Be Wary Investors: Foremost Factors in Asset Performance in East Africa: A Case of Collective Investment Schemes in Kenya

Alternative investment schemes are one of financial intermediaries through which funds are pooled together for the purpose of investment in various financial assets which are normally managed by professional managers. One such avenue in Kenya is investing through a unit trust fund. It is therefore important for an investor utilizing one of these managers to evaluate how well the fund has done relative to other funds and that of the benchmark. However, these performances were affected by numerous factors. It was on the above footing that the research is focused on evaluating the importance of key factors that affect its performance. The research employed descriptive research design mainly cross sectional and longitudinal research to achieve the objectives. The target population was all the eleven unit trust funds in Kenya. The study used both primary and secondary data. As a source of primary data, structured questionnaires and scheduled interview were used. The key factors were analyzed using factor analysis and multiple regressions to establish the importance of these factors in determining funds’ performance. The finding was that the factors that affect performance of funds in Kenya were classified into five categories namely foreign investment participation, online trading, experience, age and equity risk. The main factors affecting equity funds performance were experience, age and online trading only while none of these factors were significant in influencing the blended funds’ performance. The prospective investors must therefore be mindful about these factors while weighing their investment proposals

Privatization Conundrum in the 21st Century:a Study of Privatized Companies Quoted at the Nairobi Security Exchange

The aim of this study was to analyse the profitability of companies privatized and quoted in the Nairobi Security Exchange.  The research focused on those companies, which were recently privatized and were quoted at the Nairobi Security Exchange.  Secondary data was collected and analysed from both published and unpublished reports.   Published data mainly came from the financial reports of these companies, journals and prospectus.  Unpublished data was obtained from research papers. Various ratios were computed for the companies five years before privatization and five years after privatization and the student’s t- distribution was used to determine whether there were significant differences in profitability before and after privatization. The general conclusion from the study shows that there were no significant changes in the profitability of companies before and after privatization. Key words: Privatization, Profitability, NS

INFLUENCE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS ON THE GROWTH OF MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES OWNED BY WOMEN IN MERU COUNTY, KENYA

This study was aimed at establishing the influence of entrepreneurial skills on the growth of women owned micro and small enterprises in Meru town. The target population consisted of all women owned micro and small enterprises in Meru town. These enterprises can be classified into four types namely, trade, service, manufacturing and processing. This data was obtained from the business registration register. The study used descriptive statistics and used self- administered questionnaires to collect data. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statictics using SPSS version 22. The study found that entrepreneurial skills such as marketing skills, financial management skills, human management skills, organizing skills among others had very strong influence on the growth of MSEs owned by women. The multiple regression analysis showed that entrepreneurial skills has a strength of 0.829 and a correlation of correlation of 0.696.The study recommended that all means to be used to ensure women entrepreneurs have the necessary enterprise running skills such as marketing skills, financial management organizing skills human resource management skills

INFLUENCE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS ON THE GROWTH OF MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES OWNED BY WOMEN IN MERU COUNTY, KENYA

This study was aimed at establishing the influence of entrepreneurial skills on the growth of women owned micro and small enterprises in Meru town. The target population consisted of all women owned micro and small enterprises in Meru town. These enterprises can be classified into four types namely, trade, service, manufacturing and processing. This data was obtained from the business registration register. The study used descriptive statistics and used self- administered questionnaires to collect data. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statictics using SPSS version 22. The study found that entrepreneurial skills such as marketing skills, financial management skills, human management skills, organizing skills among others had very strong influence on the growth of MSEs owned by women. The multiple regression analysis showed that entrepreneurial skills has a strength of 0.829 and a correlation of correlation of 0.696.The study recommended that all means to be used to ensure women entrepreneurs have the necessary enterprise running skills such as marketing skills, financial management organizing skills human resource management skills.   Article visualizations

Socializing One Health: an innovative strategy to investigate social and behavioral risks of emerging viral threats

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response, disease control, and risk reduction. From the outset, the EPT approach was inclusive of social science research methods designed to understand the contexts and behaviors of communities living and working at human-animal-environment interfaces considered high-risk for virus emergence. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, PREDICT behavioral research aimed to identify and assess a range of socio-cultural behaviors that could be influential in zoonotic disease emergence, amplification, and transmission. This broad approach to behavioral risk characterization enabled us to identify and characterize human activities that could be linked to the transmission dynamics of new and emerging viruses. This paper provides a discussion of implementation of a social science approach within a zoonotic surveillance framework. We conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups to better understand the individual- and community-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices that potentially put participants at risk for zoonotic disease transmission from the animals they live and work with, across 6 interface domains. When we asked highly-exposed individuals (ie. bushmeat hunters, wildlife or guano farmers) about the risk they perceived in their occupational activities, most did not perceive it to be risky, whether because it was normalized by years (or generations) of doing such an activity, or due to lack of information about potential risks. Integrating the social sciences allows investigations of the specific human activities that are hypothesized to drive disease emergence, amplification, and transmission, in order to better substantiate behavioral disease drivers, along with the social dimensions of infection and transmission dynamics. Understanding these dynamics is critical to achieving health security--the protection from threats to health-- which requires investments in both collective and individual health security. Involving behavioral sciences into zoonotic disease surveillance allowed us to push toward fuller community integration and engagement and toward dialogue and implementation of recommendations for disease prevention and improved health security

Socializing One Health: an innovative strategy to investigate social and behavioral risks of emerging viral threats

