Author: Caroline Vutagwa

Zimbabwe will soon be having a shopping experience of a lifetime in a new shopping mall, as the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Senator Prisca Mupfumira, launched the construction of the $6.5 million National Social Security Authority shopping mall in Chipinge. Mupfumira said the shopping mall was intended to meet the business needs of the Chipinge community. She added that through this new business entity an increase in infrastructure development as well as job creation is expected. “The National Social Security Authority collects contributions countrywide, including from workers and employers in Chipinge.  It is the surplus from…

Investment bankers in East Africa are yet to fully utilize the potential of the region. Currently the major reason that will deter any enterprising African is capital to start off their business. This is one area that has not received much  growth. First of all, when we talk about Investment bankers we mean an individual or a  financial institution that assist individuals, corporations and governments in raising capital for their businesses. Start-ups and SME’s are looking into making an impact in the economy but the main hindrance in all this is the availability of capital; which according to Ventures…

Kenya’s tourism sector has received positive endorsements after it was ranked the second best country in Africa showcasing tourism products at the just concluded International Tourism Bourse (ITB) in Berlin, Germany. Authentic safari and sustainable tourism concepts placed the Kenyan exhibition stand at the position after Rwanda which was ranked the best in Africa and globally. Kenya was positioned at the sixth best slot in the world. “This is indeed a major boost that will positively go a long way in propelling the country’s image globally as a tourism destination; we thank the tourism industry for their immense contribution…

Intel Corporation donated 30 computers worth Ksh. 1.5 million to boost ICT clubs in 9 secondary schools located in various counties across Kenya. Intel has already trained and equipped teachers with necessary skills to start and run ICT clubs in 12 schools across Machakos, Nairobi, Kiambu and Kajiado counties and this donation is aimed at equipping additional ICT clubs in girls’ schools. The donation was made during this year’s International Women’s Day celebrations at Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development where Intel hosted over 100 girls from various secondary schools in an ICT Fair. The event saw winners walk away with…

Techno Brain Ltd and Crown Agent Limited has partnered to acquire trips™,  asuite of integrated customs and revenue software. The agreement states that  trips™ core development team of tax and customs software experts will transition to Techno Brain and form the nucleus of a new business unit of Techno Brain, headquartered in Sutton, U.K. Crown Agents and Techno Brain have also signed a strategic partnership agreement to continue to serve existing customers and to promote and deliver the trips™ suite worldwide. This partnership will leverage Crown Agents’ considerable tax and customs domain expertise together with Techno Brain’s global technology…

For the first time in its history, Safaricom’s M-PESA customers will be able to send and receive money from Tanzania, in a move that is aimed at deepening financial inclusion and give a further boost to the regional integration agenda. Safaricom has partnered with Tanzanian mobile service operator Vodacom to enable seamless transactions between Kenya’s nearly 20 million M-PESA customers and Tanzania’s 7 million M-PESA customers. “This is a new chapter in the continuing growth story of M-PESA. Enabling transactions between Kenya and Tanzania will make more convenient for individuals to transact across borders and unleash the transformative power of a…

It has been said that women are the pillar of families and communities. In Kenya, the untapped potential of women and girls is gaining greater attention, with policy makers seeking to remedy exclusion of women and promote their full involvement in diverse aspects of societal growth and development. The discussion around women’s issues finds a platform on Twitter, where various women leaders and activists share their messages of empowerment with others. In Kenya, a number of women are providing inspiration for others through their passionate pursuit of career excellence, family and community development, artistic expression and so much…

Twenty Ghanaian high-potential startups have concluded the first national bootcamp designed to promote local entrepreneurship and innovation in clean technologies. The initiative was organized last week by the soon-to-be-launched World Bank/infoDev’s Ghana Climate Innovation Center (GCIC). The bootcamp aimed to identify and launch growth-oriented Ghanaian entrepreneurs and new ventures involved in developing profitable and locally relevant solutions to climate change. Several studies, including the World Bank’s report ‘Economics of Adaption to Climate Change’ and Ghana’s National Climate Change Policy Framework, have stressed how significant the impact of climate change will be on Ghana’s economy, people and development. “Ghana is…

