Tweets on tech, startups, business, entrepreneurship in Africa. Editor-at-large @TechMoran & https://xitter.gq/t.co/fRoimVkwzc. Host #TechNight & https://xitter.gq/t.co/uF2E8Bh2YY
Nairobi, Kenya
Joined August 2012
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Sam Wakoba retweeted
Getting a principled leader like Sifuna is a rare opportunity that comes only once in a blue moon. Kenya has spent decades being governed by politicians who prioritize power, personal interests and political survival over the Constitution and the welfare of ordinary citizens. When a leader emerges who understands the importance of constitutionalism, accountability, integrity and responsible leadership, we must not take that opportunity for granted.
Sifuna represents a chance to change the direction of this country, to build a Kenya where leadership is about service, not entitlement; where the Constitution is respected, not manipulated; and where every Kenyan matters regardless of tribe, background or political affiliation.
Such leadership is not something we encounter every election cycle. Principled leaders are rare, and when one comes along, the responsibility lies with the people to recognize and elect them. We cannot keep complaining about bad leadership while refusing to support the leaders who offer us a better alternative.
Kenya deserves better, and that better Kenya begins with making the right choices. Let us elect Sifuna, protect the Constitution and give this country the leadership it has been waiting for. 🇰🇪
Sam Wakoba retweeted
Apple paid $3 billion for Dr. Dre's Beats. The man who built the headphones sold his shares for $5.5 million.
His name is Noel Lee. He ran Monster, the cable company. In 2008, Monster made a deal with Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine. Monster would design, make and ship the headphones. Beats would handle the brand and the hype.
In the video below, Lee explains how he says he lost it all. In 2009, he bought 5% of Beats. But the contract had a catch. If someone took control of Beats, Beats could end the deal with Monster.
In 2011, phone maker HTC bought 51% of Beats. A month later, Beats cut Monster loose. Lee says Monster had to hand over its designs, its suppliers and its store deals. Two years later, Beats bought HTC's stake back. Lee calls it a sham.
Then came his shares. Lee says he asked Beats if a sale was coming. A Beats official told him: "There will be no liquidity event in the next year or two; nothing is on the horizon." So he sold. Less than eight months later, Apple bought Beats. Lee says his 5% would have been worth over $100 million.
"I think I've been duped."
The case for Beats: Lee signed the contract with that control clause himself. He also signed releases when he sold his shares. Judges threw out his claims against Dre and Iovine. Beats won the case.
I post one story like this every day.
Was Noel Lee robbed, or did he sign his own bad deal?
Sam Wakoba retweeted
Jubilee Holdings announced this week that Dr Julius Kipngetich retires as Group CEO on 30 November, with Juan Cazarra taking over on the 1st of December 2026. Nearly nine years at the helm.
Which sends me back to my notes from September.
He was one of my lecturers at United States International University - Africa back in 1994 or 1995. On the 8th of September 2026 he opened the Kenya Teachers Sacco Association (KETSA) Annual CEOs' Workshop in Mombasa and told a room of SACCO chief executives:
"Saving and credit is a tired product. It is for Gen Xs and boomers."
He also mentioned that he planned to retire at the end of the year. None of us made much of it at the time. Two months on, it means what I sat through was one of the last big public keynotes of his tenure.
He did not spend it on Jubilee. Here is what he spent it on instead:
1/ Kenya saves about 12% of income. Uganda 23%, Tanzania 21%. Vision 2030 targeted 30% and we have never once reached it.
2/ The bigger drain is tax. He put the combined burden at roughly 40% of income, then made the more explicit point: at 40% Kenya should be a welfare state. Instead we pay again, privately, for security, water and school.
3/ Then there are dead assets - anything you own that pays you nothing. The rural home nobody lives in. The plot you are holding. Five acres of maize. "Food crop can never be a cash crop. Ever."
4/ Get out of bank fixed deposits. Banks pay you single digits, then lend the same money to government at double digits. "They keep quiet because they have to exploit somebody who is not clever enough to see they are being exploited."
5/ His hierarchy: SACCO first, then a money market fund, then Treasury bills and bonds, then infrastructure bonds - interest tax-free - then equities.
6/ On property: Kenyan real estate yields around 7%, government paper pays more, risk-free. "Have you ever seen a Jubilee Tower? You will never see one." He sits on the committee that says no.
