In early 2013, Microsoft, the government of Kenya under the ministry of ICT and Indigo Telcom Ltd began testing TV white spaces in Nanyuki, Kenya to help users access low-cost internet expected at opening up opportunities for them.

Dubbed the Mawingu project, the firm recently unveilled 15 Wi-Fi hotspots in various centres in the town including areas such as Laikipia District Community Library, Matanya shopping centre, Burguret Dispensary and various schools in the county to help increase access to technology in the country.

Nelson Ameyo, the founder and Managing Director of BlackPay says his company wants to make sure online buyers and sellers remain safe regardless of what payment method they use.

“Our mission is to ensure you are safe when you buy and sell online. We guarantee that you will be able to pay and get paid when you buy or sell on the web,” Ameyo told TechMoran. “That is why we innovate intuitive yet simple tool to help you trade. Our service helps you easily upgrade your business world with tools you already know and trust, like M-PESA.”

Banking on the increasing uptake of the internet in Kenya and e-commerce plus the surging use of mobile money especially M-PESA, Ameyo says he sat down with his team at Arena Systems to help enable business, access convenience and thrive on simplicity.

The firm is also promising to deliver free package/shipment tracking tools and as well power online payments (C2C, B2C, C2B), do revenue collection for small and medium sized businesses, do e-commerce payment integrations, e-Shop design and even e-Commerce Consulting.

Though I haven’t tried the service, this guys say the system works simply.

You have to identify what you want to buy from an online seller who would have a BlackPay account number or create one really quick, then the buyer deposits the cash into their escrow account then BlackPay will notify the seller to ship the item to the buyer and after verification log onto your BlackPay transaction dashboard and authorize payment to the seller.

Wireless networks in organizations face huge risk of information theft due to their inability to trace users, especially guest users, within the network. Additionally, lack of IT security staff and budgetary constraints make it difficult for the small and medium size businesses to find security solutions that are adequate, cost-effective and easy to manage.

To add on, organizations with distributed networks, remote and branch offices, especially in retail stores, logistics and transportation, and utility distribution centers, demand mobility within the network and require network security with secured remote access, and secure Wi-Fi for walk-in customers.

In order to secure Wi-Fi connections that have put Internet connectivity within the reach of small businesses and entrepreneurs, Cyberoam has rolled out a wireless appliance – CR10wiNG that delivers security features over wireless local area networks to offer enterprise – level security and meet mobility requirements of small business in Kenya.

According Philip Obondy, the Channel Manager for Cyberoam Kenya Kenya, the appliance not only secures wireless networks but also offers a high performance firewall throughput, which comfortably ensures last mile access for businesses in remote areas to leverage the potential of network connectivity in boosting the country’s economic activity.

“Network administrators are able to apply user identity-based security policies to gain visibility over users’ activity and also manage Guest Internet access in the network. CR10wiNG supports multiple virtual access points that create independent, segregated networks in the same physical area for separate teams like sales, marketing, guest users, and more. This offers secure authentication and prevents rogue clients from connecting to networks where they don’t belong”, says Obondy.

“This appliance is designed for small and branch offices to offer secure Wi-Fi at par with wired security. It enables a leaner Wi-Fi security infrastructure to organizations by replacing both Wi-Fi router and firewall with a single appliance. For remote offices with limited connectivity options, CR10wiNG also offers 3G/4G USB support,” said Abhilash Sonwane, Sr. Vice President- Technology & Products, Cyberoam.

The device will be sold in Kenya at USD 350 price with subscription.

Cyberoam CR10wiNG is built on the same CyberoamOS that powers other high-end NG series UTM appliances. It is centrally manageable via Cyberoam Central Console (CCC) and Cyberoam’s on-Cloud Management Service and is compatible with iView – Cyberoam’s Open Source logging and reporting solution.

Leading company for innovative and top-quality high-tech products in healthcare, life science and performance materials, Merck, in partnership with Kenya Ministry of Health, kicked off their first e- diagnostic and consultation clinics at both of Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi and Machacos Hospital as a part of their e-health initiative in Africa.

Merck e-health is a new initiative of Merck’s 5 year Capacity Advancement Program (CAP).

The CAP has been launched by Merck in 2012 to expand healthcare capacity in the areas of research and development, supply-chain integrity and efficiency, pharmacovigilance, medical education, and community awareness in Africa and developing countries.

Merck e- diagnostic and consultation clinics will allow patients and healthcare providers in remote areas through using the power of IP and video conferencing to interact with Cancer specialists at Kenyatta Hospital, the largest national referral and teaching hospital in Kenya in order to extend the reach of healthcare into remote areas.

During the launch ceremony, Frank Stangenberg- Haverkamp, Chairman of Family Board and Executive Board of E-Merck KG said “Merck e-Health initiative demonstrates our commitment to building healthcare capacity and improving access to innovative and equitable healthcare solutions and disease awareness for patients in rural areas across Kenya.”

