Tag: kenya

Ecommerce merges Mums Village with Baby Bliss

Editor
Bliss Group Africa.: Mothering and childcare focused e-commerce companies BabyBliss Nigeria and MumsVillage Kenya have merged to create a pan-African entity

Ecommerce merges Mums Village with Baby Bliss Childcare-focused e-commerce companies MumsVillage Kenya and BabyBliss Nigeria Mothering have merged to create a pan-African entity, Bliss Group Africa, providing what they say is an “unparalleled omnichannel commerce, community and content offering”. The mum and baby e-commerce opportunity currently stands at an estimated $2 billion in Kenya and $5 billion in Nigeria. Thanks to COVID-19, the e-commerce market has experienced explosive growth. What began as a trend has now become a behemoth estimated to grow at over 60 per cent in both markets.…

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Nokia phones targets a 10% growth in Kenya

Dianne Jacobs
5G

HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, is targeting a 10 per cent growth in Kenya this year, as it eyes to increase its share of the smartphone market. This comes after successfully unveiling the Nokia C1 and Nokia 2.3 in the  Kenyan market in December, which came a week after the global launch in Cairo on December 5. The company which has a variety of feature phones is planning a major expansion on the smartphone platform, in the wake of growing technology adoption and internet access in Kenya. “Kenya is our key market which we want to strengthen…

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Atlancis Technologies Launches free iLearn content

Dianne Jacobs
Atlancis

Atlancis Technologies has provided free tranches of the iLearn e-learning content being rolled out by KICD into more than 20,000 state primary schools, in a move to accelerate the digitisation of Kenya’s private primary schools. The company, which was this month named a Top 100 company for innovation, has created the only Kenyan digital content produced for the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) by Kenyan teachers, as part of its strategy of populating its Kenyan cloud platform with transformatory local content. “It was an honour to be selected by Kenya Institute…

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Microsoft 4Afrika pledges its support to farmers

Dianne Jacobs
Farmers

Microsoft, through its 4Afrika Initiative has pledged support to the One Million Farmers Platform through disruptive agricultural technologies. As part of the partnership, Microsoft will be providing technical and business support to 14 Kenyan innovators selected to build technology solutions for the platform, a World Bank initiative, that aims to improve the productivity, profitability and resilience of one million African farmers. “Agriculture is a priority area of investment for us, not only because of the enormous number of livelihoods it supports and the economic growth it drives, but also because it…

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How Technology can be used to ensure safety

Dianne Jacobs
AI

The role of technology in addressing some of the most pressing challenges in the world cannot be understated. Public-private cooperation will play a pivotal role in creating an enabling environment for this to come to fruition. Uber hosted the Tech for Safety summit in Nairobi to deliberate with entrepreneurs, businesses, the government and the private sector on how to tap technology to address challenging personal safety concerns, including safety within communities, road safety, or the safety of individuals using online platforms. During the summit, keynote speaker Philip Thigo, a tech,…

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New tax on Digital Markets under new law

Dianne Jacobs
Tax

Kenya will start levying new tax on digital markets under a new law signed by the President early in November. The Finance Act seeks to broaden the Income Tax Act net to include income accruing through a digital market place. The law defines the digital marketplace as “a platform that enables direct interactions between buyers and sellers of goods and services through electronic means.” In addition, a similar change has been made to the VAT Act making digital market services subject to value-added tax. It’s not clear yet who will be affected or how the…

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Facebook to equip locals with journalistic skills

olivia Craig
Facebook

Internet giant, Facebook is partnering with Kenya’s Aga Khan University (AKU) to equip locals with digital journalistic skills to tell their Kenyan stories. The six months ‘Video Journalism Fellowship’ to be hosted at the AKU’s AKU’s Graduate School of Media and Communications(GSMC),Nairobi with beneficiaries attached to local media houses to sharpen their reporting skills. Speaking at the launch event, GSMC Interim dean Alex Awiti said the AKU-Facebook partnership redefines citizen journalism where Kenyans will tell real-life stories using their smartphones to capture video content. “Mobile journalism is a growing form…

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UTU Technologies raised $500k bridge funding

Dianne Jacobs
UTU Technologies innovation

UTU Technologies, a Kenyan Block chain & AI startup building on the Aeternity block chain, has raised $500, 000 bridge funding. UTU Technologies was among the companies that graduated from the Aeternity Ventures StarFleet Accelerator program that saw the company initial funding. According to Jason Eisen, CEO, UTU, the total funding raised now is $1.3 million. UTU Technologies is the company behind the ride-hailing app, Maramoja. The app uses a Trust Engine to recommend ‘a social favorite driver’ or rides as opposed to existing apps like Uber and Taxify. Speaking to…

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Innovation that will help with the provision of clean water

Dianne Jacobs
DPA

Kenya’s quest to fulfill the need for clean water mainly in rural areas could be finally met after five university students invented a solar-powered water desalinator. The group calling itself, The Greatest of All Time (Goat), which comprises students from Kenyatta University, University of Nairobi and Strathmore University was unveiled at this year’s IBM Digital-Nation Africa: Smart Water Challenge. Goat’s innovation also uses Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to prevent water pipes from bursting by keeping the piping system fully functional. The team which won a paid internships with IBM…

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Kenyans to rely on new Data Protection Law

Dianne Jacobs
Safaricom

The Data Protection Act that came into effect last month is expected to provide a framework for data protection in the country, and help boost privacy of the citizens. Before the Act was passed, Kenya did not have a specific data protection law that regulated the sector, exposing private data of citizens to misuse. The law conceived in 2015 is meant to provide a regulatory provision in the collection, retrieval, processing, storing, use and disclosure of personal data. Under Article 31(c), the Act outlines the right of every person not…

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