4 Major Challenges Kenya's MPESA Agents Go Through

M-PESA is the mobile money transfer platform introduced in Kenya by Safaricom - Kenya's arguably dominant mobile network operator. It is a fact that M-PESA has revolutionized lifestyles of Kenyans in the last eight years. To-date there are about 40,000 M-PESA agents in Kenya according to statistics from the telecommunication giant. It is this extensive network of M-PESA agents that Michael Joseph attributed to the phenomenal success of the M-PESA mobile money transfer system. Although the former CEO's assertion remains arguable, the significance of the agent outlets cannot be overemphasized in analyzing the mobile money transfer system's success.

Engaging a couple of M-PESA agents in some discourse, recently, in trying to understand their contribution to the platform's success, I caught a few concerns that would qualify to be the 'Tribulations of the M-PESA agent'. Here are some :-

1.Fradusters

M-PESA in Kenya is anchored on SMS texts exchanged between individuals, agents and suppliers as 'validation notes'. The validation notes  in form of SMSs are guaranteed by M-PESA agents' deposits with Safaricom (also known as float) through a trust deed. With the maturity of M-PESA money transfer service as part and parcel of our society, even the fraudsters have joined the bandwagon to make their contribution in the diverse society. Agents have repeatedly fallen prey to these 'intelligent' citizens who send fake system withdrawal messages at outlets. Unsuspecting attendants ignorant of the authenticity of these texts dish out money only to discover the trickery when the fraudsters has  vanished.

The tricks can be as simple as sending that fake sms, to what is believed to be an inside job, where an MPESA attendant is called by a person smart enough to use codes to by pass your security codes and transfer the funds to another number. In most cases they clesr your float, leaving you helpless. How they do this is a topic for another day. Of greater concern to the agent is the fact that their contract with Safaricom pushes liability for such losses to the hapless agent.

It might be easy to think that the amounts stolen by these fraudsters using this method is little and theoretically limited to Ksh.70,000 (Maximum transaction amount per transaction) for instance. However those who are privy to operational details of  small enterprises like M-PESA agency might know that once an outlet is hit with theft of such magnitude, it could take months, years or never to recover.

2. Service Outages

Safaricom, often put out advertisement in traditional press and social media notifying M-PESA users and agents of a scheduled downtime. The scheduled outages are due to a planned upgrades of the mobile money transfer platform. A service outage for a whole day means loss of a day's worth of revenue (commissions) by agents. I am curiously shocked to learn that Safaricom have a reason to bring down a service so critical to Kenya's economy for over 32 hours. For a moment I can't prevent thinking that service availability is not an important service quality metric to Safaricom. I defer my curiosity for now until they announce the new upgrade schedule.

Scheduled outages not withstanding, it is not rare for M-PESA agents to be found helpless by customers who cannot be served because 'the network is down'. The same is experienced by customers themselves from their phone when they occasionally try to transfer money to others only to get a message that their transfer was not successful (to try again after ten minutes). Worse cases of service reliability affect M-PESA agents when a customer deposits money and there is a delay in the receiving the deposit confirmation text (on the customer's phone). The  agent is left in a precarious position of mistrust with an impatient customer who might not believe that their confirmation message will eventually come (perhaps after 20 minutes or never).

It is these planned and unplanned system outages (or degraded performance) that occasionally make the M-PESA agent a helpless businessman. Their supplier is also so powerful that they have no chance of negotiating favorable service level agreements to protect their small businesses from effects of such diminished service quality. Safaricom deserve a little more credit though. From the planned upgrade, it appears they have realized a need to improve the quality of their service. Although the planned platform improvement might alleviate some of the recurrent outages, the little bargaining power of the agents will remain a matter of concern.

3. Employee theft

Dishonesty can be argued to be prevalent among employees in Kenya.  Arguably, the desired combination of reliability and honesty among our workforce remains quite elusive. M-PESA attendants are not aliens to the purported culture of dishonesty. It should be correct to say that mobile money transfer systems include elaborate mandatory record keeping – some of which are electronically hosted by the money transfer platform. However many people forget that for as long as attendants must handle real money at some point, a temptation to steal or divert money meant for their outlet's operations exists.

