Modelling and Forecasting Electricity Demand for Commercial and Industrial Consumers in Kenya to 2035

Commercial and industrial consumers are the largest users of electrical energy in Kenya. They play a central role in driving electricity demand by contributing to over 70% of the electricity demand in the country. Despite their consumption of electricity being the highest, there is a gap on the drivers of their demand. There are significant deviations between past official forecasts and actual putting into question the official forecast assumptions.This study adressed this gap by estimating the drivers of commercial and industrial electricity demand.The drivers included supply side constraints represented by hydro inflows hence contributing to literature. A demand forecast upto to the year 2035 was also undertaken and compared with the official forecast. Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method and time series data from 1985 to 2016 was used in undertaking the analysis. The results indicated that commercial and industrial consumers’ electricity demand is income elastic. Other drivers include efficiency, electricity price and hydro inflows. A projection of the demand indicated the official forecast could be overstated and may need to be reviewed

Inadequate Insurance Claims Reserving and Financial Distress in Non-Life Insurance Companies in Kenya: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Financial distress (FD) is a common occurrence in Kenyan commercial sector and is not lacking in non-life insurance companies in Kenya. Several insurance companies have been placed under statutory management for failure to pay genuine claims and other creditors. Insurance companies provide unique financial services, not only to individuals but also to the growth and development of the economy; giving employment to workers and dividends to investors. Financial distress places insurable properties and businesses at risk thus reducing the general public confidence in the insurance sector. For this paper, the goal was to investigate whether inadequate reserving of claims (IRC) causes financial distress in non-life insurance companies in Kenya. In accounting for insurance claims reserves, increases in reserves mean a reduction of profitability of an insurer, whereas a decrease in reserves increases the profitability resulting in higher taxation and payment of dividends, which drains the insurer’s cash flow, thus causing financial distress. Out of 37 non-life insurance companies, registered in 2018 in Kenya, four insurers were subjected to Pilot Testing and another four companies declined to participate in the survey. Secondary data from Insurance Regulatory Authority website was retrieved for calculations of Z-scores as per Altman (1993), amended formula. Primary data was also collected through a questionnaire. A partial least squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to assess the mediating effect of Insurance Regulatory Association (IRA) supervision on the association between inadequate reserving of claims and financial distress. Goodness-of-fit (GoF) indices were used to assess the model’s goodness of fit. By using the discriminative Z-score formula, 52% of the institutions considered in 2018 were financially distressed, compared to 48% in 2017. However, when considering the average of ten years (2009 to 2018), financially distressed..............Keywords: Non-life  insurance  companies,  Policyholders,  Insurance  Regulatory  Authority,  Claims Reserving, Z-Scores, Structural Equation Modelling DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/12-12-06 Publication date:June 30th 2021

Mobile Technology As a Disruptive Innovation on Shopping Malls Rental Space: Case Study From Kenya

Mobile technology innovations have given businesses the rich of information access and the wider value chain reach. The case study was carried out at Sarit Centre Malls in Nairobi Kenya. The objectives of the case study included: to investigate how reducing cost of mobile technology affect demand for rental space in shopping malls; to establish how perceived usefulness of mobile technology affect demand for rental space in shopping malls; and to analyse how perceived ease of use of mobile technology affect demand for rental space in shopping malls. This case study adopted descriptive research design focusing on business managers from 126 businesses. A representative sample of 92 respondents was selected. The study also revealed that the usability aspects such as learnability, memorability of operating procedures that enhance human interaction in mobile technology has  led to reduced demand for display and exhibition space in malls and over the counter transactions. The case study reveals  further that lower information cost in mobile applications, invidualised perception of services has led to adoption of mobile transactions as a preferred means of business for previous mall customers. The study recommends that business owners in the physical malls can gain more value proposition if they offer virtual malls that can be accessed via mobile applications. There is also a need to integrate suitable mobile technology innovation in business models for competitive advantage

Does Entrepreneurial Mindset Catalyse Business- turnover by Women Managing Small and Medium Enterprises? Evidence from What Works in Kenya

