Population of Kenyan cities, municipalities & towns

I stumbled on this information  Kenya cities, municipalities & towns population courtesy of Google. Kenya government carried out a population of census in 1999 and again in 2009. However, getting some of that information in the manner one wants it is almost impossible at times, even though the central bureau of statistics has the basic census report on their website The website has a summary of the census results.

This data could be a gold mine for businesses especially those that trade fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). These populations for represent markets where consumers are concentrated and can be reached easily in large numbers.

I spent some time on this data and found the following to be interesting;

• These 54 towns hold 5.3m people or 20% of the country's population
• Out of the population of 5.3m living in these towns Nairobi alone holds 40%
• Since 32% of Kenyans live in urban areas (as per 2009 census) there is a significant 4m people living in smaller towns not captured in this list

Province	Pop. 1999 census	percentage	no of towns
Central Total	375,000.00	7%	9
Coast Total	774,000.00	15%	5
Eastern Total	407,000.00	8%	9
Nairobi Total	2,143,000.00	40%	1
North Eastern Total	121,000.00	2%	3
Nyanza Total	470,000.00	9%	6
Rift valley Total	664,000.00	12%	12
Western Total	362,000.00	7%	9
Grand Total	5,316,000.00	100%

**Source: Republic of Kenya, Central Bureau of Statistics.

There are notable towns which I would have expected to be on this list. Some of these are Kenol, Maua, Karatina, GilGil, Namanga, Kajiando, Kangundo, Tala and many more. Its not clear if some of these smaller towns have their numbers combined within those of bigger towns near them.

Financing boda bodas

Today i got a call. Actually a 'deflected call' I call it deflated call bacause the caller reached my colleague who then bounced the call off to me. The reason for the call, could Speed Capital consider entering into an agreement with Ryce Motors to finance people buying motor bikes..

Made me think...why not!

Give me a ride, any day

Boda bodas are a fairly recent phenomenon in Nairobi, even Kenya but very popular. They ferry people across small distances which they would ordinarily cover on foot. A typical boda ride is from the bus stop to the house in the estate. They provide a convenient and reliable way to cover in 2 minutes, a distance you would in 20 minutes. Ladies love them for helping them maitain their airbrushed looks from the house to the office in the morning (who wants to get to work with dusty shoes!).  Boda boda is even listed on wikipedia

Secure

In addition, to the convenience, its safer to ride on the boda in the early evening than take a walk. You avoid the kawaida magging incidents. In the village, people can stay late at the shopping centres as they can hike a ride home.  

Because of their popularity, Boda bodas are now a site in every part of the country, even in the rural areas. Owning a boda boda is now considered a fallback for all blokes who do not make it to progress in education, or who progress and fail to get white colar jobs. One only needs to join the growing number of boda riders nearest to them. The machines have increased so much that even government has been forced to seperate the registration numbers of motor bikes from that of motor vehicles.

I would would want to see statistics of the number of people who now eke a living out of boda riding.

The Motor boda boda menace

Bodas are not without their faults. They have become the item of ire for motorists. The contempt between motorists and cyclists is palpable..there are myrid reasons for this..(1) The cyclists are hardly ever trained and therefore make very irrational moves on the road, causing many accidents. Am told the statistics show majority of those recovering from fractures are boda cyclists. (2) Borrowing from the matatu culture, the cyclists are largely uncouth and congragate to embarass motorists...

To do or not to do!

With all these pros and cons, my take as a potential microfinancier will be based on these three parameters;

1. Is this likely to have a social impact? - Answer: YESS
2. Are these people going to be able to generate revenues to pay off the micro-loans?. Answer: YESS
3. is there a fallback position in the event they do not pull off (2) above? - Answer: YES

My colleagues have agreed that this is probably an exciting and worthwhile new channel for us. With this, we start financing motor bikes from today, through Speed boda boda loan.  This is a product whose progress and uptake I will track and share on this blog in days to come...

China, Guangzhou Part II: Of the size of the Chinese, their bathtubs and their looks

Though a continuation of my experiences in China, this is a light post.

