Business News

This term, we have been focusing on “people in business” and Human Resources; looking at recruitment and selection of workers, motivation, employment laws and communication. This has involved a diverse range of practical activities; including: writing CVs, shortlisting and taking part in a mock interview and conducting research on various institutions regarding their HR departments. Some of our Business students were involved in market research last week which further helped enhance their interpersonal skills and persuasive writing skills.

We also had a successful lesson with the Year 11 students where the students led the lesson and taught their colleagues how to do cash flow forecasting.

Talking about cash flow we also have been discussing the effects of Corona Virus on businesses over the last 2 years which certainly has been hitting its cash flows. Interestingly despite many businesses suffering negative cash flows during this time period it was revealed that Diesel prices in Kenya are the lowest in Eastern Africa in the wake of the monthly subsidy, reversing the market structure that made the country’s fuel the most costly in the region before the Corona Virus. A litre of the commodity costs Sh112.63 on average in Kenya, compared to Sh118.44, Sh139.08 and Sh149.91 in three of the six East African Community countries, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi, respectively. This bucks a trend where Kenya has had the costliest super petrol and diesel in the region in the past mainly due to relatively high taxes and levies. This will attract more Investment in the region.

Adding to this there has been the ongoing construction of Nairobi Expressway to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, along Mombasa Road which will raise billions for the Chinese company who is building it but will adversely increase costs of production for businesses using that route. Transport CS James Macharia revealed that the game-changing project is 84 per cent complete and will be completed in 2 months. He noted that the government has cut the time frame for the Sh65 billion project by two years which is a triumph.

Our Year 11 students are in the midst of IGCSE examinations revision across most subjects so we wish them all the best. They are certainly showing very good organisational and time- management skills.

We also had a very successful Business Inset Day run by the BMIS Business Department as part of Teachers’ Professional Development on Friday 11th March. Many teachers travelled to us from different schools all over the region. It was an extremely informative and interactive session focusing on the successful delivery of our lessons and how to improve teaching and learning in this subject area.