Way Forward after the boot

Today is Monday; the beginning of the month.
You probably had a pretty good weekend.
Now imagine that you walked into the office and your boss called you in for a meeting.
From the look of things; this meeting can not possibly be good.
After a few reasons or attempt to justify his/her decision you are told that your services are no longer required by the company.
What would be your initial reaction?
Ok, what would be your next step after ranting or trying to justify your role?
Are you well equipped to move on with your career?
How marketable are you?
Have you positioned yourself well enough to be in demand in your respective sector?

Kenya Real Estate - Location, Location, Location

Yesterday I had my article published in the Daily Nation - Money Magazine.
I have to admit I am really happy that I have started to write again.
Check out my article:

http://www.nation.co.ke/magazines/money/-/435440/850376/-/r30lmb/-/index.html

By HOSEAH NJUGUNAPosted Wednesday, January 27 2010 at 11:22
The stock market depression in 2009 sent many potential investors seeking alternative investment vehicles. Bonds and Treasury bills received plenty of attention, but so did real estate.

While the increased interest in real estate is a positive thing; many investors did not and are still not thinking through their real estate investment decisions.

Real Estate properties are differentiated from most other financial or real assets by their uniqueness.

No two office buildings are alike, no two pieces of undeveloped land are alike, no two hotels are exactly alike and no two shopping cents are alike.

Each property is different because it is in a different physical location. This makes location one of the most important attributes of any piece of commercial real estate.

Location

The first thing to understand about location is that it is not an absolute. There is no such thing as a generically “good” location or a generically “bad” location. The desirability of a particular site is relevant only in terms of its intended purpose.

A property that is good for a residential dwelling is not necessarily good for an apartment, an office building, a factory, and the like.

Assessing the value of a property always requires the strategic perspective: What is the purpose intended for this property?

Only in that context are the actual physical attributes of that site relevant.

Physical attributes of a site would include the current use of the property, its location with respect to traffic patterns, relevant zoning laws, the contour of the land, the attributes and uses of adjacent or neighbouring parcels of land (an otherwise desirable piece of land for a single-family residence might be made undesirable if the adjacent property were a garbage damping site or a noisy factory), the effective marketing area or impact zone of the property and trends in adjacent neighbour and local land use.

Another factor to consider in the valuation of commercial real estate is the impact of subjective perception.

Certainly, a piece of property has an objective reality. However, that objective reality may not be as important as the subjective lens through which that property is viewed.

An objective reality might describe 50 acres of rugged land surrounding a dismal swamp located 20 miles from the nearest urban area.

Preserve
A subjective perspective might be to consider land as a nature preserve, featuring select executive home sites surrounding ecologically important wetlands that provide protection for a living environmental laboratory.

The objective reality might be a rundown building adjacent to a metropolitan central business district whose desirability is threatened by a declining neighbourhood.

The subjective perspective might be that the (refurbished) building could become a badly needed community centre (called Sarakasi) for area theatre and art fanatics that is distinguished by its accessibility and its significant architectural and historic significance.

An investment in such a property could be thought of as a beacon of successful urban renewal that could revitalise the neighbourhood.

Disregard this important consideration in your investment and it can be costly. If you have driven on Thika road from Nairobi to Thika, I am sure you have seen a very attractive building on the right-hand side in Ruiru.

The building is suitable for a five-star hotel, but it is in the wrong place. It is all in the perspective.

A lot of highly successful commercial real estate development occurs because someone is able to think “outside the box”, while keeping location, location, location in mind.

So the next time you want to acquire a plot or property, make sure you consider the location and end use of the property or plot.

