Maurice Otieno is stepping down as Executive Director of Baraza Media Lab after overseeing the Kenyan media innovation organization’s expansion from a startup into one of Africa’s largest philanthropy-backed journalism support platforms.
Otieno, who joined Baraza’s founding team in 2019 and became Executive Director in April 2020, announced his departure on LinkedIn this week, saying he was “stepping aside” rather than leaving the sector. Governance and public finance specialist Eric Kinaga will succeed him.
The leadership transition comes after six years during which Baraza significantly expanded its funding, staffing and continental footprint despite launching shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted media organizations worldwide.
Otieno said Baraza secured about $20 million in philanthropic funding during his tenure and increased its reach from roughly 1,500 people to 12,000. His LinkedIn profile, however, cites more than $15 million raised over five years from over 300 donors. While the funding totals differ, both accounts point to the organization’s rapid growth from three employees to about 40 staff.
Baraza now operates on an annual budget of approximately $4 million and engages around 7,000 people every month through its journalism, innovation and civic engagement programmes, according to Otieno.
Under his leadership, the organization launched initiatives including the Data Storytelling Fellowship, She Leads Media, the FumbuaKE collective and a Media Innovation Incubator aimed at strengthening independent journalism and digital media innovation across Africa.
Otieno also founded the Africa Media Festival, which this year attracted more than 200 organizations from 31 countries, underscoring Baraza’s growing role as a continental convener for media leaders, startups and development partners.
Institutionally, he said Baraza established its first fiduciary board, implemented more than 40 organizational policies and introduced monitoring and evaluation systems to guide programme decisions while reducing staff turnover by 20%.
The organization faced its first major test within months of its launch as Kenya confirmed its first Covid-19 cases. Otieno said Baraza responded by diversifying its funding sources and expanding strategic partnerships, helping sustain growth during a period when many media organizations were cutting operations.
Kinaga inherits an organization that has become a prominent intermediary between philanthropic funders, newsrooms and media entrepreneurs across Africa.
Before joining Baraza, Kinaga spent nearly a decade working on public finance, governance and accountability, including roles at USAID Kenya and East Africa, the Institute for Social Accountability and Transparency International Kenya. He previously coordinated the Shule Yangu Alliance, an advocacy campaign focused on securing land rights for more than 30,000 public schools, before moving into budget governance and fiscal accountability.
He also publishes Letters to a Kinder Nation, a newsletter examining governance and public institutions.
“I’m interested in building public systems that are not only effective and accountable, but also worth believing in,” Kinaga said.
Neither Baraza nor Kinaga has announced changes to the organization’s funding priorities or programme strategy following the leadership transition.
Otieno said he plans to spend time with his family before taking on his next role, adding that he will continue supporting the media innovation ecosystem from outside the organization.
Airtel Money Kenya has appointed Michael Bonke as its Acting Managing Director, ushering in a new leadership chapter as the company unveiled Bizna Wallet, a dedicated digital wallet designed to help Kenya’s small businesses better manage their finances while accelerating digital financial inclusion.
Bonke assumes the leadership of Airtel Money Kenya with more than 15 years of experience in the telecommunications and fintech sectors, having spent nearly a decade at Airtel Money in leadership roles across sales, business development and marketing. During his tenure, he has helped drive customer growth, digital transformation and strategic partnerships as Airtel Money expands its footprint in Kenya’s competitive mobile money market.
His first major announcement as Acting Managing Director is the launch of Bizna Wallet, a solution aimed at micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) seeking a simpler and more secure way to manage business finances.
The launch comes as Kenya’s SMEs continue to embrace digital payments. According to the Mastercard SME Confidence Index, 95% of SMEs now accept mobile payments, highlighting growing demand for financial services that extend beyond simply receiving payments.
Speaking during the launch, Bonke said the new wallet addresses a longstanding challenge facing many entrepreneurs who use personal mobile money accounts to run their businesses.
“Small businesses are at the heart of Kenya’s economy, yet many entrepreneurs still rely on personal wallets to manage business finances. Airtel Money Bizna Wallet is designed for kiosk owners, market traders, boda boda riders, matatu operators and other micro-businesses to enable them to separate business income from personal finances, monitor their daily sales, access mini statements, receive payments across mobile money networks and protect business payments from unauthorized reversals, giving entrepreneurs greater visibility over their cash flow and more stable business operations. Our goal is to provide solutions that help businesses operate more efficiently while making digital financial services more accessible and rewarding,” said Bonke.
Bizna Wallet enables businesses to separate business income from personal finances, monitor daily sales, access mini statements and manage cash flow more efficiently. The wallet also allows merchants to receive payments across mobile money networks while introducing protection against unauthorized payment reversals, providing greater security for business transactions.
The solution is targeted at Kenya’s vast informal and SME sector, including kiosk owners, market traders, boda boda riders, matatu operators and other entrepreneurs who depend on mobile money to run their day-to-day operations.
Alongside the launch of Bizna Wallet, Airtel Money also expanded its Rudishiwa cashback programme to all Airtel Money customers.
Under the new offer, customers will receive 50% cashback on eligible transactions, including paybill payments, transfers to other mobile money networks, bank-to-wallet transfers and wallet-to-bank transfers. Unlike the company’s previous airtime rewards, the cashback is credited as real cash into a dedicated Cashback Wallet, allowing customers to transfer the rewards directly into their main Airtel Money wallet.
“As Kenya’s digital economy continues to grow, so do the needs of businesses and consumers. At Airtel Money, we are continuously investing in technology, expanding our reach and developing innovative solutions that make financial services simpler, more secure and more relevant for our customers. This is why we have introduced cashback rewards to Airtel Money users. Initially, we had airtime rewards, and now we have introduced real cash rewards that go into your cashback wallet for every eligible transaction. Customers can transfer the cash from the cashback wallet into the main Airtel Money wallet,” Bonke added.
The cashback programme is available to all registered Airtel Money customers in Kenya who complete qualifying transactions of KES 101 or more, with no opt-in required. Rewards are credited instantly and are accessible through both the My Airtel App and the *USSD 334# platform.
The appointment of Bonke and the launch of Bizna Wallet signal Airtel Money’s continued push to strengthen its position in Kenya’s digital financial services market. By combining dedicated financial tools for SMEs with cashback incentives for consumers, the company is seeking to deepen financial inclusion, expand merchant adoption and grow its digital payments ecosystem as Kenya’s cashless economy continues to evolve.
Women are making steady gains in Africa’s technology startup ecosystem, but they continue to face significant challenges accessing venture capital, underscoring a persistent funding gap that threatens to slow progress toward a more inclusive innovation economy.
The study analyzed more than 3,000 African startups and combined ecosystem data with interviews of founders and investors to assess gender diversity, funding trends and opportunities across the continent.
Women co-founded 641 startups in the survey, accounting for 19.2% of the ecosystem in 2026, up from 17.3% in 2024 and 14.6% in 2023. Female leadership also improved, with women serving as chief executive officers at 12.1% of startups, compared with 11.1% two years ago and 9.6% in 2023.
Those gains, however, have not translated into better access to capital.
The report shows that only 18.5% of startups that secured funding in 2024 had at least one female founder, down sharply from 26.3% in 2023. The proportion of funded startups led by female chief executives also declined to 12.5% from 15.3% over the same period.
The trend continued in 2025, when just 16.9% of funded startups had a female co-founder and only 9.6% were led by women. Early figures for 2026 present a mixed picture. Of the 60 startups that raised funding during the first five months of the year, 11, or 18.3%, had a female co-founder, while only five, or 8.3%, were led by a woman chief executive.
The findings highlight a growing disconnect between improving representation and access to investment, suggesting that women entrepreneurs continue to encounter structural barriers even as the broader ecosystem becomes more diverse.
“This third edition of our pioneering research publication, Diversity Dividend, tracks small, yet significant, steps towards a more gender diverse African tech startup ecosystem,” said Gabriella Mulligan, co-founder of Disrupt Africa. “But much more needs to be done to ensure the sector moves more quickly towards the gender parity it needs to really scale and succeed, and the funding figures are certainly a concern. Diversity is not going to increase if diverse startups can’t access the funding they need to grow.”
Madica, an Africa-focused pre-seed investment program dedicated to supporting underrepresented founders, said improving gender equality requires more than increasing the number of women receiving investment.
“We’ve heard it before, and we’ll continue to hear it. Getting past representation and specifically gender equality requires much more than ‘choosing diversity’,” said Akinyi W. Ooko Ombaka, Head of Portfolio Success at Madica. “It necessitates creating a real environment for equitable opportunities to thrive.”
Ombaka said founders need sustained mentorship, strategic advisory support, access to global entrepreneurial networks and practical operational assistance alongside funding, adding that listening directly to women founders is essential to designing effective interventions.
Jumpstarter Crowdfunding, another partner in the report, said expanding access to community-based financing could help narrow the capital gap faced by women entrepreneurs.
“Data consistently proves that diversity is a powerful catalyst for economic resilience, yet female and underrepresented founders still face significant capital allocation gaps,” said Derek Whitehead, Chief Operations Director at Jumpstarter Crowdfunding. “Providing transparent, community-driven funding infrastructure and greater visibility is essential to turning Africa’s most impactful ideas into thriving businesses.”
The report concludes that although female participation in Africa’s startup ecosystem continues to improve, progress remains incremental. Without broader and more equitable access to venture capital, the continent risks slowing the growth of women-led businesses and limiting the innovation and economic benefits that greater diversity can deliver.
Safaricom PLC shareholders approved a record KES 80.13 billion ($621 million) dividend at the company’s 18th Annual General Meeting, lifting the annual payout after three years of holding it steady while the telecom operator funded its expansion into Ethiopia.
The final dividend of KES 1.15 ($0.009) per share, approved on Friday, brings the total dividend for the financial year ended March 31, 2026, to KES 2.00 ($0.015) per share, following an interim dividend of KES 0.85 paid in March. It is the largest annual dividend distribution in the company’s history.
The higher payout follows Safaricom’s strongest financial performance to date and reflects improving confidence in its Ethiopian business, which the company expects to break even during the current financial year after years of heavy investment and currency-related headwinds.
“This has been a defining year for us. We marked 25 years of connecting and driving transformation through our services and community involvement. We did this while delivering our strongest financial performance yet,” Group Chief Executive Officer Dr. Peter Ndegwa said.
Safaricom maintained its dividend for three consecutive years as it absorbed the costs of entering Ethiopia and navigated the impact of the Ethiopian birr’s depreciation following foreign exchange reforms introduced in 2024. The expected turnaround in Ethiopia removes one of the biggest drags on group earnings as the company enters the first year of its Vision 2030 strategy.
Investor confidence has strengthened alongside the improving outlook. Safaricom’s shares rose 50.3% during the financial year, lifting its market capitalization to KES 1.10 trillion (about $8.5 billion) by March 31. The stock has continued to gain, pushing the company’s market value to approximately KES 1.44 trillion ($11.2 billion) ahead of the annual meeting.
The final dividend will be paid on or about September 4, 2026, to shareholders on the register at the close of business on August 4. Including this year’s distribution, Safaricom will have returned approximately KES 280 billion ($2.17 billion) to shareholders over the past five years.
As part of its Vision 2030 strategy, Safaricom is seeking to evolve beyond its traditional telecommunications business into a broader technology company, with investments in artificial intelligence, digital financial services, expanded broadband infrastructure, wider 4G and 5G coverage, and increased smartphone adoption across its markets.
Board Chairman Adil Khawaja said the company also completed a restructuring that increased Vodacom Group’s stake in Safaricom to 55% following the acquisition of an additional 15% interest from the Government of Kenya and an internal reorganization. The Government of Kenya now owns 20%, while public investors hold the remaining 25%.
