M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company
Good Afternoon,Are kenyan developers to expensive or unable to meet the grade. or is something else happening here Article from M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company | | | | | | | | | | | M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources... Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of it... | | | Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of its developers. According to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity, the developers work has now been outsourced to a foreign company that is linked to the company’s new CTO.The exercise, which was completed in December last year affected a number of employees and some of whom were absorbed by Safaricom according to the source.We sought comments from the company’s CEO and Co-Founder Jesse Moore, who confirmed the layoffs and explained that they were necessary due to rising costs of technology and there was need to generate profits and give returns to investors.“I can confirm that we completed a restructuring process in December 2017. This was done to reduce fixed costs and keep us on the path to profitability. Overall, the company reduced headcount by 18% covering all departments and all levels in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and UK. We are outsourcing more of our technology work, maintaining a smaller in-house team to work directly with outsourcing partners in Kenya and overseas.” he noted.He went on to say that this was the right thing for the company’s long-term sustainability, “This means building a sustainable, profitable company that offers impact for customers and returns for investors.”On whether the company had outsourced the IT services to a company that is linked to the new CTO, this is what he said.“In mid-2017 our Acting CTO was seconded to us from one of our outsourcing partners, when our previous CTO left the company. Our board approved this and the individual is strictly recused on procurement decisions with companies where could be a potential conflict of interest.”The company was started by Nick Hughes, an Englishman, and his Canadian co-founder, Jesse Moore. Hughes is a former executive at Vodafone, while Moore was working for the GSMA Development Fund, a mobile telecommunications industry group, where he was in charge of identifying opportunities to make mobile services available to people in developing countries. M-kopa is one of the best-funded startups in Africa having raised more than $152 Million since inception in 2011. However, a big chunk of this financing is in form of debt. Regards, Alex
Follow the money, chief, which strategy creates the lowest operating costs? And we kinda can't begrudge anyone , for seeking profit maximization, though i'd think Kenyan developers are the most affordable On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 12:04 PM, Watila Alex via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Good Afternoon, Are kenyan developers to expensive or unable to meet the grade. or is something else happening here
Article from M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company <http://kenyanwallstreet.com/m-kopa-solar-fires-18-of-its-staff-including-all-developers-outsources-work-to-a-foreign-company-linked-to-new-cto>
M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources...
Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of it...
Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of its developers. According to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity, the developers work has now been outsourced to a foreign company that is linked to the company’s new CTO. The exercise, which was completed in December last year affected a number of employees and some of whom were absorbed by Safaricom according to the source. We sought comments from the company’s CEO and Co-Founder Jesse Moore, who confirmed the layoffs and explained that they were necessary due to rising costs of technology and there was need to generate profits and give returns to investors. “I can confirm that we completed a restructuring process in December 2017. This was done to reduce fixed costs and keep us on the path to profitability. Overall, the company reduced headcount by 18% covering all departments and all levels in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and UK. We are outsourcing more of our technology work, maintaining a smaller in-house team to work directly with outsourcing partners in Kenya and overseas.” he noted. He went on to say that this was the right thing for the company’s long-term sustainability, “This means building a sustainable, profitable company that offers impact for customers and returns for investors.” On whether the company had outsourced the IT services to a company that is linked to the new CTO, this is what he said. “In mid-2017 our Acting CTO was seconded to us from one of our outsourcing partners, when our previous CTO left the company. Our board approved this and the individual is strictly recused on procurement decisions with companies where could be a potential conflict of interest.” The company was started by Nick Hughes, an Englishman, and his Canadian co-founder, Jesse Moore. Hughes is a former executive at Vodafone, while Moore was working for the GSMA Development Fund, a mobile telecommunications industry group, where he was in charge of identifying opportunities to make mobile services available to people in developing countries. M-kopa is one of the best-funded startups in Africa having raised more than $152 Million since inception in 2011. However, a big chunk of this financing is in form of debt.
Regards,
Alex
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Hmm, they've burnt through US$ 152 million in less than 7 years... and are downsizing instead of scaling up...I'd be a very worried investor if I had skin in *that* game.... My two cents, Mblayo On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 11:14 AM, anyega jefferson via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Follow the money, chief, which strategy creates the lowest operating costs?
And we kinda can't begrudge anyone , for seeking profit maximization, though i'd think Kenyan developers are the most affordable
On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 12:04 PM, Watila Alex via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Good Afternoon, Are kenyan developers to expensive or unable to meet the grade. or is something else happening here
Article from M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company <http://kenyanwallstreet.com/m-kopa-solar-fires-18-of-its-staff-including-all-developers-outsources-work-to-a-foreign-company-linked-to-new-cto>
M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources...
Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of it...
Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of its developers. According to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity, the developers work has now been outsourced to a foreign company that is linked to the company’s new CTO. The exercise, which was completed in December last year affected a number of employees and some of whom were absorbed by Safaricom according to the source. We sought comments from the company’s CEO and Co-Founder Jesse Moore, who confirmed the layoffs and explained that they were necessary due to rising costs of technology and there was need to generate profits and give returns to investors. “I can confirm that we completed a restructuring process in December 2017. This was done to reduce fixed costs and keep us on the path to profitability. Overall, the company reduced headcount by 18% covering all departments and all levels in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and UK. We are outsourcing more of our technology work, maintaining a smaller in-house team to work directly with outsourcing partners in Kenya and overseas.” he noted. He went on to say that this was the right thing for the company’s long-term sustainability, “This means building a sustainable, profitable company that offers impact for customers and returns for investors.” On whether the company had outsourced the IT services to a company that is linked to the new CTO, this is what he said. “In mid-2017 our Acting CTO was seconded to us from one of our outsourcing partners, when our previous CTO left the company. Our board approved this and the individual is strictly recused on procurement decisions with companies where could be a potential conflict of interest.” The company was started by Nick Hughes, an Englishman, and his Canadian co-founder, Jesse Moore. Hughes is a former executive at Vodafone, while Moore was working for the GSMA Development Fund, a mobile telecommunications industry group, where he was in charge of identifying opportunities to make mobile services available to people in developing countries. M-kopa is one of the best-funded startups in Africa having raised more than $152 Million since inception in 2011. However, a big chunk of this financing is in form of debt.
Regards,
Alex
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KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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0703824326
Start where you are,use what you have and do what you can.
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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
Brian Exactly! In one sentence you have hit the nail on the head. The new game in town is P2P (and here I mean Path 2 Profitability not Peer2Peer) :-) Regards *Ali Hussein* *Principal* *AHK & Associates* Tel: +254 713 601113 Twitter: @AliHKassim Skype: abu-jomo LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim> 13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing, Chiromo Road, Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya. Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with. On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 1:30 PM, Brian Munyao Longwe via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Hmm, they've burnt through US$ 152 million in less than 7 years... and are downsizing instead of scaling up...I'd be a very worried investor if I had skin in *that* game....
My two cents,
Mblayo
On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 11:14 AM, anyega jefferson via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Follow the money, chief, which strategy creates the lowest operating costs?
And we kinda can't begrudge anyone , for seeking profit maximization, though i'd think Kenyan developers are the most affordable
On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 12:04 PM, Watila Alex via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Good Afternoon, Are kenyan developers to expensive or unable to meet the grade. or is something else happening here
Article from M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company <http://kenyanwallstreet.com/m-kopa-solar-fires-18-of-its-staff-including-all-developers-outsources-work-to-a-foreign-company-linked-to-new-cto>
M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources...
Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of it...
Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of its developers. According to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity, the developers work has now been outsourced to a foreign company that is linked to the company’s new CTO. The exercise, which was completed in December last year affected a number of employees and some of whom were absorbed by Safaricom according to the source. We sought comments from the company’s CEO and Co-Founder Jesse Moore, who confirmed the layoffs and explained that they were necessary due to rising costs of technology and there was need to generate profits and give returns to investors. “I can confirm that we completed a restructuring process in December 2017. This was done to reduce fixed costs and keep us on the path to profitability. Overall, the company reduced headcount by 18% covering all departments and all levels in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and UK. We are outsourcing more of our technology work, maintaining a smaller in-house team to work directly with outsourcing partners in Kenya and overseas.” he noted. He went on to say that this was the right thing for the company’s long-term sustainability, “This means building a sustainable, profitable company that offers impact for customers and returns for investors.” On whether the company had outsourced the IT services to a company that is linked to the new CTO, this is what he said. “In mid-2017 our Acting CTO was seconded to us from one of our outsourcing partners, when our previous CTO left the company. Our board approved this and the individual is strictly recused on procurement decisions with companies where could be a potential conflict of interest.” The company was started by Nick Hughes, an Englishman, and his Canadian co-founder, Jesse Moore. Hughes is a former executive at Vodafone, while Moore was working for the GSMA Development Fund, a mobile telecommunications industry group, where he was in charge of identifying opportunities to make mobile services available to people in developing countries. M-kopa is one of the best-funded startups in Africa having raised more than $152 Million since inception in 2011. However, a big chunk of this financing is in form of debt.
