Finance

As @Raaheli reminded us on election day today, Kenya has had five national election events in about 10 years - in 2002, 2005 (a constitutional referendum that failed), 2007, 2010 (a constitutional referendum that passed), and  now in 2013. 
As the results trickle in, here are some recent election predictions: 

Comparing the portfolio to three months and about five years back which was just before the last Kenyan general election.
The StableBarclays ↑Bralirwa (Rwanda) ↑Diamond Trust Bank ↑East African Breweries (EABL) ↑Equity Bank ↑Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) ↑Kenya Oil Company (Kenol) ↓Safaricom ↑Scangroup ↑Stanbic (Uganda) ↑Unga ↑

Change is coming to Lamu slowly. Long term  plans for this part of the Kenya coast call for a new seaport, oil pipeline and highway all to centre on this small set of islands - and link them to Isiolo, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and further in Africa.

and peculiar Kenyans
This week, Multichoice Kenya launched a promotion called #DSTVrewards in which their active subscribers are eligible to win Kshs. 600,000 (~$7,000) in prizes per week for the next few months. In addition, other subscribers can win 10% discounts for paying on time or win a year’s subscription by spotting a box while watching TV (and sensing an SMS to the company)

Now that the novelty of having KFC in Kenya has somewhat faded, it's time to welcome another global restaurant giant. This time it's Subway who have sub-Saharan African operations in South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia, and are now seeking new restaurant locations in the downtown Nairobi (CBD),  Westlands, Kilimani, Gigiri and Upper Hill.

Some open opportunities to apply for; 

The Kenya Competition Authority recently approved for several corporate deals to be completed. Some of them were mere rubber stamping formalities, as the deals originated far away or had little in the way of local competition that would compel the authority to intervene. 
They covered a variety of sectors including: 

Kenya is currently the largest market for solar home systems on the African continent and second largest in the world, after China, by both annual sales as well as total installed base. The Kenyan solar home system (SHS) category is considered the most competitive by far, and due to its history and heritage,one of the most developed, albeit primarily in the informal sector.  Today, there are over 350,000 solar home systems across Kenya and the market is still growing at more than 15% a year.

Five years after the last election that derailed Kenya's image as stable economic regional powerhouse, it’s political season again with just two months to the next general election. How does the cost of living compare to a year ago and three years ago? 
Gotten cheaperNone really

Top blog posts in 2012
5. Nation Hela to revolutionize revolutionize debit cards & diaspora remittances.
4. A review of the autobiography of Duncan Ndegwa, first governor of independent Kenya's Central Bank.  
3. Discover who created Safaricom's M-pesa.