British Banks Stock Crises: Jitters World Stock Markets

Watching CNBC yesterday i was just amazed at how fragile the world economy is as i witnessed the effects of the British Banks Stock crises and its rippling effect to other world stock markets.Yesterday morning British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Lord Chancellor Alastair Darling announced a $ 88 billion bail out plan to marshal the credit crises that was affecting the British banking sector.

I am not an expert on these things i would rather leave that to my friend Bankelele but what amazed me is how the other world stock markets were being immediately affected due to the financial crunch, for example:

• The Tokyo Stock exchange closed at 9.38 % down
• Russia,Indonesia,Ukraine suspended trading on its stock exchange
  
• European markets suffered losses of up to eight per cent, including a 5.18 per cent fall on the FTSE, followed quickly by falls on the New York Stock Exchange.
• In London, the FTSE 100 shed 5.18 per cent to finish at 4,366 while in Paris the CAC 40 fell 6.39 per cent and Frankfurt DAX was down 5.88 per cent. There were declines of 5.51 per cent on the Swiss Market Index, 5.20 per cent in Madrid, 5.71 per cent in Milan, 7.36 per cent in Brussels and 7.68 per cent in Amsterdam.

The State bailout plan is similar to the $700 billion fund to purchase defunct mortgage assets from troubled financial institutions proposed by the U.S. Treasury secretary, Henry Paulson Jr.The American Government had to recently step in and nationalize companies like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and American International Group(AIG), which were on the verge of collapse.

I wonder what the effect is for the Nairobi Stock Exchange....but im sure its not good especially for Companies such as Barclay's Bank of Kenya.Oops just seen Mr. Chris Mwebesa 's Nairobi NSE CEO' s statement indicating that trading at the NSE' s floors was suspended yesterday after the market almost lost 5% of its value.

Crazy About Kenya Website; Press Release

I am just so happy to extend this favor to a friend of mine Siobhan Mcgeady for her passionate endeavors to promote the local tourism scene alongside with her team.This a re-print of Crazy About Kenya Press release( 7 October, 2008)...A UK based tourism promotion initiative (between site.

GO CRAZY ABOUT KENYA WITH ACACIA ADVENTURE HOLIDAYS - THE NEW ONLINE PORTAL FOR AFRICA'S WILDLIFE CAPITAL

Acacia Adventure Holidays and the Kenya Tourist Board have joined forces to create the new Crazy About Kenya website (http://www.crazyaboutkenya.com) – an online portal that proves there’s more to Africa’s wildlife capital than the Mara.

An ethically charged initiative, Crazy About Kenya features a collective of over 20 indigenous artists and musicians, including world renowned singer/songwriter Eric Wainaina; the talented crew coming together to give would be adventurers an insider perspective on the destination.

A site with a positive vibe, surfers can get to grips with Kenya’s animal kingdom, immerse themselves in the hip and happening culture of Nairobi, chill to the latest tracks from Africa’s wildlife capital, and feast their eyes on some fascinating Kenyan art - in just one click. From virtual inspiration to real life experiences the website also comes packed with destination highlights and new adventure itineraries from Acacia Adventure Holidays, to satisfy the cravings of even the most avid Kenya fan.

Full of exclusive content, Crazy About Kenya will feature regular news updates on album launches from the project’s Kenyan partners and new artists; details on upcoming events and ethical projects in Nairobi; the latest travel deals from the tour operator and a dedicated newsletter entitled the "Whispering Grass of the Maasai Plains". Visitors to the website can also enter Acacia Adventure Holidays “Answer the call of the wild” competition for a chance to win one of ten Rough Guides to Kenya (www.roughguides.com).

A truly responsible guide, armchair adventurers can show their support for ghetto based initiatives and the projects talented partners by uploading the new Crazy About Kenya logo onto their travel blogs, websites, or social networking pages (http://www.crazyaboutkenya.com/downloads.php). Alternatively, they can chat to the artists and musicians online as many of them are featured on Facebook and MySpace.

For those of us who are simply Crazy About Kenya this is one URL that captures the diversity of Africa’s wildlife capital and for travellers who are planning on catching up with the annual migration in 2009 – there will be no need to wait, as Acacia Adventure Holidays even has a Maasai Mara e-safari game due to launch on the site on 31 October.

