Author: Susan Mwenesi

The Universal service Advisory council (USAC) has been inaugurated by Cabinet Secretary, Information, Communications and Technology, Dr. Fred Matiang’I and will be charged with overseeing and providing strategic policy guidance in the implementation of the Universal Service Fund (USF). The board was constituted in accordance with the Kenya Information and Communications Act,1998 which was amended in 2009 and 2013,providing for the establishment of the Universal Service Fund (USF) and mandates the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) to administer and manage the Fund. “Members of the Advisory Council underwent a rigorous appointment process and I believe we have the best people…

The newly established tech incubator in Kigali Think, announced today through its website- think.rw, the call for applications to technology entrepreneurs in Rwanda and Africa.  Successful applicants will undergo a six-month program designed to support exceptional undertakers and startups to develop new and innovative digital solutions. Tigo and Millicom incubator, called “think”, located in a purpose-built facility in Gasabo district, City of Kigali will be the base from which up to five applicants/teams with higher potential will be selected by a competitive selection process; application details are available on think website. The first think cohort will be based in Kigali, Rwanda. Tigo will provide these entrepreneurs…

Microsoft Corporation is set to trounce Yahoo in the digital advertising market whose worth stands at $140.2 billion a study by research firm eMarketer has revealed. According to the estimates done by the company, Microsoft’s global ad revenue share for 2014 this 2.54 percent which is more than Yahoo’s 2.52 percent share while Google is leading the pack with a 31.54 percent share. Social media giant Facebook trails the others with 7.79 percent but together with Twitter they have recorded the largest gains in market share with Facebook improving from 5.82 and Twitter fro, 0.5percent to 0.79 percent. Google, Facebook,…

Wananchi Group through its home entertainment and communication services brand Zuku will be seeking to revitalize its voice telephony service provision capacity for all its Zuku Triple-play (broadband, multi-channel digital television and voice telephony) customers to enhance its service delivery capacity. The move is also expected to position the company as an innovative player in the competitive communications market. The project, which will involve the integration of a delivery platform technically known as a Soft Switch system, will soon see, Wananchi Group, providing fully-fledged voice telephony services. As part of the triple-play offering, Zuku delivers high quality voice services with…

Barclays Africa has been named “Best Investment Bank in Africa” and “Best M&A House in Africa” by Euromoney, the prestigious global news publication at an awards ceremony held at London’s Natural History Museum on Thursday, 10 July, The Awards  are given each year to honour institutions that have brought the highest levels of service, innovation and expertise to their customers and industries and are widely considered the most prestigious recognition in the financial services industry. “Less than one year after establishing Barclays Africa, these awards symbolise an important milestone in our journey to achieve our ambitions in Africa,” said Maria…

Kenya Airways has unveiled a mobile check-in service that allows customers to check in for their flights using any internet-enabled mobile device. The move is part of a wider strategic effort to enhance customer experience and also one of Information Technology related efforts that the company will roll out cost management solutions that guarantee efficiency and lower delivery costs. Speaking when he confirmed the Mobile Check in service activation, Kenya Airways’ Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Titus Naikuni said that the mobile check-in service is an effort to consistently provide a world-class experience by leveraging on technological…

Kenya’s first ever digital boot camp will be held at the United Nations International University (USIU) on July 24 and 25 and will mainly address the effective use of digital media  and online technology. Those in attendance will be business managers, government representatives, marketing and communications professionals, ICT professionals and higher education curriculum designers and e-learning specialists. “The boot camp will direction on how best to use online media to gain exposure, increase traffic, cultivate loyalty and grow businesses,” says Ms Esther Kagiri, the managing director of Globetrack International. It will feature a key address by Erik Qualman, a Forbes…