The writer is an Independent Financial Consultant: empowerkenya@gmail.com

African Leaders and Thirst for power

As Museveni celebrates 24yrs in power,(been president since 1986)

Nigerian President sick - and still insisting on staying on as president

José Eduardo dos Santos President of Angola 1979 to present

General Gnassingbé Eyadéma was the President of Togo from 1967 until his death in 2005

Robert Gabriel Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe (1980–1987 Prime Minister) 1987 – present President

Daniel T. arap Moi, president of Kenya (1978–2002)

Muammar Al-Qaddafi, de facto Libyan Head of State (1969–)

Omar Bongo was President of Gabon for 42 years from 1967 until his death in office in 2009

Congo - Denis Sassou Nguesso President of the Republic of the Congo since 1997; he was previously President from 1979 to 1992.

Cameroon - President Paul Biya
Biya took over in 1982 from President Ahmadou Ahidjo and won re-election for another seven-year term in October 2004.

Egypt - Hosni Mubarak Became president in 1981
Mubarak was sworn in as president in September 2005 for a fifth six-year term

Guinea - President Lansana President of Guinea from 3 April 1984 until his death on 22 December 2008

Tunisia - President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has served as the President of Tunisia since 7 November 1987


Begs the question: what is it with African leaders and their tight grip on power?

Why hold on to power to the point that you can barely function or think rationally?

Why cant someone serve two terms and retire with a guaranteed pension and perks for life?

Delta Corp taking Kenya by the Storm

Delta Corp is an Indian Company that is engaged in real estate (in India as well as East Africa), gaming and entertainment, aviation, and hospitality. This group of companies has acquired prime property in Nairobi. According to their website "Delta Corp East Africa Ltd. (DCEAL), has already acquired approximately 803,720 sq ft of land with a development potential of close to 2 million sq-ft."

Delta Corp Ltd is a publicly traded company on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), NSE: DELTACORP.

If you have visited Upper Hill (next to Equity Center/Indonesian Embassy) you have seen a huge property development coming up; this property is called Delta Center. Delta Centre will provide lettable area of 180,557 square feet and 350 parking bays. As you enter Westlands you will notice two huge new towers coming up (accross from barcode club/ westland roundabout) This property is called Delta Corner. Delta Corner will provide lettable area of 234,081 square feet and 630 parking bays.

These are a few of the intended developments. Other upcoming developments include: Point, Hotel, River side, Plain, 4th Ngong, House.
Check out their website (http://www.deltacorp.in/real.html) to see a map of the land that they have acquired.

I am excited about the new professionally-done developments. I am envious of these guys!!
It would be nice if Kenyan investors were involved in these developments but all in all these developments will benefit Kenyans in the long-run.

This is also an indication that foreigners have seen potential in our real estate sector and some individual lament about the property bubble.

Executive Compensation

There was a time that I wanted to be a lawyer and I was very interested in negotiating compensation for executives. I know some people may say that these people are overpaid (for the work that they do), and rightly so, but if these companies are willing to cough up the money why not be on the receiving end?

Below is a list of the highest compensated executives in the US.

Highest Compensated Executives (2008)
Executives With the Highest Total Compensation in 2008
Rank Person Name Total Compensation
1 Hamilton E. James $260.48M
2 Aubrey K. McClendon $100.07M
3 Bob R. Simpson $65.47M
4 Eugene M Isenberg $59.83M
5 Larry Ellison $48.42M
6 Mario J. Gabelli $45.93M
7 John H. Hammergren $39.94M
8 J. Larry Nichols $38.51M
9 Peter C Georgiopoulos $37.23M
10 Michael A. Puglisi $35.56M

These figures are obviously astronomical in Kenyan terms. Hamilton James was compensated Kshs. 2bn. Can you imagine that?

What are your thoughts?

I am back

After disappearing for sometime, I have decided that writing plays an important role in my life.
I have edited the objective/description of this blog because I want to discuss a wider range of issues here.
2010 has started well and I am very optimistic about it.
I have made some changes to my lifestyle and I feel good about the changes. I would not call them new years resolutions; I would say they have come about as a result of growth and deeper understanding of self.

My blog concentrated on career-related issues. I am happy to announce that there is a resurgence in hiring (I should qualify that statement by stating that not all sectors are hiring), but the prospects of getting a job are far much better than they were in 2009.

Looking forward to the comeback and sticking with it.