Globally, economies are increasingly facing difficulties in revamping their infrastructure. This has thus necessitated the involvement of public private partnerships (PPPs) for the last two decade. PPPs are contracts between government and private entities to finance, build and operate some elements of a public facility. The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of M & E systems on the performance of public private partnership projects in Nairobi City County, Kenya. Specific study objectives were: to determine the availability of M&E systems, to assess the staff competence in the implementation of the M&E, to evaluate the use of Logical Framework Matrix and to assess the frequency of M&E report use which influence performance of PPPs projects in Nairobi County, Kenya. Theory of change and performance theory guided the study. Survey research design was employed. Questionnaires and interview schedules were administered in the collection of data. A population of 161 project staff in 26 projects were targeted. The study also involved 10 county government officials. Stratified sampling, simple random and purposive sampling designs were applied to select 125 respondents for the study sample. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected and analysed numerically. The analysis of data was done through Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20. Inferential and descriptive statistical measures were calculated and interpreted. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, mean, standard deviations and percentages were computed and then presented using frequency tables, cross tabulations and in bar graphs. Inferential statistics such as correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression were calculated as measures of linear relationships between variables. Chi square which is a measure of independence of variables was also computed to establish the relationship between variances in samples. Cramer’s V was also calculated to establish the strength of the relationships found through chi square tests. To analyze qualitative data, a more interpretive content analysis will be employed which will involve coding and classifying data with the aim of highlighting important responses. The codes were then transformed into numeric values to be analyzed numerically.  The study found out that most of the staff in the PPP do not have formal training in project management and M&E. Since they had stayed for long in their positions at work, they tended to be competent. Most of them could even design complex M&E matrix and apply it. Most of the projects have functional M&E systems but the largest proportion is not well equipped to function appropriately. Many PPPs do not always disseminate the M&E reports thus making the staff unaware of what may require more attention and changes to facilitate performance. Most of the reports are also never deliberated upon. This shows that most of the decisions made are not based on what has been found to be working in the management of the PPPs. This has negatively influenced performance. Though Logframe matrix is an important planning tool, it is not in use to plan and to monitor and evaluate the PPPs in Nairobi County. It is thus recommended that staff should be trained and deployed to work in areas of their expertise. They should also be subjected to regular refresher courses for important technological updates. All project M&E reports should be made known to all staff since when disseminated and deliberated on, these reports become useful learning and working tools.

Commercial banks in Kenya have embraced alternative banking channels which represent a shift in delivery of banking and financial services since the alternative banking have become synonymous with commercial banks in Kenya. While banks have succeeded in leveraging available technology and provide alternative avenues to customers for banking services, the challenge it faces today is optimizing the usage of these channels so as to improve on their performance. The general objective of this study was to investigate the effects of financial innovations on the performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to examine the influence of internet banking, mobile banking, agency banking and ATM banking on the performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The study was guided by agency theory, balanced score card and diffusion of innovation theory. This study employed a descriptive research design. The study targeted44 commercial banks in Kenya as at 2017. The 16 banks which embrace all the four financial innovations from 2013 to 2017were selected using purposive sampling method. The sample size was 80 respondents who comprised of 5 senior management employees in each of the selected banks.This study used questionnaire to collect primary data from the respondents. Content analysis technique was used to analyze qualitative data collected from open ended questions in and reported in narrative form. Descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the quantitative data. Multiple regression analysis was used to show the relationship between independent variables against dependent variable. The study revealed that internet banking, mobile banking, agency banking and ATM banking had a positive and significant effect on the performance of commercial banks. Thisstudy concludes that the banking industry has benefited tremendously from the development of the Internet. The Internet fundamentally changed the way in which banking networks are designed to meet the client demands and expectations. Mobile banking provides a good opportunity to commercial banks in Kenya to reach many mobile phone subscribers in Kenya who had remained unbanked and unreached due to limited access to bank branch networks in the country. The access to the large masses through mobile banking of the population gives banks the opportunity to grow by reaching the unbanked population. Agency banking has led to accessibility of financial service to many customer in remote areas and hence an increase in effectiveness and efficiency in service delivery. Customers are satisfied with the automated teller machine services because of ease of use, transaction cost and service security but not satisfy with automated teller machine dispense of cash. The study recommends that the public and businesses must be encouraged to use Internet banking in their daily activities, including deposits, payments and money transfers. Commercial banks in Kenya should ensure convenience and security of mobile banking through written guidelines on convenience and security of mobile banking. Commercial banks in Kenya should increase the number of agents in estates and in the rural areas. This can be done by reducing the requirements of becoming a bank agent. The banks should employ customized software that records relevant information on automated teller machine cards so that banks can establish whether unauthorized transaction has taken place or not.

Introduction Background of the StudyNot all well formulated projects end up being successful in terms of realization of the intended goals, satisfaction and acceptance by the end users and adherence to timelines, quality and cost budgetary provisions (Kerzner, 2017). Traditionally, project performance had largely been limited to three indicators of time, quality and costs. However, there are growing concerns with unresolved debate among researchers on whether performance of the project should be restricted to these measures. In whichever cases, failure of the project to meet these indicators of quality, cost and time will have a significant adverse effect on success and overall performance of the project. Poor quality standards in project may increase the project costs. Demirkesen and Ozorhon (2017) confirm that in United States, nonconformance to quality in construction costs result into 12% of the total project costs. Similarly, Oppong, Chan and Dansoh (2017) argue that failure to adhere to quality standards of the projects results into rework which push the overall costs of the project by 2-12 % of all the costs of the project.The initiation phase helps in defining and determining the nature and scope of the project to be undertaken. This is an important phase of the project because when it is not well performed, the ability of the project to meet the expectations of the community will have been compromised (MacMillan, Loseto& Hoover, 2017). Furthermore, this initiation phase lays the foundation for the subsequent phases of the project that ultimately results into project success and performance. The initiation phase makes sure that the required technical specifications have been integrated within the project (Boeraeve, Dufrene, De-Vreese, Jacobs, Pipart, Turkelboom&Dendoncker, 2018). The initiation phase of the project helps in initiation of the stakeholders (both legitimate and the valid ones), with their respective powers towards the project success. Involving stakeholders at the project initiation phase reduces conflicts across the subsequent phases of the project and ultimately makes the project to be accepted by the final end users after closure (Flifel, Zakić&Tornjanski, 2017).Project monitoring ensures that the planned activities are compared with the actual performance so as to determine progress and final performance of the project. On the other hand, evaluation of the process through which the real situation of the project is determined and it helps in determining whether the project is being operated as required or

No abstract