Everyone has an opinion on everything. That’s the truth of the matter. Throw an ambiguous statement out there and everybody and their pet hamster will be ready to tell you what they think about it. Especially when it comes to our economy and why Kenya isn’t doing as well as it should. Now that’s a juicy topic right there, forget everything else. Men can sit for hours at a bar sipping cold beer and discussing just what’s wrong with our slightly beloved country.
So just what’s wrong with our country?
It’s quite simple. It is impossible to trade shares here. It is an effort, annoying and generally impossible. By the time you have offered to buy shares, found the shares, bought them, waited for the 3 day process to be completed, received your shares, waited for an opportune moment to sell, tried to sell, found a buyer, sold, waited for three days, received your cheque and waited another 2 days for it to clear you might have well gone to mars and back on a tricycle.
The obvious question people then ask is why is it the biggest problem with the country? We have all seen the large influx of rights issues this year. Companies are looking for capital. Already last week someone explained here that the numbers have shown that Kenyans aren’t investing. We simply aren’t putting money in our companies. This means that companies have no capital. This, in turn, means they can’t embark on any real expansion. This then hits us where we bleed the most. Jobs.
With unemployment in Kenya at a drastic 40% we need those jobs. We need our companies to expand. We need some bank to open a branch somewhere in Turkana so it can employ people there and so our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) can look halfway decent.
Yet how do we get Kenyans trading? Well we could always start by setting up a market maker in the country. A company whose main purpose is to ensure that there are always shares ready to be bought and sold. Then we could make trading instant. Seriously what’s the role of the three day delay except for the mutual funds and things to trade with your money? Then maybe, and just maybe, we could set up a formal derivative market or two. Or we could just ignore the problem. After all, isn’t that what we do best?