Shareholders also re-elected Edward Okaro to the board, reappointed Ernst & Young as external auditors and approved resolutions required to formalize the revised ownership structure.
Safaricom serves more than 72 million customers across Kenya and Ethiopia and generated KES 414 billion ($3.21 billion) in service revenue during FY2026. Its M-PESA platform processed KES 41.68 trillion (about $323 billion) in transactions and generated KES 182.7 billion ($1.42 billion) in revenue, reinforcing its position as Africa’s largest mobile money platform and one of the continent’s biggest fintech businesses.
Amazon has completed a $50 billion investment in OpenAI, becoming one of the company’s largest strategic shareholders with an estimated 5% equity stake. The move strengthens Amazon’s position in the intensifying race to dominate artificial intelligence infrastructure and foundation models.
The investment was originally structured in two phases. Amazon committed an initial $15 billion earlier this year, with an additional $35 billion tied to milestones such as OpenAI reaching a major AI breakthrough or pursuing a public listing. Those conditions had not yet been met, but Amazon proceeded with the remaining investment, underscoring its long-term confidence in OpenAI’s technology and commercial prospects.
The funding gives OpenAI additional capital to expand its computing infrastructure and train increasingly sophisticated AI models—an endeavor requiring billions of dollars in chips, data centers and energy. The company continues to compete with rivals including Anthropic, Google, and several fast-growing Chinese AI developers.
The deal also marks a significant shift in OpenAI’s cloud strategy. Following a renegotiation of its partnership with Microsoft, OpenAI gained greater flexibility to work with multiple cloud providers, allowing Amazon Web Services to provide computing infrastructure alongside Microsoft’s services. The revised arrangement reduces OpenAI’s reliance on a single cloud provider while giving Amazon a larger role in powering future AI development.
For Amazon, the investment complements its existing AI portfolio. The company has also committed tens of billions of dollars to Anthropic while promoting its proprietary Trainium AI chips as an alternative to NVIDIA’s dominant GPUs. By supporting multiple leading AI developers, Amazon is positioning AWS as a preferred destination for customers building and deploying advanced AI applications.
The investment also reinforces expectations that OpenAI is preparing for a future public listing, although no IPO timeline has been officially announced. If OpenAI eventually goes public at a higher valuation, Amazon’s stake could become one of the most valuable strategic investments in the company’s history.
The transaction highlights how the world’s largest technology companies are increasingly competing not only to develop AI models but also to secure ownership stakes in the firms shaping the next generation of artificial intelligence.
Egyptian e-commerce operations startup Fincart has raised $2.8 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round to accelerate the expansion of its AI-powered merchant platform across Africa and the Middle East.
The round was co-led by Launch Africa and Antler MENAP, with participation from Yango Ventures, Five35 Ventures, Bluestream Capital, Hi2 Global, Kalahari Venture Labs and other regional investors. The funding follows Fincart’s pre-seed round in January 2025, which was led by Plus VC.
Founded in 2023 by Mostafa Masry and Nihal Ali, Fincart has evolved from a logistics management platform into an AI-powered operating system that helps online merchants manage shipping, customer engagement and access working capital from a single interface. The platform integrates with more than 40 courier companies across Africa, creating one of the continent’s largest logistics integration networks.
The startup said it will use the new capital to strengthen its AI capabilities, expand its engineering and commercial teams, deepen strategic partnerships and prepare for regional expansion beginning in 2027.
Fincart says it now serves more than 450 merchants across sectors including fashion, cosmetics, electronics and accessories. The company has facilitated nearly EGP1 billion (about $20 million) in gross merchandise value through its platform while relying almost entirely on organic growth, with roughly 40% of new customers acquired through referrals and no spending on marketing over the past three years.
“Our investors’ confidence in our vision, product and long-term goals will enable us to accelerate our mission of transforming e-commerce operations across the region,” Chief Executive Officer Mostafa Masry said.
The company was founded after Masry and Chief Operating Officer Nihal Ali experienced the operational challenges facing online merchants, particularly around last-mile delivery and reconciling cash-on-delivery payments, which remain the dominant payment method across Egypt and much of Africa and the Middle East.
“Most merchants are juggling multiple disconnected tools for shipping, payments and customer engagement,” Ali said. “We built Fincart to replace all of that with a single control panel where merchants can sell more, deliver faster and manage their customers without the friction.”
Launch Africa said Egypt’s high-volume, cash-on-delivery e-commerce market presents a significant infrastructure opportunity, while Antler MENAP said the founders’ operational experience and execution positioned the company to build commerce infrastructure that can scale across Africa and the Middle East.
Kenya has launched a nationwide crackdown on digital piracy after the government estimated that illegal streaming, software piracy and unauthorized content distribution strip $708 million (KES 92 billion) from the economy each year and deny the Treasury about USD 131 million (KES 17 billion) in tax revenue.
Information, Communications and the Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo Gitau unveiled the government’s response after receiving the National Steering Committee on Digital Piracy report, which outlines a new enforcement strategy to curb commercial-scale copyright infringement.
“Piracy is not a victimless crime. It drains Kenya’s economy, deprives our youth of jobs, exposes consumers to cyber risks, and discourages investment in local creativity and innovation,” Kabogo said.
The report estimates that piracy drains USD 1.94 million (KES 252 million) from the economy every day, slashes income for musicians, filmmakers, authors, journalists, software developers and sports broadcasters, and exposes consumers to malware, fraud and identity theft. It also links organized piracy networks to transnational crime.
The government will create an inter-agency enforcement framework bringing together the Kenya Copyright Board, the Communications Authority, the Media Council of Kenya and the Copyright Tribunal to speed up investigations and enforcement. Authorities will prioritize illegal streaming of live sports and premium digital content.
Kabogo said the recommendations would drive “coordinated enforcement efforts, public awareness campaigns, policy reforms, and stronger partnerships with the private sector and international stakeholders.”
The government will also develop Kenya’s first National Policy on Digital Piracy and align the proposals with the Copyright and Related Rights Bill, 2026.The ministry estimates that stronger enforcement could create or sustain more than 50,000 jobs across Kenya’s creative and technology sectors.
“We are committed to implementing these recommendations with urgency, transparency and respect for constitutional rights, including freedom of expression and due process,” Kabogo said, adding that the government will also work with industry to expand access to affordable legal content alongside stricter enforcement.
Africa risks becoming a supplier of raw data for artificial intelligence while paying foreign companies to access the technologies built from that data unless governments and businesses urgently invest in digital infrastructure, according to a new report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
The report, Advancing Africa’s AI and Digital Economy, argues that while AI is expected to contribute $15.7 trillion to global GDP by 2030, Africa remains far behind in developing the infrastructure needed to participate meaningfully in the global AI economy.
Today, Africa’s digital economy contributes just 5% of the continent’s GDP, compared to a global average of 15%. Without significant intervention, BCG projects that figure will rise to only 8.5% by 2050, leaving the continent increasingly dependent on technologies developed elsewhere.
The report warns that Africa could repeat a familiar pattern of exporting valuable resources—this time in the form of data—instead of capturing value through locally built digital platforms, AI models and infrastructure.
“Africa’s core challenge is no longer about technology adoption; it is about tech production. We have the world’s youngest population and the fastest-growing cloud market, but we lack the foundational infrastructure to own our digital future. Winning requires capturing value from the technology stack itself—building, governing and retaining our data and talent locally,” said Hamid Maher, BCG Managing Director and Senior Partner and Head of BCG’s Tech Hub in Africa.
Africa’s AI Infrastructure Gap
Despite accounting for 18% of the world’s population, Africa has less than 1% of global data centre capacity, limiting its ability to develop and host AI systems domestically.
The continent also remains significantly underrepresented in generative AI. According to BCG, today’s large language models adequately support less than 2% of Africa’s estimated 2,000 languages, making many AI applications less relevant for local users.
The report also highlights an expanding imbalance in digital trade. Africa’s services trade coverage ratio with the United States stood at 51% in 2024, reflecting the dominance of North American digital platforms whose combined market values range between $1 trillion and $5 trillion.
Without stronger domestic capabilities, BCG warns African countries risk exporting healthcare, behavioural and environmental data to train proprietary AI models overseas before paying licensing fees to use those same technologies.
Three Barriers Slowing Africa’s AI Economy
BCG identifies three structural challenges preventing Africa from becoming a producer rather than a consumer of AI.
The first is fragmentation. Individually, Africa’s 54 economies remain too small to justify the massive investments required for hyperscale data centres, cloud infrastructure and AI computing.
The second is talent flight. Africa has roughly 62,000 AI specialists, representing about 5% of the global AI workforce, yet 38% work remotely for foreign companies, limiting the growth of local AI ecosystems.
The third challenge is dependence on imported technologies. African organisations often pay up to 35% more than global counterparts for proprietary software while remaining locked into foreign platforms that restrict flexibility and local innovation.
Three Priorities for Africa
To reverse the trend, BCG recommends three major interventions.
The first is expanding digital infrastructure through public-private partnerships, allowing governments to maintain strategic oversight while leveraging private sector expertise. Rwanda’s IremboGov platform, which provides citizens access to more than 100 government services and has processed over 51 million transactions, is cited as a successful model.
Secondly, BCG urges African governments to pool investments across borders through initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Digital Trade Protocol, enabling shared cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity systems and fraud detection platforms that would be too costly for individual countries.
Finally, the consultancy recommends wider adoption of open-source technologies to reduce licensing costs and strengthen local innovation. Morocco’s implementation of the open-source MOSIP digital identity platform is highlighted as an example of how countries can retain technical expertise while building national digital systems.
Agriculture Offers an Early Opportunity
The report points to agriculture as one of the sectors where locally developed AI and digital public infrastructure could have the greatest immediate impact.
According to Khalid Baddou, Chief Institutional Affairs Officer at UM6P, AI models trained on European agricultural data often fail to deliver accurate recommendations for African farmers because of differences in climate, soils, crop varieties and farming practices.
BCG argues that digital public infrastructure—including digital identity, satellite data and interoperable payment systems—could enable scalable innovations such as parametric insurance, allowing farmers to receive automatic payouts when droughts, floods or other climate indicators reach predefined thresholds without requiring expensive field inspections.
Race Against Time
BCG believes Africa still has an opportunity to build competitive AI ecosystems but warns that the window is narrowing as advanced AI and robotics begin disrupting sectors traditionally viewed as engines of economic development, including business process outsourcing and manufacturing.
“As agentic AI and advanced robotics begin to disrupt traditional developing pathways like call centres and manufacturing, establishing strong domestic tech ecosystems is becoming an economic imperative for Africa,” said Patrick Dupoux, BCG Managing Director and Senior Partner.
For Africa, the consultancy concludes, the challenge is no longer simply adopting artificial intelligence—but owning enough of the underlying infrastructure, talent and data to capture its economic value.
Visa has appointed Anne Kinuthia-Otieno as Vice President and Head of East Africa, effective August 4, 2026 to lead Visa’s East Africa business across seven markets, driving the company’s efforts to advance digital payments, strengthen client and partner relationships, and expand financial inclusion across the region.
Based in Nairobi, Anne previously served as Managing Director of Airtel Money Kenya, where she led a period of significant growth and market expansion. Anne has also held senior leadership roles at Absa and Barclays Bank, spanning retail banking, SME banking, product innovation, distribution leadership and risk management across Africa.
“Anne’s appointment comes at an exciting time for Visa and for East Africa’s digital economy. Her deep understanding of the region, proven leadership experience and passion for financial inclusion will be instrumental as we continue working with clients, partners and governments to expand access to digital payments and economic opportunity,” said Michael Berner, Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director, Southern and Eastern Africa, Visa.
