From Orphan to Airline Owner in Kenya

<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ZBqc8DzM4VrpOcbQZ6EpKHd3GTreVGgkfo48B-Fvm5qTiNPSW0obGWl93jPSrEC9oLIyT2X2L1FD8RrJ-DAEEOTMCZQxXkaGi8tbNgZUpXZMq7WRtE0lB0grZhxBTwjeqgHIaRPZqz_2/s1600/1596413947580215-0.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ZBqc8DzM4VrpOcbQZ6EpKHd3GTreVGgkfo48B-Fvm5qTiNPSW0obGWl93jPSrEC9oLIyT2X2L1FD8RrJ-DAEEOTMCZQxXkaGi8tbNgZUpXZMq7WRtE0lB0grZhxBTwjeqgHIaRPZqz_2/s1600/1596413947580215-0.png" width="400"> </a> </div><br></div><div> </div><div>By Samwel Kumba and Justus Ondari</div><div> </div><div>Seeing him seated in his spacious office along North Airport Road, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), one would be forgiven for assuming that Captain Musa Bulhan has had it easy in life. For Capt. Musa, the proprietor and chief executive of African Express Airways, is the first African to own an airline with landing rights in Europe.</div><div> </div><div>Besides, the 59 year-old was among the first Kenyans to acquire the highest pilot qualifications- an airline transport pilot license-in 1974. But behind the ‘firsts and accolades’, Capt. Musa’s life is one hit by tragedy at a tender age and littered by internecine ‘wars’ thrown at him by both nature and man. Robbed of parental love, first by the death of his mother when he was a toddler, and then his father at 15, the decorated career pilot was forced to start fending for himself literally before he was out of the diapers.</div><div> </div><div>Four years down the line, at an age when most of his playmates probably still believed that their fathers were the strongest people on earth, a gangling of a boy with intelligence beyond his age made a startling career choice- to become a pilot. Unbeknown to him, the knack to survive was to be implanted in the young Musa right from the very day he decided to be a pilot. Many of the industry players he approached dismissed him as a joker.</div><div> </div><div>“Many tried to frighten and discourage me from the profession but everything they threw at me made me even more enthusiastic. They would instruct me to wake up at 4.00 am and check the oil or tyres of an aircraft. They would give me tests on all sorts of jargon which I could not understand. Then they would call me names. If I were fainthearted and uninterested in the training, I would have dropped out. I survived the ordeal,” reminisces the captain. However, not all people were bad and many, including the government which gave him a scholarship, came to his rescue when the going got tough.</div><div> </div><div>“In fact, I did not have much of a problem because I got a lot of help.”</div><div>Musa was to undergo training in the United Kingdom and later in the United States after joining the defunct East African Airways. When it collapsed with the collapse of the then East African Community (EAC) in 1977, Kenya Airways (KQ) was formed. Obviously, there were too many pilots for the few airplanes the then nascent KQ had. “I felt it was high time for someone to give room. Unfortunately, I would not tell anyone else to get out. I told myself to give room with my meager Ksh 270,000 benefits,”</div><div> </div><div>Aviation business</div><div> </div><div>It was then that Capt. Musa decided to set up an airline. He floated the idea to the then ministry of Power and Communication but the ministry officials felt it could not work. Thinking they were getting rid of him, they gave him a temporary operating permit for him to set up the famous Pioneer Airlines at Wilson Airport in 1978.</div><div><br></div><div><b><a href="https://www.somaliaonline.com/community/topic/66893-somali-companies-and-bussiness-people-doing-it-big-in-africa/">Read more</a></b></div>

From Orphan to Airline Owner in Kenya

  By Samwel Kumba and Justus Ondari   Seeing him seated in his spacious office along North Airport Road, Jomo Kenyatta Internat...

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Kenya Jambojet to Fulfill Requirements for Direct Flight to Somalia

<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH1gBgkyIyWOFag6D0-PMli4fC9b6jRwTadpJCiqY3A-hZwruyoOlAobrMAOZDppe8-N0ABV1hrnXK2M877aToJyQi4AWi0IuEEB4GtfrGuzgV_MY2fhwVMrmHryjcxa3eIeTfCsybDgCM/s1600/1596201715906069-0.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH1gBgkyIyWOFag6D0-PMli4fC9b6jRwTadpJCiqY3A-hZwruyoOlAobrMAOZDppe8-N0ABV1hrnXK2M877aToJyQi4AWi0IuEEB4GtfrGuzgV_MY2fhwVMrmHryjcxa3eIeTfCsybDgCM/s1600/1596201715906069-0.png" width="400"> </a> </div>Jambojet has put on hold plans to launch direct flights from Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta<span style="letter-spacing: 0.2px;"> International Airport (JKIA) to Somali capital Mogadishu due to high insurance needed to ply the route.</span></div><div><span style="letter-spacing: 0.2px;"><br></span></div><div>The budget carrier, a subsidiary on national carrier Kenya Airways, was to launch its direct flight to Aden Adde International Airport, Mogadishu this year in a move that was expected to boost trade with Somalia.</div><div><br></div><div>The airline’s acting managing director Karanja Ndegwa, said Mogadishu flights have been put on ice until the airline meets Somalia Aviation Authority’s insurance requirements.</div><div><b><u><br></u></b></div><div><b><u><a href="https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/corporate/companies/Insurance-hurdle-to-slow-Jambojet-direct-Somalia/4003102-5595788-je4wg5/index.html">Read more</a></u></b></div>

Kenya Jambojet to Fulfill Requirements for Direct Flight to Somalia

Jambojet has put on hold plans to launch direct flights from Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta  International Airport (JKIA) to Somali cap...

