Author: Ruqaiah Al Meri

Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence Africa (AICE) is set to host its second Artificial Intelligence (AI) for leaders’ summit in Kenya to help countries in the continent develop a clear AI strategy, ways of investing in AI infrastructure as well as on training and upskilling the workforce. The summit, to be held on April 27, 2023, will be for industry leaders to explore the growth and transformative value of AI technology in emerging economies. Participants are also expected to use the forum to foster collaboration and partnerships across academia, industry, and government to promote the development as well as the…

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BY SILAS APOLLO The current financial difficulties being experienced in the country have largely been blamed on heavy borrowing by the previous governments, prolonged drought, coronavirus pandemic, among other issues. According to sources within government and publicly available documents, the lack of rains in the country in the last four years saw many farmers and businesses suffer losses leading to deprived revenue with the loans borrowed by administrations such as Jubilee also eating up most of the revenue set aside for both recurrent and development expenditure. Experts and economists have also linked the current cash crunch to the war in…

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By Ephraim Njega Kenya’s economy is facing turbulent times. Everywhere you turn these days, it is impossible not to find people discussing the status of the economy. The government has been experiencing a liquidity crisis for some years. The cash crunch manifested itself in the form of pending bills and delayed disbursement of cash to county governments.  The liquidity crunch remained hidden to many Kenyans. However, recent revelations that the government has delayed paying March salaries have brought these challenges to the fore. It is no longer a secret that the government is broke. The denials we were once used…

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By Grace Wandera Businesses that adopt customer centricity, which demands that the customer is the centre of attention, will remain competitive, grow their customer base, and improve their bottom line.  In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, where taxpayers have expectations for personalized and seamless experiences, customer centricity has become essential for success. Adopting the approach means that organizations must prioritize understanding their customers’ needs, and preferences, and use this information to tailor their products, services, or interactions to meet and exceed those expectations.For revenue agencies, providing friendly and convenient services can greatly promote goodwill for payment of taxes, influence compliance…

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Kenya’s fight against tuberculosis (TB) epidemic is being severely undermined by reduced funding. The 2022 World Health Organization (WHO) TB report revealed that global spending on essential TB services decreased from $6 billion in 2019 to $ 4 billion in 2021, less than half the global target of $13 billion annually by 2022. The shortfall in funding is worsening amid reversed gains due to covid 19 pandemic, thus worsening the situation as low uptake of TB screening, and testing continues to be a challenge. Kenya is among the thirty countries with the highest burden of TB globally, with an annual TB load of 133,000 cases in 2021. Tragically,…

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BY Teresiah W. King’ara Viktor E. Frankl, the author of the book, was an Auschwitz survivor and a psychiatrist. He shares lessons and insights gained during the years he survived at the concentration camp. He describes man as: “that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lord’s Prayer on his lips” Mr Frankl advances the notion that, truly, man can adjust to any living conditions if he finds/puts purpose to his existence, including the suffering we go through. He also counters that beyond nature and…

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By NBM writer Education stakeholders including teachers, pupils, parents and the neighboring community of Section 58 in Nakuru City are all smiles at the prospects that they may soon get back a piece of land valued at Sh5 million that they had lost to private developers over 20 years ago. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has moved to court to recover the land for the primary school, which was, unfortunately, grabbed with the aid of the former Commissioner of Lands. In the recovery suit filed on March 17, 2023 against Catherine Wanjiku Mbugua as the 1st defendant, Alice Wahome Chege…

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A gaming company, Zone has unveiled an e-sport blockchain platform with $250 monthly prizeThe blockchain gaming company launched the revolutionary crypto-gaming platform that promises to change the way gamers play and earn in Kenya. The web-based platform has been built over the Algorand blockchain technology, which enables instant payouts of rewards along with extremely low transaction fees, and ensures complete trust and transparency. Zone allows players to earn cryptocurrency rewards for their gaming skills, opening up a new world of possibilities for players to monetize their passion for gaming. Targeting E-sport and Casual gamers with internet-enabled devices such as laptops…

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BY ANTONY MUTUNGA Digitalization is accelerating big time and those who lack understanding and the skills required will soon be left behind. The digital shift is happening in every sector from agriculture to the health, services and manufacturing sector. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming critical to almost all sectors, hence requiring everyone especially public sector officials to be well trained. As a result, the Commonwealth Secretariat and Intel have partnered to launch a digital learning platform to enable public sector officials in 56 countries to understand and harness emerging technologies to achieve development goals. The platform is part of the…

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BY SILAS APOLLO Start-up companies based in Kenya will from July this year be exempted from paying taxes on unrealised gains. The decision is part of the efforts by the government to promote investment in the country and make Kenya a hub for innovation. Speaking during the America Chamber of Commerce regional summit at the Ole Sereni Hotel in Nairobi, President William Ruto said that the companies will be exempted from taxation effective July 1, 2023.He argued that his administration wants to make Kenya an apex innovation centre by attracting investments from start-ups with the removal of hindrances that are…

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