Regards,
Alex
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KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
-- Anyega M Jefferson
jeffersonanyega@gmail.com
0703824326
Start where you are,use what you have and do what you can.
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KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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True Ali, but I get the impression that there is a lot more of this going in corporate Kenya - just that this one caught the media's eye and therefore has been publicized. Methinks there is a lot of hidden rot behind many of our seemingly successful startups. As with any hidden disease - denial only makes the problem worse, sooner or later we must face the monster. Best regards, Brian On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 12:39 PM, Ali Hussein <ali@hussein.me.ke> wrote:
Brian
Exactly! In one sentence you have hit the nail on the head. The new game in town is P2P (and here I mean Path 2 Profitability not Peer2Peer) :-)
Regards
*Ali Hussein*
*Principal*
*AHK & Associates*
Tel: +254 713 601113
Twitter: @AliHKassim
Skype: abu-jomo
LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>
13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing,
Chiromo Road, Westlands,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with.
On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 1:30 PM, Brian Munyao Longwe via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Hmm, they've burnt through US$ 152 million in less than 7 years... and are downsizing instead of scaling up...I'd be a very worried investor if I had skin in *that* game....
My two cents,
Mblayo
On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 11:14 AM, anyega jefferson via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Follow the money, chief, which strategy creates the lowest operating costs?
And we kinda can't begrudge anyone , for seeking profit maximization, though i'd think Kenyan developers are the most affordable
On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 12:04 PM, Watila Alex via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Good Afternoon, Are kenyan developers to expensive or unable to meet the grade. or is something else happening here
Article from M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company <http://kenyanwallstreet.com/m-kopa-solar-fires-18-of-its-staff-including-all-developers-outsources-work-to-a-foreign-company-linked-to-new-cto>
M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources...
Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of it...
Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of its developers. According to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity, the developers work has now been outsourced to a foreign company that is linked to the company’s new CTO. The exercise, which was completed in December last year affected a number of employees and some of whom were absorbed by Safaricom according to the source. We sought comments from the company’s CEO and Co-Founder Jesse Moore, who confirmed the layoffs and explained that they were necessary due to rising costs of technology and there was need to generate profits and give returns to investors. “I can confirm that we completed a restructuring process in December 2017. This was done to reduce fixed costs and keep us on the path to profitability. Overall, the company reduced headcount by 18% covering all departments and all levels in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and UK. We are outsourcing more of our technology work, maintaining a smaller in-house team to work directly with outsourcing partners in Kenya and overseas.” he noted. He went on to say that this was the right thing for the company’s long-term sustainability, “This means building a sustainable, profitable company that offers impact for customers and returns for investors.” On whether the company had outsourced the IT services to a company that is linked to the new CTO, this is what he said. “In mid-2017 our Acting CTO was seconded to us from one of our outsourcing partners, when our previous CTO left the company. Our board approved this and the individual is strictly recused on procurement decisions with companies where could be a potential conflict of interest.” The company was started by Nick Hughes, an Englishman, and his Canadian co-founder, Jesse Moore. Hughes is a former executive at Vodafone, while Moore was working for the GSMA Development Fund, a mobile telecommunications industry group, where he was in charge of identifying opportunities to make mobile services available to people in developing countries. M-kopa is one of the best-funded startups in Africa having raised more than $152 Million since inception in 2011. However, a big chunk of this financing is in form of debt.
Regards,
Alex
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KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
-- Anyega M Jefferson
jeffersonanyega@gmail.com
0703824326
Start where you are,use what you have and do what you can.
