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Nigerian army officers warned against Tweeting military flaws

Robin Okuthe
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Nigerian army officers warned against Tweeting military flaws

Nigerian Chief of Army Staff Lt General Kenneth Minimah has issued a stern warning to army officers to refrain from discussing military issues on social media.

While addressing the troops at Ibereko, Topo and Ojo Barracks in Lagos, Minimah warned the soldiers against using social media to spread false information, especially about the war against terrorism and exposing the perceived weaknesses and strength of the military.

“Another trend that is also risky to the service, which we all cherish, is the misuse of social media. I advise you to be cautious of the social media, especially those who like to use Twitter, Facebook and other social media to report the army as if you are not part of it. One thing that you are not aware of is that you have been loosening the systems that you are part of,” said Minimah.

He further stated: “You can tweet on social issues though do not tweet about our weapons, ammunition, equipment and locations. All the information passed out there affects you therefore; do not try to undo the system before enlisting. I advise you to refrain from reporting the army.”

Minimah portrayed himself as a wartime chief who will stop at nothing to stop Boko Haram’s threats. The welfare of the troops that is currently deployed in different operations has remained his top priority.

“All I know as an infantry General is to plan and fight war. By doing this, we have ensured that our troops are well taken care of. As I speak, the troops are being given their operational allowance for the month of August and that is how it has forever been.

“We paid July’s allowance in June and we also have made efforts to improve medical facilities at the 7 Division to help soldiers who are wounded while in the line of duty. For those whose cases are complicated and cannot be treated at the 7 Division, we take them to 45 Reference Hospital, Kaduna. Seven casualties, whose condition could not be treated back home are currently being handled in Germany and India and we will keep on doing our best to take care of troops, said Minimah.

88mph-backed Bus Ticketing Platform BookNow Raises $75000 From Local Angel Investors

Sam Wakoba
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88mph-backed Bus Ticketing Platform BookNow Raises $75000 From Local Angel Investors

1238035_410844059017568_939895365_n88mph-backed BookNow, a bus booking platform has raised $75,000 from 10 angels including businessmen Mahendra K.D. Shah, Ravi Shah, Ritesh Doshi and four of 88mph’s investors and team members.

Confirming to TechMoran, Francis Gesora, Co-Founder and CEO of BookNow said, “We have raised $75,000 from angel investors and the bulk of this is going to be used on hiring customer support staff and to accelerating growth and also improve our product offering.”

Earlier the firm had raised $15,000 from 88mph to bring sanity to the public bus system which is used by the majority of travellers in Sub-Saharan Africa. BookNow, the first of its kind in East Africa gives users access to information on schedules, pricing, availability of seats as well as enabling them to book their bus tickets pre-travel to avoid congestion and commotion associated with last minute bus bookings.

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The funds will also help BookNow continue its journey of bringing advantages in speed, information, cost and time savings to bus travellers and the industry. “We have been able to pull together an investor pool that brings strategic advantages to BookNow’s operations through their skills and expertise, which we are able to draw upon as we grow and expand,” he said in a statement.

Gesora together with a friend Michael Nguru founded the company in August 2013 and today, it is East Africa’s premier online bus ticket ordering service providing travellers the convenience of pre-booking their travel tickets online or on mobile phone for their journey’s in Kenya and Uganda.

The Nairobi-based company pegs its growth to its initial funding from pan-African seed fund 88mph.

 

 

 

LynkMii Wants to be the Biggest Mobile Business Directory in the World

Sam Wakoba
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0
LynkMii Wants to be the Biggest Mobile Business Directory in the World

North-Sydney-Serviced-ApartmentsAs smartphones eat the world, LynkMii, is a new mobile business directory that aims to enable businesses to take advantage of them and drive their growth  internationally.

LynkMii aims to help users find Businesses, Special Offers, events, Jobs, latest news and blogs and just about everything. Businesses can also advertise their business, products and services on the platform and also add their Special Offers and Events anytime.

Using GPS, the site will pick u users locations from around the world  and also help stranded users get Emergency Services around them.

According to the founder Dele Odusanya, the online business directory for companies of all sizes, sectors and industries says it enables business owners to publish details of their products and services to these mobile customers based wherever they are to enable their prospective customers to review them and see the specific services or any special offers that may be available.

“By registering on the LynkMii portal each business is provided with the tools to complete a detailed business profile containing images, business description, business category, contact information and any social media links outlining the expertise they provide,” Odusanya said.

The LynkMii App is available for download from both Apple and Android stores. Once downloaded, users will be able to navigate and search for business, special offers, jobs and events by geographic location or category. App users will be able to communicate directly with any business by phone or email and get directions instantly to the business location.

The portal also offers SMS and Email Marketing service and is available for both iOS  and  Android.

Image:aumobilebusinessdirectory.com

 

Airtel Zambia Subscribers to Access Free Basic Services from the new Internet.org App

Sam Wakoba
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Airtel Zambia Subscribers to Access Free Basic Services from the new Internet.org App

internetapp

By Guy Rosen, Product Management Director

Over 85% of the world’s population lives in areas with existing cellular coverage, yet only about 30% of the total population accesses the internet. Affordability and awareness are significant barriers to internet adoption for many and today we are introducing the Internet.org app to make the internet accessible to more people by providing a set of free basic services.

With this app, people can browse a set of useful health, employment and local information services without data charges. By providing free basic services via the app, we hope to bring more people online and help them discover valuable services they might not have otherwise.

The Internet.org app will be available first to Airtel subscribers in Zambia and we’ll continue to improve the experience and roll it out to other parts of the world.

Internet.org App

Through the Internet.org app, Airtel customers in Zambia will have basic access to:

Airtel customers in Zambia can access these services in the Internet.org Android app, at www.internet.org, or within the Facebook for Android app.

Malawi & NEPAD Partner To Launch Internet Governance Forum

Caroline Vutagwa
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Malawi & NEPAD Partner To Launch Internet Governance Forum

egov

E-Government Principal Secretary Olive Chikankheni said government appreciate the need to govern internet because as a global network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business and government networks, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies, and therefore, carrying extensive range of information resources and services, there is need that it be governed.

“As a member of the United Nations, African Union and SADC organisations which have called on their members to have IGFs, Malawi celebrated the Malawi-IGF and committees to ensure that there is maximum multi-stakeholder participation in the forum foe internet related policy dialogue,” she said.

Chikankheni expressed that forum should certainly participate in promoting ICT for both inclusive and sustainable development. The current indicators call for more concerted effort in this area.

According to, Chikankheni, the ICT sector has contributed 3.5 percentages to the country’s GDP in 2010 to 3.8 percent in 2013 and this is expected to reach 3.9 this year.