Anne brings more than 20 years of leadership experience spanning banking, telecommunications and digital financial services in Africa with a strong track record of driving business growth, accelerating digital financial inclusion and building strategic partnerships across the payment’s ecosystem. She
Anne has been widely recognised for her contributions to financial inclusion and digital financial services. In recognition of her impact, she was awarded the Moran of the Burning Spear (MBS) by the President of the Republic of Kenya.
“East Africa is one of the most dynamic and innovative payments markets in the world, with tremendous opportunities to advance financial inclusion and digital commerce. I look forward to working with Visa’s clients, partners and talented teams across the region to help drive the next phase of growth and innovation,” said Anne Kinuthia Otieno.
Choosing the right flooring can transform the aesthetic of any home, but deciding between Terrazzo Floor Tile and Ceramic Tile can be challenging. Both materials offer unique advantages in terms of design, durability, and cost. This article will delve into the distinctive features of each tile option, exploring how they contribute to the overall aesthetic of a space. From the timeless elegance of Terrazzo Floor Tile to the versatile designs of ceramic, we will guide you through the considerations to make an informed decision.
Terrazzo Floor Tile: A Timeless Aesthetic Choice
Terrazzo flooring stands out for its unique composition and historical significance. Originating from Italy, terrazzo is a composite material, typically crafted from marble, quartz, or glass chips embedded in cement or epoxy resin. This process creates a seamless, luxurious look that has been cherished for centuries. In modern home improvement, terrazzo is often featured in luxury interiors and is highly valued for its durability and elegance.
When incorporating Terrazzo Floor Tile into home design, many architects use tools like BIM (Building Information Modeling) to visualize the integration of these tiles in a space. This aids in creating cohesive designs that align with the project’s overall aesthetic goals. The intricate patterns and color variations in terrazzo make it a perfect choice for those who appreciate a classic yet customizable look.
Moreover, terrazzo’s reflective surface can enhance lighting within a room, contributing to a more vibrant and open atmosphere. Homeowners and designers frequently incorporate terrazzo into their mood boards to explore various color combinations and design possibilities, ensuring that the tiles complement other interior elements.
Ceramic Tile: Versatility and Modern Appeal
Ceramic tiles offer a different set of aesthetic advantages, primarily their versatility in design and texture. Made from natural clay, ceramic tiles can be glazed with various colors and finishes, allowing for a wide range of stylistic expressions. This makes them suitable for diverse interior themes, from minimalist to eclectic.
Interior designers often utilize CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software to plan the layout and patterns of ceramic tiles in a space. This technology helps in achieving precise alignment and maximizing the visual impact of the tiles. Ceramic’s ability to mimic natural materials like stone or wood also makes it a popular choice for those seeking an affordable yet stylish look.
Ceramic tiles are well-suited for high-moisture areas such as kitchens and bathrooms due to their water-resistant properties. Their ease of customization and ability to fit into various design frameworks makes them a staple in modern interior design projects.
Comparing Durability and Maintenance of Both Options
When selecting flooring, durability and maintenance are key considerations. Terrazzo is renowned for its longevity and resilience, often lasting decades with minimal signs of wear. Its seamless installation reduces the risk of cracking, and its dense surface can withstand heavy foot traffic, making it ideal for both residential and commercial spaces.
In contrast, ceramic tiles are also durable but may be more susceptible to chipping or cracking if not properly installed or if subjected to significant impact. However, their maintenance is relatively straightforward, involving regular cleaning with mild detergents.
Both terrazzo and ceramic tiles require occasional sealing to maintain their aesthetic and functional integrity. Homeowners should factor in the long-term maintenance needs when choosing between the two, ensuring that the selected flooring aligns with their lifestyle and upkeep preferences.
Cost Considerations and Installation Insights for Homeowners
The cost of installing new flooring can vary significantly between terrazzo and ceramic tiles. Terrazzo generally comes with a higher price tag due to the intricate installation process and the premium materials used. However, its long lifespan and minimal maintenance can offset the initial investment over time.
Ceramic tiles are typically more affordable and offer a quicker installation process. For homeowners seeking a budget-friendly option that provides flexibility in design, ceramic may be the preferable choice. However, it’s essential to consider that complex ceramic tile patterns might require skilled labor, potentially increasing installation costs.
Homeowners are encouraged to consult with professionals who can provide insights on the best flooring choice for their specific needs. According to recent industry trends, using a Gantt Chart to plan renovation timelines can help manage both costs and expectations effectively. Additionally, understanding ceramic tile options can further enhance your decision-making process.
Conclusion
Both Terrazzo Floor Tile and Ceramic Tile offer distinct aesthetic and functional benefits that can enhance any home. Terrazzo provides a timeless and luxurious feel, ideal for those seeking elegance and durability. Ceramic tile, with its versatility and modern appeal, offers a customizable solution for diverse design styles. Homeowners should consider their specific needs, budget, and design preferences to select the option that best suits their home improvement goals.
In 2007, mobile money quietly began to ignite one of the world’s most significant financial revolutions. What began as a bold experiment in mobile money transformed how millions of people access, move and manage money.
Apart from laying the foundation for a digital payments ecosystem, mobile money also reshaped banking and commerce. It changed how households manage finances, how businesses collect payments and how commerce operates across the country. It made financial services more accessible, practical and relevant to Mwananchi.
Nearly two decades later, digital payments are deeply embedded in Kenya’s economy with millions of people paying or receiving payments digitally. Businesses such as supermarkets, online retailers and roadside kiosks and estate merchants increasingly depend on digital collections to improve efficiency and manage cash flow. It has become normal to pay for a good or service, offline or online digitally. Utilities also as well as sending support to distant family members.
Banks were not left behind, though brick and mortar branches are still needed, traditional banks responded by investing heavily in mobile applications, internet banking, agency networks, digital account opening and self-service platforms. Bank customers didn’t have to go to the branch as these innovations brought banking closer to customers and reduced reliance on physical branches.
But mobile banking is no longer the final destination. Banks like SBM Bank Kenya see mobile banking as the foundation for the next phase of financial services. It’s just the start of quality payment experiences and not about access or channels.
Due to the plethora of digital channels, customers are less concerned about which channel they use but more about convenience. They expect instant, frictionless access, secure platforms, and the ability to effortlessly switch between accounts, merchants, businesses and digital platforms.Whether paying suppliers, shopping online, receiving salaries or transferring money to family members, every transaction has become part of the broader banking experience.
SBM Bank Kenya says these requirements mark the beginning of Kenya’s next payments era. The first wave of financial innovation focused on expanding access but the next is on removing friction. SBM Kenya argues that banks that succeed will not necessarily be those with the most digital platforms, but those that make everyday financial interactions simpler.
In 2026 and beyond, consumers increasingly expect interoperability of financial services. One connected ecosystem to salaries, investments, and current accounts for daily spending. Customers expect these systems to work together because they no longer see separate banking platforms but access to their money.
Though Kenyans have enjoyed digital payments, no one has been bold enough to address payment friction. There are payment delays due to network overload, exorbitant charges, complicated processes or systems failures and losses due to SIM Swaps among others. These issues may seem minor individually, but they build up against a merchant’s reputation or influence customer loyalty and business decisions.
Convenience has therefore become one of SBM Kenya’s most valuable competitive advantages. The future of payments is not simply about moving money electronically but about creating financial experiences where transactions happen quickly, securely and naturally across different platforms without customers needing to think about the technology behind them.
And technology is accelerating this shift allowing fintech firms to build services around speed and simplicity. Using open APIs, cloud infrastructure and embedded finance, banks are able to connect their customers more easily with merchants and payment service providers and other financial institutions seamlessly.
Artificial intelligence is adding another layer by improving fraud detection, strengthening risk management and helping institutions identify suspicious activity without disrupting legitimate transactions. As a result, payments are becoming increasingly invisible and customers no longer care about the technology but by whether transactions happen quickly, safely and without unnecessary effort.
Security remains central to this transformation. As payment volumes grow, security remains one of the most valuable assets in financial services. Encryption, identity verification, intelligent monitoring and risk controls are essential to ensuring that convenience does not compromise security.
Although mobile money and digital banking has improved convenience, transaction costs continue to influence customer behavior and customers are increasingly asking about the transaction costs and the hidden charges. For households, repeated charges reduce disposable income.Transaction costs can hinder trade as a recurring customer or operational expense.
Rather than viewing every transaction as a revenue opportunity, SBM Bank Kenya has recognized payments as the foundation for deeper customer relationships. Lower friction can encourage greater digital adoption, increase engagement and create opportunities across lending, savings and investment services.
This shift is reflected in the bank’s payments strategy as it moves to reduce barriers around everyday transactions while expanding digital banking adoption. In 2026, SBM reported stronger business performance, with group profit before tax rising to KES 547 million in the first half of the year, while customer deposits reached KES 94 billion, reflecting increased customer activity and confidence.
The bank has also focused on reducing costs associated with moving money. Its decision to make PesaLink transfers free was aimed at encouraging greater use of instant account-to-account payments and reducing friction for customers who transact across different financial institutions.
Beyond bank-to-bank transfers, the broader opportunity lies in creating an interoperable financial ecosystem. Customers in Kenya increasingly move between bank accounts, digital wallets and merchant platforms and the bank has integrated its systems into this wider ecosystem to reduce friction..
Cash also remains part of Kenya’s economy. Retail markets, informal businesses and many everyday transactions still rely on physical money. SBM Bank’s payments strategy supports digital experiences while ensuring customers retain convenient access to cash when needed via its ATM and branch network.
Globally, banks are moving to frictionless transactions to strengthen loyalty, improve engagement and create long-term value and Kenya is well positioned to lead this next stage due to its mature fintech ecosystem. Banks will no longer compete only about products, branches or applications, but about the simplicity and reliability of the financial experience.
According to CGAP, a global partnership of more than 40 leading development organizations in inclusive finance, “With the acceleration of technology use in financial services such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the expanded use of consumer data trails, digital financial services (DFS) are reshaping the financial sector, broadening access and reducing consumer costs.”
For SBM Bank Kenya, technology is an opportunity to reduce unnecessary barriers, improve access and make payments seamless across the economy. The first revolution made digital payments possible, the second made banking mobile but the current is making payments instant, intelligent and seamless. Seamless payments, not mobile banking alone will define the next generation of banks.
Nearly two decades after Kenya transformed financial inclusion through digital payments, the country is entering another defining chapter.
By removing unnecessary transaction costs, eliminating charges on interbank transfers, PesaLink transfers, digital wallet deposits and ATM withdrawals, SBM Bank Kenya is moving towards its ambition to become Kenya’s Preferred Payments Bank. Rather than asking customers to pay more every time they use banking services, it aims to help them keep more of every shilling while enjoying faster, simpler and more connected financial services.
Elon Musk’s social platform X has officially launched X Money, a digital payments service that marks its biggest step yet toward transforming the platform into an “everything app” combining social networking, payments and financial services.
Initially available to X Premium and Premium+ subscribers in the United States, X Money allows users to send money instantly to one another, store funds in a digital wallet and spend using an X-branded Visa debit card.
The service also integrates with Apple Wallet and offers cashback on eligible purchases.To compete with established payment platforms such as PayPal, Venmo, Cash App and Zelle, X Money is offering eligible subscribers up to a 6% annual yield on qualifying balances.
Customer funds are held through banking partner Cross River Bank.
The launch represents a major milestone in Musk’s ambition to turn X into a platform where users can communicate, shop, pay bills and manage money without leaving the app—an approach often compared to China’s WeChat.
The move also takes X deeper into the highly regulated financial services industry, exposing the company to increased oversight on consumer protection, privacy, anti-money laundering compliance and financial security.
India Presents the Biggest Test Outside the U.S.
While X Money is currently limited to the United States, India is widely expected to become one of the company’s most important international markets because of its massive digital payments ecosystem.
