Author: James Musoba

Huawei Mobile Kenya has kicked off a one week pre-order for its HUAWEI WATCH FIT that will soon be available in the retail stores across the country. HUAWEI WATCH FIT that is retailing at Kshs 11,999 comes with a free umbrella when you pre-order from any retail store. Speaking of the Pre-order, Huawei Mobile Kenya Country Head, Jim Zhujie said, “If the person you are planning to gift is into sports and fitness then they would absolutely love the HUAWEI WATCH FIT. You can now pre-order Huawei’s first ever smart sports watch with a stylish large HD rounded rectangular face…

In the Forex market, the South African Rands is experiencing a steadfast increase not just in the country but also in other countries. In fact, it has increased more outside South Africa. Traders turn towards a currency when it is doing well value-wise and that’s the advantage the Rand is enjoying. There are lots of reasons for this. Rand Value History When ranking countries with the strongest economies in Africa, South Africa comes 2nd, bested only by Nigeria. However, the Rand has a negative trend in history. For more than 30 years, it currency experienced a downtrend. This has been…

OKO, a crop insurance startup serving smallholder farmers in Africa is transforming communications with farmers across Africa to dramatically improve service delivery and provide enhanced customer experiences. Present in Mali and Uganda, the crop insurance startup is using new technologies in satellite imagery and weather forecasting to simplify and automatize claim management, and thus creating low-cost crop insurance for smallholder farms. “Our mission is to leverage the increasing influence of mobile technology to help overcome income distribution insufficiencies for those who feed the world. As a small startup, we needed a technology partner that understood the entire process, from integration…

Leo Stan Ekeh, Chairman, the Zinox Group, has his name on the controversy surrounding the troubled Nigerian healthcare firm, HealthPlus and the alleged takeover by its investors PE firm Alta Semper. According to the statement signed by Barrister Reginald Obiakor, Mr. Ekeh’s SSA on Legal Affairs, Mr. Ekeh has no investments in HealthPlus or in the PE firm Alta Semper but he knew the funders long before he met Mrs. George as Alta Semper had approached Konga for a partnership and possible investment before Mrs. George approached Ekeh. Mrs. Bukky George first contacted Mr Ekeh via SMS on March 31st,…

Seedstars, the Swiss-based private company with a mission to impact people’s lives in emerging markets, annually holds the Seedstars World Competition to continuously scout for the most promising startups around the Asia, Africa, CEE, MENA, and LATAM regions. This year, 94 ecosystems were included in the online open call for applications. From there, 1,200 startups participated in the Online Seedstars Academy, a training program for entrepreneurs to accelerate their growth and receive mentorship from industry experts around the world. The next phase of the competition takes the local winners to the regional stage. From the regionals, 10 startups will receive…

Salesforce Ventures, a venture firm of Salesforce has joined AppsFlyer’s roster of investors in a late-stage extension of its $210 million series D round led by General Atlantic earlier this year, this new funding will help the firm to bring market-leading technology to Africa. AppsFlyer, the mobile marketing analytics firm, will use the funding to double its team focused on the African market in 2021. “We’re incredibly excited to deepen our integration with Salesforce and Salesforce Ventures, as we take another step towards ensuring that marketers, app developers, and the entire ecosystem is armed with the best marketing tech stack…

Every Friday of this month is a Black Friday, and for the newbies, this is the time and day that brands offer amazing discounts and crazy offers on various products and services. If you have never benefited from a Black Friday, then this is a great opportunity to grab some realme goodies. Some individuals have mastered the art of getting great deals from Black Fridays and their pockets have never been disappointed. Black Fridays are best suited for buying electronics like smartphones because the kind of discounts you get that most probably only come once. On Friday, November 27, 2020,…

Bboxx, a next-generation utility, has secured a $4 million loan to accelerate its operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) across Kivu, Ituri and Tshopo provinces with ambitions to expand further in the country. Bboxx secured the loan from the Facility for Energy Inclusion Off-Grid Energy Access Fund (FEI OGEF), a debt fund managed by Lion’s Head Global Partners (LHGP). According to Mansoor Hamayun, CEO and Co-Founder of Bboxx: “We have substantial operations and a proven track record in the DRC, having signed an important MoU with the DRC government at the beginning of the year. As we embark…

Fenix, a UAE-based scooter startup has launched after raising $3.8M in seed funding led by isreal VC firm Maniv Mobility. Founded earlier this year by Jaideep Dhanoa and IQ Sayed, Fenix is a scooter startup that wants to make mobility easier, cheaper, and simpler. The startup begins operations in Abu Dhabi and then expand into more markets in the MENA region. In a statement, Jaideep Dhanoa, Co-Founder and CEO said, “We hope this investment is just the start of a cross-pollination of talent, capital, and innovation between the nations that can only be an accelerant in the development of a true middle-eastern tech…