At the launch of the Merck e-health Initiative at Kenyatta National Hospital., Cabinet Secretary of Health, Dr James Macharia, stated “we are happy to partner with Merck to support Kenya national telemedicine program which will enable patient consultations with specialists in referral hospitals to help earlier diagnosis, quicker and better care”.  “Video conferencing technology takes into consideration the reality of Africa in which majority of poor population live in rural set-up with inadequate health facilities and less developed road infrastructure which are barriers to better healthcare specially in Cancer early detection and treatment”  he added

Rasha Kelej, Vice President and Head of Global Business Responsibility and Market Development of Merck’s biopharmaceutical business Merck Serono “Merck e-health initiative will contribute to bringing healthcare to underserved populations, improving the quality and reducing the cost of healthcare delivery; improving the effectiveness of public health programs and research in order to  promote prevention and better managing of non- communicable diseases specially cancer ,diabetes and cardiac diseases”

“Merck will actively engage in dialogue with Governments and local stakeholders in Africa to inform the expansion of their e-Health initiative to improve access to Cancer healthcare across Africa” she added.

“The next phase will also include upgrading of the telemedicine to facilitate the sub-specialists examine the patient at the county hospital in real time by availing digital patient examination equipment,” said Dr Macharia.

Kenyans have been paying for their taxes over mobile money but not with Airtel Money. Airtel Kenya has now signed a deal that will see its customers inquire for KRA services, generate KRA payment reference number (PRN or an e-slip/invoice number) and make quick simple payments through Airtel Money by simply dialing  the short code *572#.

All services to be paid for require a KRA payment reference number (PRN or an e-slip/invoice number), which can either be acquired on their website –iTax or on mobile phone. Currently KRA have availed Traffic revenue Service payments e-slip generation through mobile.

Airtel Money customers can now pay for Driving License application and renewal payments, mobile Vehicle Transfer and Logbook payments and Motor vehicle inspection payments.

The rest of the services require citizens to go to KRA website – iTax to generate an e-slip number that will facilitate payment through Airtel money.

To make payments using Airtel Money, simply dial *572# and select option 2 for payments, enter your PRN (e-slip number) any your secret Airtel Money PIN to complete the payment. An SMS notification will be sent from both Airtel Money and KRA to confirm successful payment. KRA services can be paid through Airtel Money for amount of up to Kshs140, 000 per day. The charges to the customers are very minimal and vary from Ksh. 10 to Ksh. 270 based on amounts being paid.

By Rajiv Bhatia, Head of Mobile Commerce Sales EMEA, Ericsson

Transferring money using a mobile phone should be as easy, simple, and affordable as sending an SMS. However, this is only possible when mobile financial services are built on an open ecosystem, and subscribers have the freedom to choose from a range of financial services and operators.

An efficient approach to the M-commerce opportunity is simple: mobilize the billions of transactions made every day around the world, connect the closed loop and controlled environment of the financial services sector, and encourage mobile operators and other industry players to leverage their existing assets by offering compelling mobile-money services to their subscribers.

Mobile money is a high priority for many mobile operators, financial institutions, technology firms, and governments. In regions such as sub-Saharan Africa, where financial inclusion is limited, mobile money promises a more convenient and lower-cost alternative to traditional banking.

From buying a cup of coffee to paying bills or sharing money with the family back home, three quarters of the world’s payments are still made in cash. Why? Because the current financial services are either too complex, time consuming or expensive for the small transactions we make every day. M-commerce enables banks and operators to offer services in the easiest way possible, by making payments simpler, more affordable, and easily accessible for the whole value chain.

When banks and operators come together, they can turn these small revenue streams into big business by using mobility as a means to offer every consumer the benefits of being a banked customer: convenience, security, inclusion and empowerment. As an example, M-Pesa in Kenya is a true mobile-money success story.

The latest World Bank report shows that some 2 billion people are unbanked globally, with the majority in emerging markets and developing countries. Many people in developing countries, and especially in rural areas, live a significant distance from the nearest bank. Economies outside of government regulation, taxation or observation currently account for over half of global employment and as much as 90% of employment in poorer developing countries. There is a dual opportunity to uplift the lives of the 2 billion unbanked people by providing them access to formal financial services and secondly, to convert this informal economy into a formal contributor of GDP in many countries.

The Asbanc initiative in Peru[1], the country’s largest private initiative for financial inclusion, is a chief example. In 2014, ASBANC, Peru’s National Bank Association, selected Ericsson to design and implement its country wide mobile money project, the country’s largest private initiative for financial inclusion. ASBANC estimates that 2.1 million Peruvians will own and benefit from a mobile wallet by 2019. We will see similar initiatives in other parts of the world going forward, aiming for financial inclusion for the un-banked.

Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the regions with high numbers of people who don’t have bank accounts, but which also has the fastest growing mobile money market. This trend suggests that mobile phones may be the only viable way to access financial services.

Mobile phones act as payment terminals with phone numbers acting as identifiers. The assets are already there – just connect a wallet that communicates with these systems, and you’re ready to go.

Security is one of the key concerns for mobile money users, financial institutions and operators need to be equipped with best-in-class security capabilities to minimize financial losses due to fraud and security breaches. Security needs to be addressed at different levels from access control, network security, and vulnerability analysis and data encryption to drive consumer trust. Solutions such as the Ericsson Wallet Platform, that provide financial institutions and operators with best-in-class security capabilities for mobile money services and make it easier and less costly to certify card-based offerings, address this problem.

The freedom to send, spend and receive money with a mobile phone is quickly becoming an essential part of life for billions of people around the world. It is a cornerstone of the Networked Society, calling for a change where existing payment networks are connected and inter-operable, making M-commerce just as easy as using cash.

Mobile technologies should be used to transform the way money is sent, spent and received, and that means bringing banks and operators together with solutions that are inherently simple, cost efficient, secure and scalable to billions.

[1] Ericsson Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility Report 2014