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response, disease control, and risk reduction. From the outset, the EPT approach was inclusive of social science research methods designed to understand the contexts and behaviors of communities living and working at human-animal-environment interfaces considered high-risk for virus emergence. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, PREDICT behavioral research aimed to identify and assess a range of socio-cultural behaviors that could be influential in zoonotic disease emergence, amplification, and transmission. This broad approach to behavioral risk characterization enabled us to identify and characterize human activities that could be linked to the transmission dynamics of new and emerging viruses. This paper provides a discussion of implementation of a social science approach within a zoonotic surveillance framework. We conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups to better understand the individual- and community-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices that potentially put participants at risk for zoonotic disease transmission from the animals they live and work with, across 6 interface domains. When we asked highly-exposed individuals (ie. bushmeat hunters, wildlife or guano farmers) about the risk they perceived in their occupational activities, most did not perceive it to be risky, whether because it was normalized by years (or generations) of doing such an activity, or due to lack of information about potential risks. Integrating the social sciences allows investigations of the specific human activities that are hypothesized to drive disease emergence, amplification, and transmission, in order to better substantiate behavioral disease drivers, along with the social dimensions of infection and transmission dynamics. Understanding these dynamics is critical to achieving health security--the protection from threats to health-- which requires investments in both collective and individual health security. Involving behavioral sciences into zoonotic disease surveillance allowed us to push toward fuller community integration and engagement and toward dialogue and implementation of recommendations for disease prevention and improved health security

EFFECTIVENESS OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON PUBLIC SECTOR REFORMS IN KENYA RURAL ROADS AUTHORITY, KENYA

This research focused on the evaluation of the effectiveness of financial management practices in Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) on public sector reforms. The main objective of the study was to establish the effectiveness of financial management practices on public sector reforms taking a case study of KeRRA. The specific objectives of the study were to establish the effectiveness of budgeting on public sector reforms in KeRRA, to examine the effectiveness of procurement laws on public sector reforms in KeRRA, to establish the effects of effectiveness of IFMIS – Integrated Financial Management Information Systems on public sector reforms and to determine the effectiveness of work plans on public sector reforms in KeRRA. The study used descriptive research design with a target population of 530 employees; a sample of 222 was selected using simple random sampling technique. The research used both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected using questionnaires. Secondary data was obtained from reports and archives. Pilot test was conducted to enhance the instrument validity and reliability. Data collection involved a self - administered questionnaire through drop and picks them later. Descriptive analysis was applied which included mean, frequencies and percentages using assistance of computer packages especially Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 to communicate research findings.The study also used a regression model and correlation to study the relationship between factors. From the model, the factors that significantly influenced public sector reforms included Budgeting process (t = 2.189, p = .032), Procurement process (t = 1.913, p = .059), and IFIMIS Implementation (t = -3.847, p = .001). Work plan implementation (t = .979, p = .331) did not have any significant influence on public sector reforms. KeRRA should include financial reforms as part of their performance contracts target and should ensure that they implement the reforms to their logical conclusion in order to achieve the reforms intended objectives and consequently improve on its performance. JEL: H61, H72, H83, B26  Article visualizations

EFFECTIVENESS OF LICENSING REGULATIONS ON GROWTH OF DEPOSIT TAKING SAVINGS AND CREDT CO-OPERATIVES IN MT. KENYA REGION

SACCOs for quite a long period of time have been seen as panacea to alleviate poverty in the society through financial inclusion. Licensing regulation was established to prudently control and regulate SACCOs’ joining the Deposit Taking business. The aim of the current study was to establish the effectiveness of licensing regulation on growth of Deposit Taking SACCOs in Mt. Kenya region. Descriptive research design and inferential statistics were used in the study. The study targeted 54 Chief Executive Officers/Managers in Mt. Kenya region as respondents. Census study was undertaken and questionnaire was employed to collect primary data. Secondary data was obtained from SACCO Society Regulatory Authority annual supervision reports. Quantitative data analysis was done for numerical data obtained from the field. This was carried out using descriptive statistics by use of statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 25. Tables were used to present the results. Regressions were used to test the research hypothesis for turnover against licensing regulations to determine the association among the study variable. The study concluded that there was negative and statistically significant correlation between licensing regulation and growth of SACCOs in Mt. Kenya Region. The study recommends that SACCOs need to adhere to all the licensing regulations as spelt out in the SACCO society’s Act. Further the study recommends review of the licensing regulations by the government through SASRA to save witnessed decline of SACCO and bring more entities onboard as SACCOs for sustainable financial inclusion. Keywords: Licensing Regulation, Deposit Taking Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies, Growth

Understanding the binding interaction mechanism of i-motif with fluorophores: A biophysical approach

DNA exists in many canonical and non-canonical forms. i-motif: a non-canonical, tetraplex, antiparallel strand rich in cytosine, formed by hemi protonated cytosine- cytosine+ base pairs under slightly acidic pH levels, i-motifs are utilised in the study of numerous fields of applications. These i-motif tend to exhibit the property of switching the fluorescent nature of ligands such as thiazole orange, crystal violet and berberine upon interaction. This work is focussed on a basic overview of i-motif and its interactions with ligands to form fluorescence probes which could be useful in bio imaging. Herein, we are trying to find the electronic properties of small molecules upon interacting with i-motif. In order to find the active binding site in i-motif, Molecular Docking simulation was performed. The best docked pose obtained from the docking studies were subjected to molecular dynamics simulations. Further, DFT studies, optimization and single point energy calculations were carried out for freeligands and those bounded with the secondary DNA structures to understand the intermolecular interaction and to study their electronic properties