The country processes billions of transactions each month through the government-backed Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which is dominated by apps such as Google Pay, PhonePe and Paytm.
However, entering India will not be straightforward. X would need approvals from financial regulators, partnerships with licensed banks and compliance with the country’s strict payments and data-localisation rules. Competition is also likely to be intense, with consumers already accustomed to fast, free and widely accepted digital payment services.
What It Means for Africa
For African markets, including Kenya, no launch timeline has been announced. Any future expansion would similarly require regulatory approvals and partnerships with local financial institutions.
In Kenya, where M-PESA remains the dominant mobile money platform, X Money would face an established ecosystem that extends beyond peer-to-peer transfers to merchant payments, savings, credit and international remittances. Rather than replacing existing services overnight, the platform would likely need to integrate with local payment infrastructure to gain meaningful adoption.
The launch of X Money signals that Musk’s strategy for X is extending well beyond social networking. Whether the platform can successfully compete with banks, payment networks and mobile money providers in global markets such as India and Africa will depend not only on technology, but also on regulation, partnerships and user trust.
Apple Inc. is replacing its long-running iPhone Upgrade Program with a broader device leasing service, marking a shift in how it sells its hardware as the technology giant seeks to keep customers upgrading more frequently despite rising device prices.
The new Apple Upgrade program, launched in the U.S. in partnership with Klarna, allows consumers to lease iPhones, iPads, Macs and Apple Watches through fixed monthly payments rather than purchasing them outright. The move expands Apple’s financing strategy beyond smartphones and reflects a broader industry push toward subscription-like hardware ownership.
The program offers 24-month lease terms for iPhones and Apple Watches and 36-month terms for Macs and iPads. At the end of each lease, customers can upgrade to a newer device, purchase the product by paying the remaining balance, or return it.
Apple has also decoupled AppleCare+ from the financing package, making the extended warranty optional instead of mandatory. The change reduces monthly payments but could leave some customers without accidental damage protection unless they choose to add it separately.
The launch comes as Apple grapples with lengthening smartphone replacement cycles and higher manufacturing costs driven by advanced chips and artificial intelligence features. By lowering the upfront cost of premium devices, Apple is betting that predictable monthly payments will encourage consumers to replace their hardware more often.
The company has increasingly relied on financing programs, trade-ins and subscription services to sustain hardware sales in mature markets where annual smartphone upgrades have become less common.
Apple Upgrade also replaces new enrollments in the iPhone Upgrade Program and Apple’s standard iPhone financing option in the United States, streamlining its consumer financing offerings into a single platform.
Industry analysts say the move could strengthen customer retention by keeping users within Apple’s ecosystem while creating a more recurring revenue model around its hardware business. Similar leasing models have long been used by wireless carriers, but Apple is now bringing more of the customer relationship under its own brand.
The strategy also positions Apple to better manage future price increases. As flagship smartphones, premium tablets and AI-enabled computers become more expensive, spreading costs over several years could make high-end devices more accessible without lowering retail prices.
The program is currently limited to the United States, with no timeline announced for international expansion. Existing members of the iPhone Upgrade Program will be able to complete their current upgrade cycle before transitioning to the new service or choosing other financing options.
For investors, the initiative signals Apple’s continued evolution from a company that sells products to one that increasingly monetizes long-term customer relationships through recurring payments, subscriptions and services—a strategy that has become central to sustaining growth as global smartphone demand matures.
Britam and Minet Kenya have launched a low-cost medical insurance plan targeting Kenya’s domestic and informal workers, offering healthcare cover from KSh336 ($2.60) a month in a bid to expand insurance access to one of the country’s most underserved workforce segments.
The product, dubbed Bima ya Wafanyikazi, is designed for nearly 2 million domestic workers and the broader informal sector, which employs more than 15 million Kenyans. The cover can be purchased by workers themselves, employers or registered worker associations.
The plan provides inpatient and outpatient care, maternity, dental and optical benefits, annual health check-ups and last expense cover through Britam’s network of more than 600 healthcare facilities nationwide.
The launch comes as insurers seek to deepen penetration in Kenya, where insurance coverage remains among the lowest in Africa at about 2.4%, compared with more than 11.5% in South Africa.
“For many domestic and informal workers, there is very little room for life’s disruptions,” Britam Connect CEO and Principal Officer Evah Kimani said. “An illness, injury or even a few days away from work can quickly place pressure on household finances.”
Kimani said the product was designed to encourage preventive healthcare while reducing the financial burden of unexpected medical expenses through comprehensive outpatient, inpatient, maternity, dental and optical benefits.
Minet Kenya Deputy Director for Commercial Gideon Bii said the insurer and broker developed the product after identifying a significant protection gap among Kenya’s informal workforce.
“There is a significant gap in healthcare protection for Kenya’s informal workforce, and it is a gap that demands innovative solutions,” Bii said. “Together with Britam, we have combined our strengths to create a solution that not only expands access to affordable healthcare, but also advances financial inclusion.”
Domestic workers remain one of Kenya’s largest sources of employment outside agriculture and small-scale trade, with many working under informal arrangements that leave them exposed to medical emergencies and income disruptions.
Britam and Minet said the initiative supports efforts to improve financial inclusion and aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on health and decent work by expanding access to affordable healthcare protection for low-income workers.
NCBA, through its Elev8 programme, has sponsored ten creators to participate in the inaugural Creative Economy 101 cohort launched by the The Burns Brothers in Partnership with Strathmore University Business School.
The Creative Economy Africa Institute aims to empower Africa’s creators to build sustainable businesses and careers.
According to Nelly Wainaina, Group Director, Marketing, Communications and Citizenship, NCBA Group, “At NCBA, we believe creators are entrepreneurs, innovators, and business builders whose ideas have the power to create jobs and drive economic growth. Through our Elev8 programme, we are proud to support ten creators to participate in Creative Economy 101 and gain access to the skills, knowledge, and networks that will help them grow their enterprises. Supporting the creative economy is not only an investment in talent, but also an investment in Africa’s economic growth.”
The programme brings together industry leaders, educators, creators, and ecosystem partners to strengthen Africa’s creative economy through practical business education. Delivered through creativeeconomy101.com, the self-paced online programme features seven modules available for Kshs. 8,500, covering the foundations of the creative economy, and is certified by Strathmore University Business School.
The banks sponsorship reflects the important role financial institutions can play in expanding access to entrepreneurial education and supporting the growth of sustainable creative businesses.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is lending US$ 100 million (approximately €85 million) to KCB Bank Kenya Limited to improve access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Kenya.
This MSME credit line will help KCB Bank to reach an underserved segment of the market, supporting businesses that play an important role in economic growth and job creation across Kenya. A total of 35 per cent of the credit line will be lent on to women- and youth-led businesses, while 30 per cent will be allocated to eligible green investments.
In addition, KCB Bank will receive technical assistance in the form of training, advisory support and technical expertise in order to strengthen its green lending capabilities.
Heike Harmgart, the EBRD’s Managing Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, said: “This is our first investment in Kenya’s financial sector. By partnering with KCB Bank, we are helping to channel much-needed financing to MSMEs, which are engines of job creation and economic growth. We are particularly pleased that this facility will support the transition to a greener economy and increase opportunities for women and young entrepreneurs, whose success is critical to Kenya’s long-term prosperity.”
Annastacia Kimtai, Managing Director of KCB Bank Kenya, said: “This facility will strengthen our capacity to extend affordable financing to SMEs – particularly those who have traditionally faced barriers in accessing credit. We remain committed to sustainable finance by increasing investments in renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture and other green projects that contribute to Kenya’s climate ambitions while creating long-term economic value.”
The EBRD began investing in Kenya in 2025, focusing on private-sector development, financial inclusion, sustainable infrastructure and the green transition.
Kenyan tech training institution Moringa School graduated 1,761 learners on Wednesday in a move aimed at strengthening the country’s artificial intelligence and digital talent pipeline as demand grows for workers with advanced technology skills.
The graduates completed programmes in data science, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data analytics, software engineering, DevOps, product design and data visualisation, reflecting the growing convergence of AI, cloud computing, software development and cybersecurity.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, ICT Secretary Mary Kerema, representing ICT Principal Secretary John Tanui, said Kenya aims to become a producer rather than a consumer of AI technologies, requiring practical, industry-focused training.
“Kenya has made a deliberate choice: we will not be passive consumers of the intelligent economy; we will be its builders, governors and exporters,” Kerema said, adding that the country needs professionals who combine technical expertise with sound judgement and innovation.
The graduation, held alongside a career fair at Nairobi’s ASK Grounds, brought together more than 60 employers, recruiters and technology firms to connect graduates with job opportunities as Kenya implements its Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025–2030.
Moringa Chief Executive Nikki Germany said employers are increasingly seeking workers who can solve complex problems and adapt as technology evolves rather than simply operate software tools.
“The challenge is no longer just technical capability,” Germany said. “Graduates must be able to collaborate, make informed decisions and continue learning as technology changes.”
The event also showcased student-developed projects, including Nairobi Floodguard, a data science solution analysing flood-prone areas and matatu route optimisation, and TerraFold Trace, a software engineering platform designed to improve traceability in agricultural supply chains.
Valedictorian Thomas Amuti, a data science graduate, said the programme equipped learners to tackle real-world challenges while emphasising continuous learning.
The graduation comes as Kenya expands investment in AI, digital infrastructure and technology skills to position itself as a regional innovation hub amid growing demand for AI talent across Africa.
Why resilience, not prevention alone, is becoming the defining measure of enterprise cybersecurity.
Back in the day, firewalls, antivirus software and network security appliances formed the backbone of corporate cyber defence, but this is changing fast and new security strategies are emerging daily as cybersecurity enters a new era.
In today’s age of artificial intelligence (AI), remote work and Internet of Things (IoT), cybercriminals have become more organized, sophisticated and increasingly powered by AI and automation, putting pressure on organizations to up their security systems and shift to new cybersecurity strategies.
This shift has led to a fundamental change in enterprise cybersecurity leading organizations to focus more on developing cyber resilience to anticipate threats, withstand attacks, recover quickly with minimal disruption and ensure continued service delivery. Cyber resilience is now a business imperative that protects revenue, customer trust, operational continuity and long-term competitiveness.
The New Reality: Assume Breach
In 2026, cyber resilience is key as it keeps organizations on their toes to keep abreast of the new reality of always-on attacks as attackers nowadays use various techniques and not just one as in the previous decades.
For decades, cybersecurity strategies were based on the assumption that strong perimeter defences would help prevent cyber attackers from accessing systems. However, today’s threat landscape has rendered that approach incomplete as attackers combine phishing, credential theft, ransomware, social engineering, supply chain compromises and AI-assisted attacks to exploit the smallest weaknesses within an organization.
A simple configuration issue, a compromised employee account or an unpatched laptop can provide entry into an organization, leading to delayed productivity, major data or financial losses or both.
And the advent of AI aids cybercriminals to automate reconnaissance, generate highly convincing phishing emails, hide their malware in systems and personalize attacks at a larger scale. Therefore, organizations must have an “assume a breach” mindset to always be on high alert.
This strategy helps resilient organizations prepare for the possibility that an attacker may eventually gain access than waiting for attacks or detecting suspicious activity quickly. This helps them to contain incidents earlier and restore normal operations with minimal disruption. Any incidents contained mean that the attack won’t spread into the entire organization’s systems.
That mindset represents one of the most significant changes in modern enterprise security.
Resilience Is Becoming a Competitive Advantage
Though cyber resilience is often seen as a technical decision, it’s highly a commercial one as when organizations recover quickly from cyber incidents, they protect far more than computer systems. They protect customer confidence, preserve shareholder value, maintain regulatory compliance and minimize operational downtime.