Chairperson of the The country’s National ICT Working Group (NICTWG), which will coordinate the forum’s functions, Seyani Nayeja, said Malawi will now achieve global recognition with the launch of the forum.

“This will give us an opportunity to give platform to discuss the use and misuse of internet and provide solutions in internet use. We need to make this work. This is a live activism of voluntary participation. We should work towards a common good,” he said.

Before the launch, stakeholders deliberated the launching of the forum and agreed to call the Malawi Internet Governance Forum (Malawi IGF) Charter.

According to the charter, the forum’s aim is to provide a platform for inclusive multi-stakeholder discussions in the issues pertinent to the internet in Malawi n general and internet Governance issues in particular

The country’s National ICT Working Group (NICTWG), according to the charter, will coordinate the activities of the Malawi IGF while the Department of E-Government will be the secretariat and coordination of the forum will be reviewed within a specified period.

The charter further states that the overall objective of the forum is to establish a multi-stakeholder process that will shape the development of Malawi’s internet economy with a number of specific objectives.

EcoCash & MasterCard to Distribute Over 3 Million Mobile Money Companion Debit Cards in Zimbabwe

Sam Wakoba
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0
EcoCash & MasterCard to Distribute Over 3 Million Mobile Money Companion Debit Cards in Zimbabwe
mastercardZimbabwe’s EcoCash has partnered with MasterCard in a move that will see more than three million MasterCard debit cards being issued to mobile money provider EcoCash’s customers in the next five years.

“The EcoCash MasterCard debit card is a milestone towards realising MasterCard’s vision of a cashless society,” says Charlton Goredema, Vice President and Area Business Head, Southern Africa, MasterCard. “Demonstrating the value of close collaboration in the financial services and payments technology industries, EcoCash and MasterCard have devised an innovative payment product that addresses Zimbabwe’s market realities, particularly by acknowledging the impact mobile money has on the country’s economy.”

The largest rollout of secure EMV Chip and PIN payment cards in Zimbabwe to date, the cards will assist in reducing cash dependence and increase financial inclusion through the provision of electronic payments in Zimbabwe.

“The adoption of electronic payments is critical to Zimbabwe’s economic development. Reducing dependency on cash while increasing financial inclusion benefits the whole country including the government, industry sectors like tourism and retail, merchants and citizens,” says Douglas Mboweni, CEO of Econet.

According to Today,  research 40% Zimbabweans are financially excluded while another 22% rely on informal financial products or services.  EcoCash aims to help change this. as its customers will be able to withdraw money from MasterCard-licensed ATMs and pay for goods and services at millions of merchants that accept MasterCard payment cards, both in Zimbabwe and internationally.

“The integration of these products and services are particularly exciting for EcoCash customers,” says EcoCash CEO Cuthbert Tembedza. “We look forward to offering Zimbabweans even more ways to benefit from the security and convenience of electronic payments as they engage with, and contribute to, the formal economy.”

Though over 85% of retail payments globally still involve cash or cheque, they are riskier and bulky. Governments are rapidly driving the conversion from cash to electronic payments as they realise the benefits of a cashless society, namely increased transparency, cost effectiveness, financial inclusion, foreign investment and economic growth.

“As EcoCash enables its customers to benefit from MasterCard’s global payments network, we are assisting Zimbabwe to integrate its economy with those elsewhere in the world. Importantly, we are also contributing to the financial freedom of individuals,” says Goredema.

 

Epson honoured at BLI’s Summer 2014 Pick Awards

Caroline Vutagwa
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Epson honoured at BLI’s Summer 2014 Pick Awards

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Buyers Laboratory LLC, an independent tester of document imaging products, has announced its prestigious Summer 2014 Pick awards in the scanner category, recognising Epson’s WorkForce DS-860 high-quality performance and honoring it as the Outstanding A4 Departmental Scanner.

Andy Bray, Product Manager, Epson Europe, said: “We are delighted to have been recognised by BLI for our WorkForce DS-860 scanner. The award is testament to the speed, reliability and functionality of the product, as well as its seamless integration into any document management system. The product is ideal for businesses looking to bring improved efficiencies to their data capture and management processes.”

BLI’s awards are the industry’s most coveted, with devices only being considered for honours after months of rigorous testing at BLI’s testing facilities. Epson’s WorkForce DS-860 outperformed the competition with its speed and versatility, earning the Pick award for the Summer 2014 award season.

The DS-860 exhibited outstanding results in the different performance categories tested, including higher than average OCR accuracy, faster than average speeds in the hardware throughput tests and the ability to accommodate a wider than average range of paper sizes. The device also has an estimated TCO that’s up to 40 percent lower than average.

“The Epson WorkForce DS-860 offers the total package: robust software, a rich feature set and an intuitive design all for a lower than average price. It provides virtually everything needed to capture and route documents in fast-paced workgroup and departmental scanning environments,” said Lisa Reider, BLI’s senior product editor for scanners.

Announced twice a year, the Pick awards acknowledge the products that give the best performances in BLI’s extensive suite of laboratory tests in the previous six months.

US Payment Firm to Acquire South Africa’s Gyft for Around $50m

Sam Wakoba
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US Payment Firm to Acquire South Africa’s Gyft for Around $50m

Vinny-GyftUS based payment technology and services solutions firm First Data, has acquired Gyft Inc., a gift card startup founded by South African entrepreneur Vinny Lingham for around $50 million according to reports.

The move aims at enabling consumers to buy, send, manage and redeem gift cards using mobile devices. Gyft is a mobile wallet accessible by website and as a free app on iPhone and Android devices and says it has over 200 recognized retailers and brings its power to First Data’s 300 plus national retail prepaid clients.

“Gyft, with its mobile gifting platform, and First Data, with its global scale and distribution network, together will accelerate the growth of virtual prepaid with powerful new tools for merchants of all sizes to deepen their relationships with their customers,” said Guy Chiarello, president, First Data. “This means that the same robust toolset deployed by big box retailers will be coming soon to small- to mid-sized businesses, perfectly synched with our mission to offer innovative solutions to help our clients grow.”

In addition, to bring these new tools to small business owners who have adopted First Data’s Clover™ Station, an elegant touchscreen point-of-sale solution, Gyft for SMBs will be added to the Clover App Marketplace.

Virtual and mobile cards are gaining share rapidly in the near $100 billion U.S. gift card market. Retailers reported that, on average, loads onto digital cards tripled from 2012 to 2013, according to Mercator Advisory Group’s annual survey of retailers. First Data’s research shows that electronic gift card sales grew 71 percent from 2012 to 2013. “Retailers need to begin tapping into digital distribution channels to be responsive to early-adopter customers and stay competitive for the long term,” said Ben Jackson, Director of Mercator’s prepaid advisory service.

