a great loss for the country
The Commission of Revenue Allocation estimates that the internal revenue potential of counties in Kenya is KES216bn against the average of KES31bn which they net yearly. This essentially means that counties are missing out on an estimated KES185bn in internal revenue collections every year.
This massive gap in revenue for our counties can be blamed on several issues from corruption through to outdated and archaic manual systems and processes and mismanagement. But first, it is important to understand where the line between country and county is drawn from a revenue perspective.
Income tax, value added tax, excise duties and customs duties are revenues that are collected by the national government. At a county level, these revenue streams include property, entertainment, and other sources of revenue where the Parliament has given counties permission to collect those taxes.
Failure to maximise on the counties’ vast revenue potential has forced counties to rely on equitable revenue sent by the National Treasury. This trend is worrying considering that there have been persistent complaints around simple things like access to medicine in our healthcare facilities.
The support that comes from our national government is simply not enough. The major reason for this comes down to one thing… money. The money that comes to the county government is disbursed late, so we are inundated with complaints from the council of governors, including one recently in which the governors were asking for the government to release the allocation to counties.
The truth is, even though the counties are entitled to KES370bn, which typically arrives late, they could do better to mobilise their internal revenue and reduce reliance on the national government. Inevitably, without proper funding, counties are not able to achieve whatever goals and ambitions they have set out which means that the governors also fail to deliver on their promises to the people.
Among the reasons for failure to collect as much revenue is over reliance on manual revenue collection. Manual systems are prone to abuse and people can easily collect cash which is not reported as part of the Counties’ revenue. Further, manual systems are hard to audit so it not easy to nab unscrupulous county employees.
Automating revenue collection has been routed as one of the solutions. The solution can work best with goodwill from governors. The governors should also build a culture of accountability and transparency in the revenue collection cycle. Further, the governors should conduct regular audits to check their progress on revenue collection and seal loopholes.
In addition to automating systems, there is a need for collaboration with the Commission of Revenue Allocation to structurally educate counties and their leaders on proper revenue reporting procedures. Currently, there is a mismatch in how counties categorise and report their revenues.
Separately, we need to have professionals assisting governors to run the counties. Members of the County Executive Committee should bring in their expertise to run a county in the same way we have experts assisting to run reputable listed companies. Not to say that we should not have politically driven appointments but there should be more focus on professionals with some political exposure.
Devolution remains to be the best gift that the new Constitution gave to Kenyans. One can only imagine what counties would do if they only collected revenue at a rate that is near the KES216bn potential.
The revenue potential gap needs to be closed and if we do not do it soon, Kenya as a united and functional spearhead of Africa will be unable to meet its true potential.
Even after the novel coronavirus exposed glaring flaws in the world’s collective ability to respond to infectious disease outbreaks, we are seemingly back to the old ways, as evidenced by the global response to the now endemic monkeypox. The world may once again lose a chance to control a pandemic.
The zoonotic viral disease, which is already endemic in 10 countries in West and Central Africa, only drew the world’s attention after affecting people in rich countries in the Global North. Even after the disruption caused by Covid-19, wealthy countries’ self-destructive unwillingness to cooperate for the benefit of the entire global population is evident again.
This year, there have been dozens of monkeypox cases in Cameroon, Nigeria, and the Central African Republic (CAR), with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) reporting the highest number of infections with over 2,938 cases and 110 deaths. As of Sep. 9, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (A-CDC) reported 4,244 total cases (520 confirmed, 3,724 suspected) and 124 deaths. There are nearly 58,000 cases globally, with 125 countries reporting at least one case.
African health officials still face the challenge of undercounting due to limited surveillance and testing capacity, which explains the vast discrepancy between confirmed and suspected cases. Additionally, the absence of vaccines for front-line healthcare workers and laboratory technicians in affected countries puts them in imminent danger.
In July of this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the global monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). Researchers in Africa had hoped that the declaration—the highest alarm by WHO outside of a pandemic—would alert the world to support Africa’s fight against the disease. Sadly, that has not been the case.
The WHO PHEIC label means that a coordinated international response is needed to unlock funding and global efforts to collaborate on sharing vaccines, technologies, and treatments. Researchers and health officials in Africa are wary that, as with the Covid-19 vaccine apartheid against African countries, the continent will continue to be sidelined in its bid to secure enough vaccines.
