Author: Kimani Chege

A first-of-its-kind study has found that worldwide illegal streaming of the English Premier League (EPL) delivers £1M in uncaptured sponsorship media value per match. The study –– produced by sponsorship valuation firm GumGum Sports in partnership with digital piracy authority MUSO at the behest of an unnamed elite EPL club –– focused on eight matches spanning the 2018-19 season. On average, each match saw an audience of 7.1 million fans across as many as 149 countries. The pirated audience was largest in China, where illegal streams served more than 1 million fans per match. After China, illegal streaming was most prolific in…

Kouros, a clean energy investment company, and Powerhive Inc, an energy solutions and technology provider for emerging markets, announced the closing of a US$9.3m Series B round of funding. Powerhive’s existing investors including Caterpillar Ventures James Sandler, Prelude Ventures, Tao Capital, and Total Energy Ventures together with Kouros and TO.org, joined Toyota Tsusho Corporation, the general trading company and member of Toyota Group who initiated this round. The venture financing will support Powerhive’s growth by reaching 20,000 connections in Kenya where the company has operated rural microgrids since 2012. Powerhive became Kenya’s first privately licensed electricity utility leveraging its unique…

Local cement manufacturer Savannah Cement has confirmed plans to expand its market reach beyond Kenya to the neighboring regional countries. The market reach expansion program at Savannah Cement will also involve a local market enhancement program to satisfy a growing demand for high-quality cement products as the government’s efforts to roll out affordable housing under the Big 4 agenda continues to gain steam According to Savannah Cement Managing Director Ronald Ndegwa, as part of the market expansion plans, the firm, is currently undertaking a Kshs. 5 billion capacity grinding plant expansion program at its Kitengela manufacturing complex. Speaking, at an…

Kenya’s Strathmore University, in collaboration with SYSPRO, a global provider of industry-built Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software for manufacturers and distributors have released research findings of a production and manufacturing industry in Kenya . The study explored productivity and competitiveness of the manufacturing sector in Kenya, from close to 100 companies drawn from 12 sectors on the role of new technologies in improving the sector and the state of adoption and use of these new technologies. The study, titled “An Investigation into the Implementation of Technological Aids and ERP Solutions in the Manufacturing Industry in Kenya”, had Prof. Ismail Ateya,…

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has assured Kenyans that preparations for 2019 Population and Housing Census slated for the night of August 24th, 2019 are proceeding as scheduled. The Director-General, Mr. Zachary Mwangi says for the first time Kenya will leverage newer technology to ensure the census exercise is conducted as per expected global standards. The census will cost about Kshs. 18.5 billion. Some of the money has been set aside by the government in its budget, while additional funds will be availed by development partners. “The KNBS is working round the clock to ensure preparations for the…

 Kenya’s own leading casual dining chain, Big Square, has accomplished yet another milestone in its strategic expansion program, by officially opening its 12th outlet at Shell Service Station in Mountain View. The new outlet, which cost Kes.45 million is part of the restaurant chain’s plan to bring an outlet closer to more of the people of Nairobi., The new branch occupies 4,000 sq. ft with a seating capacity of 150 customers. Speaking on Big Square’s strategic expansion program and the launch of the new outlet, Sebastian McKinlay Managing Director, Interstrat Limited, Big Square’s parent company said: “An increasingly globalized environment and Kenya’s growing population and…

Software Group, a global software company that provides digital financial solutions with African operations run from Kenya, has appointed Mr. Connor Hanan to the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria, it currently serves a worldwide client base in more than 70 countries from 9 regional offices located in Australia, Bulgaria, Egypt, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Hanan was the company’s Key Global Accounts Manager. He has had a successful career focused on financial services specific to affordable shelter in developing contexts. Within this sector he helped…

Pan-African connectivity provider, BringCom, in partnership with science and technology investor, Imprimatur Capital, and European edge cloud software company, GIG Technology, have launched a cloud sovereignty system – afriQloud. Launched in Uganda, afriQloud will provide, at internationally competitive rates, local and foreign customers with an innovative and secure distributed edge cloud service. The aim of afriQloud is to have the Edge Cloud installed in cities and tech hub ecosystems which hosts a high number of startups and developers. Now present and operational in Uganda, afriQloud will be spreading its services further into the different regions of Africa this year. Hans…

Tesla Powerwall, the battery system produced by the American automotive and energy company Tesla has made significant in roads in Africa. This follows the successful completion of a 12-month trial integrating of the Tesla Powerwall with one of Africa’s largest telecommunication provider, Econet.  This will see Econet’s telecommunication towers to provide backup power 260 Econet sites across Africa. In addition Distributed Power Africa [DPA], a subsidiary of Econet Global, will be installing Tesla Powerwalls to power Econet Wireless’ local operations for their telecommunications towers; commencing one of Africa’s largest deployments of AC coupled Lithium-ion batteries in the telecoms sector. “We…

Kenya is in talks with the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) member states to develop a common regulatory framework that will fast track the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. AfCFTA deliberations not only bind all ARSO member states to commit to the progressive elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade, but are expected to contribute immensely in sustainable development of Africa. This is through poverty reduction by improved harmonization of standards and conformity assessment,  and coordination of trade policies and instruments across African countries and Regional Economic Communities (RECs). While addressing delegations from African…