The Joke about the size of the Chinese man would be inappropriate if it were not told by one of them. In a window shopping ride to Foshan, the furniture and building materials capital, our Chinese taxi driver for the day, who speaks little English said to me  “African African BIG BIG( *holding his crotch* ), Chinese small, small”. I haven’t stopped laughing at that! we were shocked and amused in equal measure.

Can I fit in your bathtub?



Aiqun hotel bath tu. I cound no fit in



Bath tub after a party, NY

I later tried to use the bathtub at Aiquin hotel and realized the bathtub was way too small and I had to fold myself into an interesting position to fit. I had to take a picture of the bathtub…not with me inside.

The short of it...I COULD NOT TAKE A COMFORTABLE SHOWER IN THE BATHTUB IN CHINA. this is the inspiration of this post.

And there are surely many models of bath tubs, some which I was not aware of prior to this post. and many too are the things people do in bath tubs!

mmm bath tub wooden



ancient bath tub?

Are toilets of standard size?
One of the Kenyan businesspeople who was with us, narrated his story about Chinese and size. Apparently, he imported toilets from China. Only for him to realize when they landed in Nairobi, that the pipe is too small for the African poop…funny you say? Not so for the businessman. The toilets were shipped back for rework at exhorbitant costs. If you are to buy anything for personal use in China, beware of size! lesson learnt!

In our entourage, there was one fairly huge Kenyan guy. The young chinese female guides could not stop taunting his big size. Apparently, if you are fat big in China, be very very afraid, you may never get a suitor.

Can the real father stand up?
Talking about their looks. The story here about the Kenyan girl who got pregnant from a Chinese truck driver along Thika road was told in the media. you can watch it here . this incredible story broke a few days before my trip and it was in my mind all through. The poor girl now cannot tell the father of her child from the crowd!

And what about Yao Ming?
True the average Chinese guy is short relative to us. This is no different from the streets in China. You will be lucky, walking a whole day to meet a guy who is taller than you, never mind you are only 5 f 6" like me. So did the basketballer Yao Ming hail from China?. Same as the tallest man in the world?

Yao Ming doing what he does best

Tallest man meets the shortest

 





China, Guangzhou Part I: Impressive infrastructure

My experiences in Guangzhou

our pretty chinese guide, posed for a snap



I spent 10 days in March in the Chinese city of Guangzhou. This Chinese city is a highly populated and developed market city. I will disgress from my stated blog theme to share my experieces in Guangzhou. We landed at Guangzhou International Airport at 5.30 pm local time after an eight hour flight from Doha on Qatar Airways (respect for whom now I have incresed). Needless to say, being so tired, there was little enthusiasm to make observations. On landing at Guangzhou international airport, the first hint of what to expect is the impressive infrastructure that is in and around the Airport. The facility is massive (by our standards) and very well planned. There is a huge number of travellers,  but the speed of processing passages takes care of that. 

Even though our trip was organized by the China Information & Culture Communication (K) Limited, whose agents were waiting to receive us at the Airport, we were treated to thorough body and luggage checks at the arrival area. It appeared as though first time arrival passengers from Africa black received much more scrutiny than anyone else. From this, one gets scared of what to expect from the people. But the fear quickly dissipated once we met with Anson, our friendly engligh speaking Chinese guide and his team of pretty chinese girls, guides. We realised with time that the Chinese people are generally friendly and engaging, especially if you are about to make a buy....last price, as they call it. The language barrier is a whole topic for a full post. Grim faced Chinese immigration officers, immaculate in their dark suits are as efficient as can be in what they do. You cant help admiring them. No small talk about weather is entertained though!

The Road Network

As we walked past the waiting taxis to the waiting bus, we could see the road network feeding the airport and taking away the passengers into the fledging town. The weather was friendly, very much like Nairobi weather with clear skies and temperatures hovering at 20c

The roads are wide and well carpeted, very very clean. Not even leaves from the many trees along the reads are visible. Most roads are one way. The transport system within the city is in a class of its own. Buses such as the one in this picture are organized and on schedule. There is a bus every 10 minutes. You board from the front door and alight from the back door. The inside of the bus is by far more comfortable than a private vehicle with lots space and TV screens streaming local channels. The buses have no conductor. Payment is nto a machine at the entrance. Most of the locals have electronic ‘mega-rider, cards which they use for the bus rides. The same card is used at the metro train. Once funds are exhausted it is reloaded, just like mobile phone airtime. The typical bus fare for a short distance within the city is RMB2 (Kshs. 24). There is a sign clearly warning against talking to the driver when he’s driving, perhaps to avoid accidents! 

