Off-grid solar solutions provider d.light has signed a new partnership with micro lender Musoni to enable low-income consumers in Kenya to access solar energy at affordable prices. More than 47 million households in Africa and Asia have no electricity and do not make enough money to afford connection to the grid. d.light is working around this challenge by collaborating with microfinance institutions (MFIs) to absorb initial costs for its low-income customers. Through the collaboration with Musoni Kenya, Kenyans can now access Solar Home Systems through an arrangement whereby Musoni Kenya absorbs the cost upfront and then the customer services the…
Author: Editor
Mathieu Dutrisac is the new general manager for the Amadeus IT Group, a provider of advanced technology solutions for the global travel and tourism industry. Taking over from Juan Torres starting from the 1st of July he will manage East Africa region which covers 13 countries: Kenya, Tanzania Uganda, Djibouti, Eritrea, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Burundi, South Sudan, Somalia, Malawi, Comoros and Seychelles. Earlier in his career, Dutrisac worked as a developer in large IT groups including Nortel, Marconi and Texas Instruments. He holds a Bachelor in Computer Engineering from Ecole de Technologie Superieure in Montreal and an MBA from IE Business School…
Africa’s prominent e-commerce and m-commerce platform has launched a new dedicated website for eBay shopping enthusiasts in Africa. The website ebayforafrica.com is now available in Nigeria and Kenya. In this extended relationship, MallforAfrica has created a best-in-class shopping experience for customers in Africa, allowing them to access tens of millions of eBay.com listings. MallforAfrica and eBay began their alliance last year with the launch of the eBay “Powered by Mall For Africa” app in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa. “We are thrilled to expand our relationship with eBay,” said CEO of Mall for Africa, Chris Folayan. “Thus far, they have…
East Africa Data Centre (EADC), a subsidiary of Liquid Telecom Kenya, has won Tier III Certification for its data centre, having established its delivery of 100% uptime in its electricity supply, cooling systems, and IT systems. The certification, from the global Uptime Institute, provides a guarantee of uninterrupted service for the organisations storing data at EADC, which include Google and Facebook, which hold their regional caches at EADC; the Kenya Internet Exchange Point (KIXP), also housed at EADC, and for the large volume of banking and commercial data stored in the centre. EADC is a carrier-neutral data centre in Nairobi…
Behind the dirty blue gate just off Kangundo Road, young men and women work their hands every day in adjacent workshops. There are those who make baby wear, while others operate machines that produce wooden and leather products. Nothing unusual, until you talk to Victor Karua, the founder of Vikrut Prerequisites Ltd, the company that runs this beehive. Vikrut, named from the first three letters of his name and his wife Ruth, operates a rare model of business: it trains young people in different technical and vocational skills and, in fact, pays while they learn. Vikrut specializes in training of…
The Women in Global Health (WGH) Movement honored Kenya’s Mercy Owuor of Lwala Community Alliance alongside 12 other women at the movement’s “Heroines of Health” gala event that took place last month in the Swiss Capital Geneva, on the margins of the World Health Assembly. WGH is a movement that strives for greater gender equality in global health, and is dedicated to empowering female leaders of today and improving the global health of tomorrow. It recognised Mercy for her role in the “help a child reach their 5th birthday” initiative that is championed by the Lwala Community Alliance initiative. This initiative strives…
Data from SWIFT shows that Africa’s traffic growth has outperformed the total growth of SWIFT globally. In the year to date, total message traffic volumes grew by 15.2% versus 6.4% growth for SWIFT worldwide, illustrating that Africa plays an increasingly important role in SWIFT’s global business. Levels of growth were also significantly higher than in EMEA overall at 8.5% and the Americas at 5.7%. This is not the first time that Africa has outperformed SWIFT global growth. In the same time period in 2016, for example, African volumes rose by 12.8% versus 5.4% global growth. Growth in Africa is underpinned…
A partnership bringing together water actors in Laikipia, Nyeri and Meru have teamed up with county governments to seek solutions to the current water crisis that is affecting millions of Kenyans. The Mount Kenya Ewaso Water Partnership—MKEWP— a partnership of public, private and civil society organizations which has committed to socially acceptable, economically favourable and environmental sound practices, is spearheading a campaign to address issues surrounding water access, use, management and conservation for the counties. “Mt Kenya is a crucial water tower that supplies water to the over 9 million residents surrounding Mt Kenya and a large part of Northern…
Facebook has selected 60 finalists from the hundreds of entries it received from across the Middle East and Africa for the Bots for Messenger Developer Challenge. The challenge is a contest to recognise and reward developers who create the most innovative new bots on Messenger. Developers, in teams of up to three people, were invited to create bots in three categories: gaming and entertainment; productivity and utility; and social good. The 60 finalist teams (10 per category in Middle East/North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa) each won a Gear VR and mobile phone, one hour of Facebook mentorship, and tools and services from FBStart,…
Kwese TV has signed distribution agreements with Africa’s leading mobile network operators (MNOs) establishing a significant pan-African distribution network for its core products. The MNOs represent a combined customer base in excess of 400m across the African continent. Kwesé has recently announced partnerships with some of the continent’s biggest MNO’s including MTN, Safaricom, Tigo and Vodacom in specific territories and additional announcements are expected in due course. These powerful distribution agreements will see the broadcaster expand the reach of its mobile TV proposition, which is delivered via the Kwesé App. Kwesé TV will also leverage the physical distribution network of…