The feds now plan to dump more than $15 million of shares in a money-losing Kenyan cellphone company, says Blacklock’s Reporter..Export Development Canada called the investment speculative, and said it’s difficult to predict how much of the taxpayers $15,400,000 they will be able to get back..“The rate of return on this investment is difficult to predict,” Cabinet wrote in report tabled in the Commons..“Given the wide variability of returns for this type of company in the short term and the expected exit of the investment in 2024, longer dated expected return calculations would be quite speculative.”.Shares were purchased in M-Kopa Holdings Ltd., a Nairobi door-to-door sales company that suffered three-year losses of at least $66 million..FinDev Canada, a subsidiary of Export Development Canada, bought the shares on a promise of “creating good quality jobs in East Africa.”.Asked “how many jobs in Kenya are attributed to the FinDev investment?” staff recited overall payroll figures. Asked “did any cabinet member approve the M-Kopa investment?” staff replied: “No.”.The tabling was requested by Conservative MP Jamie Schmale (Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes, Ont.)..The M-Kopa funding was the first awarded by FinDev, an agency launched by cabinet in 2017, with a $300 million mandate to promote foreign development. M-Kopa sells cellphones, appliances and household loans on installment plans estimated to carry 254% annual interest..“Neither FinDev Canada nor its board observer has determined M-Kopa charges customers criminal interest rates,” said the report..Cabinet disclosed it paid US$37 per share in the company for an equity stake of less than 6%.. Feds to sell its $15-million stake in African cell phone company .The report also maintained FinDev played no role in approving a large salary with bonuses for Jesse Moore, the Canadian-born CEO of the company. Moore is formerly of Toronto..Moore drew a six-figure salary equal to $397,500 a year with bonuses plus stock options valued at $633,000 even as the company lost millions year over year, according to records..“As an observer to M-Kopa’s board of directors, FinDev Canada has no voting rights and as such does not approve executive pay for M-Kopa’s chief executive officer,” wrote staff..Cabinet has refused numerous requests for comment on the M-Kopa financing and Moore, in a confidential staff e-mail. also cautioned employees not to talk to the media..“M-Kopa has been subject to untruthful and highly misleading articles written by Blacklock’s Reporter,” wrote Moore..“These have since been repeated by a small number of blog sites in Kenya.”.Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
The feds now plan to dump more than $15 million of shares in a money-losing Kenyan cellphone company, says Blacklock’s Reporter..Export Development Canada called the investment speculative, and said it’s difficult to predict how much of the taxpayers $15,400,000 they will be able to get back..“The rate of return on this investment is difficult to predict,” Cabinet wrote in report tabled in the Commons..“Given the wide variability of returns for this type of company in the short term and the expected exit of the investment in 2024, longer dated expected return calculations would be quite speculative.”.Shares were purchased in M-Kopa Holdings Ltd., a Nairobi door-to-door sales company that suffered three-year losses of at least $66 million..FinDev Canada, a subsidiary of Export Development Canada, bought the shares on a promise of “creating good quality jobs in East Africa.”.Asked “how many jobs in Kenya are attributed to the FinDev investment?” staff recited overall payroll figures. Asked “did any cabinet member approve the M-Kopa investment?” staff replied: “No.”.The tabling was requested by Conservative MP Jamie Schmale (Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes, Ont.)..The M-Kopa funding was the first awarded by FinDev, an agency launched by cabinet in 2017, with a $300 million mandate to promote foreign development. M-Kopa sells cellphones, appliances and household loans on installment plans estimated to carry 254% annual interest..“Neither FinDev Canada nor its board observer has determined M-Kopa charges customers criminal interest rates,” said the report..Cabinet disclosed it paid US$37 per share in the company for an equity stake of less than 6%.. Feds to sell its $15-million stake in African cell phone company .The report also maintained FinDev played no role in approving a large salary with bonuses for Jesse Moore, the Canadian-born CEO of the company. Moore is formerly of Toronto..Moore drew a six-figure salary equal to $397,500 a year with bonuses plus stock options valued at $633,000 even as the company lost millions year over year, according to records..“As an observer to M-Kopa’s board of directors, FinDev Canada has no voting rights and as such does not approve executive pay for M-Kopa’s chief executive officer,” wrote staff..Cabinet has refused numerous requests for comment on the M-Kopa financing and Moore, in a confidential staff e-mail. also cautioned employees not to talk to the media..“M-Kopa has been subject to untruthful and highly misleading articles written by Blacklock’s Reporter,” wrote Moore..“These have since been repeated by a small number of blog sites in Kenya.”.Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