7/ Retirement is where the money actually disappears. "A fence has no income." Then the most candid line of the day: "Most of our members, post-retirement, they never live more than 10 years."
8/ On governance he did not go lightly at all. "You move a primary school teacher, you bring them to a board which manages 30 billion. Nobody has trained them." Members keep the vote, he said — but elect for a different calibre.
9/ "Somebody has to bell the cat, and I wanted to say it openly today."
That last line reads very differently now. He knew he was leaving. He said it anyway — to a room that had no obligation to listen to him.
A CEO on his way out could have taken a victory lap. He chose to tell other people's chief executives that their core product is finished.
Asante sana, Dr Kipngetich. 30 years on, still learning from you!
Read The Blog Post: bit.ly/4ecip8N
#SACCO #Kenya #FinancialServices #KETSA #Jubilee #Leadership #PersonalFinance #Africa
@Kipngetichjk @JubileeGroupKE – at Nairobi, Kenya
Sam Wakoba retweeted
Six Kenyans have moved to court to stop the government from spending public money on the Bayern Munich vs Ajax friendly on January 5.
They want the court to force disclosure of the Sh724.6 million appearance fee and all sponsorship agreements.
The government says it has private sponsors.
Sam Wakoba retweeted
If Bien understands it this clearly, surely the only ones struggling are those refusing to understand! Katiba ikifuata, shiny things will be built at the right cost not through exploitation, excessive taxes or at the expense of Kenyans!
Na msisahau, our President and Party Leader
Sam Wakoba retweeted
What's your plan for November?
I know it's No Shave November, but can we also make it Oktobafest November? Because the beer, music and good vibes aren't stopping just yet!
#Oktobafest2026
Sam Wakoba retweeted
Haiya! So over the weekend, Tusker Oktobafest took over 1922, Nyali! From electrifying music and great vibes to exciting offers on some of Kenya’s finest beers, revelers had every reason to celebrate.
@KenyaBreweries
#Oktobafest2026
Sam Wakoba retweeted
"Kenya’s problem is not the lack of projects, but inflated costs, misplaced priorities, hidden contracts and wanton looting. At what cost are we delivering development? Without constitutionalism, transparency and accountability, public projects become avenues for exploitation at the expense of Mwananchi and essential services." Thank you Bien for being candid and real in this matter.
Sam Wakoba retweeted
Current government has created a culture of impunity where it's okay to insult your opponents . They are so emboldened that an elected Senator can piss on the constitution as a political insult
hapakenya.com/2026/11/02/how…
.@SoftBank -backed, @MercadoBitcoin, Brazil's crypto exchange has reportedly been hacked, over $40 million stolen.
Valued at over $2.1 billion, Mercado Bitcoin is the region's biggest crypto exchange by volume and processed transactions worth $4 billion.
Mercado is part of 2TM, a wider alternative assets group that also comprises various other businesses such as digital wallet company Meubank and asset management platform Parmais.
Ruto's Haitian intervention did nothing but failed. He fails to neutralize the gangs but took protestors with heavy fire. #RutoMustGo
l'un des chef de gang, main droite de barbecue à été capturé.
l'homme a survécu a une frappe de drone qui a liquidé ceux qui étaient avec lui dans la forêt. ils se dirigeaient a la frontière dominicaine.
étant maintenant seul, il a essayé de grimper la clôture de la frontière avec la République Dominicaine. il a été repéré par la police de frontière dominicaine qui a saisi le délinquant qui avait retiré les habits pour ne pas être remarqué.
il a été livré aux commandos salvadorien.
il a proposé 3 millions de dollars pour être relâcher mais les commandos ont déclaré que l'argent là doit servir à dédommager les nombreuses famille haïtien qu'il a tué.
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
L'homme sur la photo est un ressortissant haïtien qui a été arrêté lors d'une opération migratoire nocturne menée par les autorités de la République dominicaine à Villa Tapia, dans la province de Hermanas Mirabal, aucun rapport avec ce que dit la publication.
instagram.com/reel/DfKOqJjRH…
Sam Wakoba retweeted
Meet Erick Mkingule, the Tanzanian founder building technology to help Africa’s small businesses thrive. His startup, Atlas Digital Systems, serves 52+ paying merchants across four countries. techmoran.com/2026/10/31/ceo… #Startups #AfricaTech