Kenyan tobacco farmers together with African peers drawn from Zimbabwe, Malawi Zambia, and South Africa have resolved to negotiate with governments to be involved in policy formulation to safeguard their interests. Representatives of tobacco growers, meeting last week under the International Tobacco Growers’ Association (ITGA) in Harare, Zimbabwe,said government policies usually have a major impact on their livelihoods and should thus have their inputs. ITGA President Francois van der Merwe said tobacco growers are alarmed that recommendations on tobacco proposed for the next Conference of the Parties (COP6) of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) would penalise growers for whom tobacco…

The Ministry of Health in partnership with other stakeholders are in a drive to combat diabetes using mobile phones for creating awareness among diabetic patients and in training health professionals. The mDiabetes project is themed “Be Healthy, Be Mobile” will make use of tools such as SMS and other applications, that will educate and raise awareness among the population  and provide information on the disease to limit the occurrence of diabetes which is largely linked to lifestyle, and. be used for appointment reminders, lifestyle and dietary advice, and the proper observation of treatment to limit risks of complication “Senegal is…

 StartTimes media is set to launch a Ksh. 6.9 billion headquarters in Kenya that will also cater for the rest of Africa as well as double up for the Dubbing Center for Film and Broadcast Television in Kenya.  During the ground breaking ceremony held in Karen today, the company which marked its entry into the Kenyan market in 2009  revealed the completion date of the project for  2015. This latest development is StarTime’s key investment in Africa and one likely to have a major positive impact on the country’s economy as more multinationals continue to grow their confidence in the…

Ghana’s communication regulator The National Communications Authority (NCA) has lifted the ban imposed on Vodafone Ghana on the 6th of June, 2014, caused by nationwide outage on the network. Among the sanctions imposed on the telecom were , banning them from the acquisition of new subscribers, sale of New SIM Cards, porting subscribers from other networks to Vodafone, introduction of new services, promotions, offers and from all marketing communications. NCA also directed the network to compensate consumers. Originally, these sanctions were in place till 31st July, 2014, however but since Vodafone has been able to meet the conditions put in…

 The recent unveiling of the new Kenya Banks’ Reference Rate (KBRR) by the Central Bank of Kenya is set to promote transparency in the banking sector as it will help customers see what rates local banks are offering for loans especially in terms of interest. The new rate set was announced by Professor Njuguna Ndungu who is the Chairman of the the Monetary Policy Committee and it stands at 9.13 percent. “This level of the KBRR will be effective from 8th July, 2014 until its next review in January 2015 (if conditions do not drastically change),” said Ndungu. The new…

UK-based Zapper has launched its secure payment app for smartphones in South Africa for the restaurant sector initially and eventually it will be rolled out to the e-commerce and the payment of all bills. Derek Wiggill, GM of Zapper in South Africa, said:“Zapper is already live at 100 sites, with another 150 already scheduled to go live shortly,” Wiggill says. “Because of this phenomenal growth, in terms of our staff complement we are going from 18 people to 101 in 90 days.” Zapper will make it possible for restaurants and outlets to add unique dynamic QR Codes to till slips,…

Public Procurement Oversight Authority (PPOA) has approved the controversial Safaricom security tender awarded to the telco by Interior ministry. When speaking to the parliamentary House committee on Administration and National Security PPOA deputy director Jane Njoroge said that the decision to approve the tender came about after they considered the upsurge of terrorism and other related crimes witnessed in the country. According to the standard Digital, Interior Principal Secretary Mutea Iringo was forced to explain why it was urgent that the tender be awarded to Safaricom  despite the security –related issues single out above being a public concern for a…

 DEMO Africa has announced the 40 best tech startups that will take part in the competition in September this year with Nigeria taking the lion’s share followed by Kenya, Ghana and Egypt. Other African countries to be represented are Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa which have two start ups each and Tunisia, Benin, Cameroon, Uganda and Zimbabwe have earned their space at the DEMO Africa platform. The competition attracted 400 hundred applications but only 242 had met the threshold for the adjudication; Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana recorded the highest number of entries. In the 12 categories available for application, Communication had…

