Perhaps I have been a bit lucky in business but what I have found is that I feel that it is a much better use of my intellect, money and time precisely because I have a lot more control. It's the difference between being a spectator and standing on the sidelines, versus getting in the game yourself.

The good thing about the mistakes I've made in business is that I get better over time as I learn to avoid those mistakes. So it's something that has taken moving through a lot of failure to eventually get to success.

People are taught to be eternal optimists but you have to understand the fundamental forces that affect the NSE. It's not a pendulum that just goes back and forth without any reason.

Companies are real entities; they can go bankrupt and go to zero in value e.g. Mumias Sugar. I pity the shareholders who assumed that the company would come back simply because it was listed in the NSE. There are more real fundamental forces such as profitability and good governance which affect the direction that the markets take.

Let's take the example of Centum, their management have received perhaps billions in bonuses while shareholders have lost value. So you've got companies being run for the benefit of management not shareholders. This dichotomy relationship in an area with low trust and accountability is what makes the NSE a particularly more dangerous place to play in.

The NSE has stagnated over the past few years for some reason. No new companies are joining the NSE while a number of listed companies are practically dead or have delisted.

Worst of all, recanted approvals. ASAP demolitions and u r grounded squarely. How I wish that before any demolitions, the officers responsible are bound to and commits to reinstate the affected developers before demolitions are executed. Inch ya wanna niinji⛄

Wewe @shambaman, you are trying to paint a rosy picture of dustbowl investing but its nothing close.

First you must overcome the the capital huddle. The less your capital, the more likely you are to be relegated to periphery of dust bowl, yaani dustbowl of the dustbowl.

Those places are the ones where you pay deposit and wait for subdivision or mara title processing. If you have 8 to 5 job, just doing the due diligence is a problem. You have to rely on the broker, a crook most likely, to do the so called "due dilligence". This is because the alternative is to take leave and go camp there.

Doing search is a whole day affair. Dont even mention chasing the title deed.

You then discover that the land has no beacons, or beacons were removed by herdsmen. Sasa tafuta surveyor. Then you fence it to avoid further issues with shamba imefika wapi.

5yrs down, fence has been stollen. Posts have long been used as firewood by herdsmen and wire been sold to other guys.

Then you leave the kaplot for 10yrs, when you come back, you cant even remember where it was. Again, tafuta surveyor to redo beacons.

Then your neighbour shows up and claims your beacons are wrongly done and encroached on his shamba. Dispute inaingia papo hapo. You now have a " hung" shamba. Cant develop, cant sell.

These are real risks in mugunda investing esp huko dustbowl.

Interesting thread.. Very interesting

tom_boy,
And my counter point was that with effort and proper due diligence one can easily get "used to the process" so that the pitfalls, fears and dangers you allude to become non-factors when investing in real estate in Kenya.There are literally millions of title deeds in Kenya today. I myself have been investing in property for years and have never been swindled on a deal even once - thanks to thorough due diligence and common sense. Yet the mishaps in the industry are not reported by the media to be in the millions -they are few and far between. But one may watch the media and think the sky is falling on everyone's head because Taj mall got demolished (one single incident out of millions of smooth transactions). You do not even need concrete data, just do an informal survey. How many people do you know around you who own property got swindled during their transactions. I know so many property owners yet maybe only one or two have lost their savings in a real estate deal in Kenia. How? By investing in the exact way you have delineated above: thinking the process is "too tough" so leaving it to "brokers" or thieving relatives (instead of a competent lawyer) to do even basic due diligence. Not visiting a plot in ten years.Ten years?? Not fencing, nor having a contingency plan to gain possession immediately after purchase. In extreme cases the person does no due diligence at all, they walk into Ngogoyo Bar and Lodge, have a beer with a stranger who "sells" them a plot at the table. They Mpesa the guy the small "booking fee" or give a large deposit in cash, never to hear from the guy again. Who is to blame for such stupidity? Surely not Kenya's solid, vast and beautiful real estate industry! To be fair, the banking industry in Kenia is also quite solid as long as one banks in the reputable banks. Not the peni mbili muhindi banks with chopdi systems or the "political banks" that are just a shell and can collapse at any moment. Again, Common sense and due diligence come in handy in selecting where to bank. I personally do not bank with any bank that does not have a reputable international footprint beyond the borders of Kenia.

I agree with you.One of the major problems at NSE is lack of enforcement of the law.Secondly,I believe parastatals should not be listed as they are driven more by politics than real economic forces.Listed parastatals should either be de-listed or government should dilute its stake.The leadership at CMA since the departure of Stella Kilonzo has been wanting.We should get new leaders at CMA,Paul Muthaura,maybe should become an ambassador for Kenya in Kiribati.

@tom_boy I share the highlighted pain. I never thought I would see this ever!

I have seen it courtesy of amana

Man. In this Kenya, once you find something that is working for you(job/freelance/business/investing), hold on for dear life and milk it for all it's worth.

I wonder what you people will be posting once the bull run returns... We are closer to the bottom than before!

The NSE is like any business... There are good and bad times unfortunately these are the bad times at the NSE... Stay strong...

The NSE is not like any business. It is a constituent of a number of businesses listed within it.
I think the NSE has fundamental problems within it that makes it an inaccurate or misleading measure of economic activity and results in Kenya.