Diaspora Services ltd

04/12/2015

Quote Of The Day and A Lovely Weekend To You All.

02/07/2015

All Foreign National will have to apply for a Kenyan visa BEFORE traveling to Kenya NO more Visas to be issued at the airport

17/06/2015

ONE STOP SHOP TO ACTUALIZE YOUR DREAMS

THE REAL ESTATE DREAM MAKER!

Diaspora Professional returns to Kenya and changes the Real Estate landscape. He will hold your hand, listen and self actualize your Real Estate dreams. You can have that dream house that you see in London, New York, LA, Sydney or Toronto.
The finishing on your dream house or project will be mind blowing.

He has over 10 years experience and some his work with fellow partners has won awards in 2014!
The best part about it he is affordable and has great attention to detail.

He is the best kept Diaspora Secret and now he is back in Kenya making dreams to reality

Contact Diaspora Services Ltd to get the full portfolio and meet the Dream maker.

10/06/2015

KAREN REAL ESTATE

Karen is an attractive real estate investment suburb, with annualized rental yield, total return and development returns.
Karen is an areas of focus because it is one of the few areas in Nairobi that still offers serene country living coupled with significant potential for attractive financial returns. Essentially, it offers an opportunity to not only own and enjoy a home, but also to build financial affluence driven by 3 main factors:

1.Improving infrastructure, the dualing of Ngong road, Langata road and the southern bypass, when completed, will dramatically improve the accessibility of Karen;

2.The on-going relaxation of zoning restrictions allowing for more comprehensive and higher density development, which increases real estate values;

3.Karen has unique historical heritage and also close proximity to amenities such as a city park, an abundance of quality school choices, a country club, several shopping malls, tranquil leafy suburban life, upcoming international conference centre at Bomas, etc.

The above unique factors have seen land prices in Karen increase almost 6 times over the last 7 years, yet Karen still remains the most affordable prime residential address compared to other areas like Lavington, Runda and Spring Valley.

All values in Kshs Millions unless stated otherwise

Residential Areas --- % Change from 2007--- Average Value
Karen - - - 575% - - - 45
Lavington - - - 488% - - - 202
Runda - - - 482% - - - 67
Langata - - - 427% - - - 46
Spring valley - - - 392% - - - 147

27/05/2015

Central Bank of Kenya discloses most costly lenders

Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has disclosed the credit pricing of banks indicating Centum-owned K-Rep and Pakistani-based Habib Bank are the most expensive lenders.
Data from the regulator shows Bank of India as, on average, the cheapest lender followed by the listed NIC Bank.
“Publication of information on interest rates for the banking sector is expected to increase transparency, competition, enhance credit access and lower the overall cost of credit to borrowers,” said Central Bank of Kenya.
Households are paying an average of 17.8 per cent for consumer loans and 15.2 per cent for mortgages.
Corporates enjoy the cheapest loans with some banks such as NIC, Chase and Bank of India charging less than the standard-base rate set by the CBK, referred to as Kenya Bankers Reference Rate (KBRR).

The KBRR is currently set at 8.54 per cent with banks allowed to load a premium on the base to cater for their operating expenses and cost of cash.
Small- and medium-sized enterprises are, however, paying much higher at 18 per cent while businesses that have secured loans with property are being charged 18.8 per cent for loans five years and above.
:SMEs rely on overdrafts as banks fail to offer options

Among the large banks Equity Bank is the cheapest for personal loans at 16.5 per cent compared to Barclays which was the most expensive with 19.9 per cent.
However, in mortgages Barclays was the cheapest while Equity was the most expensive among the top five lenders. Standard Chartered was the most attractive to SMEs and corporate borrowers.
The launch of the standard-base rate was meant to introduce transparency in pricing of loans by banks with Central Bank requiring them to disclose the premium loaded on each loan.
This was supposed to initiate competition in the industry which is expected to lead to lower interest rates.
The data, however, disclosed wide pricing margins by banks for similar products raising questions over the logic used by lenders to load the premium.
For example, Family Bank loads a premium of 26.2 per cent for micro loans while Equity charges 5.5 per cent above KBRR.
Transnational Bank charges personal borrowers 26.3 per cent while Paramount Bank has priced its consumer loans at 9.5 per cent despite both being ranked as small lenders.

19/05/2015

Kenya headed for 7% growth for first time in eight years

Kenya’s economic growth is next year set to hit 7% for the first time since 2007 on the back of increased foreign direct investment and improved balance of trade. International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a new report focusing on sub-Saharan Africa that the local economy will also benefit from a narrower current account deficit —the difference between imports and exports. The growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to be 7.2%, an improvement from the estimate for this year, which the Bretton Woods institution has forecast at 6.9%. In 2007, GDP growth was 7.0% but rebounded after the post-election violence. This year’s economic growth is anchored in, among other things, the investments in infrastructure, especially the standard gauge railway (SGR) where over KES 400bn is to be spent in the next few years, the IMF said. The net foreign direct investment is forecast to rise from 1.1% of GDP last year to 1.7% this year and further to 1.9% next year. Kenya is also likely to benefit from lower oil prices, which should improve the trade balance, thereby cutting the current account deficit..

