For several years, Kenya Airways has been facing major challenges highlighted through financial losses reported. P&L Consulting was retained to support the airlines’ C-Suite team soon after the National Assembly had been presented with a privately initiated proposal to give KQ a 30-year concession to maintain and develop the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). This attracted massive public debate with arguments mostly made against the initiative.
The major task was to rehabilitate the airlines’ reputation amongst the taxpayers,investors and policy makers and influence them to see how the proposal would benefit Kenya’s aviation sector and the economy at large. We focused on deepening understanding of the airline business and the issues affecting its operations through comprehensive financial communication and investor relations services. We also supported the public affairs and lobbying process, preparing. briefing notes for both our client and the National Assembly stakeholders. In the midst of this, we also manage the transition of the communication of the GCEO who opted to leave early with a few months left on his first contract.
For several years, Kenya Airways has been facing major challenges highlighted through financial losses reported. P&L Consulting was retained to support the airlines’ C-Suite team soon after the National Assembly had been presented with a privately initiated proposal to give KQ a 30-year concession to maintain and develop the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). This attracted massive public debate with arguments mostly made against the initiative.
Amana Capital Ltd, a fund manager, faced a challenging financial situation after it made a major investment in a commercial paper issued by a local retail chain which later collapsed. This posed a reputational risk for the fund manager who was unable to meet obligations to the fund investors.
P&L Consulting was retained to offer
c-suite advisory and strategic business communications support both with the investing stakeholders and the public through media management. We designed an all encompassing strategic communication approach that was anchored on full disclosure and access to information for both internal stakeholders and the regulator.
Through consistent communication with the stakeholders and strategic activities that rebuilt the brand reputation, the fund manager was able to retain its clients,attract interest from strategic investors and work out an equity plan that was acceptable to the affected fund investors thus ensuring business continuity.The 3-year journey has recorded zero legal liability on the part of Amana Capital.
Genghis Capital Ltd, is a licensed Investment Bank which was previously owned by some of the shareholders of the collapsed Chase Bank. In the wake of the collapse of its custodian bank, Genghis Capital found itself at a crossroad with their investing clients unable to draw down on their investments and the firm with no money for their day to day operations. The products and the licence were at a risk. In August 2016, P&L Consulting was appointed by Overtime Capital Limited following the acquisition of the investment bank. We were tasked with advising the new shareholders on how best to navigate the delicate turn around journey that was already facing legal hurdles. The management also had to workaround both the capital shortage and irate clients pushing for their refunds.CMA also impressed on the new shareholders not to collapse the products
Our approach entailed steadfast financial communication and reputation management,engaging all the affected stakeholders. Our key focus was on business continuity communication specifically focusing on the turnaround and take off. At the onset, we managed communication around the acquisition, highlighting the profiles on the new shareholders and the executive team that was going to sail the ship. We put together a strong litigation communication strategy that ensured the court cases did not derail the turnaround efforts. Ultimately,we strategically positioned the investment bank as a thought leader on macro and micro economic matters both in Kenya and internationally through regular industry reports, investment outlooks and media commentaries.
Our support immensely contributed to Genghis Capital’s business continuity enhancing client retention and growth, increased stakeholder engagement and improved internal stakeholder communication where confidence in the entity had been lost. Genghis remains a key influencer with its insights and contributions advising policy makers on key decisions.
Ascent Capital was a new and homegrown private equity firm that wanted to make an impactful entry in the market. The PE firm injects between $2million -$10million per investment. While in the last leg of their fundraising endeavours and had seen an opportunity to raise funds from the local pension funds. The biggest challenge was the pension managers’ understanding of the private equitymodels.
In2014, P&L Consulting was retained by Ascent Capital ahead of the launch to support market entry communication and brand positioning. We also provided counsel on how to engage with the trustees given the prevailing knowledge gap.
We drafted communication that would position the PE fund as the poster child for local fundraising based on the diligence of fund managers. We continued to support all communication around deals the firm made across East Africa as well as support in addition to the fundraising activities.
Through our fundraising and financial communication support, Ascent Capital became the first fund to ever secure PE investment from local pension funds. The fund is now firmly established, it has invested in different mid-sized companies in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia. They went on to raise $120m for their 2nd fund which was twice as big as the first.
Asilimia is a Kenyan Fintech digitizing payments for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises(MSMEs) with the purpose of cutting down their mobile money transaction costs by up to 90% via their app. The startup was also in the process of fundraisingto advance some of its tech innovation in an effort to deepen their offering.
The firm engaged P&L Consulting to help with a fundraising exercise as it sought to grow its customer base through expansion to other cities such as Nakuru and Mombasa, and countries such as Uganda and Nigeria. Weran a communications campaign aimed at building Asilimia’s brand awareness in the market and put it under potential investors' focus. Weshowcased how Asilimia is uniquely positioned to solve challenges experienced by MSMEs while managing their businesses. The above was done through effective deployment of different PR tools including by-lined opinion articles, press interviews, and stakeholder engagements.
As Asilimia’s share of voice as a leading innovator in the Fintech space grew it was able to see growth in the number of customers through subscriptions to its App. The company was also able to launch a second complimenting product riding on the brand awareness gained. We recently conducted an informal dipstick survey which revealed an increased understanding of the Asilimia brand.Asilimia also secured $600,000 funding and the founder was admitted in an accelerator program.