 A calibrated taxi



A street in Guangzhou

The roads connection and intersections are a work of art. There are roads up to 5 stories, one on top of another, so no need for junctions and intersections. The ongoing construction on Thika road appears like child play compared to the networks in Guangzhou!

Calibrated Taxis

Taxis are run both by private sector or Government. the cabs are painted in one color - green or red and are calibrated.  The drivers are in uniform, complete with ties and suits. The best of Taxis is that they are calibrated, so the amount payable is automatically computed from the beginning of the journey based on milage...no haggling with the cab drivers. a taxi ride could be as low as 7RMB (kshs. 84) ..thats from Nairobi CBD to Westlands, which we pay kshs..RIGHT!

Utilities

Pearl River evening view

Pearl river night cruise

Electric power in homes and factories in Guangzhou is guaranteed. We were informed that each last mile connection has a redundancy just in case. Water is also in plenty in the city. The buildings are tall and elegant. The Pearl River has been maintained and is used for cruise tours especially in the evening, a spectacle to watch. I amanaged to catch a ride on the boat for dinner on the last night of the trip. I took some pictures from the boat, which am posting here. There is no better way to relax than this boat ride.

The metro train system


<> 

<>

A plastic train ticket & People queeing for the metro train

Some estimates place the population of the entire urban agglomeration as high as 24.2 million, making it the 2nd biggest urban area in the world after Tokyo. With usch a large population, Guangzhou being such a large city, movement of people must be a huge challenge! Not so. This the authorities have guaranteed by way of a cheap and very reliable metro railway system. Again, most commuters use electronic cards cards which they load now and again. Without the card, one can buy a token for use on a one way journey. The token is an electronic ticket which opens the doors along the entrance and exit. Am not sure what happens when one loses his token, while on the train.

Train ride from Shenzhen vs. bus ride

Shenzhen is a major industrial city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. Shenzhen is 134km from Guangzhou by Road.



There are options of taking a flight, the bus or the train. The train journey is faster than the bus and will cost RMB 85 (Kshs.1,020) while the bus will cost 65 (Kshs. 780). I went by bus and returned by train. The orderliness of the transport is quite notable, with buses and trains leaving on time. Buses also have clearly designated paying and pick up points. For financial types and auditors like myself, its nice to see that there are possible little revenue leakages as all revenues are recorded centrally at the point od issuing travel receipts/tickets. No wonder there are no old buses on the fleet. 

The Electric buses

Moving along the last lane of the roads are electri buses. At first I coudnt get how they operate, but later i noted that they remained hooked onto an overhead cable by thick cables attached to the roof of the bus body. They therefore move along the path of the cables dropping and picking passengers along the ring of the city. what a spectacle!

Recreational infrastructure

The city authorities of Guangzhou have created numerous and modern parks for recreation within the city. I visited some of the most popular areas. Perhaps we do better than them in that most of the recreational areas in Nairobi are Natural (Nairobi National Park, Aboretum, Ngong Forest, Uhuru Park?  - forget about the many pubs and getaway joints around Nairobi). In Guangzhou, all recreational parks are disturbingly modern and man made. Why? Have they destroyed all the Natural attractions like we are busy doing? Still the cleaniliness and orderliness in maintenance of the parks and collection of revenues surpasses our best.

A 'Huma street' in Shenzhen



Human streets

There are many streets in China that have been closed to traffic for people to relax or shop. I found this particulary appealing given the congestion in Nairobi CBD and lack of recreational facilities, in most towns in Kenya. NB: Human streets are not littered with hawkers and young men selling, boiled maize & women underwear!  Eastleigh could learn so much from this. In fact Eastleigh is the closest we have of Guangzhou in East Africa.

