Browsing: Kenya

Kaspersky Lab has announced plans to open a new office in Kigali, Rwanda, to support the rapid growth of its business in East Africa. This strategic move will provide more room for development as well as closer proximity to new partners in the region, allowing Kaspersky Lab to continue its expansion into the promising African market.

The decision to open a new office was made during Eugene Kaspersky’s visit to Rwanda where he met with Rwanda President Paul Kagame, at the Transform Africa Summit. During the visit, they discussed how Kaspersky Lab could collaborate with the Rwandan government and ways to better protect the country from cyberthreats.

“Governments and enterprises across Africa need an integrated approach to complex threat detection and response as they fight cybercriminals who have significant financial resources and are constantly looking to exploit any vulnerability,” said Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky Lab.

The Kigali office will …

Nine out of ten (87 per cent) of Kenyans are dissatisfied with the country’s direction on economic management, a survey has revealed, casting doubt on governments’ commitment to deliver on its promises.

The proportion of citizens who express dissatisfaction, according to a report released in Nairobi this week, has been increasing since 2016 when five out of ten citizens (53%) were unhappy.

Citizens are equally dissatisfied with the country’s direction on job creation (82 per cent) which again is higher compared to the past years, since 2016, when half of citizens (51%) were unhappy.

This is despite the Economic Survey 2019 by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS)-released in April-indicating the economy grew by 6.3 per cent in 2018 compared to 4.9 per cent in 2017, creating 840,600 new jobs.

READ:How Kenya managed to grow its economy by 6.3%

Corruption is one of the major concerns by majority …

IFC in cooperation with L.E.K. Consulting released a new report showing the demand for digital skills in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow at a faster rate than in other markets.

The report estimates that 230 million jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa will require digital skills by 2030, presenting investors and education operators with an estimated $130 billion opportunity to train the future workforce in digital skills. IFC launched the report, ‘Digital Skills in Sub-Saharan Africa: Spotlight on Ghana’, at the group’s office in Accra, Ghana. Nearly $4 billion of the opportunity in digital skills will be in Ghana.

The report sheds light on the crucial need for digital skills as a driver of economic growth and competitiveness across sectors in the region—from agriculture to services. The demand for digital skills is evolving and presents opportunities for different stakeholders to play a role, particularly the private sector.

The report finds …

The Kenyan government has renewed its efforts to fight counterfeit goods and infringement of intellectual property, as counterfeiters continue to pose a threat to local manufacturers and traders.

In a new move, the country’s anti-counterfeit laws have been amended, putting in place new measures that will help fight the vice which takes up to USD300 million of local manufacturers’ market share annually, with the government loses USD80 million as potential tax revenue.

READ:Shocking counterfeit headaches crippling Kenya’s manufacturing sector

The State is also targeting proceeds of counterfeit trade mainly property, with top businessmen, politicians and high-net individuals being among the biggest perpetrators who could cross swords with the authority.

The Anti-Counterfeit Act, 2008 (amended) now extends the counterfeiting scope to include goods counterfeited outside Kenya, allowing for their impoundment.

This means that the Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA), formerly the Anti-Counterfeit Agency, now has the power to impound items counterfeited outside …

Kenya and the European Union (EU) have renewed their commitment to a stronger relationship that will enhance trade, support businesses and growth of their economies.

This came after President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday hosted a business dialogue meeting with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), the delegation of the European Union in Kenya and the European Business Council (EBC) at State House Nairobi.

On the side-lines of this meeting, President Kenyatta also met with ambassadors from the European Union countries to discuss trade related matters.

Besides fostering the relationship between the private sector in Kenya and their counterparts from the EU operating in Kenya, the meeting aimed at seeking investment commitments from the private sector in Big Four agenda and the Blue Economy sector, forging a formal dialogue engagement between KEPSA, EBC and the government of Kenya.

The business dialogue meeting between KEPSA and EBC was conducted in two sessions. …

Kenya has unveiled yet another beautifully crafted policy document to guide adoption of technology in the country.  The new digital economy blueprint was unveiled to investors and guests attending the Transform Africa Summit in Kigali, Rwanda. The blueprint themed “powering Kenya’s transformation” moves to harness more uses of ICT to boost Kenya’s economy.

