Capitalizing on the geothermal water in Naivasha and its environs to boast Health spa tourism in Kenya.

My recent visit to Olkaria Geothermal plant in the Great Rift Valley region of Naivasha, Kenya for a family weekend to experience what the geothermal spa has to offer, reminded me of the many opportunities our country has to offer in terms of balneology to the loved one amongst us suffering from skin ailments such as psoriasis, skin rashes etc in order to stay healthy and tranquil while not only enjoying the steam bath but also get a glimpse of seeing buffaloes and giraffes  graze on the nearby hills , the move by Kengen in diversifying  in health tourism is long overdue for country only considered as a safari destination , it brings new dynamism in the way tourism is looked at with novel ideas like Eco and agro tourism and cultural tourism. Though from what I gathered from the tour guides the rates for locals are kes 300 and another kes 300 for parking fees where as for resident citizens the damage was kes 500 and I guess kes 1,000 for foreign tourists, though the underlying fact is the related amenities are almost complete.

The potential that the Kenyan Rift valley has in terms of offering the world’s best natural health spas is enormous given its geothermal latent and the retirement homes that are being set up in the happy valley of Kenya which is just one hour’s drive away from the capital city Nairobi. The leading countries in geothermal related health tourism like Iceland receive close to over 400,000 tourists per year. In order for the Kenya tourism board to attract more than the 1.2 million tourists who visit the country annually investing in medical tourism is a key priority especially for the pensioners and any other group or individuals interested in natural health cures. However to promote this a lot has to be invested in security and education so that people understand the benefits of the healing powers of geothermal water and even develop regulations that can allow for medical insurance reimbursements for patients seeking treatment in authorized natural health spas in the country .According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), in 2011, the total impact of the medical tourism industry contributed 9 percent of global GDP (over $6 trillion USD) and accounted for 255 million jobs in the world. In the next decade, medical tourism is expected to grow by an average yearly of 4 percent, contributing up to 10 percent of future global GDP ($10 trillion). Eventually, by 2022, it is estimated that 328 million jobs will be created in the medical tourism industry: equal to 10 percent of jobs in the world, the report added.

Though Kenya is not considered as a top ten medical tourism destination I believe it has the potential to conquer that particular sector, the recent demonstration by reknown British billionaire Richard Branson to open a luxury safari camp in Masai Mara against a back drop of the Westgate attacks and the subsequent travel bans issued by several western nations is testimony that Kenya is still a preferred holiday destination on any day.

Why county governments should think of issuing municipal bonds to finance infrastructural developments.

Following the promulgation of the new constitution in the year 2010 in Kenya, that gave birth to ‘semi autonomous’ 47 county governments, several challenges and opportunities have since emanated from these devolved units of governments. The commission on Revenue Allocation, the body mandated with ensuring equitable distribution of national revenues plays its role at the national level; however a lot needs to be done by the county government leadership through their governors and respective membership in financing the budget deficit in order to provide for proper and reasonable social amenities, Education, health and other infrastructural facilities i.e roads, rail and air transport.

What are county governments doing at the moment?

Lets kick  off with governor Mutua’s Machakos County which held an investor conference from the 16^th -17^th  may 2013 that catapulted into signing of a  Memorandum of understanding on investments worth kes 56 billion with various stakeholders, hot on the heels of governor Mutua was Homabay County’s governor Cyprian Awiti unveiling Sh595 billion agro cum infrastructural project, a joint venture between Good Earth Power, Urban Green Energy and the county, to be  rolled out in phases for a period of 30 years, a project if implemented would impact positively on the income per capita for the locals .Last but not least is the recent pledge by China Investment Bank, on the prospects of funding the urban re-generation of the Eastland’s area  in  Governor Kidero’s Nairobi County ,the project also involves face-lifting the dilapidated housing conditions in the city and  the transport system to the tune of kes 80 billion and for sure other county government are likely to  take cue depending on their strength ,priorities and the purchasing power of the county residents.

The challenges from the above scenario?

No investor puts his money into a project and expects dismal returns, they all expect above market returns especially the foreign investors ,in turn what that means is to raise the cost of services and taxes in order to repay the aforesaid loans thence capital flight something which the municipal bonds can easily mitigate. Capital flight in terms of royalties, licence, management fees, supernormal profits deprive the locals the much needed income for affordable livelihood sustainability hence the need to ‘open the front door and block  the back door’ and expand the scope of local government independent bond issuance," a policy  the Development Research Center said in its draft proposal submitted recently to leaders of the ruling Communist Party and published last week on the website of Beijing's Renmin University