To date, though WHO member states have pledged more than 31 million smallpox vaccine doses to the global body for smallpox emergencies — these vaccines have never been shared with Africa for use against monkeypox.
Monkeypox is transmitted to humans through contact with infected animals’ blood, bodily fluids, or cutaneous or mucosal lesions. Infections in humans occur by handling infected monkeys, Gambian giant rats, and squirrels, with rodents the most likely reservoirs of the virus. The current outbreak is the largest in history outside of Africa, and human-to-human cases primarily occur among men who have sex with men.
Symptoms include fever, intense headache, swelling of the lymph nodes, back pain, muscle ache and, lack of energy. There could be skin rashes that begin on the face and spread to other parts of the body [including the genitals] and evolve to pustules and crusts, according to A-CDC.
Scientists have identified the existence of two known virus strains in the endemic regions in Africa, with the Congo Basin showing more lethality with a mortality rate of up to 11% in some of the outbreaks. According to WHO, the monkeypox fatality rate is typically 3-to-6%.
The WHO reports that monkeypox appears more common in squirrel, rat, and shrew species, occasionally spilling over into the human population, spreading mainly through close contact. Isolating infected people typically helps limit transmission.
WHO also indicates that the vaccine against smallpox, a far deadlier and more transmissible virus, also protects against monkeypox. But the world stopped using it in the 1970s, shortly before smallpox was declared eradicated.
However, wealthy nations still hold stockpiles of smallpox vaccines, which have been used in the UK, US, France, and Canada to protect people who have come in close contact with monkeypox patients, but few lower-income countries have vaccine access.
There is now a seemingly concerted global response that has seen vaccines distributed in some countries after confirmed cases of the disease in Portugal, Spain, the U.S., and the UK. However, Africa is so far in for another episode of unconscionable vaccine apartheid in its fight against this latest monkeypox outbreak due to vaccine hoarding by wealthy countries.
Accordingly, another opportunity presents itself for African leaders to amplify their voices in a combined effort to demand that G20 leaders prioritize global vaccine access for all nations, particularly developing countries, when faced with a disease that has the potential to be endemic globally.
Dr. Echey Ijezie is the Country Program Director of AHF Nigeria
Sustainability is critical to a scalable and thriving business. Here’s how companies can make it a priority.
By Julia Carvalho, General Manager of Africa Growth Markets,
IBM
With governments and businesses around the world pledging and accelerating their commitment towards sustainability, debating whether to incorporate sustainability into business strategy is no longer an option but a priority for businesses.
Companies are embracing sustainability as a critical investment to realize long-term returns and gain a competitive advantage.
Prioritizing sustainability is a necessity in today’s business environment. It not only reduces the
negative impact on the environment but adds brand value, increases efficiency, meets and
satisfies customer demands, and creates new opportunities.
For decades, IBM has surveyed thousands of CEOs about their biggest challenges. In the latest
survey, sustainability ranked at the top, a five-spot jump from 2021. Nearly 60% of CEOs told us
they see significant demand from investors for greater transparency on sustainability. They are
also feeling pressure from multiple stakeholders.
Regulators and governments in most top economies have developed corporate disclosure
requirements around environmental impact.
Customers want to buy from sustainable businesses and an IBM Consumer Survey found that more than half (51%) of respondents said environmental sustainability is more important to them today than it was 12 months ago.
People want to work for and invest in sustainable companies. From the boardroom to the operations
centers, all stakeholders want to play a role in making a positive difference.
However, while 86% of companies say they already have a sustainability strategy, only 23% say
they are implementing sustainability strategies across their organization. Many organizations
with good intentions are stalled at the planning stage because implementing sustainable
practices is complex and they don't know how or where to make an impact. Despite this, the
same IBM CEO study found that 80% of CEOs believe investments in sustainability will improve
their business results within five years.
Primary steps to build and operationalize sustainability into organizations Becoming more sustainable is an opportunity to innovate, make a difference, and grow.
Organizations can take action by following these steps:
Define your Sustainability goals. To succeed, your business needs to set and act on
clear environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals, then execute with exceptional
data discipline across the enterprise.