 Safaricom has opened its agent network to its rivals among them Airtel that has been agitating for integration of mobile money services so as to allow for fair competition among players in the industry. Basically, agents will now be able to offer services for the popular M-Pesa alongside those of Orange Money and Airtel money, meaning that more commissions will come their way. Safaricom had declined to the move before citing the fact that they had invested a lot in their agent network over the years and opening up their network was unfair to them. Confirming these latest developments…

 Max Robinson is now  Dow Chemical Company’s first General Manager for Dow Ethiopia, effective from 7th of July 2014. Max will report to Ahmed Dualeh, general manager for Dow East Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya. Ross McLean, President Dow Sub-Saharan Africa: “I am very excited about Max’s appointment. It  is anotherproof point of our intentions in Sub-Saharan Africa. We see Africa as crucial to our company’s future growthand business success. We are proud that our solutions have been part of this growth across industries, whether it is in agriculture, infrastructure, energy, or manufacturing. We have been operating in Africa for over 50 yearsand we’re passionate about combining…

Novartis has launched a new antimalarial formulation of Coartem® 80/480 (artemether/lumefantrine 80 mg/480 mg), for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria in adults and older children, designed to reduce number of tablets taken per dose.  Created in a bid to enhance patient compliance, the full course of treatment for malaria has been reduced from 24 tablets to six tablets translating into a 75% reduction in pill burden. Kenya is the third African country to get the new brand after Nigeria and Angola, others are Uganda and Ghana. According to Dr. Nathan Mulure, the Novartis Medical Manager for Africa, Malaria is highly…

The Nigerian government and mobile operators need to come together to stem the unacceptable levels of service quality that continue to plague the industry a study by global research and advisory services firm International Data Corporation (IDC) has revealed. as it weighs up the Nigeria Communication Commission’s latest strategy for bringing offending operators into line and assesses the deeper issues involved in achieving true quality of service . Nigeria’s mobile market has grown to 120 million users today from just 400,000 lines in 2001 with mobile phone penetration reaching 87% of the population. Despite this phenomenal growth, poor QoS remains…

Unilever Kenya Chief Executive Officer Yaw Nsarkoh will not be arrested following the  High Court issuance of orders against the same for the alleged inclusion of genetically modified (GM) ingredients in the popular Aromat food seasoning. According to the Business Daily, Nsarkoh through his lawyer, Martin Munyu that Aromat which is alleged to have genetically modified ingredients has in fact met the requirements set by the Standards Act of the Constitution, and is duly certified by the Kenya Bureau of Standards. In his argument, Munyu added that despite the Kenyan Government banning products that contain GMOs in 2012, the absence…

 With the world cup taking much of the world’s attention until the 13th of July, Nigerians are moving in to cash in on the action on their e-commerce platforms  and this includes customizing their logos while  specialized categories, landing pages and slider banners in order to sell sporting items and promote world cup products which have been a fast sell this season. Online market place, Kaymu.com.ng, says that social media engagement in the first week of the world cup was recorded at a Facebook reach of over 250,000 people and this included using social media engagement such as football trivia, match…

Ericsson has achieved speeds of 5 Gbps in live, over-the-air demonstrations of the company’s pre-standard 5G network technology despite 5G implementation in commercial mobile networks being expected in 2020. According to the Ericsson Mobility Report (June, 2014), 85 percent of North American mobile subscriptions will be LTE by 2019. This high penetration of LTE indicates that North America could be one of the first regions to adopt 5G. At the same time, Japan and South Korea are also likely to benefit from early 5G availability with trials already announced by both NTT DOCOMO and SK Telecom. A regional appendix of…