Airtel Ghana and Sahel Sahara bank are looking to make the business situation between them better; this is why the two have signed an agreement that will combine Airtel’s telecommunication capabilities and the agility of Sahel Sahara bank. The partnership signed by the companies’ chief executives, is a consolidation of a mutually beneficial cooperation that combines the superior mobile telecommunications capabilities of Airtel Ghana and the agility and resourcefulness of Sahel Sahara Bank that will offer pioneering services to its employees and stakeholders. The bank will bring its experience in the development of financial instruments, which play an increasingly important…

The LG G3 smartphone from LG Electronics (LG) was named Best Smartphone of the Year by the GSMA at the Global Mobile Awards during Mobile World Congress 2015 for its quality, variety of useful features and ease of use. Additionally, the LG Watch Urbane and LG Watch Urbane LTE won nine awards at the show from various top-tier media outlets. “Since launch, the LG G3 has been critically acclaimed, carried by over 170 partners across the globe and its success has largely contributed to the 16 percent increase in annual global revenue,” said the GSMA in its award announcement. “It…

News is going round that Liquid Telecom will re-enter the Kenyan market as a retail internet seller. Well this are not rumors as Liquid Telecom Kenya CEO, Ben Roberts, told the media that the company intends to complete the very many Fibre to the Home (FTTH) projects that the former owners of the company, Kenya Data Network (KDN), had started. This, according to the CEO, will cost the company an estimated Ksh. 1.4 billion in Kenya. Roberts stated further that with the funding, Liquid will start offering fibre internet connectivity to homes, in a market currently dominated by Jamii…

TomTom’s range of TomTom Runner and Multi-Sport GPS Sport Watches will now connect to Nike+.  Users can now track their progress, challenge their friends and share their successes with the Nike+ running community and earn NikeFuel. “This is the next step in a partnership with Nike that began in 2011 with the launch of the Nike+ Sportwatch, which was powered by TomTom,” says Corinne Vigreux, MD and Founder, TomTom Consumer. “We’re excited to add an industry-leader like Nike+ to the list of platforms available to TomTom users.” “Whether it’s an athlete’s first or fastest run, Nike+ has been there…

Visa and Samsung have come together to make mobile payment more efficient through the Samsung Pay which comes with the new Samsung Galaxy S6. Eligible consumers will be able to make secure Visa payments with Samsung Pay, Samsung’s new payment service scheduled to launch this summer. Samsung Pay is supported by Visa Token Service technology which is designed to enable secure payments with a broad range of connected devices. This new innovative technology from Visa replaces sensitive payment account information found on plastic cards, such as the 16-digit account number, expiration date and security code, with a unique series of numbers…

Ahead of the International Women’s day which is on 8th March, Nigeria has taken the initiative to honor and celebrate the strides by Women in their various fields of life. In this case, the country is celebrating African women in IT. 1.      Omobola Johnson Dr. Omobola Johnson is a Nigerian technocrat and the pioneer Minister of Communication Technology, a position she acquired following her appointment as part of the transformation Agenda of the Goodluck Jonathan government. She served as the Country manager for Accenture Nigeria. Born in 1963, she has earned several public commendations since taking up her position…

Airports Council International (ACI) recently recognized three of Louis Berger’s aviation projects with six Airport Service Quality (ASQ) awards. Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, Queen Alia International Airport, and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport were distinguished as best-in-class facilities, according to ACI’s ASQ passenger satisfaction survey. “These are all well-deserved recognitions of the dedication to performance and customer experience that each facility demonstrates, and we are honored to have been a part of their efforts to expand and improve their services to travelers and users in general,” said Javier Gonzalez, vice president leading Louis Berger’s global aviation practice. ACI named…