“We are joining First Data to accelerate our growth and significantly improve the gift card experience for both customers and retailers,” said Vinny Lingham, co-founder and chief executive officer, Gyft. “As a part of First Data’s suite of innovation-powered products, Gyft will be added to a portfolio of technology-driven gift solutions that link advanced consumer-engagement technology with point-of-sale business solutions.”

New Social Advertising Network to be launched

Robin Okuthe
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0
New Social Advertising Network to be launched

A new social video advertising network called Skits seeks to reward users for attracting customers to view videos of favorite brands.

Skits’s new strategy allows brands to engage customers by rewarding them with mobile airtime to view targeted video ads.

To Skits, marketing is fundamental in any kind of set-up or business. This explains why companies pay PR agencies a lot of money for branding and marketing. Skits however believes that the best kind of marketing is when it is user-generated, to be precise, by word of mouth.

Consumer who feel inspired by the ads and want to earn more rewards can continue presenting his 15-second creative video that supports his favorite brand. If it is good enough, the brand is published on Skits. This implies that contents on the Skits network will be user-generated.

The concept Skits employs was first conceived in 2013 and has been evolving over the last one year.

Skits will be launched in September 2014.

Be Prepared For New Nokia X update

Caroline Vutagwa
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0
Be Prepared For New Nokia X update

X

 

All users of Nokia X series of mobile phones will soon be seeing some brand new features and enhancements.

The new features include an app switcher, which is a new platform that will help users to see which apps are running. You get the app switcher by swiping down from the top of the screen and tapping the app switcher icon. Select the app you want to switch to, or just tap the X icon to close an app.

Next is the X series, which will come with more Microsoft services pre-installed. They include the Outlook.com, OneDrive and OneNote.

The improved Nokia Store makes it easier to search, find and download gamed or apps onto your Nokia X. the store also integrate other third-party app stores. This means that your ability to explore the apps is greatly increased.

Other improvements include new Home screen Spotlight widgets for app discovery and one-click downloads for faster access to apps.

The new software will arrive at your Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL as an over-the-air (OTA) update. All you have to do is wait for the push notification that prompts you download it. You also have the option of doing it manually by:

Navigating to settings >About phone >System updates> check now.

Nokia advises that the download should be done through Wi-Fi rather than the regular data plan, because it will be quite something for your pocket.

Kenyans to Get Cheaper Electricity as KenGen Adds 140MW to the National Grid

Sam Wakoba
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0
Kenyans to Get Cheaper Electricity as KenGen Adds 140MW to the National Grid

Data center - 1Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has announced today that it has added 140MW to the national grid from the 280 MW Olkaria geothermal project. Therefore Kenyans should expect to see the cost of electricity starting to decline in the coming months as geothermal gradually replaces the expensive thermal power.

The 140MW is from two units – one of which has already completed reliability test while the other is expected to complete the test by mid August. The firm also announced that two more units are expected to commence reliability tests in September and October respectively.

It is expected that before the end of the year, the entire 280 megawatts will be fully commissioned. The firm said it’s currently implementing the ambitious 280 MW geothermal project in Olkaria aimed at scaling up supply and reducing the cost of electricity.

“We have already uploaded 140 MW and the balance will be fully commissioned and connected to the national grid before the end of this year,” KenGen Managing Director and CEO Eng. Albert Mugo said.

Mugo  added that KenGen is also putting up mobile geothermal wellhead power plants which are expected to generate an additional 70MW, bringing to 350MW the total additional output from Olkaria.

“This year alone, 25.6 MW generated using this innovative method has been added to the national grid,” said Mr. Mugo.

To accelerate its geothermal power production programme, KenGen has also resorted to the mobile wellhead plants which are faster to deploy

Airtel Nigeria introduces internet Bundles specifically For Android Devices

Caroline Vutagwa
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0
Airtel Nigeria introduces internet Bundles specifically For Android Devices

airtel

 

Airtel Nigeria has launched internet bundles specifically designed for Android devices, becoming a first of a kind product for Android devices in Nigeria’s telco market.

Airtel Nigeria, which is the second largest telecommunications company in Nigeria, said the move is a step towards making internet affordable in the country.

The new Android Internet Bundle plan allows Android device users to enjoy “amazing data experience” on their smart devices.

The bundle plan comes in two types: the Android 2.0, which comes with 2GB data, is designed for medium Internet users, while the Android Bundle 4.5, which comes with 4.5GB data, is tailored for high Internet consumers.

Maurice Newa, the chief Commercial Officer for Airtel Nigeria, said the telco will continue blazing the trail in revolutionizing the mobile Internet landscape in Nigeria with highly innovative and affordable solutions.

“At Airtel, we understand that our Internet bundle for Android users will help increase productivity, boost personal relations, family happiness and business profitability,” Newa said.

To subscribe to this offer, customers are advised to dial *437# for the 2G Android Bundle while customers who prefer to subscribe to the 4.GB Android Bundle are advised to dial*438#.

The 2GB and 4.5GB Bundles, go for a rate of N2,000 and N3,500, respectively. They are both valid for 30 days. Both Bundles have different burn rates, allowing customers to enjoy the service at more affordable rates during the night.

Equity Bank SIM-Cards to bring more “choice and freedom”

Robin Okuthe
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0
Equity Bank SIM-Cards to bring more “choice and freedom”

Finserve, Equity Bank’s telcos subsidiary, has been designated the task of distributing the recently licensed MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operations) and is now looking to roll out SIM-cards that have the prefix “0763xx”.

James Mwangi Equity Bank CEO

Equity Bank hopes that the rollout of the new SIM-card will bring more “choice and freedom” to the mobile transfer services and mobile telephone clientele.

Talking to investors at the bank’s headquarters, James Mwangi, Equity Bank’s CEO said that the SIM-cards, which bear the prefix 0763xxx, were already being used by the internal staff and a countrywide roll out for every Equity Bank customer will happen once they receive an approval from the Communications Authority of Kenya, CAK, most likely before end of July.

It is estimated that 25 million Kenyans will be “empowered” by the novel innovation that will allow for increased synchronicity, as customers will now access services from at least two telecom service providers. The innovation will also save consumers the inconveniences of changing SIM-cards in addition to saving the country billions of shillings that could be used to purchase dual-SIM phones.

According to Equity Bank, the new SIM-cards will improve mobile banking security through data encryption. Easy and convenient access to SMS and USSD will also enable the bank to lower the cost of mobile banking by breaking the commercial barriers, which have so far been put by some mobile telecom operators. The barriers had initially limited the public from accessing mobile banking services due to prohibitive charges by some mobile telcos.