For businesses across Africa, where digital transformation is taking more than half of their annual budgets, resilience is the key differentiator. Resilience ensures uninterrupted operational services allowing financial institutions to offer secure transactions, manufacturers to continue operating seamlessly and healthcare providers to ensure patient records are safe.
A single attack can disrupt business operations and bring a business to a standstill. Customers, investors and business partners continuously evaluate organizations cyber resilience. Cyber resilience has become a significant factor in procurement decisions, strategic partnerships and regulatory assessments thus giving customers, investors and partners greater confidence in any given firm.
Cyber resilience extends beyond technology and contributes directly to business continuity, corporate reputation and sustainable growth.
Why complexity has become the enemy
Ironically, many organizations have responded to rising cyber threats by deploying more security products. From a simplistic observation, an organization needs separate solutions for endpoint protection, email security, cloud security, identity management, vulnerability assessment, threat intelligence and network monitoring. While each product addresses a specific challenge, collectively they often create fragmented security environments that are difficult to manage.
This leads to complexity as security teams must navigate multiple dashboards, correlate alerts from different platforms and manually investigate incidents across disconnected systems. Valuable time is spent managing technology rather than responding to genuine threats.
For many organizations, particularly those operating with lean security teams, this complexity becomes a security risk in itself.
The challenge is no longer acquiring additional security tools but ensuring those tools work together effectively.
Modern cybersecurity increasingly favors integrated platforms capable of delivering unified visibility across endpoints, identities, cloud workloads and networks. Simplifying security operations enables organizations to detect threats faster, investigate incidents more efficiently and reduce the operational burden placed on already stretched IT teams.
Building a Resilient Enterprise
A resilient organization knows that resilience is not achieved through a single product or policy but rather through a coordinated strategy that brings together technology, people and processes. It begins by identifying its most critical systems and data as not every asset carries the same level of business risk. By understanding which applications, databases and services are essential to daily operations, organizations can prioritize security investments where they matter most.
Organizations that recover quickly from cyber incidents understand their digital assets, continuously assess risk, prepare for disruption and rehearse their response before an incident occurs.
Equally important is maintaining reliable backups and tested recovery plans. Backups alone are not enough if they cannot be restored quickly when needed. Organizations should regularly test their incident response and disaster recovery procedures to ensure they can continue operating during a cyber crisis.
User identity is also a key security perimeter as remote employees access corporate platforms from multiple devices and locations. Strong identity and access management, multi-factor authentication and least-privilege access controls are fundamental components of enterprise resilience. Identifying who is to access what at which location reduces the opportunities for cyber attackers to move laterally within compromised environments.
The Human Firewall
The human factor is key in any organization’s cybersecurity strategy as technology alone cannot stop every cyber-attack. Employees remain one of the most important layers of defence because attackers continue to exploit human behavior through phishing emails, fraudulent invoices, business email compromise and social engineering.
Therefore, creating a culture of cybersecurity awareness is just as important as investing in advanced security technologies. Organizations need regular awareness training, simulated phishing exercises and clear reporting procedures to help employees recognize suspicious activity before it develops into a serious incident.
This is particularly relevant across Africa, where many organizations operate with lean IT departments. Empowering every employee to recognize cyber risks creates an additional layer of protection without significantly increasing operational costs.
Cyber resilience is strongest when people, processes and technology work together.
The Role of AI in Modern Cybersecurity
AI is reshaping both offensive and defensive cybersecurity.
While cybercriminals increasingly use AI to automate attacks, security teams are using the same technology to improve detection, accelerate investigations and respond to incidents far more efficiently than manual processes allow.
AI-powered defense, detection and analytics can identify unusual behavior across millions of events, helping organizations detect threats that traditional signature-based security tools may overlook. AI investigation tools can also reduce the time required to analyze incidents, allowing security teams to focus on strategic decision-making rather than repetitive manual tasks.
Rather than replacing cybersecurity professionals, AI is becoming a force multiplier that enables organizations to respond faster while addressing the growing shortage of skilled security talent.
Why Integrated Security Platforms Matter
As enterprise environments become increasingly distributed, organizations require security solutions capable of protecting endpoints, cloud workloads, identities, networks and remote users from a single operational view.
This is driving demand for integrated platforms that combine prevention, detection, investigation and response within a unified architecture. Instead of forcing security teams to manage multiple disconnected tools, integrated platforms reduce operational complexity while improving visibility across the entire organization.
Kaspersky Next reflects this shift by bringing together endpoint protection, Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), Extended Detection and Response (XDR), cloud security, automation and AI-powered threat detection into a single platform. The objective is not simply to stop attacks but to help organizations detect suspicious activity earlier, investigate incidents faster and respond with greater confidence.
Its AI-driven capabilities, including intelligent threat prioritization and the Kaspersky Investigation and Response Assistant (KIRA), help reduce alert fatigue and automate repetitive tasks, enabling even lean security teams to operate more effectively.
The Future of Enterprise Resilience
In an increasingly connected world, cyber resilience is an increasingly important measure of business maturity. Companies that thrive will not necessarily be those that experience fewer or zero attacks but those that anticipate threats, minimize disruption, recover quickly and continue serving customers with confidence.
For organizations across Kenya and the wider African continent, this is particularly significant. Rapid adoption of cloud computing, mobile financial services, AI and connected digital services is creating tremendous opportunities for innovation and growth. At the same time, it is expanding the attack surface and increasing the importance of resilient cybersecurity strategies.
Business leaders must therefore begin viewing cybersecurity not as an operational expense but as a strategic investment in organizational resilience. Protecting digital assets, maintaining business continuity and preserving customer trust are now essential components of long-term competitiveness.
Resilience has become the defining characteristic of modern cybersecurity and organizations that succeed tomorrow will not be those that simply prevent attacks but those that are prepared to withstand them, respond decisively and emerge stronger.
Download this Whitepaper and see how you can get the Kaspersky Next XDR Expert, a powerful AI-driven cybersecurity tool for SOC teams that can help you get total control over protected infrastructure through visibility, real-time correlation and automation, leveraging a diverse range of response tools and data sources, including endpoint, network and cloud data.
The Kaspersky Next XDR Expert can help you tailor your enterprise’s specific needs by adding technologies to your stack, strengthening your security posture and improving the user experience without overspending or relying on multiple vendors.
Samsung Electronics East Africa launched an integrated digital classroom platform aimed at helping Kenyan schools manage connected learning as the country accelerates adoption of technology under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
The Samsung Digital Classroom combines Samsung tablets, interactive displays and the company’s Knox for Classrooms management platform, allowing teachers to deliver lessons, share content, monitor student participation and manage classroom devices from a single system.
The launch comes as Kenyan schools shift beyond simply providing devices toward adopting digital learning ecosystems that improve classroom engagement while giving administrators greater oversight of connected devices.
The platform enables teachers to present lessons on Samsung Interactive Boards, distribute learning materials directly to students’ tablets, conduct assessments and provide instant feedback. Knox for Classrooms allows schools to deploy, monitor and secure devices centrally across multiple classrooms and campuses.
Anthony Njihia, Mobile Experience B2B Manager at Samsung Electronics East Africa, said the next phase of Kenya’s digital education drive is ensuring technology improves learning outcomes rather than simply increasing device access.
“Samsung Digital Classroom has been designed to help education institutions create connected learning environments that are secure, collaborative and easy to manage, while enabling teachers to focus on delivering quality education and improving learner outcomes,” Njihia said.
He said governments and schools are increasingly looking for integrated solutions that support teachers, simplify administration and can be deployed sustainably across institutions.
Samsung said the solution is designed for primary and secondary schools, tertiary institutions and technical training centres. The company added that it will continue working with education institutions, government agencies and partners to expand digital learning and strengthen digital skills.
The launch forms part of Samsung’s “The Future of Learning Starts Here” campaign, which promotes the adoption of connected technologies to support more inclusive and digitally enabled classrooms in Kenya.
Ecobank Group posted a 6% increase in first-half profit before tax to $423 million as revenue rose 15% to $1.3 billion, driven by growth in corporate banking, payments and digital transactions despite inflationary and geopolitical pressures across its African markets.
The lender said non-interest income accounted for more than 41% of revenue, helping offset economic headwinds, while its cost-to-income ratio improved to a record 48.4%.
Digital transaction value climbed 33% to $78.5 billion during the six months ended June 30, while payment revenue rose 10% to $156 million on higher wholesale payment volumes, merchant acquiring and card activity.
Customer deposits increased by $3.1 billion to $27 billion, with low-cost current and savings accounts making up 85% of the total, strengthening the bank’s funding base.
Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Awori said investments in technology, data and artificial intelligence, supported by Ecobank’s partnership with Google, were improving efficiency and customer experience while positioning the lender for future growth.
The bank also completed a $450 million Nature Bond on the London Stock Exchange during the period. The issuance, the first ICMA-designated Nature Bond by a commercial bank, attracted more than $1.36 billion in investor demand to finance sustainable agriculture, natural capital and water infrastructure projects across 24 African markets.
Spotify is deepening its engagement with Kenya’s fast-growing youth audience by taking its streaming experience offline through Greasy Tunes, a two-week cultural festival in Nairobi that combined music, fashion, food, podcasts and live entertainment.
Held from July 15 to 26 at Heltz House, the event targeted Nairobi’s young creators and listeners as Spotify seeks to strengthen its connection with one of Africa’s fastest-growing music markets.
Internal Spotify data from June 2026 showed listeners aged 18 to 24 generated 53.7% of all music streams in Nairobi, the highest Gen Z share among Nairobi, Lagos and Johannesburg. Listening peaked at 6 p.m., while evening listening between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. accounted for 20.9% of daily streams from the age group, equivalent to 25.3 million streams.
“Greasy Tunes brings the energy people experience on Spotify into a shared physical space,” said Agnes Opondo, Spotify East Africa’s Artists & Labels Partnerships Lead. “The programme reflects how music already connects Nairobi’s young listeners, whether through food, conversation, creativity or community.”
The festival was split into two themed weeks. The first, Starters, explored how music intersects with everyday life through events spanning fashion, podcasts, food, gospel music and football. Highlights included Studio 18’s Karibu Night, performances by BURUKLYN BOYZ and Coster Ojwang, podcast recordings, and Smocha Sundays, which combined gospel performances with a football watch party.
The second week, The Mains, shifted toward creative collaboration, featuring a Premium Fan Event with Nyashinski, the EQUAL Workshop and Showcase with Ongeza Volume, Gufy’s Room, Fresh Finds and Nakili Sessions, comedy performances, podcast recordings and the Strictly Soul closing party.
The festival also promoted Spotify’s Made In Kenya editorial playlist, with its cover artwork changing daily to feature artists linked to each event, extending the physical experience onto the streaming platform.
The initiative reflects Spotify’s broader strategy of complementing digital music discovery with in-person cultural experiences that deepen artist engagement and strengthen local creative ecosystems. Kenya has become one of Spotify’s priority African markets as consumption of local music and creator-led content continues to grow among younger audiences.
Swedfund has committed USD 12 million to the Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund II (ARAF II), backing businesses that help strengthen agricultural value chains across Africa and improve climate resilience for millions of smallholder farmers.
The investment will support companies providing farmers with better access to markets, finance, quality agricultural inputs and digital services, helping them withstand the growing impacts of climate change while improving productivity and incomes.
According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), more than 30 million smallholder farmers operate across Sub-Saharan Africa, representing 80% of all farms and producing 70% of the region’s food. However, many continue to face limited access to financing, reliable buyers and critical farming services, while remaining highly vulnerable to extreme weather and other climate-related shocks.
“Climate change is already affecting the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers across Africa. Investing in businesses that improve access to markets, finance and agricultural services helps farmers strengthen their resilience, increase productivity and build more stable incomes. That is essential for more resilient food systems,” said Helen Hagos, Investment Director for Food Systems & Strategic Investments at Swedfund.