The newly launched DStv app, DStv Now,has launched three bonus channels Shorts TV, Ginx TV and Eurochannel, which will be available for a limited period. This marks an unprecedented move for MultiChoice as new channels usually hit linear television first. “As a pioneer at delivering content via breakthrough technologies, we do our best to get content that will captivate audiences across the continent. We are pleased to acquire the new channels for DStv Now and hope they will resonate with short film junkies, video gamers and European culture lovers” noted John Kotsaftis CEO of DStv Digital Media. ShortsTV is the…

Organizations will now have the ability to track the money they have been sending through mobile money solutions to their beneficiaries, thanks to the new product launched by Safaricom dubbed ‘M-PESA SurePay’. SurePay is a closed loop payment system designed for corporate and Public Benefit Organizations (PBO’s) which disburse funds directly to beneficiaries. The solution will allow for the funding organization to place restrictions to be placed on where the money is spent. Safaricom Financial Services General Manager Betty Mwangi said the solution will also allow fund managers to trace the entire value chain right from disbursement to expenditure…

Africa as a developing continent has more than enough problems but it is believed that solving the power problems as well as infrastructure will be a stepping stone to the progress of the continent. This is why Kenya, Zambia, Uganda and Rwanda are working together in finding ways in which these areas can be covered. Ministers and senior representatives from these four East African countries have recently pledged their support in solving East Africa’s crippling power deficit. Hon. Joseph Njoroge, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Energy, Kenya, H.E. Hon Christopher Yaluma, Minister of Energy and Minerals, Zambia, H.E. Hon Minister James…

Kenya’s Narok County can now enjoy a variety of channels through their GO tv decoders as MultiChoice Kenya Limited has made the installation. This now adds the cosmopolitan county to the broad footprint of areas in Kenya where GOtv set top boxes can be used to deliver quality television transmission in digital format. Apart from that, MutiChoice is also offering exciting digital home television is available in major towns in Kenya including in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Malindi, Nakuru, Nyeri, Kisii, Meru, Machakos, Isiolo, Laikipia, Bungoma, Kakamega, Trans Nzoia and Kajiado among others. “We have been testing the signal for the…

MasterCard has partnered with the Zimbabwean Steward Bank  to avail money transfer services to the bank’s more than 1.5-million account holders for the first time. This platform will ensure the bank’s customers receive funds sent by family and friends abroad directly into their Steward Bank accounts, using the international money transfer hub HomeSend.This is a joint venture between MasterCard, eServGlobal and BICS; Steward Bank is the first Zimbabwean bank to join the global HomeSend network. In the next phase, Steward Bank’s sister company EcoCash will soon connect to HomeSend, enabling more than four million EcoCash mobile money customers to…

TomTom has launched a new navigation app with TomTom Traffic in South Africa. With this app people can now experience TomTom’s premium navigation and get real-time traffic information, driving up to 75km every month at no additional cost.   Drivers receive 75 free kilometres every month, which includes TomTom’s premium navigation, TomTom Traffic and TomTom Speed Cameras. On the first of every month the free 75kms are added to the driver’s app. These kilometres are not accumulated if not driven in the 30 days. A mobile data plan with the user’s chosen mobile network provider is required in order to…

Banking business is not the only thing Kenya’s Equity Bank is looking to explore, the bank is now looking at getting into the health sector by opening a chain of clinics across the country which will be known as ‘Equity Afia’. A move that makes the bank the very first to explore healthcare. Equity Afia will offer diagnostic services, laboratory tests, out patient care, pharmacy dispensing, dental services and health screening to individuals and companies. The health business will run under Equity Groups Foundation. Progress to meeting this goal has already been experienced as the bank has already started hiring…