Establish your ESG data foundation. Create a clear baseline to underpin every goal
from which to determine your current impact, track progress, and implement
adjustments. This requires a single system of record to integrate and manage ESG data
that aligns with your goals. Collect, correlate, visualize, and analyze relevant data to automate the delivery of transparent, verifiable, financial-grade information and identify
where improvements are necessary.
Operationalize your sustainability goals. Businesses must also leverage the links
between this system of record for ESG data and the underlying operating systems that
run across all the departments and business units of your organization. With these links,
you can automate feedback loops that enable actions based on insights. These insights
help drive sustainable transformation through intelligent facilities and assets, resilient IT
infrastructure, and circular supply chains.
Prioritize three key operational areas
1. Intelligent facilities and assets. Monitoring and recording operational data from your
organization’s physical assets and real estate facilities is a good start. The data you collect can
fuel insights to drive energy savings, optimize waste management, and provide predictive
maintenance data to help reduce unplanned downtime.
2. Resilient IT infrastructure. Data centers provide multiple opportunities for improving
sustainability. Upgrading IT infrastructure with newer, more energy-efficient equipment can help
reduce energy consumption and eliminate wasteful, outdated hardware. Taking steps to
improve business resiliency across your organization helps you enhance customer experiences
and productivity while you work toward meeting your sustainability goals.
3. Circular supply chains. Consumers are demanding transparent sourcing data for the
products they buy and can reuse. Deploying intelligent workflows and taking advantage of
automation opportunities not only reduces waste but also optimizes fulfillment and delivery
paths with lower carbon footprints. Solutions powered by AI and backed by blockchain can help
you progress toward a net-zero supply chain.
Conclusion
No one can do this alone. That’s why IBM and its ecosystem partners are developing a portfolio
that supports building and operationalizing sustainability. With IBM Technology solutions and
IBM Consulting expertise, we help companies set their strategy, harness their ESG data to
embed sustainability into the fabric of business, and turn sustainability ambition into action.
Dr Ravjit Sagoo Creates Awareness on benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
By Dr Ravjit Sagoo, Consultant Interventional Radiologist at Aga Khan University Hospital Nairobi
If you are a man over 60 years, you probably have or are likely to have an enlarged prostate also referred to as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). This is a non-cancerous increase of prostate tissue which can cause blockage of the bladder and urine flow. It is extremely common in middle-aged and elderly men, affecting up to 50% of men over the age of 60 and 90% of men over 85 years. Here’s what you need to know about this problem.
What symptoms does BPH cause?
Many men with BPH have no symptoms. However, in men with symptoms, the most common include; increased urinary frequency, with voiding small amounts of urine, especially at night, sensation of incomplete bladder emptying after urination, difficulty in starting urination, weak urinary stream, inability to urinate, leading to catheterization, urinary urgency, with difficulty in controlling urination and blood in the urine.
If I have symptoms, what are my treatment options?
Treatment is only necessary if symptoms become bothersome. Several treatment options are available depending on the severity of symptoms:
Lifestyle changes is appropriate for those with mild symptoms. This includes changes such as limiting fluid intake in the evenings, limiting caffeine intake, healthy eating and undertaking exercise.
Prescription drugs is an option for men with symptoms which are relatively more troublesome and not relieved with lifestyle changes. These includes medications such as alpha blockers and 5-alpha reductase inhibitors which relax the muscles of the prostate/bladder and reduce the volume of the prostate, respectively.
Surgery is reserved for men in whom medical therapy has not resulted in significant symptom improvement. There are many surgical options available which vary in their indications, invasiveness, effectiveness, and side-effect profile. Examples of surgical options include:
Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) – a common procedure in which a scope is introduced into the penis and the prostate tissue is cut away with electrical current
Laser enucleation of prostate – in this procedure, the excess prostatic tissue is destroyed by a laser
Thermal treatments – these procedures destroy excess prostatic tissue using materials such as water vapour, microwaves and other low-energy radio waves
Prostatic urethral lift – a needle is used to place implants into the prostate to aid in lifting and compressing the gland, which results in unblocking the urethra
Prostatectomy – the entire prostate gland is removed in this operation
Prostate artery embolization (PAE) is a non-surgical treatment for men who want to avoid a traditional surgical procedure (or who are deemed high risk for surgery) in which the blood supply to the prostate gland is blocked off resulting in its shrinkage. The success rate of PAE is over 85% (similar to TURP, a commonly performed invasive operation), with a low recurrence rate long-term. PAE resolves the problem rapidly and, as this procedure involves no open cut, normal activity can be rapidly resumed.