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The Purpose of The Group of 15 Summit

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHdT6rjNr1Uv4s09B7n6YYvBSqXrcnwhdRWQpJTPRQDl36Ta19LE6QIxes3QD_-lhyphenhyphenMoT_CkPzt3qzHZLJr8gEDBb2x6uXIkwK1PJPPT9rOQDVVZbqu4Z703SOweHC2In1ozblT0SkxBKX/s320/g-15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHdT6rjNr1Uv4s09B7n6YYvBSqXrcnwhdRWQpJTPRQDl36Ta19LE6QIxes3QD_-lhyphenhyphenMoT_CkPzt3qzHZLJr8gEDBb2x6uXIkwK1PJPPT9rOQDVVZbqu4Z703SOweHC2In1ozblT0SkxBKX/s320/g-15.jpg" /></a></div> The G15, a group of 17 developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America, was set up to foster cooperation and provide input for other international groups, such as the World Trade Organization and the Group of Seven rich industrialized nations.<br /> Current Composition<br /> <br /> The G15 is comprised of Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Nigeria, Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Zimbabwe<br /> <br /> Latest News<br /> <br /> MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (Reuters) - Leaders from developing countries moved to an exclusive Jamaican country club Thursday to put the finishing touches on proposals to ease the world's financial crisis.<br /> <br /> The one-day retreat, modeled on the closed-door leaders' meetings held at some other international events, will give heads of delegations to the Group of 15 summit the chance to talk without ministers or aides present.<br /> <br /> Officials said they would debate a few proposed changes to a draft communique, including a suggestion from Malaysia's outspoken leader, Mahathir Mohamad, to ``emphasize the need for both the developed and the developing world to have a voice in the process of reforming the international financial system.''<br /> <br /> Officials said the document also will include proposals to reform the International Monetary Fund, which many delegates have criticized for proposing inappropriate recipes to the troubled economies of Asia and Latin America.<br /> <br /> ``We want to look at the multilateral institutions,'' Nigerian Planning Minister Rasheed Gbadamosi told Reuters. ''Maybe there are not enough resources available to the IMF.''<br /> <br /> The G15, a group of 17 developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America, was set up to foster cooperation and provide input for other international groups, such as the World Trade Organization and the Group of Seven rich industrialized nations.<br /> <br /> The G15 is comprised of Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.<br /> <br /> Delegates admit the countries do not see eye to eye on all trade, development and finance issues, but they say the leaders want to step up cooperation and speak with a single voice at other international gatherings.<br /> <br /> But all but one of the G15 Latin American heads of state stayed away from the Jamaica summit, some of them for the third or fourth successive time, and officials from the host country could barely hide their disappointment.<br /> <br /> ``Within the Asian and African representations, there is sometimes a feeling that within our region there is less than full, unqualified commitment,'' said Anthony Hill, the Jamaican prime minister's representative at the talks.<br /> <br /> The G15 countries include both open economies such as Mexico and Argentina and those which, like Malaysia, are seeking to control capital flows.<br /> <br /> Mahathir said Wednesday that the unbridled movement of money across borders had impoverished Asia's once-proud tiger economies and put their very independence at risk.<br /> <br /> ``The great Asian tigers are now no more,'' he said. ''Reduced to whimpering and begging, they are but a shadow of their former selves.''</div>

The Purpose of The Group of 15 Summit

The G15, a group of 17 developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America, was set up to foster cooperation and provide input for o...

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Tehran to host G15 summit

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh41BIcOr0DLpuygPKfgHqvS7Z5tiOgoVJ_wu5JPhV3Op1ivGDm2uXHL6w25mNlB96PTxSUTeLcBZP_bV2wdyCL4JrYjy4akNAj38W8MLBfwvRfvqEEBSObBLcHaXJ3ZMVCA6YxmR1tdUsd/s1600/Tehran-City-Iran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh41BIcOr0DLpuygPKfgHqvS7Z5tiOgoVJ_wu5JPhV3Op1ivGDm2uXHL6w25mNlB96PTxSUTeLcBZP_bV2wdyCL4JrYjy4akNAj38W8MLBfwvRfvqEEBSObBLcHaXJ3ZMVCA6YxmR1tdUsd/s1600/Tehran-City-Iran.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman says an upcoming meeting of the Group of 15 (G15) will present a good opportunity for cooperation to member states.<br /> <br /> Ramin Mehmanparast said the 14th Summit of the G15 will be held in Tehran on May 17.<br /> <br /> "The summit, which will bring together representatives from important countries, will provide a great capacity for expansion of economic [ties] and political cooperation (among member states,)", the Fars news agency quoted Mehmanparast as saying on Monday.<br /> <br /> He noted that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa are among the senior guests attending the summit.<br /> <br /> The Group of 15 was established at the 9th Non-Aligned Movement Summit Meeting in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in September 1989, with a common goal of enhanced growth and prosperity in its member states.<br /> <br /> The number of the G15 members has expanded to 18 countries from North America, South America, Asia and Africa, but the name has remained unchanged.</div>

Tehran to host G15 summit

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman says an upcoming meeting of the Group of 15 (G15) will present a good opportunity for cooperation t...

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