The blueprint was unveiled in the presence of over 4,000 participants among them government bureaucrats, policymakers, innovators and technology investors who are meeting to discuss how ICT resources can be harnessed to boost African economies.

Through the blueprint, the government aims at enhancing the contribution of ICTs to the economy through digital governance solutions, digitizing business processes, facilitating infrastructure delivery, innovation driven entrepreneurship and promotion of digital skills and values.

“We are the new frontier for trade and investment with estimates indicating that by 2025, business opportunities in Africa will be about US$ 5.6 trillion. More importantly, …

Social enterprise firm Sistema.bio, the largest biogas company in Africa, has announced plans to impact 100,000 farmers in Kenya with biodigester technology over the next three years following a successful close of a round of fund raising.

The closure of Serie A Investment round worth KShs 1.2 billion is expected to drive its growth in Kenya. The round was lead by international investors ENGIE RDE, EU Electrifi Fund, AlphaMunid, Triodos-Hivos Fund, Dila Capital, EcoEnterprises and other impact and commercial investors. Sistema.bio Co-Founder and CEO, Alex Eaton noted that Kenya’s focus on food security within the Big Four Agenda creates great opportunities for agricultural investments and clean energy.

“Sistema.bio is assembling the bioidigester technology locally, creating employment opportunities for hundreds of Kenyans, while educating farmers on the use of organic fertilizers in their farms, directly supporting the SDGs and the Big Four Agenda,” said Alex.

With the concerns of rising fuel …

The Retirement Benefits Authority has announced an 8 percent year-on-year increase in the total assets under management by fund managers and approved issuers in Kenya.

According to the recently released RBA Retirement Benefits Industry report for December 2018, 16 fund managers and 15 approved issuers, submitted 1,236 scheme reports with a total fund value of Ksh. 980 billion representing an 8 percent increase compared to the December 2017 values.

The report further confirms that the total assets managed by fund managers amounted to Ksh. 813 billion while the approved issuers managed Ksh. 167 billion at the end of December 2018.

In terms of investments by fund managers and approved issuers, Sanlam Investments East Africa Company Limited (SIEAL) maintained its industry lead as the fund manager with the largest pension scheme assets under management, totaling Ksh. 202 billion which constitutes 20.6 percent of Kenyan pension sector assets.

The RBA report states …

Sub-Saharan hospitality investment platform Kasada Capital Management has reached a first close on its maiden fund Kasada Hospitality Fund LP with equity commitments of over USD 500 million.

This is in line with a first announcement disclosed in July 2018 by Katara Hospitality and Accor who are respectively contributing USD 350 million and USD 150 million. In a region which offers robust growth opportunities, the fund will target both greenfield and brownfield projects.

The hospitality market is currently one of the most promising and yet underserviced sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa where growing economies and emerging middle class are creating high-growth markets that are left largely untapped.

The first platform of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa, Kasada Capital Management intends to bridge the gap between the local hospitality market players and international investors.

The team is co-led by Olivier Granet (CEO and Managing Partner) a former CEO of AccorHotels Middle East …

Allianz X, the digital investment unit of the Allianz Group, has announced that it has made an undisclosed amount of investment in SafeBoda, an East African based motorcycle hailing company.

Allianz Z, based in Germany referred SafeBoda as a major African ride-hailing platform that also offers various on-demand consumer and payment services in what is the entity’s first investment in an African-headquartered company.

SafeBoda, winner of the 2018 AppsAfrica Award, aims to offer reliable and safe transportation to its customers and its mobile payment platform is an example of digital companies contributing to financial inclusion across Africa.

It started in Kampala Uganda and has seen it expand into Nairobi getting good reception which made established competitors like Bolt (Formerly Taxify) and Uber revisit the manner in which they operated motocycle taxis.

For the Series B investment, Allianz X is co-investing with Go-Ventures, a venture fund whose cornerstone investor is GO-JEK. …