Is PAE an experimental procedure?
No. PAE is an established, minimally invasive procedure and represents a treatment option for BPH. In the UK and USA, national guidelines recommend that the procedure should be one of the options considered for certain men with symptomatic BPH. It is a relatively new application of a longstanding technology, as embolization has been performed successfully for decades by Interventional Radiologists to treat a variety of conditions throughout the body.
Where is the PAE procedure carried out?
The procedure is carried out in a Catheter Laboratory (Cath Lab). Patients normally need to spend one night on the ward after the procedure, usually being discharged the following morning. Certain patients can be discharged the same evening of the procedure.
What preparation is needed before PAE?
Following a full review and discussion of the treatment options with a urologist and interventional radiologist, a CT scan is carried out to look at the prostate gland and its blood vessels in detail to help determine the most appropriate treatment option. In addition, a urine flow test and a few blood tests may be required in preparation for PAE.
On the day of the procedure, you will be processed for admission where necessary, you must not eat or drink for 6 hours before the procedure and should continue with most of your medications which are normally pre-discussed before the procedure.
What is involved in the PAE procedure itself?
The procedure is carried out by a consultant interventional radiologist (a doctor who has specialised in treating a variety of conditions using minimally invasive techniques under X-ray guidance). Other staff in attendance includes nurses and radiographers.
PAE is performed under local anaesthesia (or very light sedation) and involves no blood loss. A tiny opening (1.5mm) is made in the skin (mostly in the left wrist, but sometimes above the right leg) to allow a very fine tube to be passed into a blood vessel, the tube is moved along the blood vessels until the blood vessels supplying the prostate are reached after which a special substance is then injected to block the blood vessels. All of this is visible on an X-ray screen. The procedure generally takes 1-2 hours to complete.
What can I expect after PAE?
Immediately after the procedure, you will be taken to the recovery area where the nurses will monitor your heart rate and blood pressure and check that you are not in any pain. Once they are satisfied, you will be sent to the ward to recover further.
Most patients experience no symptoms during the procedure, but a few may experience mild pain, burning or a hot feeling in the urethra or around the anus. The symptoms are easily controlled with appropriate medication.
In general, you can get out of bed and start walking 6 hours after the procedure (sooner if the left wrist was used for access).
You are usually able to go home the morning after the procedure (certain patients can be discharged on the same evening). We will give you a prescription for painkiller tablets which you can take for 3-5 days (if needed).
Avoid driving for at least 2 days after the procedure but you can return to work after one day.
The prostate will shrink slowly over the following few days/weeks and symptoms continually improve during this time.
Are there any risks?
As with all procedures there are occasional problems that can occur, these include;
Infections. There is a small risk of urinary tract infection developing after the procedure, even though antibiotics are routinely given before the procedure. Most of the time, this can be treated with simple antibiotics.
Bruising/Haematoma. This can sometimes occur at the site of access in the upper leg/left wrist, although it is usually self-limiting.
Blood in urine. This occurs in some patients but usually disappears in a day or two.
Post embolization syndrome. Sometimes following PAE, you may experience symptoms like the flu. This usually lasts a couple of days and is simply treated with paracetamol and bed rest
Urinary retention. This is quite rare, however if it does occur, a urinary catheter will be needed for a few days until settled.
Will my sexual function be affected?
Based on studies to date, we know that patients treated with PAE for BPH have not experienced a decline in sexual function (including retrograde ejaculation and erectile dysfunction).
Are there any patients who cannot have PAE?
The presence of urological cancer e.g., prostate or bladder is a contraindication for PAE.
It may not be possible to perform PAE in men with extremely tortuous (twisted) blood vessels leading to the prostate.
The online marketplace has opened trade to endless opportunities. Developing countries are increasingly seizing the benefits of online trade to grow businesses. The potential to drive economic growth is visible. E-commerce has created massive opportunities, opened markets, enhanced competitiveness, and created efficiency in the delivery of goods and services in Africa.
Uganda is no different, e-commerce is growing fast. Continued investment in the sector has enabled small and medium enterprises as well as large established businesses to now leveraging its benefits.
