Tag Archives: Nairobi

Caribou Digital Launches New Book, The Platform Livelihoods Project: Research Exploring the Workplaces of the Digital Age in Africa & Indonesia

This pioneering research, conducted in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation and with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation explores the pervasive digital workplace landscape in Africa and Indonesia. The research reveals the scale of dependency millions of Africans have on digital marketplaces for their livelihoods, where 27% of Kenyan farmers claim to use Meta (Facebook) to sell information and buy produce. In examining marginalised groups, people with disabilities shared in-depth accounts of challenges faced with their user experience, such as a lack of screen-reading technology for the visually impaired, inhibiting full participation. Caribou Digital calls for better governance and inclusivity for Africa’s digital marketplace to ensure it unlocks its projected reach of $72 billion by 2026.

10 Ventures Announced for the Africa Tech Summit Nairobi 2024 Investment Showcase

Africa Tech Summit Nairobi has announced ten African tech ventures that will showcase their solutions to a diverse audience of industry experts, investors and fellow innovators on February 14th and 15th. While African startup funding declined in 2023, the investment showcase continues to foster collaborations and stimulate investment opportunities to bridge the funding gap in […]

Shelter Afrique roots for climate-resilient affordable housing at the Africa Climate Summit

Governments should create incentives for the production of well-located affordable housing that minimizes construction costs, enhances sustainability, and offers better mobility.

d.light closes USD$125M funding through a securitization facility to meet growing demand for off-grid solar products in Tanzania

 d.light, the global provider of transformational household products and affordable finance for low-income households, today announced a $30 million securitization facility has been successfully secured from the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank Group (TDB Group), with the capability to purchase up to $125 million of receivable assets.

AWS announces the 25 startups selected for its first ‘fintech in Africa’ accelerator

Cohort participants from Kenya, Nigeria , South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Uganda, and Cameroon 25 African fintech startups have been selected for the inaugural Amazon Web Services (AWS) FinTech Africa Accelerator cohort. This cohort was selected from over 500 applications and is part of the EMEA Startup Loft Accelerator (SLA) program run by AWS. The pre-seed […]

Government Endorses Elimination of Problematic Plastics by the Kenya Plastics Pact

The Kenya Plastics Pact has published a list of problematic and unnecessary plastic items to be eliminated in Kenya. This adds to the already existing Government’s plastic bag ban that came into force in 2017, and the ban on selected single-use plastic items in protected areas since June 2020. The priority list supports a collective plan to […]

Jiji Kenya Wins as the Mobile App of the Year| Shopping and E-commerce in the Mobile App and Summit Awards, 2021

Jiji, one of the most popular e-commerce sites in Kenya and the largest online classifieds in Kenya, has scooped the Mobile App of the Year, Shopping and E-commerce category. The award was presented to Jiji Kenya during the Mobile App and Summit Awards, 2021, which was held at the  PrideInn, Westlands, on Friday, 10th December […]

AUDA-NEPAD, JICA, Afreximbank & BCG Empower Accelerator Cohort Of Five Successful East African Healthcare Companies

This is off the back of the Home-Grown Solutions (HGS) Accelerator for Pandemic Resilience, an initiative that aims to accelerate the growth of African healthcare companies to strengthen the continent’s pandemic resilience The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) held an event […]

A Just Transition to Climate Resilience Could Transform Kenya into a Green Powerhouse

The Continent Is Highly Vulnerable to Climate Change, However, and Needs Significant Global Investment to Adapt to Higher Temperatures, Build Low-Carbon Economies, and Create Local Green Employment African countries face major climate-related challenges, but at the same time they have the opportunity to achieve sustainable low-carbon economies, according to a new report by Boston Consulting […]

Messing with nature is risky business!

For a long time now, economy and the conservation of biodiversity seemed to be two different worlds. Not many CEOs or financial managers were able to explain how their company’s impact contributed to the loss of species, deforestation or the acidification of oceans. But times have changed. Today, trailblazing entrepreneurs understand that they don’t have […]

Kenya Still Faces Challenges in Sending 100% of Students to High School

Kenya has long aimed to bring 100 percent of its primary students to high school. Over one million Kenyan students finished their primary school education in 2020, and all are expected to attend high school, but many factors continue to hold these students back. Many Kenyan parents are unable to pay for the school fees […]

Autochek Officially Launches in Kenya

African automotive company aims to increase its footprint across East Africa Nairobi, Kenya – Autochek, the automotive technology company that aims to facilitate auto finance across Africa, has officially widened its operations to Kenya as part of its pan-African expansion. To lead its Kenya operations, Autochek has appointed Bilhah Muriithi as the Country Manager. Having […]

DPI raises one of the largest Africa funds at US$900m to invest in innovation-led companies

Development Partners International (DPI), a premier investment firm focused on Africa, announced on 4th October that African Development Partners III Fund (ADP III), has exceeded its US$800 million target, and is set to hold a final close at US$900 million, with an additional US$250m of dedicated co-investment capital. This brings a total of US$1.15 billion […]

Kenya Plastics Pact launches to tackle plastics waste in the country

An ambitious, new collaborative initiative to tackle plastics waste and pollution has today launched in Kenya. The Kenya Plastics Pact (KPP) will bring together stakeholders across the plastics value chain to create a circular economy for plastics. The Pact brings together businesses, governments, researchers, NGOs, civil society, informal waste sector players, and other stakeholders across […]

Challenges of Governance and Succession; A Focus on the Integration of the NexGen in Family-Owned Businesses in Kenya

Written By Faizal Bhana, Director – Middle East, Africa, and India, Jersey Finance Family-owned businesses in East Africa have been instrumental to the socio-economic development of the region and a catalyst for the growth of the private sector. With a long multi-generational history, their focus has been on manufacturing industries, consumer goods, construction, and agriculture. […]

Growth and Progress of Kenya’s Insurance Market

AM Best company has published a report on the overall state of Kenya’s insurance market and how price competition hinders its growth potentials. The key takeaways are challenging macroeconomic factors which are expected to abate from 2021, the successful execution of risk-based capital requirements that are strengthening the credit quality of market participants, and price […]

Top African regions set to become leading startup and investment hubs

Ian Lessem, Managing Partner at HAVAÍC

On the back of Cape Town being recognised as the tech capital of Africa, topping international rankings for foreign direct investment strategy, Ian Lessem, Managing Partner at HAVAÍC – investors in early-stage, high-growth technology businesses – says several other African cities are quickly emerging as leading startup and investment hubs to watch. “Startups in Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and South Africa […]

Towards a circular economy for plastics, where it does not become waste

Plastic, plastic, plastic everywhere! Not a place you can turn to without being greeted by the sight of plastic. Plastic is a doubled edged sword. It is very much a part of our lives, being a packaging material for many of the products we consume and also being a primary or secondary raw material for […]

Kenya is in Transition to a Circular Economy: KEPSA Report Shows

Sustainable Inclusive Business, the knowledge centre under the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) Foundation, in partnership with TheRockGroup, a sustainable consultancy firm, has published an industry report on Kenya’s efforts to transition to a more sustainable and circular economy. It was launched at the Africa Business Week by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency on Thursday May […]

97% of internet users in Kenya use WhatsApp; here’s how businesses can reach them (By James Bayhack)

By James Bayhack The COVID-19 pandemic has left many customer service departments under immense pressure to meet client expectations while keeping response times low. This is particularly important in competitive industries like eCommerce, travel and hospitality, where customer service is a priority. To address this challenge, companies must enable their support staff with the right […]