Dual-SIM phones capacity will also easily remove monopolistic power within the telecom sector and make even the playing field, which is fundamental for a competitive environment where product, cost and innovation will drive market behavior.

Mwangi mentioned that the actual innovation of Equity’s MVNO originates from the use of thin SIM card technology that will offer each Kenyan a chance to convert the phone into a dual SIM phone.

“Our leading vision and philosophy is to empower people who are poorly banked or financially excluded, granting them access to ICT and banking solutions that are readily accessible to wealthy members of the society even though they are at an affordable cost,” Mwangi stated.

It is not yet clear what the novel SIM-card will be named.

Nigeria’s President Unveils e-Passport

Caroline Vutagwa
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0
Nigeria’s President Unveils e-Passport

nigeria

 

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has unveiled the West African nation’s first ever 64-page e-passport. The president and his vice Namadi Sambo later took turns to be captured in order to be issued with the new traveling document.

Goodluck Jonathan insisted that the e-passport had to be increased from a 32-page to a 64-page so that frequent travellers will not have to change their passports every other month because of limited pages of the visa.

He tasked officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service to protect the integrity of the passport by ensuring that it cannot be easily faked.

He also asked officials who manage the nation’s airports to ensure that they conduct themselves in a manner that will portray the country well before visitors.

The new passport which takes effect from August 1 attracts a fee of N20,000.

 

Inside the Amazon & Flipkart Bitter Public Rivalry

Sam Wakoba
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0
Inside the Amazon & Flipkart Bitter Public Rivalry
Binny & Sachin: Pain for Bezos
Binny & Sachin: Pain for Bezos

You will love this game. Just a few hours after Nasper’s backed Flipkart announced it had raised $1 billion to fuel its mobile growth, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos doubled up the amount for his Amazon store in India. Injecting a cool $2 billlion to fuel growth of Amazon India or at least show some effort.

Amazon.in is more than a year old and says it has over 17 million products from various SME’s with its guaranteed next-day delivery service. The additional US $2 billion will support its rapid growth and continue to enhance the customer and seller experience in India.

“After our first year in business, the response from customers and small and medium-sized businesses in India has far surpassed our expectations,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “We see huge potential in the Indian economy and for the growth of e-commerce in India. With this additional investment of US $2 billion, our team can continue to think big, innovate, and raise the bar for customers in India. At current scale and growth rates, India is on track to be our fastest country ever to a billion dollars in gross sales. A big ‘thank you’ to our customers in India – we’ve never seen anything like this.”

ref=amb_link_182485987_3 Just a few history, Amazon’s chief, Bezos was the boss to Flipkart’s founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal before they ventured out on their own to start Flipkart in 2007. The two, both alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi began just as Amazon, initially selling books, then electronics, air conditioners, stationery, e-books. In the same line, Flipkart has its own set of tablet phones, the Digiflip Pro XT 712 Tablet while Amazon has its Kindles and now the Fire.

Now, each is trying to counter the other and the war has extended to money; something to show power, help meet customer needs but also change their perception on who is bigger and better. Of course Flipkart is the biggest in India but Amazon, Wal-Mart and another firm backed by eBay are on its toes.

Flipkart’s $1 billion has now been overshadowed in the public by Bezos $2 billion but it still remains the single largest round by an Indian internet company.  Flipkart is also the first e-commerce company out of India to hit US $1 billion in GMV.

Forget Amazon’s move, Flipkart’s latest round co-led by  Tiger Global Management and Naspers its existing investors, with participation from Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC,  Accel Partners, DST Global, ICONIQ Capital, Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Sofina, will help the firm do its great leap into mobile-the holy grail of e-commerce in the country according to the founders.

Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal (not relatives) said; “We believe the internet will improve the quality of life for millions of Indians, and e-commerce is going to play a huge role in this change. The focus at Flipkart is to continue to make shopping online simpler and more accessible through the use of technology.

Flipkart says it has about 22 million registered users and handle’s 5 million shipments a month but because India has 243 million internet users and growing by the day, Flipkart wants to do more.

“We want to enable every Indian to either shop or sell online. And we believe that the power of the mobile internet is going to help us achieve this goal.By 2020 India will have more than half a billion mobile internet users. Our intense focus on mobile and technology puts us in a unique position to take advantage of this massive opportunity,” they said.

flipkart_image_picSet to become a mobile e-commerce company of the future and build more warehouses and several other innovations, plus its  dedicated logistics and cash on delivery offerings, Flipkart is not an easy target, and Bezos wishes he would moved fast and bigger earlier thanlet his employees ashame him far away from the confort of his home.

Woman suing Facebook Over ‘Revenge Porn’

Robin Okuthe
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Woman suing Facebook Over ‘Revenge Porn’

A woman in Houston who claims to be a victim of “revenge porn” is suing Facebook and her former friend for $123 million.

facebook sued

Meryam Ali claims that her former friend Adeel Shah Khan created a fake Facebook page in her name that contained doctored pictures that placed her face on “phony, false, naked body shots,” reports The Wrap.

Ali stated she learnt about the existence of the profile in December and asked Facebook to remove it, though the social network failed to take action.

According to The Wrap, it was not until months later when the Houston Police Department summoned Facebook in an attempt to name the creator of the false account that the fake page was eventually removed.

“It is a very serious situation. She is clearly quite mad about what occurred, very upset,” David Altenbem, Ali’s attorney told Texas Lawyer magazine.

The lawsuit tries to get Facebook as well as everyone connected to the site “to get up, take notice and pay attention to the serious privacy violations concerns involved in revenge porn situations,” reported the website.

The $123 million figure comes from 10 cents in damages for each of the 1.23 billion members of the social network, writes The Wrap.

Neither Khan nor Facebook has responded to a comment requested from the Texas Lawyer.

South African Students to participate in Google doodling competition

Robin Okuthe
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0
South African Students to participate in Google doodling competition

South African students between the ages of 6 and 17 years are being invited by Google to make a Google Doodle representing the “South Africa of My Dreams.”

Doodle 4 Google contest

Finalists across four age groups, namely 6 to 8; 9 to11; 12 to 14; and 15 to 17, will be selected by a panel of guest judges who are passionate about children’s education and art.

Local judges for the contest include author John van De Ruit, Survivor champ Graham Jenneker, media and tech entrepreneur Seth Rotherham, Spud star Sven Ruygrok, DJ Fresh, music diva Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Springbok great Pat Lambie.

Google will also require the public to vote for their preferred doodles from every age group. The winners will get gifts, including Google Play vouchers, tablets and R100000 worth of technology for the national winner’s school. The overall winner will be selected by a Google doodler and the winner’s doodle shown on the Google homepage for a day for millions of South Africans to enjoy.