This rapid growth has been attributed to the growing internet and smartphone penetration as well mobile money usage in the country. This has increased e-commerce adoption and online payments thus boosting the trade today.
Data from Statista indicate that the e-commerce market in Uganda is projected to reach over USD 413 million in 2002. The data further revealed the market is set to grow by over 15 million users by 2025. These statistics paint a very promising future.
Despite the steady growth of e-commerce, there are still a number of challenges that stand in the way of its efficiency. Logistics is one of them.
Notwithstanding its significance in trade, logistics in Africa are fragmented, expensive, and more often than not very unreliable. This has for the longest time inhibited proper trade, especially in e-commerce. The effect of this has led to longer delivery times and higher costs of goods. This should not be the case. The success of e-commerce is heavily hinged on effective logistics.
It’s been argued that the logistics sector has been slow to embrace total digital transformation compared to other industries. The covid pandemic welcomed an increase in e-commerce adoption and a decrease in offline trade in Uganda and across the continent. This meant that the traditional supply chain practices and logistics had to change.
In order to scale up operations, it was time to innovate.
Luckily technology is now helping to solve such challenges. It is rapidly developing and shaping a strong digital ecosystem, therefore, creating greater efficiencies to boost logistics and e-commerce. Embracing technology is also helping to increase productivity in the supply chain thus reducing the operational cost of doing business. This has continued to develop the capacity of businesses to grow and e-commerce to thrive.
In order to fulfill this course, a number of tech solutions are being designed to answer various consumer pain points. This digitization is eliminating fragmentation, simplifying logistics, and boosting trade
For e-commerce to thrive, innovation is inevitable. Sendy, a tech company that builds a fulfillment infrastructure for e-commerce and consumer brands, is working with businesses in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, and Cote d’Ivoire. The company is building easy tech solutions that enable businesses to sell their products, move their goods and get financing to grow their businesses.
Leveraging technology to build an efficient and sustainable system will help to democratize logistics and spur trade and development.
Developing a viable e-commerce ecosystem for businesses will require the contribution of all stakeholders, governments, tech companies, payment service providers, warehouse owners, logistics service providers, and trade associations among others.
The digital revolution is disrupting trade. The opportunities in e-commerce are immense. Technology has streamlined a lot of processes and create efficiencies that businesses can today use to grow and thrive. We need to fully embrace and integrate e-commerce in order to support trade in Uganda and across the continent.
Chris is the General Manager of Sendy Uganda
Emerging Food Safety & Quality Concerns In The Food, Beverage & Animal Feed Industry In Africa & Their Solutions
Thinking about the future of food safety in our region takes me straight to a starting point that is absolutely certain.
And that change will happen as we progress. Technologies are and will continue to change, circumstances will change, and ideas will change.
At Kenchic, the way we are thinking is evolving and that is affecting both food culture and business. This is led by the ideas and changing perceptions that will drive change across our industries.
If we look at our first principle, which is that the consumer has the right to fully know and understand how the food they consume is produced, and therefore will place demands on producers, ultimately it is the consumer that will drive standards in the food sector and create change.
This is a very different scenario from the past when awareness was lacking. Food safety and health scares in developed countries from the 1980s were key to driving change. Consumers were not aware of food production methods and there was also a distinct lack of food safety standards. Food producers could mostly do as they pleased.
The food retail industry had to accept its position as one of the main partners of these food production companies. The competition between the big food retailers was mainly aimed at driving down food costs to attract consumers, and this exerted immense pressure on producers to again produce at the lowest cost.
This led to massive overuse of the likes of antibiotics, even if an animal was not sick, because they grew faster and cost less when antibiotics were used. So, farmers started to indiscriminately use antibiotics – in feed or directly – and there was no framework, legislation, or standards to govern these practices. The impact was that some antibiotics humans needed to protect themselves became ineffective.
Another case of food safety not being a priority was when Bovine Spongiform
Encephalopathy – or what we know as Mad Cow Disease – arose through feeding cattle meat and bone meal that contained BSE-infected products from a spontaneously occurring case of BSE sheep products. What was the scariest about this what that it was passed onto some humans, whose nervous systems and brains were affected just as the animals?
I could go on and on about other food safety breaches, but we must understand that at the time, we were not really aware of the potential outcomes. Concerns were voiced, but a lack of regulatory procedures and, to be honest naivety, allowed these production methods to continue.