A Tale of 5 rams

Central to the history of Guangzhou is a bizarre story of 5 rams goats. This story suggests an ancient believe in some supreme being, which now runs contradictory to the unreligious nature of majority of the Chinese people. The monument of the 5 rams is in Yuexiu park. Here goes the story;



The 5 Rams of Guangzhou



More than 2,000 years ago, Guangzhou was a barren land with people who despite hard work were suffering from famine. One day five immortals in five-color garments came riding on five rams, playing their legendary music. The rams held sheaves of rice in their mouths. The immortals left the sheaves of rice for the Guangzhou people, gave blessings to the city and left. The rams turned into stone and the city of Guangzhou became a rich and populous place. Guangzhou got the name of the City of Rams and the City of Ears.

Yuexiu Park is the largest park in downtown Guangzhou. Covering an area of 860,000 square meters (212.5 acres), the park is made up of three artificial lakes and seven hills of Yuexiu Mountain; hence the name Yuexiu Park. A huge marble stature of the 5 rams is set on a hill in the city, at the park and is a major attraction to touristS, city residents and visitors from the rural areas in China.



Flowers at the Guangzhou museum

Yuexiu Park is a perfect combination of cultural relics and ecological tourism, reputed for its pretty water and hills as well as cultural relics. The main places of interest include the stone sculpture of the Five Rams, Zhenhai Tower, the site of the Ming Dynasty City Wall, and Square Cannon Site. The Five-Ram Sculpture is one of the most famous structures in Guangzhou. It has become the emblem of Guangzhou City

The Guangzhou Opera house
The Opera house is an 1800 seat imposing structure overlooking the Pearl river. The structure was designed by Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. The 70,000m² scheme, China’s third-largest theatre. 

I have be grateful ot Mr. Gao of the China Information & Culture Communication (K) Limited for organizing this very educative tour. Should you wish to contact him, he is based at Postbank House, 5th floor. 020 8014333, 0722 463737, 0738 453888 Office: He organizes trips to China and has a group going down every month. Next on line is the Canton Fair which is comin next month.



Recreational park



Pearl river in the night



 

 

Of 250 panties, 975 bras and 450 night dresses



Application



There is no bigger challenge in Microfinance than appraising loan applications. Most of the information declared by the potential borrowers is lies, not worth the paper it’s written on. Earlier this month I got an apt example of this. A lady selling second hand clothes in downtown Nairobi presented this application for approval.

The sheer numbers of items she claims to have in her inventory struck me as odd, even weird. How can a shop of 6ft by 6ft hold (36sq. ft) stock almost 1000 bras amongst other merchandise? A large store like Nakumatt does not even stock 500 panties in their 3000 sq. feet clothing stores!

As is usual, we sent someone to verify the customers stocks. The numbers were even more obnoxious.

It then occurred to me that the customer had collected stocks from her fellow traders for the appraisal show!

And there goes the largest challenge facing microfinaciers. How can one obtain the correct stock values?

Instead of declaring the correct information so they can be assisted, microfinance customers make extravagant attempts to overstate their borrowing capacity. In the end, they borrow more than their capacity, misuse the money and end up in ever bigger debt & poverty trap

Why I took so long to start blogging?

I have read blogs regularly for many years. Some blogs are informative (like bankelele.blogspot.com, moseskemibaro.com), challenging and the best of them are humorous  providing a rare good laugh in the office (like iddsalim.com). Some are even irritating in a nice way (like frankierants.com) and I find myself getting pissed off but going back anyway!

Its because of being an avid reader of blogs that it has taken too long to start blogging. And why so? Simply, I have continuously asked myself, will I have content to blog about often? Will I meet the discipline of regularity? Will I run dry of material to blog about?

No blogging topic to focus?

Of all the blogs I have read, the most interesting are those that stick to a single subject and therefore the blogger are sort of experts in the particular area. As for I find myself scattered in so many fields that my focus is anything but concentrated.

Micro finance moments!

Its not till recently that I discovered a passion in micro finance. I have been involved in providing financial solutions to the poorest and upcoming of society for the last 18 months. Nothing can be more gratifying that seeing someone who could otherwise not access financing, overcome that challenge and go ahead to establish a business that is successful, regardless of the scale.

Contrary to popular belief, there is still a large group of Kenyans who have no access to credit services. Our challenge is to help these Kenyans to cross the gap.

This blog will be a journal of my experiences in the field of micro credit. Helping the poor access credit services and seeing them develop their businesses to meet their daily needs, feed and educate their children and inspire the rest of their societies