15/05/2015

Have look at our latest copy of our newsletter

This newsletter harnesses information on investment and wealth management initiatives, and enormous opportunities for the needs of significant number of Kenyans living in the diaspora.

14/05/2015

NAMANISHO PARK HOUSES FOR SALE(opp Tuskys matasia)

The houses will be ready for occupation 30 May 2015

Each maisonette sits on a plot 300SQM --each has 4 bedrooms [ master ensuite] plus DSQ

Asking price: 12.5m

29/04/2015

Have a look at our latest newsletter

This newsletter harnesses information on investment and wealth management initiatives, and enormous opportunities for the needs of significant number of Kenyans living in the diaspora.

22/04/2015

Kenya leads Africa diaspora cash growth on mobile money use

Kenya has recorded the highest growth in diaspora remittances in Africa, helped by the convenience and low cost of its mobile money transfer innovation, latest World Bank report shows.
The report shows that the 10.7 per cent increase in remittances that Kenya recorded when it netted Sh139.9 billion ($1.5 billion) by end of last year, beat South Africa’s growth of 7.1 per cent, Uganda’s 6.8 per cent and Nigeria which has experienced stagnation.

Analysts say Kenya’s vibrant mobile money transfer sector has proved flexible and cheaper compared to traditional brick-and-mortar outlets.
“Mobile money will play a pivotal role in global remittances, helping to reduce fees, improve speed and convenience for users,” says Alix Murphy, senior mobile analyst at WorldRemit – an online money transfer service.

“Most importantly, mobile money is a key enabler of financial inclusion,” he adds.

The World Bank report shows that 90 per cent of money transfers to Kenya on WorldRemit go to M-Pesa mobile wallets.

Safaricom has partnered with Western Union and MoneyGram for international cash transfer services, allowing it to move money into Kenya.
According to GSMA – the global association of telecoms operators–the average cost of sending Sh9,330 ($100) via mobile money is Sh373 ($4) less than half the average cost of sending money globally through traditional money transfer channels.
Global remittances, however, are projected to slow down 0.4 per cent to $586 billion this year on weak growth before picking up next year with the momentum expected to be sustained until it hits $636 billion in 2017.
The high cost of sending money into the country through official channels has in the past been cited as an impediment by the diaspora community.

“The average cost of sending $200 to Sub-Saharan Africa remains at 12 per cent– far off the G20’s target of five per cent– largely due to the cost of bricks-and-mortar agent networks of traditional firms,” says WorldRemit.

The firm adds that the huge costs present a huge market opportunity for mobile money. Commercial banks have been jostling to have a greater share of the remittances which offer cheap source of funds and exchange commissions.
The Central Bank of Kenya hopes that increased competition among financial institutions will result in lower remittance fees. Diaspora remittances have been key in supporting the shilling being Kenya’s fourth largest foreign currency earner.
“2014 saw a steep increase in the number of international remittances via mobile money. The value of mobile money remittances represents a tiny fraction of total flows, but was the fastest growing of all mobile money services in 2014,” says WorldRemit.

17/04/2015

Diaspora inflows on the rise despite a global downturn

The World Bank says that world-wide the growth in global remittances, including those to developing countries, “will slow sharply this year due to weak economic growth in Europe,” deterioration of the Russian economy and the depreciation of the euro and rouble.
The positive impact of an economic recovery in the US will be partially offset by continued weakness in the euro area, the impact of lower oil prices on the Russian economy, the strengthening of the US dollar, and tighter immigration controls in many remittance source countries.
Despite its potential to lower costs, the use of mobile technology in cross-border transactions remains limited, due to the regulatory burden related to combating money laundering and terrorism financing, says the brief.

13/04/2015

Kenya keen to attract Diaspora investors – Ruto

Deputy President William Ruto has said that the government is working on a framework of incentives and tailor-made investment packages to encourage more Kenyans in the diaspora invest at home.

He noted that the recently launched Kenya diaspora policy was among other strategies by government to mainstream Kenyans living abroad into the national development agenda.

“We want everyone to participate in the affairs of their motherland without any hindrance,” he said
The Deputy President stated that government will continue assisting Kenyans in the diaspora direct their remittances towards productive ventures both at the national and county levels.

“I want to assure our diaspora that the government’s initiatives are real, sustainable and aimed at ensuring that our brothers and sisters abroad continue to do an excellent job of building Kenya here and all over the globe,” said the Deputy President.