Individuals and schools can now register to participate. Entry forms can be downloaded on the Doodle 4 Google site. October 22, 2014 is the deadline for teachers and parents to present their children’s entries and the doodles can be sent by post or digitally uploaded to the site. There is no restriction on the number of doodles from any family or school as long as there is only one doodle per student.

Cape Town’s DocDiary Launches to Connect Patients to Doctors

Sam Wakoba
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0
Cape Town’s DocDiary Launches to Connect Patients to Doctors

10513304_1443280569280775_1098271698739472411_nDocDiary is a new online booking and practice management system connecting patients to doctors or  medical professionals in real time in South Africa.

Launched by Cape Town-based  Handré Dreyer to help make booking doctors online simple, DocDiary is free for use by patients while doctors pay a little subscription fee to be listed and licensed to use the platform.

“Our mission is to help doctors by eliminating or alleviating their frustrations, saving them time and money, helping them manage their practice more efficiently, increasing their revenue and improving their quality of delivery,” says Dreyer. “For the patients we provide convenience and peace of mind. DocDiary empowers them to manage and take control of their own medical health, history and future.”

The platform is easy to use.

Patients can easily and conveniently search for and book appointments at the most appropriate healthcare professionals. They can make and manage these appointments from anywhere, at any time. They also can view doctors’ real-time schedules, make appointments for themselves and their dependants online, submit doctor’s forms, manage their own medical history profile and information and even receive better, more informed consultations and diagnoses.

DocDiary helps to minimise waiting time at the doctor, helps patients get quick and accurate doctor’s referrals, help them to connect with doctors online and also manage their healthcare online and acess their medical records online.

On the other side, doctors or medical practitioners use the service to manage their schedules,  make or receive appointments around the clock, receive and process patient forms, get instant access to patient symptoms and medical status. The platform ensures that mpatient medical records are secure and safely stored, helps doctors connect with patients effortlessly via automated patient recalls, follow-ups and reminders. Gives doctors a professional online presence to increase patient visits and can also help them do quick and accurate patient referrals apart from just saving them time.

Before the platform connecting doctors and patients online was cumbersome and frustrating. Launched in beta last week, Dreyer says DocDiary has been well received by both IT and medical professionals and early adopters. The online booking and practice marketing and management system aim to take real-time appointment scheduling and high Internet visibility for doctors in South Africa easily.

Dreyer
Dreyer

Because its search results are Google indexed, medical professionals are instantly accessible by patients looking to find the most suitable – and available –healthcare provider to see to their needs. Practitioners can be found by geographic area, field of specialisation or gender. Patients can compare compare doctors’ credentials and reviews and also able to see doctors schedules to allow them set up their own appointments.

“The prevalence of digital media in the purchase decision process – including healthcare consultation – has created an opportune time for launching this online service,” says Dreyer. “We are collaborating and sharing data and know-how with the more established Medpages, the authoritative resource of the healthcare industry.”

Dreyer is not starting a new culture in South Africa. He says there are already over 600 000 searches per month for “doctor” or similar specialists from Medpages, DocDiary aim to just make it better.


UbuntuNet, Africa’s high-speed Internet Network for Research & Education Commisione

Sam Wakoba
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UbuntuNet, Africa’s high-speed Internet Network for Research & Education Commisione

Data center - 1Being a researcher or student in Africa is a problem, especially due to the burden of slow Internet connectivity which has consequently widened the gap between the continent’s researchers and their peers globally.

To end this menace, UbuntuNet Alliance, the research and education network for Eastern and Southern Africa; and DANTE, the operator of GÉANT, the pan-European research and education network today commisioned UbuntuNet network, the regional high-speed Internet network connecting researchers, educators and students in Eastern and Southern Africa to their peers in the region and to Europe.

According to Cathrin Stöver, Chief International Relations Officer, DANTE, “Today through the collaboration with GÉANT, the UbuntuNet network is boosting EU-African collaboration, bringing research and educational opportunities unprecedented in Africa.  The implications for socio-economic development go far beyond anything we could have dreamed of before, putting African research on the map and transforming the lives of millions. I am very proud that GÉANT is the first R&E network to connect to Africa!”

Commissioned today, UbuntuNet network is not totally new.

The first phase was completed in February and serves South Africa’s TENET , MoRENet in Mozambique, TERNET in Tanzania, KENET in Kenya, RENU in Uganda and RwEdNet in Rwanda, and forms the backbone on which the network to serve the entire Alliance region will be created.

Phase two serves Eb@le in Democratic Republic of Congo, MAREN in Malawi and ZAMREN in Zambia. The link between Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Lusaka in Zambia was completed at the end of May 2014 drastically reducing connectivity costs to nearly nothing for the Zambian research and education community. Links from Lusaka to Blantyre in Malawi, and from Cape Town to Moanda in DRC will be completed in the near future.

The network is delivering international and regional bandwidth to NRENs in these counties at a consolidated price of $135 per megabit per second per month and aims to eliminate the barrier to regional participation in global research and education collaboration.

The network is also expected to contribute significantly to improved health research in bioinformatics in Zambia.

Rwanda’s Sokkaa.com Re-launches as Africa’s Biggest Football News Aggregator

Sam Wakoba
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0
Rwanda’s Sokkaa.com Re-launches as Africa’s Biggest Football News Aggregator

footaSokkaa.com has a new look in a move set to make it Africa’s biggest football news aggregator and news feed.

“The average football fan in Africa views up to 15 different websites daily to get their fix of news from across the continent and Europe. Our team finds the latest news and stories from these sites, summarizes them in their original language and also English, and then adds these breaking articles to a feed similar to Twitter,” said Thomas Harvey, founder of Sokkaa.com

With a team of journalists and content collectors that search out all the latest African and Euro football news and then summarize it in a twitter style feed, Sokkaa collects all the breaking news and show it in one easy place, eliminating the need to surf all these sites which can take lots of time and uses precious mobile data.

Harvey adds that the new look site aims to make the lives of football fans across the continent much easier by taking into account everyday issues we face (such as slow internet connection and no definitive source of good news) and then building a platform that can accommodate these issues.

Launched February this year, Sokkaa wanted to bring the Eurpean League to readers in Africa in their own languages and we thought it wasn’t a great move until this pivot. Africa has no fully dedicated football only news site apart from Goal.com which is expanding across the continent, Kenya’s MichezoAfrica and Futaa.com and Zimbabwe’s Soccer24 which is expanding across the region. This pivot is great and with time we hope this guys will have reporters doing news across the continent.

In April Sokkaa launched a chat application to allow its users interact with their friends online.