Angie Sloan, Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for Kenya Tourist Board, comments: " The Kenya Tourist Board is delighted to be working with Acacia Adventure Holidays as part of our autumn campaign, to promote not only the wildlife but culture of Kenya. Acacia Adventure Holidays is a well established expert in selling holidays to Kenya with a wide range of product for visitors to experience Kenya's vast array of charms - from the Indian Ocean beaches to the thrilling experience of a safari."

Acacia Adventure Holidays offers overland tours taking in the world renowned Maasai Mara from £595pp + local payment from £208pp (13-day itinerary). A great time to book, the tour operator is currently running its Winter Sun Specials promotion and discounting all overland departures up to 01 July 2009 by 25%. Bookings should be made by 15 November.

The above price includes tour highlights as listed in the brochure, transport, roads tolls and taxes, camping accommodation and cooking equipment, most meals and services of tour leader and driver (no single supplement). Excludes return international flight, visas, departure taxes, and transfers. Contact Acacia Adventure Holidays direct to take advantage of the discount on 020 7706 4700, email info@acacia-africa.com or visit www.acacia-africa.com for further information. ATOL No. 6499 and ABTA No. W4093 PROTECTED.

-ends-

For further information please contact Siobhan at tion London on 020 8180 1585 (VoIP) or 020 8180 1614 or email siobhan@tionlondon.co.uk.

Editors' notes:
Crazy About Kenya is also available on Facebook on the following pages: Acacia Adventure Holidays and Crazy About Kenya. The project will appear on MySpace on 15 October.

For further information on the Kenya Tourist Board please telephone Tel: +44 (0) 20 7367 0931, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7407 3810, email Kenya@hillsbalfoursynergy.

com, visit www.magicalkenya.com or contact the Kenya Tourist Board at 3rd Flr. Colechurch House,1 London Bridge Walk, London SE1 2SX.

Kenya is your ideal destination for a holiday retreat!

Nokia Kenya- Research Centre's !

Nokia cellphones are just ideal!!!I have been an ardent fan of Nokia phones ever since i owned a mobile phone.If you are like me you probably cherish the 3310(most Kenyans first phone apart from Alcatel...remember those phones?) which were readily famed in the Kenya in the late 1990's.I owned one until thieves decided to raid our house in Ongata Rongai and we had to throw our phones over the window to stave them off.So the news that Nokia was opening Research and Development(R&D)offices in Kenya was great news!

The R& D offices will aid Nokia company to design products and services that are relevant and tailor made for the local users.According to a KBC interview of Jussi Impio "As of April 1, 2007, Nokia had R&D centers in 11 countries and employed 14,500 people in research and development, representing approximately 32% of Nokia's total workforce. The R& D centres expenses totaled EUR 3,9 billion in 2006, representing 9,5% of Nokia's net sales. It is apparently seen that Nokia invests a substantial portion of its resources in research and development activities within its principal business groups; Mobile Phones, Multimedia and Enterprise Solutions, Technology Platforms, and in the Nokia Research Center (NRC).Certainly consumers appreciate receiving such attention and care.



Nokia Pilots:
To buttress this position Nokia has only recently launched its online Nokia Pilots recruitment initiative to enable it gather vital information from its consumers.the Nokia pilots programe enables individuals to have a unique opportunity to get involved in Nokia's creative processes.Nokia Pilots Subcribers also get the rare opportunity to sneak peek the latest trends and a chance to see get some of their feedback and suggestions implemented.In yesterdays news(see YouTube Video)Nokia Kenya launched an initiative to help Kenyan Musicians tap into their potential and identify development opportunities using mobile technology.

We now look foward to the positive contributions that Kenyan R&D centres and Nokia Pilots will bring to Africa where mobile telecommunication is rapidly bridging the development divide!

NB: if you are interested in purchasing the latest mobile phones within Kenyan/East African region including the Nokia E71 see the following links: http://mea.nokia.com/english , OR Kenya's first online shopping mall at http://ke.gadgetsguru.com/index.aspx