D

Possibilist. Contrarian thinker

[Moses Kemibaro @moseskemibaro]

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: https://t.co/Khjh6i7rQ4

#SACCO #Kenya #FinancialServices #KETSA #Jubilee #Leadership #PersonalFinance #Africa

@Kipngetichjk @JubileeGroupKE

[Eric @amerix]

In that QVSE Ponzi,

There is a teacher who has been conned KSH 300,000.

There is also a Parish Priest who has been conned KSH 450,000.

Unless you are ignorant, greedy or congenitally dumb, nobody can con you out of that amount.

Madness!

[D @DenisMbogo]

@TheAbojani Decent allocation

[D @DenisMbogo]

Isn't it basic good manners to refer to a CS with official title as opposed to 'one'?When did KE become uncivilised society as denoted?

[NTV Kenya @ntvkenya]

Tonight, The Memo is a defence of media freedom and a call to basic good manners.

This memo is about one Moses Kuria, the CS for Investment, Trade and Industry, who, in most civilised societies, should have resigned.

The media does not operate at Kuria's pleasure.

#NTVTonight

[D @DenisMbogo]

@DavidNdii Clearly.

[Chris Hladczuk @chrishlad]

I devoured 50 years of Warren Buffett shareholder letters.

The result?

12 timeless principles from the greatest investor in the world.

Here are the golden nuggets🧵

[D @DenisMbogo]

Money, Wastage & Me: Regrets, Lessons From 10 Years of Employment https://t.co/YNSbXmULC6

[D @DenisMbogo]

Risk taking is by no means rash adventurism. But while at it, evaluate the odds carefully and ensure they are in your favour.

[David Ndii @DavidNdii]

My neighbour’s wild eucalyptus saplings can’t be more than 5 years old and they are already 30 -40m. They are ~500. I figure he can get 7500 per tree, 3.75m, for zero investment on idle land. Trees and livestock, best investments I know.

[D @DenisMbogo]

Hopefully, @KenyaPower has back-up generators.

[Wealth Director @wealth_director]

7. Your comfort zone is your main problem

Do you want to keep achieving your goals? You need to leave your comfort zone right now.

Face your fears and pay attention to your personal growth.

Your comfort zone is carefree, but it’s killing your potential and progress.

[Wealth Director @wealth_director]

3. You can't change people

You can only change yourself.

You may influence people, but in the end, it's them making decisions to evolve.

Invest your energy in fixing yourself.

[Wealth Director @wealth_director]

2. People will disappoint you

People are complicated.

The ones you love the most might deeply disappoint you and completely lose your trust.

The best thing you can do is to stop expecting too much.

Not everyone invests in a relationship as much as you do.

[Prof. Feynman @ProfFeynman]

Be humble. Be teachable. The universe is bigger than your view of the universe. There's always room for a new idea. Humility is necessary for growth. 🧠

[Prof. Feynman @ProfFeynman]

"Any fool can know. The point is to understand."

-- A. Einstein (1879 - 1955)

[D @DenisMbogo]

An erstwhile Accountant displaced by automation of book-keeping might be the next coder or business intelligence developer for his clients or the firm he works for. Upskilling will however remain a must have tool during the transition.

[D @DenisMbogo]

Technological unemployment, rather the loss of jobs due technology changes has been a concern from time imemmorial. But it is the thoughts of one John Maynard Keynes that the unemployment is just a " temporary phase of maladjustment" which have held true for me.

[D @DenisMbogo]

the fears of unemployment require to be tempered with hopes of new or emerging jobs. We otherwise become believers of "Luditte fallacy"; the improper thinking innovation will have long-term adversarial effects on employment.

[sunny @thePiggsBoson]

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