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KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
Brian The money they have raised was debt financing to predominantly pay for the up-front costs of solar systems, TVs and phones that they then resell onto their consumers, who pay back day-by-day over several months. These are all assets. Of course some of the money is also for operations and for expansion. It is not accurate to say they have burnt through the money; they have spent a lot of the money on assets. I would also think that they don’t need a large software development team having already developed their software, and instead focus on a smaller (maybe outsourced) team for maintenance and small upgrades (which would be easier to outsource after the initial development), but that is just a guess. Adam From: kictanet [mailto:kictanet-bounces+adam.lane=huawei.com@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Ali Hussein via kictanet Sent: Monday, March 12, 2018 1:39 PM To: Adam Lane <adam.lane@huawei.com> Cc: Ali Hussein <ali@hussein.me.ke> Subject: Re: [kictanet] M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company Brian Exactly! In one sentence you have hit the nail on the head. The new game in town is P2P (and here I mean Path 2 Profitability not Peer2Peer) :-) Regards Ali Hussein Principal AHK & Associates Tel: +254 713 601113 Twitter: @AliHKassim Skype: abu-jomo LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim 13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing, Chiromo Road, Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya. Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with. On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 1:30 PM, Brian Munyao Longwe via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote: Hmm, they've burnt through US$ 152 million in less than 7 years... and are downsizing instead of scaling up...I'd be a very worried investor if I had skin in *that* game.... My two cents, Mblayo On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 11:14 AM, anyega jefferson via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote: Follow the money, chief, which strategy creates the lowest operating costs? And we kinda can't begrudge anyone , for seeking profit maximization, though i'd think Kenyan developers are the most affordable On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 12:04 PM, Watila Alex via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote: Good Afternoon, Are kenyan developers to expensive or unable to meet the grade. or is something else happening here Article from M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company<http://kenyanwallstreet.com/m-kopa-solar-fires-18-of-its-staff-including-all-developers-outsources-work-to-a-foreign-company-linked-to-new-cto> M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources... Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of it... Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of its developers. According to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity, the developers work has now been outsourced to a foreign company that is linked to the company’s new CTO. The exercise, which was completed in December last year affected a number of employees and some of whom were absorbed by Safaricom according to the source. We sought comments from the company’s CEO and Co-Founder Jesse Moore, who confirmed the layoffs and explained that they were necessary due to rising costs of technology and there was need to generate profits and give returns to investors. “I can confirm that we completed a restructuring process in December 2017. This was done to reduce fixed costs and keep us on the path to profitability. Overall, the company reduced headcount by 18% covering all departments and all levels in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and UK. We are outsourcing more of our technology work, maintaining a smaller in-house team to work directly with outsourcing partners in Kenya and overseas.” he noted. He went on to say that this was the right thing for the company’s long-term sustainability, “This means building a sustainable, profitable company that offers impact for customers and returns for investors.” On whether the company had outsourced the IT services to a company that is linked to the new CTO, this is what he said. “In mid-2017 our Acting CTO was seconded to us from one of our outsourcing partners, when our previous CTO left the company. Our board approved this and the individual is strictly recused on procurement decisions with companies where could be a potential conflict of interest.” The company was started by Nick Hughes, an Englishman, and his Canadian co-founder, Jesse Moore. Hughes is a former executive at Vodafone, while Moore was working for the GSMA Development Fund, a mobile telecommunications industry group, where he was in charge of identifying opportunities to make mobile services available to people in developing countries. M-kopa is one of the best-funded startups in Africa having raised more than $152 Million since inception in 2011. However, a big chunk of this financing is in form of debt. Regards, Alex _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke<http://www.eacdirectory.co.ke> Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jeffersonanyega%40gmai... The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. -- Anyega M Jefferson jeffersonanyega@gmail.com<mailto:jeffersonanyega@gmail.com> 0703824326 Start where you are,use what you have and do what you can. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke<http://www.eacdirectory.co.ke> Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/blongwe%40gmail.com The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke<http://www.eacdirectory.co.ke> Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/info%40alyhussein.com The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
Hey Adam, Fair analysis - but given that the average "loan period" is 12 months - after 7 years of operations wouldn't the majority of their customers have already paid off their loans, thereby recapitalizing the business as well as servicing any of the debt repayments that would have to (continue) to be made? Just like you, I'm only guessing... Best regards, Brian On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 1:08 PM, Adam Lane via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Brian
The money they have raised was debt financing to predominantly pay for the up-front costs of solar systems, TVs and phones that they then resell onto their consumers, who pay back day-by-day over several months. These are all assets. Of course some of the money is also for operations and for expansion. It is not accurate to say they have burnt through the money; they have spent a lot of the money on assets.
I would also think that they don’t need a large software development team having already developed their software, and instead focus on a smaller (maybe outsourced) team for maintenance and small upgrades (which would be easier to outsource after the initial development), but that is just a guess.
Adam
*From:* kictanet [mailto:kictanet-bounces+adam.lane=huawei.com@lists. kictanet.or.ke] *On Behalf Of *Ali Hussein via kictanet *Sent:* Monday, March 12, 2018 1:39 PM *To:* Adam Lane <adam.lane@huawei.com> *Cc:* Ali Hussein <ali@hussein.me.ke> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company
Brian
Exactly! In one sentence you have hit the nail on the head. The new game in town is P2P (and here I mean Path 2 Profitability not Peer2Peer) :-)
Regards
*Ali Hussein*
*Principal*
*AHK & Associates*
Tel: +254 713 601113 <+254%20713%20601113>
Twitter: @AliHKassim
Skype: abu-jomo
LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing,
Chiromo Road, Westlands,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with.