Dishonest employees combined with an inept law enforcement system means that the M-PESA agent has to pray every day for their attendants not to yield to stealing temptations. The current police and justice system is such that it may be obvious who stole but nothing beyond knowing the thief is doable. It is this ever present fear of losing an outlet's cash that can permanently keep the M-PESA agent crossing their fingers. Some insurance companies I am told offer insurance cover against such losses but with 20,000 shillings 'excess' fees for any theft instance claimed. The insurance cover then rarely to makes sense to M-PESA agents since typically lost amounts are about the same as the 'excess'.

4. Fake Currency

A couple of weeks back I was listening in to one of our morning radio shows. Then there was this exasperated caller who was narrating how someone had deposited fake 20,000 shillings notes at their M-PESA outlet. The outlet's attendant had discovered the fake notes and alerted the local police before the conman had left. The police arrived at the scene, confiscated the fake notes, and left with the conman in 'custody'. To the astonishment of the agent, the police did nothing to assist agent who had already 'received' the fake deposit - hence deducted from their float. According to the caller, the conman eventually went scot free. With the current arrangement, no form of assistance was to be expected from Safaricom for mitigating such risks since the 'nonnegotiable' liability remains the agent's.

Long Conclusion

There are many other experiences that add up to miseries for M-PESA agents ranging from general risks in the external environment to business risks directly related to the nature of outlets operations. It should not surprise many that the much touted 40,000+ M-PESA agents are really not having sustainable businesses. It might also be that the extensive network of agents is the single biggest success factor of Safaricom's M-PESA platform for money transfer. In that case, with the above sentiments of M-PESA agents, it is the same factor that Safaricom has not quite controlled to their favor. Some of the M-PESA agent's troubles appear to be way out of reach in Safaricom's external environment. It is however the same environment that an entity of their size and might could work with the government to influence – for their favor. Some of the mitigation measures are as basic as additional agent capacity building.

All that said, I shall suggest that “The most significant success factor for mobile money banking operators working in Kenya will be their value proposition to Kenyan stakeholders including their customers, agents, and shareholders”. In my opinion, patriotic sentiments and feel good aspects such as corporate social responsibility will take a back seat as value drivers determine future growth paths for the competing mobile network operators.

The Basics of Asset Allocation

Asset allocation is simply the building block of investment planning, it is about investing across various asset classes such as equity, debt, gold, property, etc.

Here, various categories of investments behave differently while benefiting investors. For this, it is important for an investor to look for investment options (right assets)as per one’s financial requirements. The idea is to put your money into different investment categories to take advantage of varying situations. 

How to assess your asset allocation needs? 

Every investor has unique financial requirement, which usually defines her or her investing ideas. Thus, take a moment to think about your unique situation and risk appetite before formulating an asset allocation strategy. 

Asset Allocation Needs

Here it is important to segregate your investment plans basis on: 

Your funds: Your funds come from money that you can afford to spare for investment planning. The more funds you have at your disposal, the greater the amount of risk you can take. If you have only limited funds, you should be more careful while investing. 

Your time frame: If you are ready to invest for a longer period, then you can invest in riskier investments like stocks, which have the possibility of giving higher returns in the long run. But, if you are looking for short-term investment options, then look for less volatile categories. Basically, ask your fund manager for options where you have the possibility of getting liquid cash at the earliest. 

Your dependants: If you are responsible for a large family, then you need to take their needs into consideration before investing. 

Asset allocation strategy and your risk profile:

Here are few points that can help you design your strategy- 

Aggressive: In an aggressive asset allocation strategy, there are a higher percentage of investments in high-risk assets like equity. Usually you will invest more than 60 per cent of your corpus in such assets. This sort of aggressive investment tip is best suited to individuals who can afford to take higher risks. 

Moderate: In a moderate asset allocation strategy, the proportion of lower risk investments such as debt-based options are increased, while equity plans are lowered. This type of investment strategy is best suited to individuals who can afford to participate in risky investments, but need to accumulate wealth for their dependants. Thus, there is a need to reduce their investment risk to some extent. 

Conservative: This is an investment strategy that is focused on generating regular income and protecting your accumulated wealth. 