MTN Nigeria has partnered with Gameloft, a global game publisher to launch MTN Gameworld – a new gaming platform for its subscribers. The platform will offer the Nigerian gaming community access to a variety of fun and exciting games online through an extensive premium catalogue from Gameloft and other renowned publishers. Speaking on the partnership, Chief Digital Officer, MTN Nigeria, Srinivas Rao said, “We are constantly seeking to deliver innovative products that support the aspirations of our customers, whilst delivering superior user experience. This partnership allows us to provide our customers with access to a variety of exhilarating games from…

We’re at a pivotal moment in several nations across Africa, where the widespread adoption of internet-connected devices creates a brand new space for business. There were 477 million unique mobile subscribers across sub-Saharan Africa at the last count, marking a 45 percent penetration rate. What’s even more promising is the predicted 4.3 percent CAGR, which will pull the number of mobile subscribers to 614 million in the region. The continent’s smartphone market hubs stand as South Africa, making up over 15 percent of the total market, and Egypt, at near-12 percent. As has been the case in many other jurisdictions with…

UNICEF Kenya and Safaricom have partnered to help Kenyan children in a range of areas including education, child protection and emergencies. The new partners have pledged to work together to ensure children – especially the poorest and most marginalized – can access the Internet at school, are protected from violence and abuse, and receive life-saving information during droughts, floods and disease outbreaks such as COVID-19. “This new partnership with Safaricom has enormous potential to help some of the most vulnerable children in Kenya, including those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” UNICEF Kenya Deputy Representative Jean Lokenga said. “By working together, we…

Sophos today published the Sophos 2021 Threat Report, which flags how ransomware and fast-changing attacker behaviors, from advanced to entry level, will shape the threat landscape and IT security in 2021. The report, written by SophosLabs security researchers, as well as Sophos’ threat hunters, rapid responders, and cloud security and AI experts, provides a three-dimensional perspective on security threats and trends, from their inception to real-world impact. Three key trends analyzed in the Sophos 2021 Threat Report include: The gap between ransomware operators at different ends of the skills and resource spectrum will increase. At the high end, the big-game…

Xiaomi has become one of the most known and successful companies in the world in the past years. This Chinese company was founded in 2010 and from there on it took the electronic market by storm. But who is the mastermind behind this? Who is the brain that managed to reach this kind of heights starting nearly from zero? His name is Lei Jun. Let’s find more about him below. Early Life The year is 1969, when on a cold day of December 16, Lei Jun was born. This little child from the city of Xiantao, Hubei province, showed…

Plentywaka, Nigeria’s bus-hailing app, has launched WakaCab, a new car-hailing service with fully-trained drivers for commuters within Delta State starting with Asaba, then Warri. WakaCab, available on Google Playstore and the IOS App store is live for commuters in Asaba and later in Warri before Christmas to make commuting in and around the city much easier. Payments can be made via cash or Plentywaka’s e-wallet system, Wakapurse. In a statement, Plentywaka’s President and Co-Founder, Johnny Enagwolor said “Expanding the Plentywaka brand into Delta State with a car-hailing service, after launching in 2019 is a testament to our success and the…

Technology is truly evolving. Smartphone manufacturers are doing everything within their innovative reach to develop gadgets that are convenient to the user and rhyme with the changing times. The current smartphone consumer is also dynamic – choosy and specific – with their needs ever-shifting. Smartphone brand OPPO for instance, through its various devices, has been able to capture moments at all levels with some new generational features. The OPPO A93, the firm’s latest device in the market, through the air gesture feature allows users to receive calls, go through apps, read messages, and perform other functions via gestures. With the…

Search engine optimization entails improving the visibility of your site in search engines’ organic search results. Virtually all bloggers and site owners want to optimize their site for SEO but only a few know the best way to go about it. The best SEO strategies should include the following key components. SEO can be divided into two main categories: On-page and off-page SEO. If you want more details you can contact an agency like Saint Louis SEO Stars. On-page SEO Keywords: On-page SEO includes using keywords that are commonly typed by users into search engines’ search boxes. Keyword targeting is…

Baidu, a search engine for China is set to acquire JOYY Inc. , a global video-based social media platform for $3.6 billion. Baidu will acquire JOYY’s domestic video-based entertainment live streaming business (“YY Live”), which includes the YY mobile app, YY.com website, and PC YY, among others, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately US$3.6 billion in cash, subject to certain adjustments. The closing of the transaction is subject to certain conditions and is currently expected to occur in the first half of 2021. Mr. David Xueling Li, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, “As a pioneer…

PortableVoices, a Kenyan podcast startup is set to launch PortableVoices Premium, a subscription-based audiobooks service. PortableVoices Premium subscribers will get 1 credit per month that they can use to listen to any audiobook in the premium catalogue despite the price of the book. Besides, premium members will enjoy exclusive deals and up to 30% discount on extra audiobooks they purchase when their credits run out.  “PortableVoices has been enabling publishers and creatives produce high quality audio content since we opened our first podcast and audiobook production studio in Nairobi in 2018, with the launch of the service publishers, authors and…