Once science really understood the links between some production methods and their harmful effect on food safety and human health, the world woke up. Media jumped on the stories, which drove consumer awareness and that in turn drove regulatory controls. The Food Standards Authority in the United Kingdom was quickly formed as well as similar bodies across most of the developed world.
Traceability and food production audits arose. The whole process of farm to fork, plow to the plate was born – consumers now started to gain trust and understanding that the food they purchased was produced properly, was wholesome, and most importantly could be trusted. It is the reason why Kenchic adopted the farm-to-fork approach, meaning that every egg we hatch, every chicken we raise, and every cut of meat we process, is traceable.
This is not only just good agricultural practice, but a moral aspect arose – that of animal welfare standards. Many now believe that animals must be treated with respect concerning their natural and behavioral character.
But all of this does not mean that there have not been issues, especially concerning contraventions of good agricultural practices.
While the consumers’ awareness has grown, there is still a lack of traceability of the food chain. Horse meat was found in ‘100%’ beef minced meat, traced interestingly through DNA methods. The movement of animals from country to country, with no audit trail, allowed traders to muddy the waters of tracing the origin of the food. That was only 10 years ago, in Europe.
This aside, a standardization of food production and processing has taken place. Every primary agricultural producer, to access markets, must adhere to clear and laid down standards. This is also expected of processers and retailers.
So where are we in Africa?
Our region and Africa at large is a quick adopters of technology that was developed and tested elsewhere. It penetrates and is adopted quickly without its initial glitches. Even more importantly, the continent is now developing its own technology – Africa is a quick learner.
Freedom and ease of travel, easy access to international media, and most recently the development of social and digital platforms, means we are in a genuine global space – news travels fast
International brands – in food retailing, quick service restaurants, and hotels with private equity investors continue to invest, and with that comes their exacting international standards.
But still, there is a distinct lack of awareness by the consumer – a misinformed understanding of safe food production methods and standards.
The standards are there, but they are not imposed in a fair and consistent way. For this to be achieved, a level playing field must be achieved, which means all producers must be held to the same standards.
Also, these standards need to be clearly communicated to consumers so that they know their rights.
Kenchic has always adhered to global standards. As the region’s largest chicken producer, we have sought and achieved the highest attainable international ratings on food safety, including as a top-tier, diamond producer by global standards, according to YUM Brands, which is the group that owns KFC and Dominos Pizza.
Our plant has also achieved the highest possible global food processor certification. We have an in-house laboratory, which is the only one of its kind in the region. It ensures we test our products before they go to the market to rule out antibiotic residues and microbial contamination that could cause food-borne illnesses such as Typhoid amongst others.
Our processing plant products undergo rigorous quality checks, both internally and at a state level, and they are maintained in a cold chain until the minute they land on your table, and that’s our promise to our consumers.
We ensure that all our farms and hatcheries adhere to the strictest biosecurity and animal welfare protocols laid down by reputable global organisations, such as the World Organisation for Animal Health. For over 25 years we have been able to audit our entire process to international standards.
Also, Kenchic believes that animal welfare is an integral component of our operations, as a good human -chicken relationship is paramount to good farm performances.
Kenchic birds enjoy world-class levels of welfare, guaranteeing the five internationally upheld animal freedoms to ensure they live healthy and contented lives. These are freedom from hunger, malnutrition, and thirst, freedom from fear and distress, freedom from thermal and physical discomfort, freedom from pain, injury and diseases, and lastly, freedom to express their natural patterns of behaviour.
We believe there is a clear connection between animal welfare, food safety, productivity, and consumer preferences. We strive to ensure all our chickens are kept in the very best conditions to ensure food safety.
The future for Kenchic remains to be at the forefront of food production standards, which means we will also assist and work in frameworks to develop sustainable processes with the government and like-minded companies.
The future of food safety and culture is bright as long as consumers to producers play their role in ensuring we aim for the best.
Inspecting impact: the anatomy of investing for sustainable developmentin Africa
As economies across Africa look to recover from the economic devastation caused by COVID 19 and the global supply chain issues that followed it, the investment will be more important than ever.
But it’s also becoming increasingly obvious that if the continent is to achieve its true
potential, a different kind of investment strategy is needed.
In addition to health and welfare, the last two years have also sharpened an already growing consciousness about the environment and climate.