Kenya’s Elgeyo Marakwet County to set up own Radio and TV Station

Robin Okuthe
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Kenya’s Elgeyo Marakwet County to set up own Radio and TV Station

Kenyan county of Elgeyo Marakwet’s executive has announced the region’s plan to launch a radio and TV station to teach the public on issues of development.

Governor Alex Tolgos announced the plan during the launch of the county’s digital operations Wednesday. Also present at the event was his deputy Gabriel Lamaon.

According to Tolgos, each resident is entitled to information and his government will make sure that residents are aware of every activity being undertaken. The county has also launched a newspaper.

“The most excellent way to engage the public in development is to first empower them with information. As soon as they are involved, they will be able to take part in every activity,” Tolgos stated.

Monicah Rotich, the county’s ICT spokesperson, said all revenue would be picked up via the pay bill number 827600. Once the fiber optic cable begins to function, they will fix a screen in Iten town, which will pass information to the public.

“This automated system will make all transactions within the county easier as well as enable residents access fast services,” Tolgos stated.

He further stated: “The county government will put up ICT centers in Marakwet West, Keiyo South, Keiyo North and Marakwet East subcounties. This will enable our residents and youth access information easily and the electronic systems will help the county eliminate corruption in its every operation.”

Last month, Tolgos visited all villages within the county to launch a detailed development program focusing on major needs for every subcounty.

The Public Service Board was the first to adopt the digital system where residents can now apply for jobs online. Additionally, the county’s Revenue department has already gone digital.

ICANN Tells U.S. Court that ccTLDs are not “Property”

Sam Wakoba
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0

icannThe Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the global body charged with the mission is to ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet today told a U.S. federal court in the District of Columbia, that a country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) cannot be considered “property,” and thus cannot be attached by plaintiffs in a lawsuit, who are trying to obtain the assets of countries that they argued have supported terrorism.

“We filed a Motion to Quash in the US federal court today, to ensure that the court has the essential information about how the Internet’s domain name system (DNS) works. While we sympathize with what plaintiffs may have endured, ICANN’s role in the domain name system has nothing to do with any property of the countries involved”, said John Jeffrey, ICANN’s General Counsel and Secretary.

“We explained in our Motion to Quash, that country code Top-Level Domains (ccTLD) are part of a single, global interoperable Internet which ICANN serves to help maintain.” Jeffrey further explained that “ccTLD’s are not property, and are not ‘owned’ or ‘possessed’ by anyone including ICANN, and therefore cannot be seized in a lawsuit.”

ICANN’s arguments were put forth when the victims of terrorism who had successfully won lawsuits against Iran, Syria and North Korea, sought to collect on those civil judgments.  In their attempt to recover assets from these countries, the plaintiffs served ICANN with “writs of attachment” and subpoenas seeking information to help them seize the ccTLDs of those nations.

The ccTLDs (and related IP addresses) targeted by the plaintiffs include; .IR (Iran), .SY (Syria) and .KP (North Korea), as well as internationalized top-level domains in non-ASCII characters for Iran and Syria.

Formed in 1998, ICANN coordinates unique identifiers across the world so as each of us has their own identity online. ICANN doesn’t control content on the Internet but has an important impact on the expansion and evolution of the Internet.

 

UNAIDS, ASLM and Partners Launch Initiative to Improve HIV Diagnostics

Stella Kabura
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0
UNAIDS, ASLM and Partners Launch Initiative to Improve HIV Diagnostics

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) has joined with global partners to launch the Diagnostics Access Initiative which calls for improving laboratory capacity to ensure that all people living with HIV can be linked to effective, high-quality HIV treatment services.

Partners in the initiative include UNAIDS, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), UNICEF, the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and ASLM.

“Around 19 million of the 35 million people living with HIV don’t know they have the virus. If they don’t find out, they will die,” said Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director, “This is why we have to make it simpler for people to test for HIV to be able to start lifesaving treatment when they need it.”

The Diagnostics Access Initiative specifically focuses on ensuring that at least 90 per cent of all people living with HIV know their HIV status. It also aims to ensure that all people accessing HIV treatment have ready access to tests that monitor the levels of the virus in their bodies.

For treatment to be optimally effective, it is essential that all people accessing HIV treatment monitor their viral load frequently. Currently very few high-burden countries routinely offer viral load testing to people receiving HIV treatment. New viral load testing technologies which are made available when people first come in for care, offer promise for expanding access to viral load testing. However they will need to be affordable, appropriately deployed and used effectively.

“To achieve control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, it’s essential that all people have access to high-quality HIV laboratory services, both for accurate HIV diagnosis and treatment monitoring. Building a country’s capacity for virologic testing is critical for early identification of virologic failure, drug resistance and overall improved impact of the country’s HIV care and treatment programs,” said Ambassador Deborah Birx, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. “The Diagnostic Access Initiative represents an important step in ensuring the close collaboration among all donors and stakeholders to expand access and enable strategic scale-up of HIV laboratory services.”

To ensure early diagnosis of HIV, laboratory procedures need to be simplified and multiple testing tools and strategies made available. These also need to be integrated into community-centred health campaigns that focus on multiple diseases.

“It is essential that people know whether they have HIV infection, and that people who take treatment know whether their medicines are controlling the virus,” said Dr Hiroki Nakatani, Assistant Director-General, WHO. “As diagnostic technology changes rapidly, and our Member States need guidance on how to use it, WHO will play a key role in this initiative.”

HIV treatment is effective in reducing HIV-related illness and AIDS-related deaths. It also helps to prevent new HIV infections, by sharply suppressing viral load and decreasing the risk of HIV transmission.

“The Diagnostic Access Initiative focuses urgent attention on the importance of developing new, affordable viral load and infant diagnosis technologies and effectively using the laboratory capacity we currently have,” said Dr. Tsehaynesh Messele, Chief Executive Officer of ASLM. “Effectively using existing and emerging viral load and infant diagnosis technologies will demand substantially stronger laboratory capacity as well as strategic planning to ensure that all technologies are optimally used.”

Partners in the initiative will advocate for greater funding for laboratory services and for the development of new diagnostic tools. They will also strengthen efforts to ensure that diagnostic services are of the highest quality and forge well-coordinated partnerships to close diagnostic access gaps.

Commercial Bank Of Ethiopia Shortlists IT Companies For ATM Supply

Stella Kabura
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0
Commercial Bank Of Ethiopia Shortlists IT Companies For ATM Supply

 

Motivated to supply 2000 ATMs and 4000 PoSs in Ethiopia, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) has shortlisted two companies, M2M, a Moroccan company and the other an Ethiopian company SS Communication (SSC).

IT companies had earlier responded to Bank’s initial tender for the supply of the ATMs and eight for the PoS machines. The companies that are now competing.