Back at home the likely panaceas lie in the restructuring of our bond markets to cater for issuance of county municipal bonds , economists opine  that a real municipal bond market would be key to addressing the local debt issue, with disclosure requirements helping to impose a hard budget discipline on local officials i.e. the governor ,county assembly members and ministers  this will ease the fear of the  rise in local government debt which is  a concern, given the complexity and murkiness of municipal finances where there is no clear transparency in debt levels disclosures a key aspect that can be aptly addressed by the controller of Budget . The use of longer-term  municipal bonds would also relieve the worrying mismatch between infrastructure investments that may take decades to produce financial returns and the short-term loans that are often used to finance such projects for instance construction of major highways, railways or airports may take more than 15 years inorder for the principal and loan interest to be fully repaid where as given the option of borrowing from a bank their payback periods are shorter and expensive usually lesser than six years hence a drain on the locals, therefore the suggested use of a hybrid form of county municipal bond issuance would cut down on borrowing costs for many local counties , given that municipal bonds  are tax free and that the county government is basically guaranteeing that you will receive your full deposit and earned interest back and chances of default levels are extremely low given their long term nature -  repayment spread and contrary new issue stocks that are brought to market with price restrictions until the deal is sold, municipal bonds are free to trade at any time once they are purchased by the investor .In a nutshell there is need for conducting pilot projects for municipal bonds in the country in order to cut reliance on over dependence on donor loans for both national and devolved county  governments in order to avoid being declared a HIPC sooner .

Towards an Eco-Friendly Environment with the Green Levies In Kenya

Modern day management calls for the adoption of the triple bottom line approach in dealing with the human capital that is their right treatment, the planet in terms of minimizing ecological impact in all areas and lastly the profit motive which means making honest profits than raking profits , Climate change in developing countries like Kenya is not fully embraced yet since these countries are yearning for industrialization status without having a proper framework for dealing with such an environmental issue. Indeed, regardless of holding vast forestation cover, this is currently affected by pollution as a result of utilizing locomotives shipped from the developed countries when their life span has already expired, hence cheap, but emitting a lot of carbon which is a threat to the human beings and environment at large. This circumstance generates the need to implement eco friendly laws that will protect the planet earth and its citizenry.

Currently in Kenya, there are no sufficient and tangible government laws aimed at safeguarding the eco pureness of our country hence the need to formulate concrete laws that will act as catalyst to the government agencies to devise policies aimed at combating the effects of global warming. Besides capping the maximum age of eight years on vehicles being imported and the zero rating of VAT on bicycles as a way of reducing pollution in the name of roadworthy vehicles and having eco friendly mode of transport, the subject of having a fraud cum an eco friendly free mode of transport has never been fully addressed. Developing countries like Kenya are faced with bottlenecks in embracing global climate change initiatives due to their relatively weak GDP which subsequently affects the purchasing power of the general public who would rather buy aged motor vehicles due to their pricing advantages but discharge high level of carbon emissions as opposed to hybrid, LPG and bio fuel ran motor vehicles which are environmental friendly but pricy.

What has already been done so far?

According to E D S van Vliet and P L Kinney, [1]in their article Impacts of Roadway Emissions on Urban Particulate Matter Concentrations in Sub-Saharan Africa: New Evidence from Nairobi, Kenya, Published on 21 December 2007 they observe that the lack of ambient monitoring data for particulate matter in SSA (Sub-Saharan Africa) cities severely hinders our ability to describe temporal and spatial patterns of concentrations, to characterize exposure–response relationships for key health outcomes, to estimate disease burdens, and to promote policy initiatives to address air quality. For example, we are aware of no routine PM (Particulate Matter) 1.0 or PM 2.5 monitoring anywhere in SSA other than South Africa prior to 2005. Besides capping the minimum age of eight years on vehicles being imported and the zero rating of VAT on bicycles as way reducing pollution in the name of un-roadworthy vehicles and having eco friendly mode of transport, the subject of having a fraud cum an eco friendly free mode of transport has never been fully addressed.

What needs to be done?

Given the increased levels in infrastructural developments across the country there is need for routine PM10 or PM 2.5 monitoring so as to understand the levels of  exposure and disease burdens may be especially great for persons driving, working, or living near congested roadways. Particulate Matter concentrations on and near roadways are especially important in SSA because much transport, commerce, and other pedestrian activity takes place there. Heavy-traffic roadways may create pollution hotspots where health risks exceed those encountered more generally throughout a city, and where risks are borne mainly by the poor Kinney and O’Neill 2006) hence the need to establish air monitoring networks as basis of measuring and ascertaining exposure–response relationships for key health outcomes, to estimate disease burdens, and to promote policy initiatives to address air quality and lastly the need to introduce telematics insurance but this requires government support to Insurance Regulatory Authority  to ensure introduction of green levies on motor and other related policies and the subsequent reinvestment of green levy funds in eco friendly initiatives such as planting of palm oil trees which is useful in production of bio fuels

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