ARAF II focuses on businesses tackling bottlenecks across agricultural value chains, including reducing post-harvest losses, expanding market access and increasing financial inclusion through digital services. Swedfund said supporting the growth of these companies will strengthen local food systems while improving economic opportunities for farmers.
The fund aims to reach approximately four million smallholder farmers through its portfolio companies. It is also designed to meet the 2X Challenge criteria, promoting investments that advance women’s economic empowerment.
Swedfund is investing alongside other development finance institutions and impact investors to mobilise long-term capital for agricultural businesses that often struggle to secure financing despite their potential to improve food security, climate resilience and economic development across Africa.
Afrika durchläuft im Jahr 2026 einen tiefgreifenden technologischen Wandel, der weit über klassische Digitalisierungsschritte hinausgeht und ganze Wirtschafts- sowie Gesellschaftsbereiche grundlegend verändert. Afrika überspringt ganze Entwicklungsstufen, statt bestehende Infrastrukturen schrittweise zu modernisieren. Mobilfunknetze lösen Festnetzanschlüsse ab, digitale Bezahlsysteme ersetzen Bankfilialen, und solarbetriebene Microgrids bringen Strom in entlegene Dörfer. Diese Dynamik erzeugt ein Umfeld, in dem Technologie nicht nur Komfort steigert, sondern grundlegende Lebensbedingungen verändert. Von ostafrikanischen Fintechs bis zu westafrikanischen Agrarplattformen entstehen eigene digitale Ökosysteme, die sich klar von westlichen Modellen abheben. Dieser Artikel ordnet Afrikas wichtigste Technologiefelder und Entwicklungen ein.
Warum Afrika zum Hotspot für digitale Neuerungen wird
Demografischer Rückenwind und Smartphone-Durchdringung
Afrika hat mit einem Durchschnittsalter von unter 20 Jahren die jüngste Bevölkerung der Welt. Diese Generation wächst mit Smartphones auf und betrachtet digitale Dienste als festen Bestandteil ihres täglichen Lebens. Aktuellen Branchenschätzungen zufolge nutzen inzwischen über 55 Prozent der Menschen auf dem Kontinent ein Smartphone, mit stark steigender Tendenz. Günstige chinesische Geräte und fallende Mobilfunkkosten treiben diese Entwicklung voran. Gleichzeitig wächst die Zahl afrikanischer Softwareentwickler rasant. Länder wie Nigeria, Kenia und Ägypten bilden bereits heute Tausende technische Fachkräfte aus, die mit ihrem Wissen und ihrer Erfahrung gezielt lokale Probleme erkennen und dafür passende Lösungen vor Ort entwickeln. Junge Bevölkerung, wachsende Vernetzung und unternehmerischer Antrieb machen Afrika zu einem idealen Nährboden für technologische Sprünge.
Investitionsklima und Start-up-Kultur
Internationale Risikokapitalgeber haben Afrika längst als Wachstumsregion erkannt. Allein 2025 flossen mehrere Milliarden US-Dollar in afrikanische Tech-Start-ups. Besonders Kenia, Nigeria, Südafrika und Ägypten ziehen Investitionen an. Programme großer Technologiekonzerne fördern gezielt afrikanische Gründerteams – so hat beispielsweise ein Accelerator-Programm elf afrikanische Start-ups für KI-basierte Geschäftsmodelle ausgewählt und mit Kapital sowie Mentoring unterstützt. Solche Initiativen stärken das gesamte Ökosystem und ziehen weitere Gründungen nach sich. Lokale Innovationszentren in Lagos, Nairobi und Kapstadt fungieren als Drehscheiben, an denen Ideen schnell zu marktfähigen Produkten reifen.
Mobile Payment und Fintech als Wachstumstreiber auf dem Kontinent
Kein anderer Technologiesektor verkörpert Afrikas Leapfrogging-Strategie so deutlich wie der Fintech-Bereich, der es dem Kontinent ermöglicht hat, ganze Entwicklungsstufen im Finanzwesen zu überspringen und eigene digitale Lösungen zu etablieren. M-Pesa aus Kenia gilt weltweit als Paradebeispiel dafür, wie mobiles Bezahlen eine ganze Volkswirtschaft verändern kann. Inzwischen verarbeiten afrikanische Mobile-Money-Plattformen, die sich über den gesamten Kontinent ausgebreitet haben, jährlich Transaktionen im dreistelligen Milliardenbereich, was die enorme wirtschaftliche Bedeutung dieser Dienste unterstreicht. Neue Anbieter bieten zusätzlich Mikrokredite, Versicherungen und internationale Überweisungen an. Vor allem in westafrikanischen Ländern wie Ghana und Senegal wachsen digitale Zahlungslösungen in hohem Tempo. Für Millionen Menschen auf dem afrikanischen Kontinent, die aus geografischen, wirtschaftlichen oder infrastrukturellen Gründen bislang keinen Zugang zu traditionellen Bankdienstleistungen haben und vom formellen Wirtschaftskreislauf weitgehend ausgeschlossen waren, stellt das Smartphone heute die einzige verlässliche Verbindung zum formellen Finanzsystem dar, über die sie Zahlungen tätigen und Geld empfangen können. Auch Kryptowährungen gewinnen an Bedeutung, wobei Nigeria weltweit zu den Ländern mit der höchsten Verbreitung digitaler Währungen gehört. Darüber hinaus wird Blockchain-Technologie zur Sicherung von Landtiteln und Lieferketten getestet, um das Vertrauen in wirtschaftliche Abläufe zu stärken.
Wie Agritech und erneuerbare Energien ländliche Regionen transformieren
Intelligente Landwirtschaft gegen Ernährungsunsicherheit
Etwa 60 Prozent der afrikanischen Arbeitskräfte sind in der Landwirtschaft tätig, doch Produktivität und Marktzugang bleiben häufig eingeschränkt. Agritech-Plattformen schließen diese Lücke, indem sie Landwirten datengestützte Werkzeuge bereitstellen, die auf moderne Analyse- und Kommunikationstechnologien zurückgreifen und so den Zugang zu wichtigen Informationen erleichtern. Satellitendaten und Sensoren unterstützen Kleinbauern bei Anbau und Ernte. Start-ups wie Twiga Foods in Kenia oder AgroMall in Nigeria verknüpfen Landwirte direkt mit Käufern und schalten teure Zwischenhändler aus. SMS-basierte Beratungsdienste bieten den großen Vorteil, dass sie auch abgelegene ländliche Regionen erreichen, in denen keine stabile Internetverbindung verfügbar ist, und dort wertvolle landwirtschaftliche Informationen bereitstellen. Diese Technologien steigern nicht nur Einkommen, sondern tragen dazu bei, Ernährungssicherheit auf dem gesamten Kontinent zu verbessern.
Solarenergie und dezentrale Stromversorgung
Über 600 Millionen Menschen in Subsahara-Afrika leben ohne verlässlichen Stromanschluss. Dezentrale Solarlösungen – sogenannte Pay-as-you-go-Systeme – verändern diese Situation grundlegend. Unternehmen vertreiben Solarpanels und Batteriespeicher auf Ratenbasis, bezahlt per mobilem Geld. Die Verschränkung von Fintech und Energietechnologie schafft damit ein Modell, das ohne klassische Netzinfrastruktur funktioniert. Wer sich vertieft mit dem Zusammenspiel von Energieversorgung und Digitalisierung auf dem Kontinent beschäftigen möchte, findet bei einer Forschungseinrichtung für Energie und Digitalisierung fundierte Analysen zu diesem Themenfeld. Mini-Grids versorgen mittlerweile ganze Gemeinden und ermöglichen den Betrieb von Schulen, Krankenstationen und lokalen Unternehmen auch fernab urbaner Zentren.
Digitale Unterhaltungsplattformen und ihr Einfluss auf den afrikanischen Freizeitmarkt
Neben zweckgebundenen Technologien wächst auch der digitale Unterhaltungssektor in Afrika rasant. Streaming-Dienste, Gaming-Apps und Online-Plattformen verzeichnen steigende Nutzerzahlen. Besonders die junge, mobilaffine Bevölkerung sucht nach abwechslungsreichen Freizeitangeboten auf dem Smartphone. Der iGaming-Sektor etwa gewinnt zunehmend an Aufmerksamkeit, wie auch die jüngste Konferenz in Nairobi zu Regulierung und Wachstum der Branche deutlich zeigte.
In diesem Zusammenhang begegnet man auch internationalen Plattformen wie StarGames, die im breiteren Spektrum digitaler Freizeitangebote verortet werden. Wer sich für digitale Spielformate interessiert, stößt dabei auf unterschiedlichste Kategorien – von Sportwetten über Tischspiele bis hin zu Slots, die als unkomplizierte Spielformate eine eigene Nutzergruppe ansprechen. Regulierungsbehörden in Kenia, Nigeria und Südafrika arbeiten derzeit an Rahmenbedingungen, die Verbraucherschutz mit Marktwachstum in Einklang bringen sollen. Auch lokale Musikstreaming-Plattformen und E-Sport-Ligen tragen zur Professionalisierung des digitalen Unterhaltungsmarktes bei und schaffen neue Einkommensquellen für Kreativschaffende.
Fünf Technologien, die Investoren in Afrika im Blick behalten sollten
Die folgende Aufstellung fasst die relevantesten Technologiebereiche zusammen, die den Kontinent in den kommenden Jahren besonders stark beeinflussen dürften:
Mobile-Money-Infrastruktur: Interoperable Zahlungsnetzwerke vereinfachen grenzüberschreitende Transaktionen und fördern den intraregionalen Handel.
KI-gestützte Gesundheitsversorgung: Telemedizin und Diagnose-Algorithmen ermöglichen medizinische Grundversorgung in ländlichen Gebieten ohne Arztpraxis.
Agritech-Marktplätze: Datengetriebene Plattformen vernetzen Kleinbauern mit Abnehmern, verkürzen Logistikketten und fördern faire Preise.
Off-Grid-Energielösungen: Solarbetriebene Mikronetzwerke mit Speichersystemen versorgen Siedlungen autark und fördern wirtschaftliche Teilhabe.
Edtech und digitale Bildung: Lernplattformen für einfache Mobiltelefone ermöglichen Millionen Zugang zu Qualifikationsprogrammen.
Diese fünf Felder verbindet ein gemeinsamer Nenner, der darin besteht, dass jede dieser Technologien eine konkrete Versorgungslücke adressiert und sich über mobile Endgeräte skalieren lässt, wodurch sie breite Bevölkerungsschichten erreicht. Genau das unterscheidet diese Märkte von westlichen, wo Technologie bestehende Systeme verbessert, anstatt sie zu ersetzen.
Afrikas digitaler Aufbruch als Blaupause für Schwellenländer
Afrika entwickelt sich 2026 zu einem der lebendigsten und am schnellsten wachsenden Technologiemärkte der Welt. Die beschriebenen Sektoren – von Fintech über Agritech bis hin zu digitaler Unterhaltung – zeigen deutlich, dass afrikanische Lösungen keineswegs bloße Kopien westlicher Vorbilder darstellen, sondern eigenständige und lokal verwurzelte Ansätze verfolgen, die auf spezifische Herausforderungen zugeschnitten sind. Diese Lösungen entstehen unmittelbar aus den Bedürfnissen der lokalen Bevölkerung, nutzen die weit verbreitete mobile Infrastruktur als tragendes Fundament und erreichen dabei gezielt jene Bevölkerungsgruppen, die von traditionellen Systemen bislang ausgeschlossen waren. Internationale Investoren, Technologieunternehmen und politische Entscheidungsträger sollten diese Entwicklungen genau im Blick behalten. Was heute in Lagos, Nairobi oder Accra getestet wird, könnte morgen als Vorbild für Schwellenländer in Südostasien oder Lateinamerika dienen. Afrika verfasst seine eigene Technologiegeschichte, und die Welt fängt an, genau hinzusehen.
