Author: Kimani Chege

A creative approach to leasing deals is helping innovative landlords offset the challenges of high vacancies in an overstocked Nairobi office market, according to Broll Property Intel’s latest Kenya Office Market Snapshot H1:2019 report. Despite variable economic markers, the macroeconomic fundamentals that contribute to the overall dynamics of the property market have remained largely stable in the first half of 2019 says Vivian Ombwayo, Broll Kenya’s Head of Research and Valuations. While economic growth brings with it an associated increased demand, there still remains a significant amount of A-grade office space available for tenants to choose from in the market. In such…

Aga Khan Academy Mombasa has over the years been receiving accolades for developing positive changes and curriculum that supports community sensitive change. This has over the years been recognized by the local and international organization especially with its students being change-makers in different organizations across the globe. Recently, Ziyaan Virji, 17, a student at the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa, was rewarded with The Diana Award for going above and beyond his everyday life to create and sustain positive change. The Diana Award, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, is considered one of the highest accolades for social action…

Global mobile giant Huawei has unveiled the DigiTruck project, in partnership with Belgium nonprofit organization Close the Gap, to provide digital skills training to rural and remote communities in Kenya. The DigiTruck is Huawei’s latest effort driving their digital inclusion initiative Tech4ALL. With the rapid development of the global digital economy, the World Bank’s latest report points out that Southern Africa’s demand for digital skills in 2030 is as high as 230 million people, which is in stark contrast to the current prevailing lack of digital skills in Africa. In Kenya, for example, despite being the ICT hub in Africa, Internet…

For the first time in 70 years, an African will next week become the head of the global standards body, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Mr. Eddy Njoroge, a board member at the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and a former Chairman at the Nairobi Securities Exchange will be confirmed as the 1st President of ISO from Africa, during the organization’s 42nd General Assembly Meeting that begins on Monday 16th September in Cape Town, South Africa. Njoroge, 66, who missed the appointment by one vote in 2016 on his first attempt at the Beijing elections, brings to ISO over 10 years of…

Raphael created a solution that uses technology to detect objects within eight meters of the user. Once the object is detected, the device uses haptic feedback, or vibrations, as well as audio feedback to alert the user.

A report released at the African Green Revolution Forum in Accra finds that millions of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) rarely are dependent on big multinationals for their raw materials but directly rely upon millions more smallholder farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa. The report finds that, overall, only about 20 percent of the volume of food consumed in Africa fits the conventional notion of subsistence agriculture—food consumed directly by the farming households that grow it. “All this represents a profound turnaround from mere decades ago, ” said Dr. Thomas Reardon of Michigan State University, a lead author of the report. “There…

Sub-Saharan African clothing and footwear market is worth $31 billion US dollars and growing. In a series of articles about the industry in Sub Sahara Africa, we will explore the policies, trade and the budding creative fashion industry in the region. This is the second part of the series where we focus on the raw material for the textile industry. Read the previous series:  Africa Fashionomics: Making sense of the $31 Billion industry Also:  Africa Fashionomics: Not enough materials to support a budding textile industry And also: Africa Fashionomics: Business of Fashion in Africa led by Ethiopia East African Community had…

Kountable, a global trade and technology platform, has formed strategic partnerships with customs agencies in both Rwanda and Kenya. This provides Kountable with a dedicated group of customs experts to assist in the timely processing and payment for imported goods in the region in addition to providing last-mile logistics so that goods can remain insured in that final stretch of the trade. “The more parties we have who validate and participate in a transaction,” said Kountable CEO Chris Hale, “the more trust and transparency we bring to the network. We have gone through an extensive process to select these partners based on their professionalism…

An Austrian company Technik-Plus has developed a cutting-edge Carbon Farming-technology in their Impuls-Centre in Mureck, Southern Austria,  for sustainable and gently mechanized farming with a strong commitment to conservation and environmental sustainability and a special focus on African agriculture. The company has been making inroads in several countries in Africa with significant sales in South Africa, Uganda, Gambia and Morocco. They are in talks with farmer’s organizations in Kenya and Nigeria with a targeted niche in semi-arid agriculture in many African nations. The Austrian company says it has sales contacts in all 55 African countries and is looking at possibly…

Alibaba Group, Dalberg, A. T. Kearney, Export Trading Group, U.S. African Development Foundation and the Zenith Bank have partnered with the World Economic Forum to launch the Africa Growth Platform. The platform was launched with the goal of helping Africa’s community of start-up enterprises grow and compete in international markets. The Africa Growth Platform will firstly, secure commitments from governments to implement policy reforms aimed at stimulating and accelerating business growth. Secondly, it aims to build a community of investors, whether private investors, foundations, multilateral institutions or corporate intrapreneurs to enable better coordination and pooling of resources that could facilitate…