TRUE SAYER By Samwel Doe: December 2015

Tuesday, 15 December 2015

Naivasha resort on the road to becoming East Africa’s golf destination hub

By Samwel Doe

Aberdare Hills Golf Resort, which is regarded as one of the greatest golf development courses in Africa by 2015 International Property Awards in London, is in talks with the International Professional Golf Association (PGA) to achieve International golf status on its operation to become the East Africa’s golfing destination.

The 72 par world championship golf course, put up on 6,400m 18-hole course is uniquely planned to take advantage of the natural gorges that shape the 1,600 acres of land on which it sits, positioning it as one of the most fascinating and challenging courses in the world.

a par 72 world championship golf course, which is set to put Kenya on the golf global map.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/sports/article/2000184965/world-class-golf-course-in-the-offing-aberdare-hills-golf-resort-in-naivasha-will-be-game-changer

PGA representatives visited the golf resort on Tuesday to view and advice on the possible grounds and requirements to elevate this iconic golf development to the international status once. “Our aspiration is to help grow the game and together with the Kenya Golf Union we will ensure that we help the people involved in this project succeed,” announced Mr. Maxwel Maxfield, a PGA representative when he visited the resort.

The golf resort is situated at the foothills of Aberdare Mountains, an hour’s drive to Aberdare National Park; a spectacular setting with panoramic view of Lake Naivasha, overlooking Mount Longmont and Eburu Hills.

The global golf tourism market is worth over US$17 billion, according to the International Association of Golfing Tour Operators (IAGTO). “Upon its completion, the Sh25 billion is expected to boost tourism in Naivasha and make the county a golf tourism destination hub,” said Nakuru Governor Kinuthia Mbugua.

According to Aberdare Hills Golf Resort Managing Director Dr. Pritam Singh Panesar, the golf course presents a real potential for the resort and the county in general to make a real contribution to Kenyan export revenue and foreign earning. “I envisage the golf course to bring as many as 5,000 high profile guests to Naivasha in the next five years,” said Dr. Panesar.

Industry analysts attribute the growth of golfing estates to the expansion of Nairobi that is pushing projects that require large tracts of land to other counties. Naivasha County in particular is a magnet for luxury estates, one of its attractions being the town’s proximity to Nairobi. The developer said the estate will have 500 houses, a club house, a Leisure Park and commercial buildings sitting on 100 acres of land.

So far the project has constructed a 30km road, a boundary wall, three dams, four boreholes and infrastructure for the residential developments, including a drainage sewerage and power.

Kenya Power awards contracts for implementation of the Last Mile Project

By Samwel Ouma

National electricity distributor Kenya Power on Thursday signed 11 agreements with contractors to pave way for full implementation of the Last Mile Connectivity Project in January 2015 with the aim of enhancing affordable power supply and connection and ensure universal access of power by 2020.
The Company’s Managing Director and CEO, Dr Ben Chumo, said the African Development Bank (AfDB) being the financier of the project recently concluded approval procedures giving the power utility consent to engage with contractors who won bids to implement the USD150 million (Shs.15 billion) project.

Dr Chumo said the contracts sign off signals commencement of the initial phase of the project countrywide that will connect approximately 314,000 households to electricity and providing electricity access to an additional 1.5 million Kenyans.

He said: “A total of 5,320 existing distribution transformers will be utilized to the maximum through extension of low voltage network which entails construction of 12,000 kilometers of low voltage distribution lines. Customers within 600 meter transformer radius will be connected at a subsidized cost of Sh15,000 under the programme.”

The project aims at extending connection to over one million people every year and reducing the cost of power supply from the initial Sh35,000 to Sh15,000 especially to the country’s rural and low income areas.

Dr.Chumo stated that he expects that 70 per cent of Kenyans will have access to electricity by 2017, translating to more productivity and creating more jobs opportunities in the rural areas that will absorb the idle human resource capacity and make them productive. Currently, only 35 percent of Kenyan households are connected to electricity.

The Last Mile Connectivity Project introduced a new approach at how electricity connections are
done. Whereas Kenyans used to make applications with long procedures in the past, now Kenya Power and the Rural Electrification Authority come knocking on doors asking Kenyans to allow them to connect their households to electricity.

Tuesday, 1 December 2015

Pope Francis visit boost business in Nairobi

By Samwel Ouma
Beside messages of hope and peace, last week’s papal visit presented huge business opportunities to many SMEs and also large businesses in hospitality and other sectors, considering that Nairobi’s population swelled by an additional one million people.

Five-star hotel Villa Rosa Kempinski confirmed hosting the Vatican Press as well as international media personalities who had accompanied Pope Francis in his first Africa tour as pontiff. Other hotels in Nairobi hosted Catholics from different dioceses from different parts of the country.
Advertisers, including advertising agencies, newspapers, radio stations and TVs also reaped big as the Catholic Church spent millions of shillings in running ads of Pope Francis visit. SMEs in the printing business cashed in on the high demand for T-shirts, posters, and reflector jackets with the Pope message.

Hawkers made a kill from selling foodstuffs to over 200,000 people, including 9,000 priests and 60 cardinals, archbishops and bishops of worshipers, who thronged the University of Nairobi’s Graduation Square and the Central Park on Thursday and thousands of youths attended the pontiff public mass at the Safaricom International Sports Centre, Kasarani.

The transport sector also ripped big from transporting thousands of Kenyans who came from different counties to Nairobi and