On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 1:30 PM, Brian Munyao Longwe via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Hmm, they've burnt through US$ 152 million in less than 7 years... and are downsizing instead of scaling up...I'd be a very worried investor if I had skin in *that* game....
My two cents,
Mblayo
On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 11:14 AM, anyega jefferson via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Follow the money, chief, which strategy creates the lowest operating costs?
And we kinda can't begrudge anyone , for seeking profit maximization, though i'd think Kenyan developers are the most affordable
On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 12:04 PM, Watila Alex via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Good Afternoon,
Are kenyan developers to expensive or unable to meet the grade. or is something else happening here
Article from M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company <http://kenyanwallstreet.com/m-kopa-solar-fires-18-of-its-staff-including-all-developers-outsources-work-to-a-foreign-company-linked-to-new-cto>
M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources...
Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of it...
Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of its developers. According to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity, the developers work has now been outsourced to a foreign company that is linked to the company’s new CTO.
The exercise, which was completed in December last year affected a number of employees and some of whom were absorbed by Safaricom according to the source.
We sought comments from the company’s CEO and Co-Founder Jesse Moore, who confirmed the layoffs and explained that they were necessary due to rising costs of technology and there was need to generate profits and give returns to investors.
“I can confirm that we completed a restructuring process in December 2017. This was done to reduce fixed costs and keep us on the path to profitability. Overall, the company reduced headcount by 18% covering all departments and all levels in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and UK. We are outsourcing more of our technology work, maintaining a smaller in-house team to work directly with outsourcing partners in Kenya and overseas.” he noted.
He went on to say that this was the right thing for the company’s long-term sustainability, “This means building a sustainable, profitable company that offers impact for customers and returns for investors.”
On whether the company had outsourced the IT services to a company that is linked to the new CTO, this is what he said.
“In mid-2017 our Acting CTO was seconded to us from one of our outsourcing partners, when our previous CTO left the company. Our board approved this and the individual is strictly recused on procurement decisions with companies where could be a potential conflict of interest.”
The company was started by Nick Hughes, an Englishman, and his Canadian co-founder, Jesse Moore. Hughes is a former executive at Vodafone, while Moore was working for the GSMA Development Fund, a mobile telecommunications industry group, where he was in charge of identifying opportunities to make mobile services available to people in developing countries. M-kopa is one of the best-funded startups in Africa having raised more than $152 Million since inception in 2011. However, a big chunk of this financing is in form of debt.
Regards,
Alex
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KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
--
Anyega M Jefferson
jeffersonanyega@gmail.com
0703824326
Start where you are,use what you have and do what you can.
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke
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KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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Hi Brian Yes, to some extent you are right, though with hundreds of thousands of customers they keep recycling the loans and I am sure the profits would take a long time to pay back such a large amount of loans (which may indicate their business model’s success or otherwise) – again right now we can only guess. Adam From: Brian Munyao Longwe [mailto:blongwe@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, March 12, 2018 2:57 PM To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Cc: Adam Lane <adam.lane@huawei.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company Hey Adam, Fair analysis - but given that the average "loan period" is 12 months - after 7 years of operations wouldn't the majority of their customers have already paid off their loans, thereby recapitalizing the business as well as servicing any of the debt repayments that would have to (continue) to be made? Just like you, I'm only guessing... Best regards, Brian On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 1:08 PM, Adam Lane via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote: Brian The money they have raised was debt financing to predominantly pay for the up-front costs of solar systems, TVs and phones that they then resell onto their consumers, who pay back day-by-day over several months. These are all assets. Of course some of the money is also for operations and for expansion. It is not accurate to say they have burnt through the money; they have spent a lot of the money on assets. I would also think that they don’t need a large software development team having already developed their software, and instead focus on a smaller (maybe outsourced) team for maintenance and small upgrades (which would be easier to outsource after the initial development), but that is just a guess. Adam From: kictanet [mailto:kictanet-bounces+adam.lane<mailto:kictanet-bounces%2Badam.lane>=huawei.com@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:huawei.com@lists.kictanet.or.ke>] On Behalf Of Ali Hussein via kictanet Sent: Monday, March 12, 2018 1:39 PM To: Adam Lane <adam.lane@huawei.com<mailto:adam.lane@huawei.com>> Cc: Ali Hussein <ali@hussein.me.ke<mailto:ali@hussein.me.ke>> Subject: Re: [kictanet] M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company Brian Exactly! In one sentence you have hit the nail on the head. The new game in town is P2P (and here I mean Path 2 Profitability not Peer2Peer) :-) Regards Ali Hussein Principal AHK & Associates Tel: +254 713 601113<tel:+254%20713%20601113> Twitter: @AliHKassim Skype: abu-jomo LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim 13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing, Chiromo Road, Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya. Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with. On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 1:30 PM, Brian Munyao Longwe via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote: Hmm, they've burnt through US$ 152 million in less than 7 years... and are downsizing instead of scaling up...I'd be a very worried investor if I had skin in *that* game.... My two cents, Mblayo On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 11:14 AM, anyega jefferson via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote: Follow the money, chief, which strategy creates the lowest operating costs? And we kinda can't begrudge anyone , for seeking profit maximization, though i'd think Kenyan developers are the most affordable On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 12:04 PM, Watila Alex via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote: Good Afternoon, Are kenyan developers to expensive or unable to meet the grade. or is something else happening here Article from M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company<http://kenyanwallstreet.com/m-kopa-solar-fires-18-of-its-staff-including-all-developers-outsources-work-to-a-foreign-company-linked-to-new-cto> M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources... Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of it... Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of its developers. According to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity, the developers work has now been outsourced to a foreign company that is linked to the company’s new CTO. The exercise, which was completed in December last year affected a number of employees and some of whom were absorbed by Safaricom according to the source. We sought comments from the company’s CEO and Co-Founder Jesse Moore, who confirmed the layoffs and explained that they were necessary due to rising costs of technology and there was need to generate profits and give returns to investors. “I can confirm that we completed a restructuring process in December 2017. This was done to reduce fixed costs and keep us on the path to profitability. Overall, the company reduced headcount by 18% covering all departments and all levels in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and UK. We are outsourcing more of our technology work, maintaining a smaller in-house team to work directly with outsourcing partners in Kenya and overseas.” he noted. He went on to say that this was the right thing for the company’s long-term sustainability, “This means building a sustainable, profitable company that offers impact for customers and returns for investors.” On whether the company had outsourced the IT services to a company that is linked to the new CTO, this is what he said. “In mid-2017 our Acting CTO was seconded to us from one of our outsourcing partners, when our previous CTO left the company. Our board approved this and the individual is strictly recused on procurement decisions with companies where could be a potential conflict of interest.” The company was started by Nick Hughes, an Englishman, and his Canadian co-founder, Jesse Moore. Hughes is a former executive at Vodafone, while Moore was working for the GSMA Development Fund, a mobile telecommunications industry group, where he was in charge of identifying opportunities to make mobile services available to people in developing countries. M-kopa is one of the best-funded startups in Africa having raised more than $152 Million since inception in 2011. However, a big chunk of this financing is in form of debt. Regards, Alex _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke<http://www.eacdirectory.co.ke> Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jeffersonanyega%40gmai... The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. -- Anyega M Jefferson jeffersonanyega@gmail.com<mailto:jeffersonanyega@gmail.com> 0703824326 Start where you are,use what you have and do what you can. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke<http://www.eacdirectory.co.ke> Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/blongwe%40gmail.com The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke<http://www.eacdirectory.co.ke> Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/info%40alyhussein.com The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke<http://www.eacdirectory.co.ke> Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/blongwe%40gmail.com The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
Adam This is probably an Off-Balance Sheet item. The debt financing <https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/2017/10/m-kopa-solar-secures-sh8-2bn-debt-expansion/> you are mentioning is mainly for onward lending through 12-24 months micro-payments to its 600k plus off-grid customers. This doesn't necessarily impact their Working Capital Requirements and hence little impact on their burn-rates. Good discussion. *Ali Hussein* *Principal* *AHK & Associates* Tel: +254 713 601113 Twitter: @AliHKassim Skype: abu-jomo LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim> 13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing, Chiromo Road, Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya. Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with. On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 2:08 PM, Adam Lane <adam.lane@huawei.com> wrote:
Brian
The money they have raised was debt financing to predominantly pay for the up-front costs of solar systems, TVs and phones that they then resell onto their consumers, who pay back day-by-day over several months. These are all assets. Of course some of the money is also for operations and for expansion. It is not accurate to say they have burnt through the money; they have spent a lot of the money on assets.
I would also think that they don’t need a large software development team having already developed their software, and instead focus on a smaller (maybe outsourced) team for maintenance and small upgrades (which would be easier to outsource after the initial development), but that is just a guess.