With the world scrambling to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial averages, parts of Africa are already being hit hard https://unfccc.int/news/climate-change-is-an-increasing-threat-to-africa by climate change.
In the midst of the hardest parts of the pandemic, for example, some 80% of Nigerian farmers https://allafrica.com/stories/202101130050.html were affected by both flooding and drought. Meanwhile, the drought situation in Kenya continues to worsen.
According to a recent report by the National Drought Management Authority https://www.ndma.go.ke/index.php/resource-center/national-drought-bulletin/send/39-drought-updates/6488-national-monthly-drought-update-may-2022 (NDMA), this is due to the poor performance of the 2021 short rains, coupled with two failed consecutive seasons and the late onset of the 2022 long rains season. The number of people in need of assistance has increased from 3.1 million in February
to 3.5 million currently.
Another hot-button issue to have emerged through the course of the past couple of years is inequality. Here too, the continent faces a worsening crisis. According to a new report https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/africas-extreme-inequality-crisis-building-back-fairer-after-covid-19 from Oxfam and Development Finance International (DFI), the pandemic pushed more than 40-million Africans into extreme poverty.
It should be clear then that the continent cannot afford for the investments of the future to be extractive or purely for the sake of growth. Instead, they need to be sustainable, inclusive, and make a tangible positive impact.
Extractive industries lose lustre, tech forges on
In order to imagine what that might look like, it’s important to understand the current African investor framework.
From a sustainability perspective, there is important movement. Research from EY https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_za/topics/attractiveness/reports/ey-aar-reset-for-growth-final.pdf, for example, shows that extractive industries accounted for less than four percent of the continent’s foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2020.
It’ll also become increasingly difficult to find funding for projects that are environmentally detrimental. China’s decision to ban investment in overseas coal projects https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-overseas-coal-ban-sees-15-projects-cancelled-research-2022-04-22/, for example, has impacted several https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3150034/china-stopping-coal-funding-could-power-down-zimbabwes-energy new energy https://mg.co.za/environment/2021-11-18-china-wont-fund-coal-power-for-musina-makhado-special-economic-zone-ambassador-confirms/ builds across the continent.
That does not, however, mean that those losses are being replaced by sustainable investments at a meaningful scale. As the World Bank notes https://blogs.worldbank.org/psd/elephant-room-bringing-sustainable-investment-africa, it’s difficult to gauge exactly how much sustainable investment is happening across the continent, but “the market for ‘green
investments’ across the region remains small.”
At the other end of the investment wedge, Africa’s technology sector is attracting increasingly large investments. In 2021, African startups raised US$4.65-billion https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/african-startups-raised-dollar465-billion-in-2021-62-of-which-went-to-fintechs/7s05wt7 — twice as much as in 2020. However, technology companies typically aren’t labor-intensive although they can create new work in emerging and future industries and new ways to generate income.
Right principles, right industries
It’s critical therefore that investments looking to be a sustainable and inclusive focus on having the right principles and investing in the right industries.
Already, some investors are tipping the scales. For example, Norsad Capital’s distinct focus on the new anatomy of investment has seen a more than US$500-million injection into 150-plus companies across the African continent. The impact investment organisation provides private
credit and debt solutions to profitable growth-stage companies that deliver desirable social impact in Africa.
In its quest to do so, it is guided by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Adopted in 2015, the SDGs are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
“Our purpose as an organisation is to build a better Africa by providing financing to mid-market growth companies that contribute towards the continent’s economic growth and improvement,” says Norsad Capital CEO, Kenny Nwosu. “The SDGs provide a helpful guiding framework in achieving that goal while contributing to sustainable development across the continent.”
It also focuses on industries that support growth and the goal of building a better Africa.
“We’re particularly focused on financial institutions, the food value chain, soft and social infrastructure, and industrials and manufacturing,” says Nwosu. “Many of these industries also happen to be large-scale creators of employment and are critical to lifting people
out of poverty and reducing inequality.”
Impact matters
While this approach to investing should be widespread (if not universal), the urgency of environmental and social issues across the continent dictates that investors focus on the sectors and organisations that will have the greatest impact.
While investors should play an active role in ensuring that impact, it’s also important that it be consistently measured to drive continually improved performance. That should also include periodic reviews to ensure maintained alignment with global best practices.