It is important to understand how to assess and arrive at an optimal asset allocation to achieve financial goals and building wealth with minimum risks.

7 Of The Most Jobless Professionals In Kenya

Are you still searching for a job more than 2 years after your graduation? The frustration is unimaginable. Chances are, you specialized in the wrong course and you are now regretting your choice. Perhaps, you are thinking of pursuing another degree all together.

Not so fast, peruse the following list to ensure that you do not take another course that will leave you more frustrated than you initially were.

Below is a list of the professions with the most jobless graduates.

1. Mass Communication
Walk around and almost every jobless person you see will tell you they studied mass communication. They all want to work in one major media house or another. The field is so crowded and with media houses hiring mostly in-house, it is a wonder most mass communication graduates pursue other courses.

2. Political science
The Kenyan job market just isn’t ready political scientists. Most people don’t even know what a career in political science entails.That would explain the predicament that these professionals face in the job market.

3. Nutrition
Though the jobs in this field are available, they are very scarce. This is why most of the people who are nutrition professionals are still job seeking years on.

4. Music
In a country where Music is considered an extracurricular activity, a music career is almost obsolete. It is not considered a lucrative profession that requires much thought.Those who are lucky get teaching jobs, but for the rest,they tend to find other career paths.

5. Drama
In Kenya, there are those professions that are considered luxurious and those that are considered hobbies. Unfortunately,drama is one of the latter. This is why most of the drama graduates are still in the job market hustling for jobs.

6. Hospitality
This is another job market that is rather crowded. Hustling for years on end seems to be a trend in this profession as some are forced to start up small enterprises to make a living. At the moment, especially with the retrenchments that are taking place in this industry,these professionals have to remain jobless awhile longer.

7. Counseling
As lucrative as a career in counseling it, the available jobs are little to none at all. The graduates in this field will mostly for lack of jobs open up their own practices,but unfortunately this requires a lot of resources.
Go back to the drawing board and assess your career choice. It is wise to check the current job market before pursuing any courses.

How To Resign Professionally

Resigning from a job or a position is something you will definitely face at one time or another. Therefore, it is paramount that you are aware of how to tender that resignation with tact and diplomacy.
You might be tempted to jump or dance your way out of the door, or even get your own back by criticizing your boss to the entire office. But you should resist these temptations, by all means, when the time comes for you to resign.
Being cautious and submitting a polite resignation letter means you won’t burn bridges. You may not want to work for the same company in future, but remember, paths might cross with your ex-boss or other colleagues in a different company in the future. Trying to exit a professional manner will help you retain credibility – even if you’re leaving under a cloud. Below is a stepwise way of tendering that resignation letter.

1. Letting your manager know

It is courteous to tell your boss first. Request a meeting with him/her to say that you’re leaving, following up soon after with an official resignation letter. Do this before you blast out an office-wide email.
Work out how you can ensure a smooth transition and minimize disruption to your employer. There may be a range of things you can do to hand over professionally, such as completing projects, working out the priorities with your line manager,leaving clear documentation or training up your successor in processes or software.
Before the meeting with your boss, write a list of ongoing projects along with status updates and suggestions for completion.Use the meeting to clarify any other points, such as your notice period and leaving date, how you will inform others (colleagues or external clients, contacts and suppliers). Ask about references too; your employer may only supply the most basic type (including dates worked, job title etc) but your line manager might also give you a more personal reference.
Making sure you get a good written reference before you leave (or trying to agree the wording if you leave in less happy circumstances) can make subsequent job hunting less stressful.
 
2. The Resignation letter

Keep your letter short. You don’t need to give lots of explanations or justification for why you’re leaving, or even to say where you’re moving to. Don’t be tempted to address the failings of the company or your boss, either. Instead, thanking your employer for the job and mentioning what you appreciated about it is a graceful touch.

3. Letting others know

As well as telling your closest colleagues in person, you may also want to email others. Again, keep this short and sweet, such as: “As you may already know, I’ve decided to leave the company to pursue other opportunities (in … ) /to take the next step in my career.
I’ve greatly enjoyed working with you all and hope that our paths will cross again in the future.”

