Browsing: Kenya

Kenya’s leading telecommunication company-Safaricom on Wednesday marked 19 years since the company launched.

During the celebrations, the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) listed telco unveiled a new strategy and renewed its commitment to its customers.

Under the new structure, Safaricom is committing to be ‘simple, transparent and honest’ across all its products and operations.

READ ALSO:Majority of Kenya’s job-seekers dream of working at Safaricom

As part of its efforts to simplify its products, the company has unveiled a new data plan, and a new calling and SMS plan that will respectively offer data bundles and calling minutes with no expiry.

Both data bundles, calls and SMS with no expiry are immediately available on *544#

“Over the last 19 years, we have come a long way together with our customers. As we celebrate our anniversary, it is a unique opportunity to reevaluate our operations to ensure that we remain relevant to …

Kenya’s public transport sector is chaotic and only those who are part of the system survive the anarchy…

Kenya has unveiled a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in its latest move to lure investors into supporting the country’s industrial growth.

Located at the coastal city of Mombasa, the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta over the weekend is designed to be a multi-sectoral zone comprising of Industrial Parks, Free Trade Zones, Free Port, Dongo Kundu Port, Tourism Zone (MICE), Business Service Parks; and Commercial and Residential Zone.

READ ALSO:Kenya attracts major American Investors despite decelerating economy

The SEZ will be developed in three phases with the first phase expected to be ready by 2023 and is projected to inject into the Kenyan economy Sh400 billion($ 3.9 billion) in local and foreign direct investments and create more than 100,000 jobs.

READ ALSO:Ethiopia beats Kenya in Foreign investments

According to President Kenyatta, the Dongo Kundu SEZ will herald a milestone transformation in the coastal region …

Kenya has seen five American multinational corporations enter its territory setting base in what is a challenging time for the East African economic hub.

The latest entrants who entered the Kenyan market in the last 12 months are an indication that US private-sector businesses are bold enough to dive into the economy that has been decelerating.

Among these companies that will create opportunities and transform the business landscape in Kenya and the region include Cigna, an American health services organization and Abbot Laboratories.

The two have already set up regional offices in Nairobi. This is Abbot Labs’ second regional office in Africa after decades of being present in South Africa.

American agricultural chemical and seed company Corteva and the American Tower Corporation (ATC) have also set up regional offices in Kenya.

ATC has already acquired 723 towers from Telkom with another acquisition in the pipeline which will make ATC Kenya …

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 scientific research. These include Cannflavins, which relieve pain and inflammation; CBD which affects anxiety and depression without giving users a ‘high’ and the much-debated tetrahydrocannabinol or THC which is much sought after for recreational purposes.

CBD and THC have been identified by scientists to be quite similar. They both have …

Thirty-eight emerging market economies, including five countries in Africa, have initiated key banking reforms to drive development and fight climate change, according to the second Global Progress Report of the IFC-facilitated Sustainable Banking Network (SBN).

The SBN Global Progress Report shows that regulators and banking associations in countries in Africa are adopting national sustainable finance policies and voluntary principles as well as advancing green bond markets and innovative green lending policies.

“African countries will be among the hardest hit by climate change and Africa already faces daunting challenges around job creation and inequality,” said Kevin Njiraini, IFC’s Regional Director, Southern Africa & Nigeria. “Advancing sustainable finance is critical to help the region build competitive and resilient financial services that support inclusive economic development.”

In addition to providing practical resources for countries undertaking sustainable finance reforms, the report also highlights the knowledge shared by SBN members – a hallmark approach of …

Distributed Power Africa (DPA) has unveiled a 1.2MW solar installation at Liquid Telecom’s  Campus in Midrand, Johannesburg –one of their largest projects to date in South Africa. Recently, the company also announced a major deal with Tesla to bring Powerwalls into Zimbabwe, as a part of their telecoms power solution.

According to the CEO of DPA Africa, Norman Moyo “This solar deployment to Liquid Telecom Midrand is a major development in improving energy security for critical users like data centres.  It will improve their power security and energy efficiencies.  The power needs of data centres tend to be heavy and sensitive, and DPA’s engineering hopes to provide a reliable power supply to keep this operation running with no downtime.”

DPA designed and is engineering the Liquid Telecom Midrand solar plant as a combined carport and rooftop solution, that will come complete with a real-time power monitoring system.  This initiative is …

Today, as the world commemorates World Anesthesia Day, we hope deliberations from the 7th All Africa Anesthesia Congress in Morocco will yield progressive results on the ground in order to live up to our commitment of leaving no-one behind.

Passy, a 7-year-old girl from Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo lies unconscious on the operating table at CBCA Bethesda Hospital in Goma, ready to have her cleft palate treated for free, courtesy of Smile Train. Haggai Musinene, the anesthetist in the room monitors Passy’s breathing, intensely switching his eyes between the screen and Passy’s chest before Dr. Obady Vitswamba, the lead surgeon could touch her. It’s Haggai’s green light to Dr. Obady that gets things going. 45 minutes later, Dr. Obady lays his instruments down and Haggai patiently monitors Passy as the anesthesia wears off. Passy, groggy from the medication is whining, but Haggai calms her down as …

Safaricom, leading communications company in Kenya is eyeing a stake in Ethiopia’s State-owned Ethio Telecom.

Ethio Telecom has announced the sale of shares through a privatisation plan.

Safaricom’s interim CEO, Michael Joseph said that Safaricom is considering buying a stake in the world’s largest telecoms monopoly or might consider setting a shop in Ethiopia from scratch.

Michael Joseph’s comments came when the Ethiopian authorities launched the search for an adviser on the sale of a stake in its national operator. The company is opening the country’s telecoms market to foreign investment for the first time.

Ethio Telecom’s has a subscriber base of 44 million makes it the biggest single-country customer base of any operator in Africa. Ethio Telecom last year generated revenues of about $1.2 billion, which is nearly half the Sh250.9 billion that Safaricom posted in the year to March.

Safaricom’s cash at bank stood at Ksh20 billion …

Kenya’s green energy M-Kopa has revealed how it has bridged energy needs for low income earners in East Africa. The company, which boasts of clean energy stalwart Al Gore in its shareholding has issued over $233 million in credit to its predominantly low-income customers over the last eight years. Repayments are made via micropayments and M-KOPA has now processed nearly 100 million mobile money payments.

M-KOPA provides off-grid homes and businesses with asset financing for lights, phone charging, radios, televisions, fridges and more. Previously, customers were spending an average of 50c per day on kerosene, candles and phone charging.

The energy company pioneered and built one of the world’s most advanced pay-as-you-go platforms – unlocking solar, information, technology and finance to upgrade lives in over 750,000 homes and businesses.

M-KOPA payments displace this spending and customers are able to save an additional US$650 over the lifetime of their systems. This …