Adam
*From:* kictanet [mailto:kictanet-bounces+adam.lane=huawei.com@lists. kictanet.or.ke] *On Behalf Of *Ali Hussein via kictanet *Sent:* Monday, March 12, 2018 1:39 PM *To:* Adam Lane <adam.lane@huawei.com> *Cc:* Ali Hussein <ali@hussein.me.ke> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company
Brian
Exactly! In one sentence you have hit the nail on the head. The new game in town is P2P (and here I mean Path 2 Profitability not Peer2Peer) :-)
Regards
*Ali Hussein*
*Principal*
*AHK & Associates*
Tel: +254 713 601113
Twitter: @AliHKassim
Skype: abu-jomo
LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing,
Chiromo Road, Westlands,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with.
On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 1:30 PM, Brian Munyao Longwe via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Hmm, they've burnt through US$ 152 million in less than 7 years... and are downsizing instead of scaling up...I'd be a very worried investor if I had skin in *that* game....
My two cents,
Mblayo
On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 11:14 AM, anyega jefferson via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Follow the money, chief, which strategy creates the lowest operating costs?
And we kinda can't begrudge anyone , for seeking profit maximization, though i'd think Kenyan developers are the most affordable
On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 12:04 PM, Watila Alex via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Good Afternoon,
Are kenyan developers to expensive or unable to meet the grade. or is something else happening here
Article from M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company <http://kenyanwallstreet.com/m-kopa-solar-fires-18-of-its-staff-including-all-developers-outsources-work-to-a-foreign-company-linked-to-new-cto>
M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources...
Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of it...
Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of its developers. According to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity, the developers work has now been outsourced to a foreign company that is linked to the company’s new CTO.
The exercise, which was completed in December last year affected a number of employees and some of whom were absorbed by Safaricom according to the source.
We sought comments from the company’s CEO and Co-Founder Jesse Moore, who confirmed the layoffs and explained that they were necessary due to rising costs of technology and there was need to generate profits and give returns to investors.
“I can confirm that we completed a restructuring process in December 2017. This was done to reduce fixed costs and keep us on the path to profitability. Overall, the company reduced headcount by 18% covering all departments and all levels in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and UK. We are outsourcing more of our technology work, maintaining a smaller in-house team to work directly with outsourcing partners in Kenya and overseas.” he noted.
He went on to say that this was the right thing for the company’s long-term sustainability, “This means building a sustainable, profitable company that offers impact for customers and returns for investors.”
On whether the company had outsourced the IT services to a company that is linked to the new CTO, this is what he said.
“In mid-2017 our Acting CTO was seconded to us from one of our outsourcing partners, when our previous CTO left the company. Our board approved this and the individual is strictly recused on procurement decisions with companies where could be a potential conflict of interest.”
The company was started by Nick Hughes, an Englishman, and his Canadian co-founder, Jesse Moore. Hughes is a former executive at Vodafone, while Moore was working for the GSMA Development Fund, a mobile telecommunications industry group, where he was in charge of identifying opportunities to make mobile services available to people in developing countries. M-kopa is one of the best-funded startups in Africa having raised more than $152 Million since inception in 2011. However, a big chunk of this financing is in form of debt.
Regards,
Alex
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Anyega M Jefferson
jeffersonanyega@gmail.com
0703824326
Start where you are,use what you have and do what you can.