The shareholders and directors of Imperial Bank’s Limited found themselves in an uncertain legal and reputational position after the sudden death of their Group CEO. The death led to discovery of fraudulent schemes orchestrated by the CEO which had been hidden from the board for over 12 years. The bank was placed in receivership, which was followed by a series of litigation processes.
The shareholders of the bank retained P&L Consulting to provide communication counsel with the aim of ensuring that the facts remained top of mind of every stakeholder as they worked behind the scenes with the regulator to recapitalize and save the bank. Our brief was to ensure that the correct narrative was strategically shared amongst stakeholders, putting enough pressure for action to be taken against the accomplices and
From our engagements, the narrative changed from fault on the shareholders and potential liquidation, to buyout considerations where the shareholders were also invited to participate. The Bank was eventually acquired by Kenya Commercial Bank after three years in receivership. The majority of retail depositors were fully paid and the repayment plan for the rest is still being implemented.
Enwealth Financial Services, a Kenyan pensions administrator has over Ksh 60 billion in assets under administration. The company had rebranded from Liberty Pension Services Ltd to Enwealth in 2016 but the new brand was struggling to gain traction in the market.
P&L Consulting was engaged a year after the rebrand to offer advisory on the brand positioning and awareness. We conducted a comprehensive stakeholder perception audit to establish the challenges hindering the brand uptake and developed a comprehensive communication strategy. We refined the messaging position and rolled out intensified media and stakeholder engagement programmes. We supported the company in packaging original industry insights that have positioned Enwealth as a thought leader on retirement matters.
The brand gained significant traction in the market which delivered significant growth for the business increasing its market share. It has since expanded regionally, opening operations in Uganda and Mauritius. Enwealth continues to be a thought leader on pension matters.
Oraro & Company Advocates and Hamilton, Harrison & Mathews (HHM) entered a highly publicized merger that was touted as one of the most historic legal mergers in Eastern Africa. It was celebrated with pomp and color, but after 6 months, both entities wanted out the partnerships quietly.
The firm’s brief was to advise our client on how to manage the demerger swiftly and quietly in a manner that would not interrupt business, stakeholder goodwill and the firm’s reputation. We were also tasked with designing a new identity for the new Oraro and Company Advocates.
We achieved 100% success on this assignment with no negative publicity on the demerger and a new brand identity that quickly became the firm’s signature.
Uranium One is a uranium exploration company whose main shareholders are Rosatom, the Russian State Atomic Agency Corporation. They own the license for mining uranium in Selous Reserve in Southern Tanzania. The client was facing pushback on its license renewal after a new government came to power. There was also an attack from environmentalists who held that the traditional mining techniques.
P&L Consulting was retained to carry out stakeholder engagement initiatives that would avert opposition from the ground upwards. We implemented various community engagements and education programs to secure support for the operations.
Theactivities in this assignment provided Uranium One an enabling environment forthe discussion of changes to the terms of the license MkujuRiver project with the country’s Ministry of energy and minerals.
LafargeHolcim is a shareholder in two cement manufactures in Kenya: East Africa Portland Cement(EAPCC) and Bamburi Cement; both listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. As one of the shareholders of the cash- strapped but asset-rich EAPCC, the firm was navigating delicate waters when the operations of the invested company was on its knees and the Government of Kenya (GoK),also a significant shareholder in the cement manufacturer, was facing apolitical quagmire with the liquidation of some of the assets that would provide financing for the business. The financial restructuring also coincided with a CEO transition process in which the preferred candidate was a Lafarge Holicim’s employee on secondment to EAPCC. This unique ownership position put LafargeHolcim in the eye of a monopoly debate which competing stakeholders would use against them.
P&L Consulting was engaged by the Swiss based cement manufacturer to provide Risk Advisory services around the CEO transition process for East Africa Portland Cement Company (EAPCC), a coveted position whose transition was politically charged. The assignment also included financial communication around the poor results as the firm was in the process of restructuring its financial position.
We were able to strategically highlight the client’s concerns without aggravating their relationships with the other stakeholders. The clients’ interests in the board and the other listed firm was also safeguarded.
Instinctif Partners worked with Intelsat over many years with the mandate of profiling the brand and keeping the company relevant.
The key challenge was that most of the information was US specific, there was poor understanding of the African context and very little data is collected on African markets.
Much of the content generated needed to be based on Instinctif Partners’ knowledge and experience of the ICT&T sector in Africa, development imperatives and changing business and consumer trends. In addition, the company’s Africa MD was changed frequently so there was little spokesperson availability.
Instinctif Partners facilitated a sustained outreach campaign to journalists in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal to build understanding of Intelsat and its relevance to each market.
Drafted trends and opinion piece content to be utilised as‘passive’ placements because there was little spokesperson availability.
Emphasised the core benefits of satellite in African markets, referencing independent research and creating talking points for Intelsat blogs around issues that affect particular countries, or the continent as a whole.
Leveraged industry events to secure face-to-face media engagements for international spokespeople and briefed them so they would speak the Africa story.
Atthe a recent AfricaCom conference, Intelsat secured the majority share of voice over its competitors and achieved a 20 minute slot on CNBC to talk about the key “issue of the day”, DTT.
Intelsat secured regular monthly coverage across all markets through the smart repurposing of centralised content to make it bespoke for local markets.Intelsat moved from a reactive commentator to one that proactively talked to industry trends.
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