Unilever has launched the Idea trophy an inter-university innovation competition that focuses on the development of personal and entrepreneurial/business competencies among Kenyan undergraduates. The initiative is open to students from five public and private universities who will be required to generate and submit innovative ideas on creating brand awareness and growing usage among their peers in the target schools. Additionally, will develop business plans while those qualifying for the final stage will present execution plans which will then be judged for the ultimate prizes. At the launch businesses were urged to use their expertise and set aside resources to train and equip young…

Passengers boarding British Airways are in for a treat as their chosen airline is currently testing a hi-tech blanket which changes colour using brainwaves, to ensure it offers customers the best flight¹s sleep in the sky. Known as the Œhappiness blanket, the new innovation is woven with fibre optics and uses neuro-sensors to measure a person¹s brainwaves, changing colour, from red to blue, to show when they¹re at their most relaxed and meditative. The airline hopes monitoring a person¹s sleep and relaxation patterns during a flight will inform decisions made to improve aspects of the in-flight service; from changing the timing…

The long awaited launch of Ushahidi’s ‘homemade’ modem/router, BRCK will take place next week on Wednesday at the Sarit Centre in Nairobi. This is according BRCK Chief Executive Officer Erik Hersman as he gave a talk at the Tech4Africa conference that also spoke of the journey since the inception of the idea in South Africa in 2011 after he himself found it difficult to connect to the internet promting him to come up with the design of the BRCK whose success will mean that Ushahidi will never have to look anywhere else for funding. “We are shipping BRCKS for 800 people, there…

Mediamax Network-owned the People Daily today rebranded and changed its revenue model which will make it Kenya’s first national free-sheet available with immediate effect various distribution points throughout the country. “We are excited to bring this successful international concept of a free-sheet in Kenya that will enable Kenyans nationally have access to quality, authoritative and balanced editorial content while offering advertisers increased circulation and reader value opportunities” said Ian Fernandes, Group CEO at Mediamax. Free daily newspapers have been heralded as a wholly new model for the modern newspaper, one which challenges the traditional business model, but which has the…

Glasgow-based tech company Cojengo has teamed up with software giant Microsoft to provide innovative diagnostic tools and disease surveillance data for farmers in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania. The VetAfrica app, which is a developed by Cojengo, enables vets, animal health workers and rural farmers to quickly and accurately diagnose livestock illness and identify which drugs are most effective to treat disease. The High-tech Scots excellence will help tens of millions of farmers across Africa to solve animal health issues, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon revealed today. Ms Sturgeon said: “Scotland has a global reputation as an innovative nation and…

ICT solutions provider Huawei has donated one million Kenya Shillings to the Kenya Diabetes Management and Information Centre (DMI) for the diabetes walk launch set for Saturday 5th July 2014 at Safaricom House. The centre brings awareness to the condition and raises money to supply free insulin to economically disadvantaged children The CEO of Huawei Kenya Mr. Dean Yu presented a cheque of Kshs 1,000,000 to Eva Muchemi Executive Director of Kenya Diabetes Management & Information Centre (DMI). In a statement Mr. Dean said, “Diabetes is a disease that is gaining prevalence amongst children and the young people. Through education…

The rates of people using unlicensed software on their PC s in East and Southern Africa has declined with the commercial value decreasing  from $672 million in 2011 to $540 million in 2013, but Kenya is still recording a rate of 78 percent in 2013, with its commercial value as at last year totaling $128 million. A 2013 Global Software Survey released by BSA | The Software Alliance (BSA) also revealed that Botswana declined one point to 79 percent; Zimbabwe declined one point to 91 percent; Zambia declined one point to 81 percent; and South Africa declined one point to…

Phone prices in Kenya could come down if talks between ICT secretary Fred Matiang’i and cabinet colleague Henry Rotich on the best measures to substantially reduce the cost of handsets bear fruit. The Business Daily reports that it is expected that this will result in the penetration of the gadgets in the rural areas as well as in the lower income segments areas. “As we move to the future, more people will be accessing information through their handsets than personal computers. This may not be possible for all as the prices of smartphones are out of reach of many,” Dr…