This paper explores the effect of entrepreneurial mind-set on business turnover of women-owned Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Kenya. The study had three objectives aimed determining the effect of: i) education and business training on business turnover, ii) soft skills training on business turnover, and iii) overall entrepreneurial mindsets on business turnover.  The study used an explanatory mixed methods research design premised on pragmatism paradigm. The study was anchored on Resource Based View (RBV) Theoretical framework propounded by Adegbite (2019) which explains how women can utilize resources to grow their businesses.  Slovenes  formula using 800,000  population of KWFT beneficiaries   was employed to determine a stratified random sample of 400 women entrepreneurs from Kakamega, Kilifi, Machakos and Vihiga Counties in Kenya. Quantitative data from questionnaires coupled with qualitative case studies were used. The study revealed that education and training provided during training varied in intensity of coverage across the study locales with women located in Kakamega, Machakos and Vihiga more prepared compared with their counterparts in Kilifi Counties. Second, there were positive and statistically significant correlations between type of business and business turnover (r =.707**, p =01) and type of business and entrepreneurial mind-set (r =.483**, p = 01). Third, there were positive and no-statistically significant correlations between study locale and all other study variables. Further, positive and statistically significant correlations between business turnover and skills gained (r =.587**, p =001), and business turnover and entrepreneurial mind-set (r =.359**, p =.05) were established. However, further qualitative case study data analysis using interviews and focus group discussion (FGDs) revealed that   entrepreneurial mind-set, which is a combination of business training and soft skills/life skills (e.g. curiosity, creativity, problem solving, communication and collaboration, resilience), were not covered adequately during programme intervention. It is recommended that programme providers should make a policy shift towards providing a comprehensive intervention model that incorporate entrepreneurial mind-set as part of their capacity building through lifelong learning which has been demonstrated to be a critical driver that can spur business turnover among women managed SMEs not only in Kenya but other Sub-Saharan African countries. Keywords:Entrepreneurial mindset, education and training, Nurturing soft skills, Small and Medium Enterprises, Kenya DOI: 10.7176/JESD/14-14-06 Publication date:August 31st 202

Size As a Determinant of Choice of Source of Entrepreneurial Finance for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Thika District

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Elucidating the Potential of Native Rhizobial Isolates to Improve Biological Nitrogen Fixation and Growth of Common Bean and Soybean in Smallholder Farming Systems of Kenya

Identification of effective indigenous rhizobia isolates would lead to development of efficient and affordable rhizobia inoculants. These can promote nitrogen fixation in smallholder farming systems of Kenya. To realize this purpose, two experiments were conducted under greenhouse conditions using two common bean cultivars; Mwezi moja (bush type) and Mwitemania (climbing type) along with soybean cultivar SB 8. In the first experiment, the common bean cultivars were treated with rhizobia inoculants including a consortium of native isolates, commercial isolate (CIAT 899), a mixture of native isolates and CIAT 899, and a control with no inoculation. After 30 days, the crop was assessed for nodulation, shoot and root dry weights, and morphological features. In the second experiment, soybean was inoculated with a consortium of native isolates, commercial inoculant (USDA 110), and a mixture of commercial and native isolates. Remarkably, the native isolates significantly ( < 0.001) increased nodulation and shoot dry weight across the two common bean varieties compared to the commercial inoculant, CIAT 899. Mixing of the native rhizobia species and commercial inoculant did not show any further increase in nodulation and shoot performance in both crops. Further field studies will ascertain the effectiveness and efficiency of the tested indigenous isolates

Human Brucellosis in Febrile Patients Seeking Treatment at Remote Hospitals, Northeastern Kenya, 2014-2015

During 2014–2015, patients in northeastern Kenya were assessed for brucellosis and characteristics that might help clinicians identify brucellosis. Among 146 confirmed brucellosis patients, 29 (20%) had negative serologic tests. No clinical feature was a good indicator of infection, which was associated with animal contact and drinking raw milk