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I keep feeling that kenyan software developers over price their services – in relation to what India offers. Of course I know there are some factors but it doesn’t help us being more expensive. From: kictanet [mailto:kictanet-bounces+bkioko=bernsoft.com@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Watila Alex via kictanet Sent: Monday, March 12, 2018 12:04 PM To: bkioko@bernsoft.com Cc: Watila Alex Subject: [kictanet] M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company Good Afternoon, Are kenyan developers to expensive or unable to meet the grade. or is something else happening here Article from M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company <http://kenyanwallstreet.com/m-kopa-solar-fires-18-of-its-staff-including-all-developers-outsources-work-to-a-foreign-company-linked-to-new-cto> M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources... Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of it... Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of its developers. According to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity, the developers work has now been outsourced to a foreign company that is linked to the company’s new CTO. The exercise, which was completed in December last year affected a number of employees and some of whom were absorbed by Safaricom according to the source. We sought comments from the company’s CEO and Co-Founder Jesse Moore, who confirmed the layoffs and explained that they were necessary due to rising costs of technology and there was need to generate profits and give returns to investors. “I can confirm that we completed a restructuring process in December 2017. This was done to reduce fixed costs and keep us on the path to profitability. Overall, the company reduced headcount by 18% covering all departments and all levels in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and UK. We are outsourcing more of our technology work, maintaining a smaller in-house team to work directly with outsourcing partners in Kenya and overseas.” he noted. He went on to say that this was the right thing for the company’s long-term sustainability, “This means building a sustainable, profitable company that offers impact for customers and returns for investors.” On whether the company had outsourced the IT services to a company that is linked to the new CTO, this is what he said. “In mid-2017 our Acting CTO was seconded to us from one of our outsourcing partners, when our previous CTO left the company. Our board approved this and the individual is strictly recused on procurement decisions with companies where could be a potential conflict of interest.” The company was started by Nick Hughes, an Englishman, and his Canadian co-founder, Jesse Moore. Hughes is a former executive at Vodafone, while Moore was working for the GSMA Development Fund, a mobile telecommunications industry group, where he was in charge of identifying opportunities to make mobile services available to people in developing countries. M-kopa is one of the best-funded startups in Africa having raised more than $152 Million since inception in 2011. However, a big chunk of this financing is in form of debt. Regards, Alex
The presumption is that such an entity would've had the potential to attract the best of the developers talent from Kenyan and elsewhere, probably unlike your regular startup without much global attention. We must keep in mind that young people are encouraged, lured and cajoled into tech careers and where this is the direction, they require shockabsorbers to be ready for shortterm career stints. The people element must keep being of concern just as the myriad business objects. Part of the drive in support and celebration of startups and innovators is to be part of the solution by creating (value) employment opportunities not only making Kenya a consumption market. In other parts of the world, Robot get fired...; Humans Couldn't Keep Up with This Burger-Flipping Robot, So They Fired It Humans Couldn't Keep Up with This Burger-Flipping Robot, So They Fired It | | | | | | | | | | | Humans Couldn't Keep Up with This Burger-Flipping Robot, So They Fired It Being a fry cook isn't as easy as it looks, as a burger-flipping robot named "Flippy" recently dis... | | | | Be blessed. Regards/Wangari --- Pray God Bless. 2013Wangari circa - "Being of the Light, We are Restored Through Faith in Mind, Body and Spirit; We Manifest The Kingdom of God on Earth". On Monday, 12 March 2018, 12:13, Watila Alex via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote: Good Afternoon,Are kenyan developers to expensive or unable to meet the grade. or is something else happening here Article from M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources work to a foreign company | | | | | | | | | | | M-Kopa Solar fires 18% of its staff including all developers, outsources... Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of it... | | | Kenya based pay-as-you-go solar provider M-KOPA Solar has fired undisclosed number of staff including most of its developers. According to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity, the developers work has now been outsourced to a foreign company that is linked to the company’s new CTO.The exercise, which was completed in December last year affected a number of employees and some of whom were absorbed by Safaricom according to the source.We sought comments from the company’s CEO and Co-Founder Jesse Moore, who confirmed the layoffs and explained that they were necessary due to rising costs of technology and there was need to generate profits and give returns to investors.“I can confirm that we completed a restructuring process in December 2017. This was done to reduce fixed costs and keep us on the path to profitability. Overall, the company reduced headcount by 18% covering all departments and all levels in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and UK. We are outsourcing more of our technology work, maintaining a smaller in-house team to work directly with outsourcing partners in Kenya and overseas.” he noted.He went on to say that this was the right thing for the company’s long-term sustainability, “This means building a sustainable, profitable company that offers impact for customers and returns for investors.”On whether the company had outsourced the IT services to a company that is linked to the new CTO, this is what he said.“In mid-2017 our Acting CTO was seconded to us from one of our outsourcing partners, when our previous CTO left the company. Our board approved this and the individual is strictly recused on procurement decisions with companies where could be a potential conflict of interest.”The company was started by Nick Hughes, an Englishman, and his Canadian co-founder, Jesse Moore. Hughes is a former executive at Vodafone, while Moore was working for the GSMA Development Fund, a mobile telecommunications industry group, where he was in charge of identifying opportunities to make mobile services available to people in developing countries. M-kopa is one of the best-funded startups in Africa having raised more than $152 Million since inception in 2011. However, a big chunk of this financing is in form of debt. Regards, Alex _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/wangarikabiru%40yahoo.... The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
participants (7)
-
Adam Lane -
Ali Hussein -
anyega jefferson -
Bernard Kioko -
Brian Munyao Longwe -
WANGARI KABIRU -
Watila Alex