Absa Bank Kenya has disbursed more than KES 204 billion in sustainable finance since 2022, with green and inclusive lending accounting for 30% of its gross loan disbursements in 2025, three times its original annual target.
The bank’s 2025 Sustainability and Climate Report shows sustainable finance disbursements rose to KES 55.3 billion in 2025 from KES 47 billion a year earlier. Of that, KES 48.8 billion supported SMEs, women-led businesses, youth entrepreneurs and underserved communities, while KES 6.5 billion financed renewable energy, green buildings, energy efficiency and climate-smart agriculture.
“Our 2025 Sustainability and Climate Report highlights what we have achieved under our 2021–2025 sustainability strategy,” Interim CEO Yusuf Omari said at the report’s launch in Nairobi.
Beyond lending, Absa planted nearly 284,000 trees during the year, lifting its cumulative total to more than 1.5 million. The bank also achieved a 96.4% waste recycling rate and cut its operational energy footprint by 41% as it advances toward its net-zero ambitions.
On the social front, nearly 38,000 young people received employability and entrepreneurship training through the ReadytoWork programme in 2025, bringing total beneficiaries to more than 300,000.
The Absa Kenya Foundation also reached more than 50,000 people through education, entrepreneurship and natural resource management initiatives.
Principal Secretary for Environment and Climate Change Dr. Festus Ng’eno said climate finance is now an economic imperative as climate risks intensify.
Absa also aligned its sustainability disclosures with the International Sustainability Standards Board’s IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 standards, strengthening transparency around climate-related risks.
The lender has launched a new sustainability strategy built on four pillars: maintaining at least 30% of loan disbursements in sustainable finance, achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, strengthening sustainability risk management, and embedding sustainability across its business.
Airtel Africa Plc reported a 27% increase in quarterly profit as strong growth in mobile data and digital financial services boosted earnings, while the company reaffirmed plans to list its fast-growing Airtel Money business in London later this year.
Profit after tax for the quarter ended June 30 rose to $198 million from $156 million a year earlier, despite a $37 million exceptional finance charge related to the settlement of a commercial dispute and foreign exchange losses during the period. Basic earnings per share increased to 4.4 cents from 3.4 cents, while earnings before exceptional items climbed to 5.4 cents.
Revenue increased 31% to $1.85 billion, supported by constant-currency growth of 21.1%. EBITDA rose 36.6% to $928 million, with the EBITDA margin improving to 50.1%.
Airtel Africa also confirmed that London remains its preferred listing venue for the planned Airtel Money IPO in 2026, saying the listing is expected to provide access to a broader international investor base and unlock the long-term value of one of Africa’s largest fintech platforms.
Airtel Money continued to deliver strong growth during the quarter, with its customer base expanding 23.3% to 56.5 million. Annualized transaction value surpassed $245 billion, a 51.5% increase from a year earlier, reflecting growing adoption of digital payments across Airtel Africa’s markets.
Chief Executive Officer Sunil Taldar said the company continues to invest in digital platforms, artificial intelligence and network infrastructure to improve customer experience and support long-term growth, while Airtel Money remains a key pillar of its strategy.
The company ended the quarter with 189 million customers across its 14 African markets, while smartphone penetration reached 51%, helping drive a 56.3% increase in data traffic.
Airtel also accelerated network investment during the quarter, spending $389 million on capital expenditure, deploying more than 920 new sites and expanding its fiber network to 82,100 kilometers as it prepares for future demand across the continent.
Why cyber resilience, not bigger IT budgets, will determine which businesses thrive in the age of AI-powered attacks
Kenya’s digital economy is one of Africa’s greatest success stories. Mobile money and social media have put East Africa’s largest economy on the global digital map and the uptake of digital sectors such as electric mobility, e-commerce, artificial intelligence (AI) and e-government services is high.
A majority of Kenyans access public services online through the eCitizen platform encouraging several businesses to digitize their platforms, transforming how businesses operate, compete and grow. However, the same technologies fueling innovation are open to vulnerabilities and manipulation by cybercriminals and increasingly, cyber attackers are eyeing small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) as gateways into larger, interconnected digital ecosystems connected to government agencies and multinational corporations as SMBs generally don’t have the cybersecurity budgets of larger corporates. And for cyber attackers, access is access, regardless of the route taken.
With API access and interconnectedness into partner platforms, an attack on a SMB is a threat to a government agency or a multinational corporation. Therefore, resilience and speed, and not a bigger IT budget alone, will determine which businesses thrive in the age of AI-powered attacks.
The reality is that automation and AI has lowered the barrier of entry for cybercriminals and is helping cybercriminals build sophisticated tools, making any amateur hacker a skilled one and cyberattacks are evolving into a sophisticated global industry powered by cybercrime-as-a-service platforms. An amateur hacker in Kenya doesn’t need sophisticated tools as today ransomware kits, phishing campaigns and malicious software can be bought or rented online complete with 24-hour support.
This has made the cyber threat landscape even more challenging for SMBs, as they are expected to secure increasingly complex digital environments, including their partner access points, despite their lean IT teams, low cybersecurity expertise and limited budgets. SMBs are expected to be more alert than they were ten or five years ago as they serve banks, telecommunications companies, manufacturers, retailers, healthcare providers and government agencies. Their growth as lean and preferred suppliers of services in the digital marketplace makes them attractive targets for cyber-attacks.
Kenya recorded more than 4.5 billion cyber threat events between April and June 2025, representing an 83.4% increase compared to the previous quarter, according to the Communications Authority of Kenya‘s National Kenya Computer Incident Response Team, Coordination Centre report. In the same period, the national cyber incident response team issued more than 17 million cyber threat advisories, not only highlighting the growing volume and sophistication of attacks targeting businesses, government institutions and critical infrastructure but calling for cyber security preparedness, resilience and the need for early mitigation.
Earlier, the country also experienced the impact of high-profile cyber incidents especially on its national carrier and a number of healthcare facilities, banks and government agencies. These attacks put personal and financial information at risk, and no amount of ransomware payments is enough to deter cyber attackers from coming again.
According to Kaspersky telemetry, in 2025, Kaspersky security tools blocked more than 11,3 million online attack attempts on users in Kenya. Another 18,4 million on-device threats were blocked, including malware delivered via infected USB drives. Password stealers, designed to secretly gather users’ account information, grew in the number of attacks by 83% compared with the previous year. Spyware attacks also increased in the number of attacks by 83%. The number of backdoor attacks in the country grew by 25% year-over-year, where growth in detections of this type of malware was sharp in the corporate segment.
For business leaders, the big question right now is not how sophisticated cyber threats are becoming but how resilient they are to withstand them.
The urgency is particularly pronounced in Kenya, where SMBs account for more than 98% of all businesses and form the backbone of the country’s economy. As Kenyan SMBs embrace cloud services, digital payments, AI-powered tools and remote work, they are opening themselves up to more players both good and bad. Their platforms have to be open and interconnected to others to increase their services, reach more users and new markets and improve efficiency but these come at a cost. The increased digital footprint means they are open to heavier cyber- attacks, requiring dedicated cybersecurity teams and budgets to fend off sophisticated cybercriminals.
Small Businesses Have Become Strategic Targets
In 2026, no business owners should assume that cybercriminals are primarily interested in organizations with billions of dollars in revenue. Cyber attackers view and use smaller businesses as efficient entry points into much larger ecosystems and sometimes stay as long as they can in the SMBs systems before they lay an attack on the larger corporations. The attacks dwell in the SMBs systems for months or even years studying its clientele as most of these SMBs are suppliers, software vendors, consultants, logistics providers and managed service providers of major corporate firms, government agencies and multinational corporations. Every client is potentially at risk as instead of attacking a well-defended multinational directly, cybercriminals often choose the smaller partner with fewer security controls, using that foothold to move laterally through connected systems of its larger clients.
This trend has transformed cybersecurity from a purely technical issue into a boardroom concern. Protecting customer information, ensuring operational continuity and maintaining trusted business relationships is fundamental to long-term business success. For many SMBs, demonstrating strong cybersecurity practices is increasingly essential for winning contracts, securing investment and participating in regional and global value chains.
The Business of Ransomware
In 2026, no cybercriminal needs to spend hours developing their own malware due to white-label cybercrime organizations running Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) businesses. Therefore, instead of developing malware themselves, attackers just need to pay a few dollars to subscribe to ransomware platforms with ready-made malicious software and an anonymous cryptocurrency wallet for payments, all untraceable to their local or amateur cybercriminal. This has drastically changed the criminal business model, making it easier for attackers and harder for victims.
As a media business, and to any other business out there, ransomware is no longer simply an IT incident but a business continuity crisis. Speaking from experience, downtime halted our productivity, delayed our customer deliveries, and lost us a number of clients. Whether to pay or not is not the only concern. A cyber-attack is a business interruption no organization wants to deal with. Downtime ruins financial transactions, impacts your online reputation and rankings, and damages carefully built standings. And even though you get your systems back, there’s that trauma of it happening again, there’s that fear of not wanting to take on more business and there’s a constant need to survey your systems instead of focusing on your primary tasks.
As an SMB, our greatest cost was not the ransom itself but the interruption to business operations, lost revenue, and ruined customer trust. To another SMB, there could be regulatory obligations, legal costs, customer attrition and the expense of rebuilding compromised systems often far exceed the attackers’ financial demands. In today’s digital economy, resilience has become just as important as prevention.
AI Has Changed the Economics of Cybercrime
AI has made it a level playing field for both cybersecurity attackers and defense teams. AI has given cybercriminals the ability to automate reconnaissance, generate convincing phishing emails, create fake websites and even develop malware that can evade traditional security controls. Attacks that once took months to prepare can be executed in minutes, allowing attackers to launch highly personalised campaigns at unprecedented scale.
The result is a growing asymmetry, pushing organizations to defend every endpoint, employee, cloud workload and connected device every day, against a single successful compromise to an entire corporate network via a convincing email, a stolen password or an unpatched laptop. Therefore, prevention alone is no longer enough as AI is making it easier for some attacks to bypass traditional security controls, pushing for the need to invest in early detection, investigation and response.
Complexity Has Become the New Vulnerability
Though corporations can invest in more security products, SMBs have limited budgets as each attack needs its own solution. This also leads to more complexity as the fragmented environments need multiple dashboards, overlapping alerts and disconnected workflows. For SMBs, this complexity becomes a significant operational burden, and valuable time is spent managing tools instead of reducing cyber risk. The more complex the environment becomes the more vulnerable the organizations become as these would require more experienced expert teams than general IT managers.
SMBs should not answer by buying more technology, but by simplifying their security operations. This brings a unified visibility across endpoints, cloud environments, identities and networks, allowing security teams to identify threats faster and respond more effectively.
The Human Firewall Still Matters
Despite the fact that an organization can put spend behind beefing up its cybersecurity technology, people remain one of the most important components of any cybersecurity strategy. Phishing, credential theft and social engineering continue to exploit human behaviour far more often than an organization’s technical vulnerabilities.
Every organization should empower its people to become an active layer of defense rather than being viewed as its weakest link. Firms should invest in regular security awareness training, strong password policies, multi-factor authentication and simple incident response procedures. Making people the center of your cybersecurity strategy remains one of the most effective and affordable investments your businesses can make.
This is particularly relevant in Kenya and across Africa, where many growing businesses operate without dedicated cybersecurity teams. Building a security-conscious culture can significantly reduce risk while complementing investments in modern security technologies.
