Month: September 2019

Tanzania plans to streamline its oil and gas industry to the world, via a robust and tailor-made, two-day congress, commencing on 2^nd and 3^rd of October 2019.

For a third time, Tanzania will host the Oil and Gas Congress and attract delegates from over 67 nations across the globe, including sector’s crucial players: Oman, UAE, Canada, Brazil, UK, Norway, and India.

Organized by Ocean Business Partners and CWC, via a partnership with other essential government parastatals and private sector in Tanzania, the 3rd Oil and Gas Congress stands to be an event not to be missed.

Tanzania—has been ascending in the extractives sector’s ladder quite steadily over the past decade, levitating commercial aspects in natural gas production and enhancing national content take-up across the country by building capacity with local suppliers, technocrats and consumers.

In that context, the anticipated and eye-catching congress is yet another concrete and calculated …

Investment in infrastructural projects by governments, particularly in the energy sector, gave some buoyancy to the faster-growing economies…

Jumia Food Kenya has announced the launch of Jumia Prime – a subscription package that allows customers pay a standard one, three or six months fee.

This also guarantees unlimited free deliveries on all orders placed on the Jumia Food app or website.

The service, is a first of its kind in Africa, and was introduced to Kenyans aimed at enhancing customer experience and loyalty without having to worry about paying any delivery fees. 

Managing Director East Africa On-Demand Services, Shreenal Ruparelia says the service is not only limited to food but also on alcohol, groceries, shopping or pharmacy needs.

READ ALSO:Jumia’s listing at New York Stock Exchange was long coming

Ruparelia noted the introduction of Jumia Prime is part of the company’s objective to develop innovative ways to help customers order online without having to pay additional delivery services.

“This is also our way to expand …

Tanzania’s Central bank, the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) has pledged 500m/-  in soft loans to the country’s artisanal gold miners.

The loans will be extended via the 13-year-old artisanal miners’ empowerment scheme dubbed the Small and Medium Enterprises Credit Guarantee Scheme (SME-CGS).

Under the scheme, the artisanal miners are guaranteed working capital from commercial banks in their respective areas of operation. The way it works is that the central bank guarantees the commercial bank up to 50% of the loan amount that the miner applies for. On the other hand,  the recipient is then responsible to cover the remaining 50%.

This scheme was passed into law by the Act of 2006 which stipulates that when the loan is passed then the responsible financial institutions pays one per cent of the guaranteed loans to the central banks.

To secure these soft loans requires a business plan complete with financial plans detailing …

According to the company’s East Africa General Manager, Ivan Mbowa, doing business in Tanzania for the fintech lender is currently on hold until further notice.…

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) envisions to create a region with an industrial complex driven economy, but also a excel in utilizing the telecommunication potential for a unique African development success story.

The SADC region which hosts more than 345 million people, took its 2019 high-end summit and meetings to Tanzania—one of the populous, fast-growing economy and trader, member state in the region.

Member states conversed on industrializing Africa on inclusive fast-growing sustainable grounds while, including intra-regional trade, but also ICT, information, transport, and meteorology.

In this context, the ICT, information, transport and meteorology member states meeting brought forth , rather essential aspects, that might stimulate the region’s economic strategies.

The meeting was hosted by the government of the United Republic of Tanzania and was attended by ministers (or their representatives) from Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.…

Every month, Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway moves an average of 200 cargo trains from the coastal city of Mombasa to Nairobi’s inland container depot. With it, it moves at least 1,000 containers to Nairobi. This has left a bitter taste among residents of Mombasa, who have over the years depended on the undertakings around the port for jobs.

SGR, which has been billed as the biggest transport infrastructure project in the Kenya’s history, is expected to haul about nine million tonnes of cargo to make a profit of Sh5.08 billion a year, averaging Sh424 million per month, compared with 990,488 tonnes carried in the first year when SGR made a loss of Sh10 billion.

The SGR has so far made Sh10.9 billion from cargo and passenger business since it started operating, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics’ economic indicators report released in December 2018.

The cracks on the …

 Ethiopia to benefit from an impulse startup program set to build linkages between corporations and start-ups using Agritech solutions

Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) and OCP Africa have partnered to start the program in Ethiopia. According to the press statement issued by the company, the program aims at helping Ethiopia unlock its agricultural potential

“Following the success of the Impulse program in Ghana, Nigeria and Ivory Coast, OCP Africa is making the last stop in Ethiopia, to convene with key stakeholders from the agriculture, entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems,” the statement read.

The program is a 12-week acceleration program dedicated to innovative start-ups in the field of biotech, agritech, mining tech and material science and Nanoengineering. It uses an impact-focused model to help entrepreneurs take their startups to the next level.

“The agricultural transformation in Ethiopia represents a unique opportunity for Agritech start-ups,” said. We believe the Impulse start-up …

Sports betting fans in Kenya, with an incentive to win a handsome load of cash, will have to rely on other outlets as large-players SportPesa and Betin quit the market in a rather disappointing manner.

The duo’s exodus, occurred shortly after a series of engagements with the government, proved to be a failure. SportPesa commented on it’s return ( to the market) conditions, citing that they would resume operations when “adequate taxation and non-hostile regulatory environment” are in place.

The latter was also compelled by the July hit, where the government ordered telcos to shut down 27 sports betting pay bills and shortcodes, SportPesa and Betin inclusively.

According to The Citizen report, the government of Kenya saw uneven distribution of the benefits within the sector, as sports betting companies garnered over $2 billion in 2018, but the government share stood at $40 million.

According to PWC, Kenya is the …

Nigeria’s technology Co-creation Hub (CcHUB), has taken total ownership of Kenya’s iHub for an undisclosed fee. The deal will see iHub’s team become part of CcHUB’s wider central support and strategy network, whilst retaining its name and senior management structure.

This is the second change of ownership for iHub which was in 2017 acquired by venture capital firm BSP Fund LLC.

An industry first for the African tech hub community, the acquisition of East Africa’s most prolific and reputable technology centre is the next step for CcHUB as it continues its mission to connect entrepreneurs, technologists and public bodies across the continent.

The move comes just seven months after CcHUB expanded into Kigali, Rwanda, with the launch of its Design Lab – the first creative space in Africa to focus solely on product design and technology innovation.

iHub, launched in 2010, is home to internationally-recognized companies such as BRCK and …