Author: Kimani Chege

East African based WeFarm the digital network for global small-scale agriculture, have announced it has raised $13 million in a Series A financing round led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm True Ventures. This financing round will help Wefarm further scale its network of 1.9 million farmers, and its newly created Marketplace, to connect farmers in Africa, even those without internet access, to the information, products and services they need to be more successful. Investing alongside True Ventures are AgFunder and June Fund, among others. The company received significant follow-on investments from LocalGlobe, ADV and Norrsken Foundation. Founded in 2015,…

The US government in Kenya is working to counter the growing influence of China locally and regionally by developing grassroots-based initiatives that will spur US business investments and address slow growth rates in rural areas. The initiative is in line with a bigger agenda by the US government to instill dominance in key global locations mainly in Asia, Africa and Latin America where China has made significant inroads in socio-political and economic development. The US ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter announced that his government through Prosper initiative that was announced by US President Donald Trump last year will work with…

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the Ford Foundation, and Citi Inclusive Finance have introduced Scaling Enterprise, a $100 million loan guarantee facility, which will enable Citi to provide early-stage financing in local currency to companies that expand access to products and services for low-income communities in emerging markets. Loans and working capital in local currency and at affordable rates can enable early-stage social impact companies to achieve scale, greater efficiencies, and lower costs. Scaling Enterprise will facilitate vital growth financing to eligible companies that are expanding access to finance, agriculture, energy, affordable housing, water, and sanitation to low-income households…

The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have unveiled a strategic partnership that will leverage innovations and sustainably scale them up to guarantee a healthier and more productive future for Africa. The partnership was sealed with a memorandum of understanding signed by the AAS President Felix Dapare Dakora and WHO Regional Director for Africa Dr Matshidiso Moeti at the 2019 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting. Speaking after the signing ceremony, Professor Dakora said, “This partnership builds on our shared vision, mission and interest to catalyse science, technology and innovation to promote good health and well-being for…

This week, Twiga announced that it has raised $23.75 million in a Series B equity round led by Goldman Sachs, with participation from existing investors, including the International Finance Corporation, TLcom Capital and Creadev. An additional $6 million in debt was raised from OPIC and Alpha Mundi.

Peter Njonjo, CEO and Co-founder at Twiga Foods, says, “This funding enables us to invest in our technology and organization ; a $300bn informal and fragmented market that is estimated to grow to $1trn by 2030. With the supto tackle the inefficiencies in Africa’s domestic food production and distribution ecosystemsport of our investors, we are developing technology-driven commercial solutions and cooperating with existing industry players to solve the challenge of food security in Africa.”

Jules Frebault of Goldman Sachs said, “Twiga’s innovative model combines technology and modern logistics tailored to the local market to re-engineer the food supply chain.  We are delighted to be backing Peter and the highly capable team as they scale operations and drive sustainable access to lower-cost quality food on the continent.”

With Sub-Saharan Africa’s population set to double over the next 30 years, access to reliable and affordable food sources for consumers and guaranteed markets for farmers are essential for effective food distribution.

Australian Nanotech, a subsidiary of Canadian road technology company NTI Nanotech Corp., has announced that it has signed a $1.6 billion contract to construct 3,200 kilometres of roads in D.R. Congo using their proprietary green nanotechnology. The emerging technology has been deployed around the world in several countries for the past ten years and has proven to be cost-effective, environmentally beneficial and better quality than typical alternatives. The Province Mai-Ndombe will be one of the first regions of Sub-Saharan Africa to use this disruptive technology.  “We are very excited to proceed with AusNanotech. Not only have they brought to us…

A new survey released by the talent recruitment agency BrighterMonday has revealed major companies that Kenyans aspire to work for while also revealing key details of the employment spectrum in the country. In the survey, Safaricom was ranked as the top company that job seekers would love to work for with the majority of respondents attributing the working environment and remuneration as key indicators. A total of 3,448 valid responses puts Safaricom in the top spot as the number one best company to work for as well as the most ‘desired’, and ‘respected’ brand. Other companies in the top 5…

The World Bank estimates that for Africa, achieving universal, affordable, and good quality internet access by 2030 will require an investment of US $100 billion. This is according to a report launched at the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group, which calls for urgent action to close the internet access gap while providing a roadmap to reach this ambitious goal. The report from The Broadband for All Working Group *gives practical insights and suggestions of what is needed to attain this objective, including an action plan for universal broadband connectivity in Africa. To achieve universal broadband access, African countries…

An American company Pura has announced that it has entered an agreement with an undisclosed Kenyan coffee farm to produce coffee to be laced with extracts from the cannabis plant. The company that is known for producing different products from the extracts of marijiuna plant. CBD or Cannabidiol, is a less intoxicating product of Cannabis Sativa that treats a variety of mental issues. These include anxiety and depression. The Marijuana plant has been well researched and even more, findings are being released by the day. Scientists have identified many sub-components of this plant but three components have remained central to…

Kaspersky honeypots – networks of virtual copies of various internet-connected devices and applications – have detected 105 million attacks on IoT devices coming from 276,000 unique IP addresses in the first six months of the year. This figure is around nine times more than the number found in H1 2018, when only around 12 million attacks were spotted originating from 69,000 IP addresses. Capitalising on weak security of IoT products, cybercriminals are intensifying their attempts to create and monetise IoT botnets. This and other findings are a part of the ‘IoT: a malware story’ report on honeypot activity in H1…