The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia is the largest commercial bank in Ethiopia As of June 2011, it had about 86.5 billion Birr in assets and held approximately 63.5% of deposits and about 38% of all bank loans in the country.

According to Fortune, the financial opening for companies which passed the technical evaluation, with SSC and CBM offering the lowest prices for the PoS and ATMs, respectively. M2M on its part will have a better score in the technical evaluation for both machines, Fortune added.

SSC is a local partner to the Swiss company, BPC Banking Technologies. It is these two firms that are working together to implement National Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) for all 16 banks in Ethiopia.

While M2M Group on its part is a Moroccan IT firm that has in 2012 supplied 420 ATM units and 4,000 PoS machines to CBE.

The two companies proposed to supply 4,000 VeriFone PoS machines, for which SSC offered 39 Million Birr and M2M 40 Million Birr.

Jumia to Introduce Middle East’s Smartphone Brand Innjoo In Nigeria

Stella Kabura
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0
Jumia to Introduce Middle East’s Smartphone Brand Innjoo In Nigeria

 

10537402_616348511816051_5118235208054155755_nThe Nigerian market is currently the biggest market in Africa with 125 million mobile phone users and a good proportion of the Market 30 per cent using smartphones. Going a step further, Innjo one of the biggest smartphone brands in the world has launched their latest gadget the “Innjo i1s” on Jumia.

In the past year Jumia has seen major players step up to the big brands. Tecno and Solo have mapped out the market well with new innovations on latest gadgets.

Innjoo is one of the newest smartphone players joining the smartphone market offering Nigerian’s top-notch gadgets at the most affordable price. The Innjoo is the latest from Innjo being unveiled in Nigeria powered by Android Operating system with some of the latest gadget function in high definition.

The Innjo i1s is the Internet DNA smartphone working with Android 4.4 Kit Kat OS, a sleek design, 5megapixel camera and fast Internet speed with increased inbuilt storage space of 8gb to accommodate all the phone usage.

“It is all about Innovation and giving Nigerians the best value for their money with gadgets. This what Jumia aims to do with the partnership with Innjoo bringing the Middle East smartphone brand to Nigeria” stated Jeremy Doutte Managing Director Jumia Nigeria.

The New Innjoo i1s is available in Nigeria and exclusive to Jumia.com.ng. Customers can get this great smartphone at affordable prices in Nigeria with Free Data plan for browsing with MTN and delivery anywhere in Nigeria.

GoMetro Crowned Winner of Get in The Ring South Africa

Sam Wakoba
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0
GoMetro Crowned Winner of Get in The Ring South Africa

1457734_680455431974679_1989793844_nOn July 15th, we told you about Get in the Ring Cape Town where 8 entrepreneur’s faced-off in the ring with a hope of heading to the finals to raise R15 000 000 OR € 1 000 000 globally in investments.

Now, we are proud to tell you that Go Metro has emerged the best at the 2014 “Get In the Ring” Cape Town competition and Justin Coetzee will be going to Rwanda in September 2014 to represent Cape Town in the Regional Finals.

Go Metro is a data-driven transit app for City Transport that contextualizes schedules and real-time data with crowd sourced updates from users in the system. GoMetro is a social network for transit users – improving the customer experience of moving around in a city through a mobile-centred, location-aware service – for trains, buses and and BRT. The app connects users to transport operators for effective pinpoint communication of developments during operations. The app is free to users, with transport modes paying a license for advanced features.

GoMetro Logo Dubbed the ‘Olympics’ for start-ups, the inaguaral Get in the Ring: The Investment Battle saw 100’s of budding South African entrepreneurs enter and compete for an amount of up to R15 000 000 globally. The challenge was aimed at helping them to raise investment capital for their startups or SME’s.

The competition saw the 8 paired into two and then faceing-off through 5 rounds with different pitching topics: starting with who is part of their “Team”, secondly the company “Achievements” come into play, thirdly the “Business Model & Market” giving investors a look into the companies dynamics, fourthly the focus shifted to “Financials & Investment Proposition” and lastly they had to wow the judges in a “Freestyle pitch” where the contestants had their last few words to impress and validate why they should be the winners.

Apart from GoMetro,  Wumdrop.com, an On Demand Courier app came in the second place while NerveData, a startup that installs smart devices into company operations to collect and provide clean operational data came third. Daptio,  a mobile first Adaptive learning assessment platform emerged fourth in the competition.

“There is a trend towards pitching competitions at the moment and the uniqueness about “Get in The Ring” is the competitiveness and freestyle nature that allows startups the opportunity to showcase their startup, nationally, regionally and globally. With an amount of R15 000 000 in possible investment is a large pricetag that is attractive to any startup that wants to scale” quote Nicholas Haralambous founder of NicSocks.com.

The judges included Rob Stokes from Quirk Agency, Pieter de Villiers from Clickatell, Fredell Jacobs from Innovation Hub, Aparajuta Agrawal from SankalpForum  and Ian Anderson from Blue Pencil.

“Last night’s event had great quality startups with excellent presenters, and had a rapid punchy format which got the audience into their headspace fast and held my attenion through out,” concluded Justin Stanford from 4Di Capital and founder of Silicon Cape.

Go Metro from Cape Town will be joined by Epochip who was the winner from Johannesburg’s Get in the Ring event held on the 16th July. Epochip would like to develop a long range wireless charging for mobile devices. The harness radio waves and convert them into electrical energy to charge cellphones and tablets.

 

PwC announces investment to accelerate Africa growth opportunities

Stella Kabura
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0
PwC announces investment to accelerate Africa growth opportunities

To meet increased demand for professional services as trade activity in Africa, Price Waterhouse Coopers has today announced that it is increasing its investment in the continent and building closer links between PwC UK and PwC Africa.

The investment is part of PwC’s ongoing strategy to develop high potential markets, and follows the UK firm’s successful investment in Central and Eastern Europe.

“This is an exciting development which enhances our ability to serve clients across the fastest growing region in the world. Africa has an abundance of natural resources and seven of the world’s fastest growing economies meaning the opportunities for UK business are significant,” Ian Powell, UK Chairman and Senior Partner, commented.

Suresh Kana, PwC Africa Network Territory Senior Partner, noted that: “This is great news for our network. Over the years we have built PwC into the leading network in Africa. We now see huge opportunities to build our capabilities further as we will be able to invest even faster in key industry sectors such as Capital Projects & Infrastructure, Oil & Gas, Government & Public Sector and Financial Services. We have great teams in Africa and this investment will help us build more local capacity, and create teaming and secondment opportunities.”

As part of the investment, Paul Cleal, PwC UK partner and chair of its Africa Business Group, will be seconded to the African Leadership team and based on the continent.