Accenture  and the Accenture Foundations have given the Amref Health Africa a grant of $3 million to help in improving and scale its mobile health training program to 3,000 community health workers in Kenya. This grant brings Accenture’s direct support to Amref Health Africa to more than $7.3 million since 2005. “Through this collaborative partnership, we are leveraging technology and delivering measurable solutions that will make a profound impact across sub-Saharan Africa” This grant is a part of Accenture’s corporate citizenship initiative, Skills to Succeed, which is equipping more than 700,000 people around the world with the skills to get a job or…

  MasterCard and the Egyptian government are working together to see an ID digital programme is up and functioning. The programme will see Egyptians get national ID’s to the country’s existing mobile platform. Through this ID cards, citizens will be in a position to pay for a numbers of services including government fees, mobile bills, merchant purchases and domestic remittances. In addition, salaries and social benefits will be electronically disbursed through the card. As part of the agreement, MasterCard and Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology will work together build an innovation center in Cairo that will house the…

  Airtel Kenya will be expanding and upgrading its customer service centres countrywide. This initiavtive is under its aggressive customer service improvement plan; the company will set up more new state-of-the-art outlets in various parts of the country while partnering with its key distributors to modernize their Airtel branded outlets and increase convenience of access to service for its customers countrywide. The company is planning to open 23 more outlets to be located in several major towns including Thika, Embu, Meru, Kericho, Kakamega, Kitale, Malindi and Nanyuki by the end of May 2015, making telecommunication services accessible to Kenyans wherever…

Sometime back, many thought that with mobile money banks were doomed but it looks like they all thought wrong, well at least not for United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc. UBA is taking up technology really fast, the bank has now launched an innovative online banking solution called U-Social. With this platform is for those customers who would like to do banking transactions on social media using their Facebook account as it offers flexibility and convenience. Accessible to all UBA customers on Facebook, U-Social comes as online-based application on the social media site. The bank has made it an easy…

A group of 40 upcoming fashion designers have graduated from an Equity Bank,organized financial literacy course, setting the stage for their formal entry into the world of business. The 40upcoming designers, who were also the finalists in the bank’s Vijana Na Equity;Design your Destiny, fashion design competition, successfully underwent a 30 hourscomprehensive financial training program custom designed for players in the creative sector. The Bank, recently launched the Vijana na Equity campaign geared at providing support for youthful creative entrepreneurs’ aspiring to make their mark in various fields. Following their graduation, the fashion designers are now ready to claim…

TomTom Africa and the National Small Business Chamber (NSBC) have partnered to ensure that about 75 000 members will have location services, this includes an Address Validation Tool and “Put Your Business On The Map”. Through this initiative Small businesses, which contribute largely to the economic growth of South Africa, will have a greater visibility. “This will assist customers in finding these businesses via a business locator on the TomTom App or any of the TomTom portable navigation devices (PND’s)”, commented TomTom Africa General Manager, Etienne Louw. Mike Anderson, NSBC Founder and CEO added: “TomTom plays a pivotal role in enhancing…

Airtel Kenya has will be sponsoring this year’s BAKE Kenyan Blog Awards which will take place in May 2nd, this year. The awards aim to single out bloggers with great creative and innovative, useful and regular content and posts. This year’s awards themed “Content is King” will ring out the battle of creativity into the relm of blogging  which is intending to bring together various online content creators including corporate organizations, celebrities, SMEs, county governments, and national government agencies for an evening to celebrate the growth of the Kenya blogging space. With rapid development in internet awareness and penetration, the…

KQ Cargo has yet again retained its feather on it cap as the freight division of Kenya Airways  is now won the  African Cargo Airline of the Year winning the award  for the send time, at the 3rd biennial Air Cargo Africa event. The division whose mandate is to transport various cargo across the Kenya Airways network operates in 20 countries across three continents. “Receiving this prestigious award is a great honour and a powerful endorsement by our customers of our focus and dedication to providing the highest levels of service. It sets us apart in the increasingly competitive African…