Author: Kimani Chege

Smile Train Vice President and Regional Director for Africa Dr. Esther Njoroge-Muriithi has been selected to serve as an Advisory Group Member for the Civil Society Engagement Mechanism (CSEM) for UHC2030. Dr. Njoroge-Muriithi has represented Smile Train on several Civil Society Organization (CSO) platforms and events including the G4 Alliance, CORE Group and UNGA73 side events advocating for Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The CSEM is a growing global civil society movement with over 1000 members from more than 850 organizations in 100+ countries. Membership in the CSEM is open to all civil society representatives advancing health, financing and governance agendas that relate to achieving UHC.…

The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) is announcing the second round of calls for a multi-million-dollar research programme led and implemented by African scientists, working collaboratively to address challenges faced by people in African countries. A total $72M has been invested into the second phase of the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science in Africa (DELTAS Africa) programme, a flagship programme of the AAS. A similar investment was made in the first phase of the programme was implemented with the support of Wellcome and the Department for International Development (DFID). AAS is announcing a second call with support from…

Chubb, the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company has made a $10 million equity investment in the Kenyan based African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI). Chubb is the first global property and casualty insurance company to become a shareholder in Africa’s leading multilateral political risk and credit insurer. Chubb has operations in 54 countries and territories. The company, which is AA rated by Standard & Poor’s, is a leading underwriter of political risk insurance and reinsurance through two of its businesses, Sovereign Risk, a specialty underwriter based in Bermuda, and Chubb Global Markets, its London market division. ATI supports trade and…

Serena Hotels and Resort, a leading global hospitality brands with prominence in East Africa has partnered with a Forbes feted travel-tech company INTELITY to launch a mobile app to promote easy bookings. The upscale hospitality brand, best known for its unique collection of luxury hotels, resorts, and safari lodges within East Africa, Mozambique, and Asia, will partner with INTELITY to build a custom, richly branded mobile experience for their guests. Serena Hotels’ new brand app will enable guests to book and manage reservations, check-in (and out), and download a mobile room key directly to their smartphone. Additionally, the app will support service…

The East African Community has for long earmarked the linking of partner countries through roads. One of this link is the link road that connects the coastal towns of Mombasa and Tanga, touching the lives of thousands of commuters and transporting goods and services worth millions. Recently, the EAC announced that it has increased its funding for key projects from various donors among the Africa Development Bank (AfDB), which has now approved this project. The Bank’s support for the Mombasa-Lunga Lunga/Horohoro and Tanga-Pangani-Bagamoyo roads Phase I, is in the form of African Development Bank and African Development Fund loans and…

Norfund has closed an investment agreement with the mini-grid company We Light. The aim is to build mini-grids in hundreds of villages in Madagascar, and thereby improve the rural population’s access to cheaper and more reliable electricity – at work and at home. We Light will also explore opportunities elsewhere in Africa. To date, approximately 500 000 households have solar home systems in Madagascar. We Light’s hybrid plants, with solar, battery and diesel generators are very flexible and scalable. They can optimize electricity generation as best suited to the load pattern of the customers, and thereby be a reliable and…

M-KOPA, the Kenyan pay-as-you-go solar company has this week completed the rollout in Kenya of its new fridges to all 65 its retail outlets. It is available as part of the company’s M-KOPA MK6500 system, with daily payments of only KSh 165. This ground-breaking 100L fridge was developed specifically for Africa in partnership with   Embraco Nidec, a global cooling brand and part of Nidec Global Appliance. It won the Unit Cost Affordability Prize in the 2019 Global Leap Awards for off-grid appliances. The Younma-branded fridge features Embraco’s innovative DC compressor, which provides lower starting power and greater energy efficiency, compared to a…

Kirusa, a global leader in communication solutions over data networks for consumers and enterprises, have announced the launch of Kirusa Konnect in Rwanda. Kirusa Konnect is a cloud-based Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) offering for enterprises designed to bolster customer engagement using instant, two-way and interactive communication over multiple channels including messaging, voice and rich media bots. With the launch of Kirusa Konnect in Rwanda, enterprises will have access to a self-serve portal and a rich set of APIs to conceive, execute and monitor omnichannel communication campaigns. The popularity of OTT messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Messenger, iMessage, Viber,…

The African aviation market will increase by 200 million passengers, to over 356 million by 2038, this is according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) latest forecast.  IATA  also predicts that over the next two decades, the Kenyan market could more than double in size, resulting in an additional 11.3 million passenger journeys, over 449,000 more jobs and a US$11.3 billion (Ksh1.1 trillion) boost to GDP by 2038. Speaking during the 2019 Routes Africa forum that was attended by over 250 delegates, international delegates, Raphael Kuuchi, Vice President, Africa, IATA, said Africa’s aviation industry projected growth represents a compound annual…

The Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma witnessed the signing of three Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between the Ethiopian Government and Alibaba establishing an eWTP Hub in Ethiopia. The eWTP (electronic world trade platform) Hub is intended to enable cross-border trade, provide smart logistics and fulfillment services, assist Ethiopian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to reach China and other markets, and provide talent training. The event was also witnessed by Alibaba Group Director and Ant Financial Services Group Chairman and CEO Eric Jing. Ethiopia aims to build a dynamic and growing digital economy that contributes significantly…