PwC teams from the UK and Africa have a strong track record of working together to support businesses, governments and NGOs in nations such as Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Zambia with expertise in fields such as economic development, climate change, education, infrastructure, natural resources, and power and utilities.

The UK is renowned for the strength of its business and professional services sector and this deal is a demonstration of how the nation can play to its strengths on the global stage. This commitment not only benefits our clients and the PwC network, but is also good for the UK and African economies.

Professional and business support services is one of the most successful sectors in the UK economy, contributing 12% of total UK GDP – more than financial services (8.5%) or manufacturing (10%). The sector has grown by nearly 6% a year since Q3 2009 and has been one of the biggest job-creating sectors in the UK economy as well as a major contributor to UK exports.

 

A 2013 report by BIS – ‘Growth is our business: A Strategy for Professional and Business Services (PBS)’ – recognised the contribution of the professional and business services sector to the UK economy, and highlighted the opportunities in developing markets. Other business services contribute 29% of total services exports and totalled £58.6 billion in 2013, with a trade surplus of £29.3 billion.

Wachira Njuguna to step aside for NHC audit

Susan Mwenesi
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Wachira Njuguna to step aside for NHC audit

HOUSING CORPORATIONKenya’s land ministry has asked National Housing Corporation (NHC) Managing Director WACHIRA NJUGUNA to step aside by the Lands Ministry to allow an audit by the ministry.

Mr. Njuguna will be handing over his office tomorrow to an official seconded form the ministry, who will be acting managing director during the period of investigations.

Mr Njuguna said, although he was surprised at the request by Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu to step aside to allow for the investigations, he has utmost respect for the CS and would fully comply and cooperate with the investigators and the Ministry.

He expressed confidence that he will be absolved of any wrong doing and resume duty shortly after the investigations are concluded as he is confident that he will be cleared.

“I will be stepping aside as a show of my utmost respect for the Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu. I’m looking forward to resume duty and service to Kenyans shortly after the investigations are concluded, as I am confident that I will be cleared of any wrong doing,” he said.

Mr Njuguna was appointed managing director of NHC two years ago and has turned around the corporation that has had marginal growth. He is a highly respected architect and among the few youthful chief executives manning government agencies.

In his first year in office, he was able to more than double the Corporation’s profitability to Sh835 million, the highest level of profitability for NHC. The corporation also gave a Sh57 million dividend to Treasury. The rise in profits followed an aggressive reduction in wastage, bringing down corruption levels and increased collections from NHC’s existing rental houses as well as proper coordination of the Corporation’s personnel.

NHC has also recently embarked on implementing an IT system that will integrate its operations with its estates including rental collections. The system is expected to seal the loopholes that have in the past seen vast amounts owed to NHC go uncollected.

In the two years, the Corporation has also been able to complete some of their projects including 300 units in Langata, 280 units in Nairobi West and another 300 in Makadara.

NHC is now gearing towards the construction of more than 10 000 low cost housing units across the country. Already awarded and contractors have moved to site include Kisumu (600), Kisii (40), Athi River (380) and Mavoko (1 080). Others in the pipeline include Eldoret where its plans to put up 2 500 units, Mavoko (2 000) and Stony Athi (4 300). The units will be financed through a housing bond that NHC plan to float and other innovative financing mechanism such as contractor financing.

Kenya Power & Jamii Bora Launch Mobile Credit Facilities to Supply Homes With Electricity

Susan Mwenesi
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0

Kenya’s electricity and generation and supply company Kenya Power has signed a tripartite agreement with Rapid Communications Limited and Jamii Bora Bank that will see use of technological solution to connect potential customers to the national grid.

Rapid Communications Limited, a mobile telecommunications solution provider, will provide a mobile application platform to aid in loan application and processing.

The agreement which was signed today at Villa Rosa Kempinski, obligates them to process loan applications from Kenyans seeking to obtain power connection from KPLCunder a loan facility  dubbed   “Stima  Bora  Loan”.

Upon  approval  of  loan  applications,  JBBL will  issue confirmation  letters to KPLC for the connection process to commence.

Speaking at  the signing  ceremony, JBBL Chief Executive Officer, Samuel Kimani, said the agreement was intended to make it easy forKenyans to obtain electricity on convenient  and affordable terms.

Mr Anwar Hussein, CEO of Rapid Communication Limited alsoreiterated the need to have 70% of Kenya connected to the national grid by 2015 and applauded the effort by Jamii Bora and Kenya Power to make this possible.

“Rapid Communication is honoured to be part of this agreement that will see power connection go up to 70% by 2015. Rapid has made the connection easier and convinient by enabling Kenyans apply for power and loan facility through their mobile phones wherever they are”. Said Mr. Anwar

 The Chief Executive Officers of the bank and Kenya Power, Messrs Samuel Kimani and Dr Ben Chumo, respectively, signed the contract which was witnessed by Mr. Anwar Majid Hussein the CEO of Rapid Communication Limited.

Under the Stima Bora Loan facility, the customer shall apply for the loan facility through the mobile, the bank shall then accept deposits from customers only once KPLC has  confirmed   way  leave  acquisition. Thereafter, the  bank  will  disburse  the  loan proceeds  to  the customers and make payment  on behalf  of  applicant  direct  to  KPLC for necessary power connection.

 

Jamii Bora CEO Mr. Samuel Kimani, Kenya Power MD Dr. Ben Chumo and Rapid Communication CEO Mr. Anwar Majid Hussein
Jamii Bora CEO Mr. Samuel Kimani, Kenya Power MD Dr. Ben Chumo and Rapid Communication CEO Mr. Anwar Majid Hussein

Afrikaans Twitter Competitor Toeter Reports Tens of Thousands of Users

Sam Wakoba
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0
Afrikaans Twitter Competitor Toeter Reports Tens of Thousands of Users

Toeter-headerLaunched May 2014, Toeter, an Afrikaans Twitter competitor is reporting users over tens of thousands and also getting positive industry PR in the country.

According to the founder, Frans Roelofse, the site is not just for connecting people who want to celebrate Afrikaans as a language and is also a business messaging network.

“It’s just a lekker way to communicate and to celebrate your own language” and serves “for people to communicate in the language of their heart,”Roelofse says.

Built in South Africa by an ICT firm Techsys, the site spots lightweight user interface built in AngularJS running on a load balanced API which the firm aims to launch for the public soon. The firm adds that user data can be stored in a new graph-style database to allow profiles and user interactions to be securely optimized  and stored.

Roelofse was inspired from his childhood to build a platform in vernacular in a trend he refers to as digital tribalism-a segmentation to subesctions within the social media to help focus on a niche market.

Read more on their site here.

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