There is a record amount of crypto-based online casinos flooding the wires of the internet. Following this trend is a growing number of casino players signing up to play video slots and table games as their primary choice of online entertainment, but rather than bet fiat currency, they are using cryptocurrency. Currently, the casino industry is worth a massive $67 billion these figures will continue to rise with the prediction on the Statista website showing that the industry is worth $92.9 million by 2023. The continuous rise in online gambling is for several reasons: HTML5 games allow players to play…

Diversity and inclusion has been an active topic for the past 5-10 years in Western Countries. However, it is not uncommon to find panels at conferences consisting of white-only panelists discussing Africa. ​This article spotlighted this problem in which during a startup event in 2018 it featured an all-white panel of experts discussing on African startups and the role they can play in the German economy and how German startups can potentially enter African markets. This was a missed opportunity for experts to knowledge share and have discourse. But is this right to have all-white panels discussing Africa? Inclusive Africa…

Econet Group, a pan-African telecoms and technology group, has teamed up with X’s Project Taara to expand and enhance affordable, high speed connectivity to communities across Sub-Saharan Africa using a revolutionary new optical wireless technology developed by Taara, a project at X, Alphabet’s moonshot factory (formerly known as Google [x]). Taara’s wireless optical communication links use beams of light to deliver high-speed, high-capacity connectivity over long distances. In the same way traditional fibre uses light to carry data through cables in the ground, Taara uses light to transmit information at speeds as high as 20 gigabits per second as a very narrow,…

If you’re looking to get a job in tech, you need a very particular set of skills. The reason for that is quite simple – tech involves completely different languages, whether they’re different programming languages or extremely specific jargon. However, the exact technical skills required by tech companies changes every few years as innovations carry the whole industry forward. Here are the top skills tech employers are looking for in 2020: Blockchain Blockchain is a business solution for many different problems; it’s also opening up innovations at the forefront of many different industries. Real estate is excited about tokenization; logistics…

Coding can be fun and hectic at the same time. It depends on why you want to code and what you want to achieve at the end of the day. Many people find themselves stuck in a career they don’t see their future in, not because they hate it, but because they didn’t evaluate their whys and what’s before getting started. This write-up isn’t intended to scare or drive you off the career path, but it’s there to guide and educate you on how you can learn to code and land your dream job. Let’s get right into it. What…

Bolt, the ride-hailing platform in Africa has launched Bolt Web App, a cost-effective alternative for riders to request a trip on a web browser.  Bolt Web App is a great option for riders who have mobile phones with limited capabilities in terms of high-performance user experience, internal phone storage, prone to a weaker internet connection, are conscious of the amount of money spent on data or want to order a ride using their computer. “At Bolt, we’re always working on making urban transportation more accessible and convenient. The option of using the Bolt Web App to request a ride is…

Keeping their IT infrastructure running at full capacity is a priority for most London businesses, making it no surprise to find that the trend of outsourced support for IT services is only growing with every year. As managed service providers (MSPs) become more popular worldwide, your business may be considering making the switch. But are you truly ready to take that next step? As you might imagine, transferring your IT services to be managed by a 3rd party operation isn’t a simple process, and your business needs to have a solid game plan before carrying out this critical decision. So,…

Twaa, a professional networking, knowledge-sharing and mentorship platform for women and girls has launched a mentorship program in Kenya to provide women with digital tools to connect and find suitable mentors and mentees, share and access opportunities bolstering continuous progress and development. Twaa will offer “BV Women in Africa Mentorship Program”, a women in Africa mentorship program by Bureau Veritas, a testing, inspection, and certification firm. Speaking at the launch of the program in Nairobi today, Marc Roussel, President of Government Services & International Trade & Senior Vice President for Africa commented: “The Bureau Veritas Group operates in several countries…

When it comes to emergency response to road accidents, every second counts! It is for this very reason, Uber, Zindi, Flare and The World Bank hosted a Machine Learning hackathon to bring together data scientists, innovators and startups to create innovative solutions for successful ambulance deployment strategies in Kenya. Darius Moruri, winner of first place in the hackathon proposed an approach that combines custom functions to re-project the city’s geographic coordinate system as well as finding optimal locations across Nairobi where ambulances can be positioned, among others. According to the United Nations, improving post-crash response is one of the many actions listed when it comes to raising…

The outcomes of the online casino games are decided by a program known as Random Number Generator (RNG). As the name suggests, the program produces random results in the software-based casino games. This is used to ensure fair gaming for all users. Random outcomes point that the game is not rigged to influence any player or players in particular. Rather, they present a levelled ground for the players to gamble online. But how exactly does the RNG works to present you with those random outcomes? Let’s learn all about it below. Basics of Random Number Generator At any land-based casino,…

US federal agencies have warned companies and government entities against a North Korean hacking group known as Kimsuky. The cybercrime clan has targeted organizations in the United States, South Korea, and Japan, to collect intelligence on various topics of interest to the North Korean regime, particularly nuclear policy and sanctions. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the US Cyber Command jointly released an advisory containing detailed information about Kimsuky’s activities, including tactics, procedures, and techniques. The hacking group seems to focus its data-gathering activities on foreign policy and national security issues related…