Why Detection and Response Matter More Than Ever
The first line of defense is usually a traditional antivirus software, but modern cyber threats increasingly require broader visibility and faster response capabilities. This has accelerated the adoption of Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), which continuously monitors endpoint activity to identify suspicious behaviour before attacks escalate.
Many organizations are now extending these capabilities through Extended Detection and Response (XDR), which correlates security data across endpoints, cloud services, email, identities and networks to provide a more complete view of potential threats. By reducing alert fatigue and automating investigations, XDR enables even smaller IT teams to respond more efficiently to sophisticated attacks.
For businesses undergoing digital transformation, unified security platforms provide an opportunity to simplify cybersecurity while improving operational resilience.
Building Business Resilience with Kaspersky Next
The cybersecurity conversation is increasingly shifting from prevention to resilience. The objective is no longer simply stopping every attack, as this is unrealistic, but ensuring organizations can detect threats early, contain incidents quickly and recover with minimal disruption.
This philosophy underpins Kaspersky Next, the company’s enterprise cybersecurity portfolio designed to combine Endpoint Protection, Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), Extended Detection and Response (XDR), cloud security and automated investigation within a unified platform.
By reducing operational complexity and providing organizations with deeper visibility across their digital environments, Kaspersky Next enables security teams to identify risks earlier and respond more efficiently. Its AI-powered capabilities, including intelligent threat detection, automated investigation, and risk-based prioritization, help security teams spend less time managing alerts and more time addressing genuine threats.
For SMBs with limited cybersecurity resources, integrated platforms also reduce the need to manage multiple disconnected security products, allowing lean IT teams to improve security without significantly increasing operational overhead.
Cybersecurity Is Now a Business Strategy
As Kenya and the wider African continent continue their digital transformation, cybersecurity will increasingly become a defining factor in business success. Organizations that can protect customer data, maintain operational continuity and recover quickly from cyber incidents will enjoy stronger customer confidence, more resilient supply chains and greater competitive advantage.
The businesses that succeed over the coming decade will not necessarily be those with the largest security budgets. They will be those that build resilience by aligning people, processes and technology under a unified cybersecurity strategy.
For African enterprises, this is no longer simply about protecting IT systems. It is about protecting revenue, reputation, customer trust and long-term growth.
In an economy where every business is becoming a digital business, cybersecurity is no longer merely an IT function, it is a business strategy.
View Kaspersky’s practical framework designed for SMBs and small cybersecurity teams to cut complexity and strengthen security posture, here.
WayaWaya has appointed former Chase Bank Kenya executive Raj Singh as a non-executive director and advisor as it expands across Africa and international markets.
The Nairobi-based fintech, which offers conversational commerce, embedded payments, and AI financial services, said Singh will advise on strategy, governance, and partnerships with banks and merchants. Singh brings over 25 years of experience in banking and digital transformation across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. He previously served as Group COO and Director of Retail Banking at Chase Bank Kenya, and held senior roles at First City Monument Bank in Nigeria and ICICI Bank in India. He currently advises banks and fintechs on digital banking and AI, and is Managing Director of Rova, as well as a director at Finova360 and Finnafrica.
“Raj joins us at a pivotal stage in WayaWaya’s growth journey. His experience will be invaluable as we scale,” said CEO Teddy Ogallo.
“WayaWaya is building at the intersection of conversational commerce, payments, and AI,” Singh said. “I look forward to supporting its expansion across Africa and beyond.”
Anne Kinuthia-Otieno will step down as Managing Director of Airtel Money Kenya after nearly five years overseeing the mobile money operator’s rapid expansion in customers, agents and market share.
Kinuthia-Otieno, who joined Airtel from Absa Bank Kenya in 2022 as Airtel Money became a standalone business, leaves after helping grow the platform’s customer base from about 400,000 to more than 5 million users and expanding its agent network from 18,000 to 170,000 outlets nationwide.
The company’s market share rose to 10.3% from 2.9% in 2024, strengthening Airtel Money’s position in Kenya’s fiercely competitive mobile money market.
“Almost five years ago, I joined Airtel Money Kenya with a simple but ambitious purpose to help grow a business that would expand financial inclusion and make digital financial services more accessible and affordable to millions of Kenyans,” Kinuthia-Otieno said.
During her tenure, Airtel Money signed partnerships with KCB Bank Kenya and Diamond Trust Bank to expand cash access and merchant payments, while rolling out initiatives such as the Rudishiwa Transaction Fee campaign to lower transaction costs for customers. She also represented the company in local and international discussions on financial inclusion and payments interoperability.
Before joining Airtel, Kinuthia-Otieno held senior leadership roles at Absa Bank Kenya in products, governance, sales and SME banking, following earlier risk management positions at Barclays.
She holds an MBA from Strathmore Business School, a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Daystar University, and is a recipient of Kenya’s Moran of the Burning Spear (MBS) award.
Airtel Money has not named a successor.
Her departure comes as Kenya’s mobile money industry enters a more competitive phase, with banks, fintechs and telecom operators accelerating partnerships and interoperable digital payment services to challenge the market leader.
Pan-African fintech M-KOPA has reached 10 million customers across five African markets, highlighting how smartphone financing has become a key driver of digital lending and financial inclusion for consumers traditionally excluded from formal banking.
The company said it is now adding about 10,000 customers a day across Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa. After taking eight years to reach its first one million customers in 2020, M-KOPA has added another nine million in just six years following its expansion into smartphone financing, underscoring the rapid adoption of its lending model.
Unlike traditional consumer lenders, M-KOPA uses financed smartphones as the entry point to a broader financial services platform. Its “More than a Phone” offering combines smartphone financing with embedded insurance, digital credit and device protection, allowing customers to build repayment histories that can unlock access to additional financial products.
The company said it has now unlocked more than $2 billion in credit while processing more than 2 million customer payments every day, making it one of Africa’s largest digital consumer lending platforms.
“Every Day Earners have always been creditworthy. What they needed was credit built around how they really make a living, not a payslip. Informal has never meant unviable. Ten million customers on, that’s no longer a belief. It’s proven,” said Jesse Moore, M-KOPA’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer.
M-KOPA’s business targets what it calls “Every Day Earners”—including traders, boda boda riders, tailors and shopkeepers—whose incomes are generated daily but who often lack access to conventional financial services. The company said nearly nine in ten workers in sub-Saharan Africa earn their livelihoods in the informal economy, presenting a significant market for alternative credit models. It also cited independently commissioned surveys showing nine out of ten customers said its products had improved their lives.
Growth beyond East Africa has accelerated in recent years. M-KOPA said Nigeria became the fastest market in its history to surpass one million customers. Its distribution network has expanded to more than 40,000 sales agents across five countries, while its Nairobi smartphone assembly plant has produced more than 3.3 million devices since opening in 2023 and employs over 400 people.
The fintech said revenue has grown at an average annual rate of 50% since 2020, earning it a place on the Financial Times’ list of Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies for five consecutive years and CNBC’s World’s Top Fintech Companies ranking for the second straight year.
“Every Day Earners are why we do this. From our very first customer to this year’s ten millionth, this is proof that a model built for Africa’s Every Day Earners doesn’t just work, it scales and endures. It’s a proud moment for our team, and we’re already looking to the next 10 million,” said Faraimose Kutadzaushe, M-KOPA’s Chief Financial Officer.
The milestone underscores how smartphones are evolving beyond communication devices to become the foundation for digital lending across Africa, enabling fintech firms to extend credit, insurance and other financial services to millions of consumers who have historically lacked access to formal banking.
Samsung Electronics unveiled its broadest foldable smartphone lineup yet, introducing the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra alongside the Galaxy Z Fold8 and Galaxy Z Flip8, as the South Korean technology giant seeks to expand its lead in the premium smartphone market by targeting distinct consumer segments with AI-powered devices.
The new lineup marks Samsung’s biggest overhaul of its foldable portfolio, separating its flagship productivity offering from a mainstream Fold model while refining its Flip series to appeal to users seeking a compact, fashion-oriented device. The strategy comes as smartphone makers increasingly rely on artificial intelligence and premium hardware to drive upgrades amid a slowing global handset market.
The Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, Samsung’s highest-end foldable, features an 8-inch display, a 200-megapixel primary camera, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, a 5,000mAh battery and 45W fast charging. The device weighs 215 grams and measures 4.1 millimeters when unfolded, making it the company’s slimmest Fold model to date.
The standard Galaxy Z Fold8, designed for entertainment and everyday productivity, weighs 201 grams and pairs a 4,800mAh battery with dual 50-megapixel cameras. Samsung said the device introduces new display ratios intended to improve reading, gaming and video consumption while incorporating its latest Flex Titanium display technology to enhance durability and reduce crease visibility.
Samsung also refreshed its clamshell foldable with the Galaxy Z Flip8, describing it as its thinnest and lightest Flip model. The handset weighs 180 grams and introduces a redesigned AI-powered FlexWindow that allows users to access notifications, automate tasks and interact with Google’s Gemini Intelligence without unfolding the device. A 50-megapixel camera system and enhanced Flex Mode photography tools are aimed at creators and social media users.
Artificial intelligence is central to the new devices. Samsung said Galaxy AI has been optimized for each form factor, offering personalized recommendations, multitasking assistance and automation across more than 40 supported applications through Gemini Intelligence. New features include “Now Brief” for personalized daily updates and “Now Nudge,” which suggests actions based on conversations and user context. The company also highlighted new privacy safeguards, including an AI Assistant Activity dashboard and expanded Samsung Knox security protections.
The Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra starts at $2,099.99, while the Galaxy Z Fold8 begins at $1,899.99. The Galaxy Z Flip8 is priced from $1,199.99. All three devices are available for pre-order immediately, with commercial availability beginning Aug. 7. Samsung is also bundling a six-month Google AI Pro subscription with the new smartphones as it deepens its AI partnership with Google.
Rated capacity is 4,854mAh for Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra.
Rated capacity is 4,660mAh for Galaxy Z Fold8.
Rated capacity is 4174mAh for Galaxy Z Flip8.
Charging
Wired Charging: Up to 67% charge in around 30 min. with 45W Adapter and 3A USB-C cable Fast Wireless Charging with 20W Wireless PowerShare
Wired Charging: Up to 63% charge in around 30min. with 45W Adapter and 3A USB-C cable Fast Wireless Charging with 20W Wireless PowerShare
Wired Charging*: Up to 55% charge in around 30min. with 25W Adapter and 3A USB-C cable Fast Wireless Charging with 15W Wireless PowerShare
Wired charging compatible with QC2.0 and AFC. 45W Travel Adapter while it has 0% of power remaining, with all the services, features and screen turned off. 45W Power Adapter sold separately. Use only Samsung-approved chargers and cables. Wireless charging compatible with WPC. Wireless PowerShare is limited to Samsung or other brand smartphones with WPC Qi wireless charging.
Wired charging compatible with QC2.0 and AFC. 45W Travel Adapter while it has 0% of power remaining, with all the services, features and screen turned off. 45W Power Adapter sold separately. Use only Samsung-approved chargers and cables. Wireless charging compatible with WPC. Wireless PowerShare is limited to Samsung or other brand smartphones with WPC Qi wireless charging. May not work with certain accessories, covers, or other brand devices.
Wired charging compatible with QC2.0 and AFC. 25W Travel Adapter while it has 0% of power remaining, with all the services, features and screen turned off. 25W Power Adapter sold separately. Use only Samsung-approved chargers and cables. Wireless charging compatible with WPC. Wireless PowerShare is limited to Samsung or other brand smartphones with WPC Qi wireless charging.
Water Resistance
IP48
IP48
IP48
Based on lab test conditions for submersion in up to 1.5 meters of freshwater for up to 30 minutes. Not advised for beach or pool use. Rinse residue/dry if wet.
