The Centum Shareholder Brief: Every Question We Are Taking to the Centum CEO
The Centum CEO Memo: Crowdsourcing the Hard Questions from Shareholders
When I put out the call on X and opened up the Google Form for anonymous submissions, I wasn’t looking for public relations spin or polished corporate talking points. I wanted to capture the genuine, unvarnished pulse of the market—and the Centum shareholder community delivered exactly that.
Below is the raw, unedited compilation of the direct questions, strategic criticisms, and structural implications raised by retail investors, institutional observers, and prospective clients alike. I have deliberately left these queries unsummarized and unfiltered to preserve their edge. This is the exact dossier we are taking directly to the Centum leadership team to demand the accountability we deserve.
They are grouped by the specific themes raised to help you structure your engagement with the CEO.
1. Debt Structure, Financing Cost, and Credit Credibility
@ant4_1: “Wouldn’t such a company be better off issuing bonds at a better rate? (Is it because investors don’t have trust in them?)”
@ant4_1 (Implied): How has the company shot itself in the foot with this debt structure?
@johnam85: “Is property classified as high risk by banks, explaining why the interest rate is so high?”
@karuejames: “Good lord, how the hell is Centum on 25% p.a.?”
@Stocksmaster79: “Why are they borrowing capital at shylock (high) rates?”
General Thread Sentiment: Banks have rejected Centum earlier, forcing shylock-level rates (signals deeper problems with books/covenants/credibility).
2. Real Estate Competitiveness, Execution, and Layouts
@Gabuzone (Implied): “How can Centum compete when Chinese developers borrow at ~1% and import materials cheaply?”
@Akanji834414209: “We’re borrowing big yet can’t compete with Chinese prices — what’s your take on this / how do we get out of this loop?”
@Max4Emperor: “Why is CentumRE run by people who appear to be jokers? (No/zero marketing, nobody making aggressive client follow-ups, projects taking decades to complete. Culture problem – not high performance.)”
@WillisOwiti (and related replies): “What is the size of land for the duplexes? Are they stand-alone units on half an acre or co-joined houses?”
@WillisOwiti: “Where did they build the houses in TRM (Two Rivers Mall area)?”
@WillisOwiti: “Why not build standalone units on half-acre plots (like Kenya Power Pension Fund) for differentiation and to attract diplomatic community instead of high-rise apartments?”
General Thread Sentiment: Inability to compete in real estate vs. Chinese/Somali developers.
3. Asset Disposals, Capital Allocation, and Corporate Strategy
@SkGshdjks (DansAfrica): “25%??? Why did they sell their profitable assets?”
@gem_lands (Implied): “Why burn cash like a Silicon startup while selling strategic cash-generating assets?”
@NotFaultProof: “With minimal debt at the parent company level, what is the priority in allocating the funds from the Sidian exit? (Reinvesting into other portfolio companies, new investments, or returning capital to shareholders?)”
@Kiratu78 (Suggestion as question): “Should Centum divest from real estate and return to its original philosophy of owning valuable companies (e.g., Coca-Cola, UAP)?”
General Thread Sentiment: Calls to fully exit real estate and refocus on core portfolio/return capital.
4. Corporate Governance, Trust, and Liquidity
@WaruhiuFranklin (in quote): “(Strong implication/criticism) How has management (the ‘short man’) destroyed shareholder value and burnt billions with little to show since CK died? Should there be a hostile takeover?”
@Shimanzi_ (Implied): “Aren’t the high rates a result of kickbacks to senior management?”
@anthony_kerui (Implied): “Is there management-led selective liquidation / asset stripping happening?”
@choicedeep0 (Implied question): “What happened with liquidity explanations at the AGM that made things not look right? (Bought at ~8, sold at 14 after AGM.)”
General Thread Sentiment: Frustration over overall capital destruction, long lock-ups, poor returns, and poor execution.
5. Google Form Submissions (Shareholder Queries & Feedback)
Why has centum not disclosed the interest rate on the funding that was offered by vantage capital for the expansion of two rivers?
The borrowing interest of 25% isn’t it on higher side?Why did you exit Sidian bank yet in Kenya banks have very high returns?Do you have plans to buy into may be Family bank coming up IPO?
Why is Centum not in manufacturing at the moment? Why leave coca cola only to struggle in real estate
It is obvious in hindsight the main reason Centum ventured into real estate and construction is to collect juicy commissions for management. I am informed all construction contracts resulted in kickbacks for Mworia and his team. This was used to fund personal projects such as Maiyan.
Vantage capital debt and trific as security - is the reit meant to provide an exit?
1. Are you facing financing distress- your opportunities identification, invest hold and sell strategy seems to be detrimental to your company in that you are unable to break even, get a timely profitable sale which is affecting your cash flows and resulting to expensive debt financing normal operations.
2. What other alternatives or explorations are you considering in real estate segments- the Mivida or Qwetu homes strategy as an alternative to your investing model.
3. 4 billion loss in your energy segment?-did you do a proper demand forecasting and also due diligence before investing. We don’t have electricity in Congo-Ituri side where we have Barrick Gold and investment of 10X would have given returns on fold of 10X, equity have done it and DRC is the next big thing for investment firms in Africa.
When will Centum group be profitable?
When are we aspecting to realize good dividend?
Valuation of the real estate and its security for the Nedbank loan
25% represents default interest? what level of dilution can we expect since the debt cannot be repaid?
The level of engagement with Shareholders has dropped significantly. Is this intentional? For example, we used to have invites for HY results announcements where we could engage with management(FY still happen though). The reduced engagement is causing lack of clarity on the company future and strategy
CentumRE projects at Vipingo are poorly managed, power issues, theft, 90% vacant houses despite alleged marketing by CentumRE. Other CentumRE residential projects at Two Rivers, same story, construction ongoing 5th year running, your teams don’t even bother to follow up on collections. Your water pipe is leaking and you guys need to fix it. Speaking both as a retail shareholder and prospective client.
What happened to the marketable securities portfolio? It has reduced significantly
What security did you provide for the Nedbank loan?
Is the North Tower investment thesis based on genuinely new services-export demand, or the relocation of existing tenants within Nairobi’s office market?
And given AI’s potential disruption of traditional BPO models, uncertainty around large digital infrastructure investments (MSFT/G42), and the finite nature of SEZ tax incentives, how does Centum underwrite long-term occupancy and REIT returns when the tax benefits, lease tenures and investment horizon do not naturally expire at the same time and the fact that the SEZs effective date was June 2023?
Is the North Tower investment thesis based on genuinely new services-export demand, or the relocation of existing tenants within Nairobi’s office market?
And given AI’s potential disruption of traditional BPO models, uncertainty around large digital infrastructure investments (MSFT/G42), and the finite nature of SEZ tax incentives, how does Centum underwrite long-term occupancy and REIT returns when the tax benefits, lease tenures and investment horizon do not naturally expire at the same time and the fact that the SEZs effective date was June 2023?
To be continued….
Is the North Tower investment thesis based on genuinely new services-export demand, or the relocation of existing tenants within Nairobi’s office market?
And given AI’s potential disruption of traditional BPO models, uncertainty around large digital infrastructure investments (MSFT/G42), and the finite nature of SEZ tax incentives, how does Centum underwrite long-term occupancy and REIT returns when the tax benefits, lease tenures and investment horizon do not naturally expire at the same time and the fact that the SEZs effective date was June 2023?