On Friday 2 October, the 2009 Top 100 survey was concluded with a celebratory dinner attended by over 700 guests and it is difficult to do justice to the vibrancy, pomp, colour and the mood of the evening. One had to be there to realise just how infectious and inspiring the joy of achievement, recognition and thanksgiving can be. KPMG’s partnership with the Nation Media Group is glad to have harnessed their complementary capacities to make the Kenya Top 100 a success story.

In keeping with the now established tradition, the three East African Finance Ministers simultaneously delivered their budget speeches on Thursday, 11 June 2009, against the backdrop of the global financial crisis whose impact is clearly working its way through these regional economies.

The Accountability Programme in Tanzania (AcT) is an exciting, new initiative funded by the Department for International Development (DFID). The goal is to contribute to the achievement of the MDGs by ensuring that Tanzanians are increasingly able to claim and exercise their rights as citizens. KPMG East Africa is responsible for managing AcT on behalf of DFID and leads a team comprising associate organisations...read more

Our ability to think beyond has never been more critical, and it cuts across virtually every dimension of the KPMG organisation. We think beyond borders with a global perspective and collaborate on behalf of clients. The result is a network that works with member firm clients around the world and is regarded as a great place to work and build a career.

Navigating through the current economic conditions will be challenging for some time to come. Is there a way to minimize short-term pain and maximize long-term competitive advantage? What costs should be cut and what should not? And what lessons can be learned from previous downturns and how organizations managed during those times?

In these turbulent times, how solid is your business? So you know for sure? Say a main supplier collapses, or a major customer. Are your eyes open to every eventuality? Are you as prepared as you think for the unexpected? We believe that to protect itself today, business has to imagine the unimaginable. KPMG firms are here to help you do this – with the collective experience to understand the potential risks your business faces, and the specialist skills to help you prepare for them. Are you open to whatever the future might throw at you? Because if you shut out change, it could well shut you. To find out more, visit http://www.kpmg.eu/SucceedingInTurbulentTimes/5262.htm

KPMG believes the risk management of organisations needs to become more integrated, preventative in practice, and anticipatory in approach
While organisations already have processes and controls in place to manage risk, it is now time to reassess their risk framework and to make any modifications that are needed to stay current with changing industry trends and organisational needs. These improvements need to address the institution’s risks in a more comprehensive manner while enhancing the ability to anticipate risk.

KPMG East Africa (KPMG) has appointed Josphat Mwaura as CEO & Senior Partner.

More often than not, companies are crippled by non-collection of debts for various reasons. This article is intended to analyse some of the general aspects which contribute to the origin of the debt collection phenomenon and give some tips (in general terms) on how to approach the problem. This field is wide and perfect/equitable solutions will depend on the personal practical ingenuity.

As part of KPMG's Global Development Initiative, which focuses on member firms' skills and resources on achieving the United Nations Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), KPMG in the UK developed this report highlighting the potential opportunities for investment in Kisumu, Kenya, one of the selected mid-sized cities across sub-Saharan Africa.

In keeping with tradition, the three East African Finance Ministers simultaneously delivered their budget speeches on 12 June 2008, articulating changes expected to take effect later on this year. The budget speeches re-emphasized the need to build prosperity for all and hence focused on development initiatives.

Types of Funds
Private Equity (PE) in its simplest form refers to equity investments in private rather than public or listed companies. Viewed differently, it is the use of privately owned funds for direct investment into privately owned companies.

Are you getting the full benefit of your assessment?
Today, more than ever, there is increased demand for the internal audit function to add value to the organisation. Executive management is relying more on internal audit to identify, measure and control business risks. Audit committees are asking tough questions about the quality and effectiveness of their internal audit functions. The regulatory authority including Capital Market Authority, central government regulations and Central Bank of Kenya expect internal audit to be the eyes of the Audit Committees. There is increased scrutiny of the function.

If you increased your sales by 25% to 50% over the next six months, what would happen to your cash balance?
My experience is nine out of ten business owners can’t answer this question. That’s why so many businesses succeed in growing their business only to end up with an uncomfortable and embarrassing cash flow crisis on their hands.

Financial statement analysis presents several challenges for investors, financial analysts and investment managers. This is due to the fact that information on a company’s performance is presented in the form of financial statements and myriad notes. All this information needs to be read together – the need to properly understand the inter-relationship of the financial statements and the notes cannot be over-emphasised.

Four New Partners have been admitted into the East Africa Partnership, with effect from 1 September 2007.

In keeping with tradition, the three East African Finance Ministers delivered their budget speeches on 14 June 2007, articulating changes expected to take effect later on this year. Notably, while the budget speech by the Tanzanian and Ugandan Finance Ministers stuck to tradition, Kenya’s was once again a deviation from the norm; the Kenya Finance minister chose a thematic approach focusing on sectoral priorities.

Economically, the region appears to be riding a crest, with the three countries registering a GDP growth of above 6%, largely propelled by the hotels and restaurants, construction and transport sectors.

Going forward, the deliberate shift of focus towards development expenditure as well as strengthening and reforms of the financial sectors will no doubt result into stronger economies for the three East Africa Countries.

Are you Doing enough to protect your business?
The proper term for dry cleaning dirty money is “Money Laundering”. Criminals launder the financial proceeds of their crimes in order to make them appear to have been derived from legitimate activities.

Austin, Texas – December 26, 2006: The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the world’s leading provider of anti-fraud training and investigation, is pleased to award Mr. Zahir Sheikh, CFE the globally preferred ‘Certified Fraud Examiner’ (CFE) designation. CFE’s are knowledgeable in four areas critical to the fight against fraud: Fraudulent Financial Transactions, Criminology and Ethics, Legal Elements of Fraud and Fraud Investigation.

Training is a small price to pay for qualified staff. Indeed successful companies view training as an investment rather than an expense.
Providing training opportunities to staff provides a two-fold benefit:

• It builds employee skills empowering them to improve on the firm's service delivery.
  
• It boosts staff morale as they see that the company is interested in their personal development.