6 Worst Attributes You Can Give yourself in a CV

The problem with most of us is that we love ourselves, sometimes too much.
This love tends to be all-encompassing, which means that we often try and encompass everyone else with this self-love.
We fail to realize, however, that sometimes we can sound a little too wonderful and this can put off potential employers. We may also use words that in some cases mean slightly less than we'd like them to. Especially when we're presenting ourselves on a CV.
Below are the 6 worst attributes you can give yourself in a CV. Please check them against your own CV profile. Just in case you think you're that wonderful.

1. VISIONARY. What are you, a clairvoyant? Someone with special powers? Iron man? You probably think that you are. However, one part of vision is envisioning what others will think of your self-attribution. Describing yourself as a visionary in a CV is telling other people (read employers) that you're more existentially exalted than they are. That isn't very visionary.

2. INSPIRATIONAL LEADER. Who said so? Do you have a list of those you have inspired? You're going to tell me that all those people who have signed your recommendation letters actually have the merest tinge of objectivity? Or are you going to tell me that they recommended you because you asked for it? That wasn't very inspired of you.

3. SUCCESSFUL. I've noticed this word couple of times in CVs. I think it's somehow sneaked in there by the typist. Or, may be it is  an inspiration to the candidate. Especially when they need to remind themselves that they're successful. They worry that they're not. They also need to believe that other people are failures.  You might have scored those straights As and graduated with a first class honors, but success and failure are movable beasts. As words of self-description, they actually mean nothing. Except in your shrink's office.

4. THOUGHT LEADER. Someone in marketing must have invented this one. Does it mean: "My thoughts are better than yours?" Does it mean: "People can't wait to hear the next thing that comes out of my brain?" Or might it signify: "I'm trying to make myself sound important here and I hope I get away with it."?

5. CONCEPTUAL THINKER. Please forgive me for asking, but what does this mean? Does it mean that you have a grasp of mental concepts? Doesn't everyone, at least to some extent? Are you trying to say that you have lots of ideas? Or that you think in ideas? Or that when you think you don't just think of ice cream and butterflies and sunny days? Could it be that you're saying that you had no idea what to write and this sounded good?

6. PURPOSE-DRIVEN. I worry. You're driven by a purpose, as opposed to a whim? But what if your purpose is whimsical? What if your purpose is money? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I went to a thesaurus, fascinated by what might be the opposite of purpose. I was given "aimlessness," "neglect" and "oversight." You're telling me you're not driven by aimlessness? OK. So you wrote that on purpose?

5 Things You Should Never Say In A Job Interview

When attending an interview, the interviewee's main objective is to impress the recruiters. However, in trying to achieve this, candidates sometimes get carried away and end up giving responses that only ruin their chances of securing the job

Below are some of the responses should never give in an interview.

1. What do you do here?
This question, if asked by the interviewee, portrays him or her as ignorant and not having no  prior knowledge on the background of the company.
Background checks forms the basis when one is preparing for interviews. Surely you shouldn't express all that interest in a company you don't even know what they are dealing in.You should never walk into an interview not knowing about the position you are applying for or the company. You want to come forward as excited and focused to work with the company.

2. I Did Not Get Along With My Boss.

Yeah, right, things didn't work out with your previous employer. You are not alone, in most cases it doesn't. You might want to be honest in the interview but please keep this to yourself. Under no circumstance should you speak ill of your previous employer. This might make the recruiter think that you are the one who is difficult to work with.

3. I Will do Anything.

Apply for a specific role at each company, and be ready to explain why it’s exactly what you’re looking for and you should be given that role.
You don’t want to come out as being desperate and not focused. Most hiring managers are looking for people who are very passionate about the role they’re taking on. So when you give an open request, it only shows lack of passion.

4. Check it On My CV.
 
When an interviewer asks anything even if already covered in your CV, he/she wants you to expound beyond a written word.
The main purpose of the interview is to gauge how well you can express yourself, therefore any question asked seeks to test or gauge a particular skill. Communication skills, confidence, and honesty are some of the things interviewers gauge.
How you express yourself is key to whether you get that job or not. Your CV has done its part and landed you that interview. The remaining is up to you.