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Amazon to launch an Amazon CloudFront Edge Location in Kenya

November 12, 2019

Kenya will be the latest country in Africa after South Africa to have the Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), Amazon CloudFront Edge location launched locally. The launch promises customers a fast and secure Content Delivery Network (CDN) that accelerates the delivery of applications, data, and videos to users worldwide, with high transfer speeds. Amazon Web Services says the Amazon CloudFront is expected to be operational in early 2020 promising up to 50 percent reduction in latency for delivery of content with the new Edge location. The AWS’s global infrastructure network,…

West African Market on the radar after Kenya’s Twiga Foods bags $30M Goldman Sachs boost

October 28, 2019 olivia Craig

Kenya’s Twiga Foods has raised a total of $30 million from lenders and investors led by Goldman Sachs. Top American investment bank Goldman Sachs is the latest to acquire a stake in Kenyan start-up Twiga Foods following a Sh2.44 billion ( $23.75 million) deal that will help the agro-based firm spread across the country and Africa. The B2B food distribution company financed $6.25 million of the funding in convertible debt and $23.75 million in equity, classified as a Series B round. IFC, TLcom Capital, and Creadev joined Goldman on the…

Jumia’s stock has reportedly lost more than half of its value since its NYSE public IPO

October 18, 2019 Staff Writer

Jumia, the ‘African’ ecommerce company that has its corporate headquarters in Dubai and operations in 14 African countries including Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria, continues to struggle after an initial good run at the New York Stock Exchange. It’s stock closed at $6.68, an all-time low, on Friday, with the market cap going down to ~$520 million. For the sake of context, the Rocket Internet-founded Jumia had become a unicorn (with a valuation of $1.08 billion) in 2016 (when it was known as Africa Internet Group or AIG) after raising…

Pesapal starts Payment processing for low cost Kenyan Airlines

January 22, 2019January 22, 2019 Editor

Pesapal has this year started processing payments for low cost carriers in Kenya. Jetways Airlines, Silverstone Air and Skyward Express will from now on use Pesapal’s integrated payment system to process Mpesa, Visa, mVisa, MasterCard and American Express payments on their respective websites. This not only gives travellers the freedom to pay conveniently for their flights but also makes it easier for airlines to track payments and traveller flight information. These airlines join African Express Airways in Kenya and Eagle Air in Uganda showing Pesapal’s growth as a payment processor…

Can Blockchain + Virtual Reality Boost E-commerce In Africa

October 24, 2018 Dianne Jacobs

eCommerce will be worth $75 billion in Africa’s leading economies, and came into existence as the solution to the stress of beating traffic to get to stores, bringing about a more convenient way of buying and selling. Today, online retail seems to be fast replacing the brick and mortar stores, and warehouses are becoming the one place to order items from. Ventures such as Alibaba, eBay, Payporte, Jumia, and Konga are cashing in big on African’s need to do convenient shopping from the comfort of their homes. While this a…

Sources Intimate that Rocket Internet is preparing a Jumia IPO

September 21, 2018 Dianne Jacobs

Reuters sources have intimated that German start-up investor Rocket Internet (RKET.DE) is preparing its African online shopping platform Jumia for a possible New York listing in the first quarter of 2019 which could value the firm at about $1 billion. Citi (C.N), Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Berenberg are coordinating the IPO, the sources said. Shares worth up to $250 million may be sold, one of the sources said, adding that no final decision about the timing or metrics of the deal had yet been taken. The investor and the banks…

Sky.Garden: Revolutionizing Kenya’s E-Commerce Sector

June 14, 2018June 18, 2018 Dianne Jacobs

Upon noticing that the economic sector in Kenya only caters for the top tier in the economic pyramid which leaves little room for individuals and businesses that exist within the lower segments of the economy to reap the benefits of online transactions, Sky.Garden decided to come up with a sophisticated eCommerce platform that they can use to expand their geographical reach. ITBusinessDirect spoke to Isaac Hunja the Chief Marketing Officer about their work. How can you define the technology sector in Kenya? I would describe the technology sector in Kenya…

Here the 10 biggest 2016 startup opportunities

January 13, 2016February 11, 2016 Staff Writer

The year 2015 was all about drones, virtual reality, 3D printing, and the Internet of Things (IoT). This year, venture capitalists and industry observers say the tech world should expect more of the same. “Most hot startups in 2016 won’t be trying to lead revolutions or usher in whole new industries,” says Igor Shoifot, an investment partner with TMT Investments. “Instead, they’ll be enhancing existing technologies, products, services, or transactional ecosystems by saving users time, money, effort, and helping them make better choices more easily.” However, according to CIO, the…

Kaymu Survey shows that youth are driving e-commerce

September 17, 2015February 15, 2016 Staff Writer

People between 25 and 34 years shop the most from the local e-commerce sites, a recent study found. The 35-44 and 18-24 age brackets take up the second and third places, according to the study by Kaymu Bangladesh. “In Bangladesh, e-commerce is growing faster and we hope this market will find a strong position in world perspective also after USA, China and India,” said Quazi Zulquarnain, Kaymu Bangladesh’s deputy managing director. This segment of trade will grow faster once all parts of the country come under 3G coverage and the…