Hill+Knowlton Strategies named the best transaction advisors- PR and Marketing for 2012

Hill+Knowlton Strategies East Africa has been named the transaction advisor of the  year - PR and Marketing in this year's Think Business Capital Markets Awards. The panel of judges unanimously awarded the agency for its role in managing top financial transaction ranging from IPOs, Rights Issues and Listings.

Making the announcement, Think Business Managing Director Ochieng Oloo said that the judges were impressed with the level of expertise that the agency has applied while managing financial transactions.

"Hill+Knowlton Strategies portrayed excellent use of communication and issues management in bringing to successful close various transactions in divers sectors of the economy," said Ochieng.

Hill+Knowlton Strategies, East Africa, a Joint venture between Scangroup Limited and Hill+Knowlton Strategies, runs a fully-fledged financial services practice, which manages a wide range of financial transaction projects in the banking, insurance and investor relations.

"Hill+Knowlton Strategies East Africa has carved a niche in Financial Communications having worked on several high-profile Initial Public Offers and Right Issues. We have helped our clients raise KES 44.5 billion between 2006 and 2012, and this amount is bound to rise by the end of this year as we complete ongoing transactions," said Alexander Doll, Managing Director H+K.

Doll also said that H+K has become a financial communications powerhouse and the company will continue to strengthen the financial practice through training and research to enhance the level of counsel the agency is providing to financial clients.  

Some of the key transactions H+K has managed include;

IPOs: Kenya RE , British American Investment Company, Scangroup and currently working on Umeme cross border IPO.

Rights Issue: TPS Serena Hotels, KPLC, Standard Chartered Bank, NIC Bank, CfC Stanbic, KCB

Bonds: Athi River Mining, Deacons

"We made a conscious decision as Scangroup to invest in specialized expertise to enhance our approach in managing diverse needs of our clients across sub Saharan Africa, and this recognition is proof that the approach has been successful," said Bharat Thakrar, CEO, Scangroup.

Hill+Knowlton Strategies East Africa Ltd covers Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania and is headquartered in Nairobi. Some of its other corporate clients include Kenya Bankers Association, Nokia, Emirates Airline, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, P&G, Britam, MasterCard, StarTimes Media, Airtel, South African Tourism among others.

USAID LAUNCHES YOUTH SACCO IN KENYA

The Minister for Cooperative Development and Marketing, with the National Youth Bunge Association (NYBA), is launching seven USAID-supported youth-led Savings and Credit Cooperative
Societies (SACCO) in Eldoret on Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at 2 p.m. at the Sirikwa Hotel.

The Minister for Cooperative Development and Marketing, Hon. Joseph W.N. Nyagah and USAID's Youth Advisor, Dr. Roger Steinkamp, will preside over the occasion and will issue registration certificates to the County Youth Bunge SACCO Cooperative Management Committees.  This NYBA-managed SACCO initiative aims to motivate youth to form economic-oriented
self-help groups and by doing so further the Government of Kenya's progress towards Vision 2030.  The SACCOs will explore linkages with the public and private sectors, as well as donor agencies.  

Yes Youth Can, the largest USAID-supported program in the world, works in 25 of Kenya's 47 counties and has enabled more than one million youth in 20,000 villages to organize themselves into the National Youth Bunge Association, a system of village- and county-level bunges, or parliaments.  Youth bunges are registered as self-help groups with the Ministry of Gender & Social Development.  The program provides support for the economic development of Kenya's youth in their communities such as jobs, community service, responsible leadership, investments, and
partnerships.  NYBA leaders are elected democratically beginning at the village level.

The NYBA approached the Ministry of Cooperative Development and Marketing and USAID to help them form county SACCOs with the goal of serving all the youth and youth groups that are members of a village bunge network.  The county bunge SACCOs will not only be a safe place for youth savings but a source of loans for its bunge members.  The SACCOs will also seek to explore and attract private and public sector investment capital.  The NYBA leadership emphasized that these SACCOs will be controlled, managed and driven by youth.  The ultimate goal will
be to organize a National Youth Co-operative (NACO) to serve the county-level SACCOs.