East Africa Archives - Page 2 of 2

15Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South African business, AURA, expands into East Africa with new Kenyan office and GM

AURA, South Africa’s leading security and medical response platform, has announced its imminent expansion into Kenya which will be led by its new General Manager, Hilary Itela. Partnering with KK Security, owned by GardaWorld, Aura will offer its emergency and medical response services in Nairobi and Mombasa. Warren Myers, CEO, AURA says that the intention is to address the fragmented and idle response capacity in Kenya while also democratising access to critical services by making them more widely available and more affordable than ever before. With over 15 years’ experience in various management roles in East and Central Africa, Itela brings with him a wealth of specialist expertise within various verticals including security, e-commerce, logistics, pharmaceuticals, FMCG and renewable...

Has the PE industry failed Sub-Saharan Africa?

10Mar

By Abhishek MittalNo Comments

Has the PE industry failed Sub-Saharan Africa?

African PE (Private equity) firms raised less than $20bn in the decade to 2018, equivalent to just 2.5 per cent of the capital raised by the world’s emerging markets, according to a Preqin report. Moreover, most of that African capital was invested into the relatively advanced economies of South Africa and North Africa, with very little flowing into the rest of the continent. This limited investment into Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is explained by investors in PE funds as a result of the low returns from such investments. The PE firms, themselves, acknowledge the limited returns, but claim these markets are still nascent and that returns will rise as these economies evolve. Yet the reality is that it may be the approach being taken by SubSaharan Africa’s PE investors that is causing them such...

Top Destinations in East Africa that You Should Visit

23Jan

By Ana LopezNo Comments

Africa Travel, Ethiopia News, Kenya News, Tanzania News

Top Destinations in East Africa that You Should Visit

The appeal of East Africa has led to an increased number of direct international flights into the Region. Europe and the USA are providing the most tourists at present, but numbers are increasing both from within elsewhere in Africa and from Asia and the Far East. Those who decide on East Africa as a tourist destination will not regret their choice. Kenya The World first saw Africa’s stunning wildlife in documentaries filmed in East Africa. The popularity of Kenya Safari Tours increased as air travel became more widespread and that popularity has been maintained to this day. It is not surprising because the battles between predators and their prey species are compulsive. The annual wildebeest migration where zebras join in in significant numbers is another spectacle that is captivating. Th...

1Apr

By Johnstone OltetiaNo Comments

Kenya News, Main, Real Estate

OpEd: Affordable housing requires a new shape for the mortgage industry

By Johnstone Oltetia, Interim CEO Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC) There are two essential parts to achieving affordable housing: building decent, low-cost homes, and developing a housing finance market that enables low-income earners to buy those homes. For, without finance, almost no home price is low enough to be affordable on an average salary. For this reason, the mortgage market has been growing. Housing loans have risen more than ten-fold since 2006, from 1,278 loans valued at Sh19m 12 years ago to 24,458 loans valued at Sh203.3bn by 2015, according to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). But the market still remains tiny when compared with other nations. In Tanzania and Uganda, the mortgage loan value is under 2.5 per cent GDP while in Kenya stands at 3.15 per cent of GDP by 201...

9Aug

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Interview

Energy access related start-ups have been among the most prominent of the start-up scene in the recent years in East Africa

Exclusive interview with Paras Patel, Investment Manager, Energy Access Ventures, Kenya. At the upcoming Future Energy East Africa, he is a part of a panel discussion on the potential of mini grids. 1) Let’s start with some background on Energy Access Ventures and the work that you do there. Energy Access Ventures (EAV) is a venture fund that invests in early stage and growth companies that employ technologies and innovative business models linked to the access of electricity and its benefit in Sub-Saharan Africa. Due to the poor lack of political will and public investments in infrastructure, African business and industries are at the forefronts of finding other means to bypass these challenges though disruptive and innovative technologies an business models. Through ye...

26Dec

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News

A company that knows how to make things look easy

By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa Alcatel-Lucent has a success story to tell. Its stories, references and activities in Africa in 2012 is a lesson for many other organizations who what to make it big on the continent. In a recently published document Alcatel-Lucent shares references, successes, achievement and activities in Africa; as well as vision of African Market and broadband according to Daniel Jaeger, Vice-President of Alcatel-Lucent in Africa. News from Algiers, Algeria reveal that broadband for Africa, realize the potential of a connected world and tackle rural inclusion. I – Alcatel-Lucent presence, activities and foot print in Africa. II- Broadband in Africa, vision and view according to Daniel Jaeger Vice-President of Alcatel-Lucent Africa. III - Alcatel-Lucent’s pres...

22Aug

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Kenya News

Tom Juma, Head of Service Delivery and ICT of Old Mutual Kenya is to attend and speak at the Cloud East Africa Summit

Tom Juma, Head of Service Delivery and ICT of Old Mutual Kenya (Microsoft Word) The Cloud Summit East Africa Summit, proudly supported by the Kenya ICT Board and KITOS, will be held in Nairobi on 7 September 2012. The strategic industry event is hosted by international business-to-business conferencing company, Kinetic Events. The summit is proudly endorsed by the Eastern Africa Chambers of Commerce (EAECC). Kinetic Events has announced that international guest speaker, Tom Juma, Head of Service Delivery and ICT of Old Mutual Kenya is to attend and speak at the Cloud East Africa Summit. Tom Juma is a seasoned IT professional who has worked in various banking in Kenya and currently is the Head of Service Delivery and ICT at Old Mutual Kenya. A Holder of Master and Bachelor’...

16Jul

By AfricaBusiness.comNo Comments

African News, Ethiopia News, Kenya News

World Bank Approves New Power Transmission Line between Ethiopia and Kenya to Boost Electricity and Economic Growth in East Africa

Washington, July 12, 2012 – The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved the Eastern Electricity Highway Project, which will connect Ethiopia’s electrical grid with Kenya’s, create power- sharing between the two countries, reduce energy costs, promote sustainable and renewable power generation, better protect the region’s environment, and pave the way for more dynamic regional cooperation between the countries of East Africa. The new project marks the first phase of a regional East Africa power integration program which is likely to cost US$1.3 billion at completion, eventually benefiting 212 million people living in five countries with a combined GDP of US$107 billion. Together with the Governments of Ethiopia and Kenya, the African Development Bank (AfDB), and ...

5Jul

By AfricaBusiness.comNo Comments

African News

IBM Supports Accelerated Adoption of Technology in Tanzania

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, July, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today (July 4) signed a collaboration agreement with the Tanzanian Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology to help accelerate the adoption of technology as part of Tanzania's ongoing development and strategy to increase its competitiveness in East Africa. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO ) IBM will work with the Tanzanian Government to help achieve its vision of becoming a hub for trade in the wider East Africa region and to enhance sustainable economic development as outlined in the Tanzania National ICT Policy. "This agreement supports the goals of the National ICT Commission to use innovative technologies and approaches to transform our infrastructures, build national data...